Hisham’s doublespeak

By Gan Pei Ling | The Nut Graph

“We have allowed and encouraged the different communities, Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans, to develop and nurture their language, religion and cultural practices.”

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein declares at a conference in Kuala Lumpur that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government should be credited for allowing and promoting cultural diversity since Malaysia’s independence. Hishammuddin, who is also Umno vice-president, added that this was why Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia was so important. (Source: Embracing diversity our greatest challenge, says Hishammuddin, The Malaysian Insider, 19 July 2010)

“I am concerned that the court decision will make Muslims emotional and attract comments from all quarters. I wish to remind everyone that we are dealing with a very sensitive subject and we have to be very careful.”

Hishammuddin, announcing the government’s decision to appeal against a High Court ruling that assured the Herald Catholic weekly’s right to use the world “Allah” in their publication.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court declared on 31 Dec 2009 that the Home Ministry’s ban against Herald from using the word “Allah” was “illegal, null and void” as the term was not exclusive to Islam. Furthermore, the ministry had failed to substantiate its claims that Herald‘s use of the word would threaten national security.
The Home Ministry secured a stay against the judgment in January 2010, and the case is still pending an appeal in court. It was the BN government that in 1986 first banned the use of “Allah”, “solat”, “Kaabah” and “Baitullah” by non-Muslim communities, even though there is no Muslim copyright on these words. (Source: Ministry to file appeal against Allah ruling, The Star, 4 Jan 2010)

“They also had no intentions to raise racial or religious tensions by using the cow’s head as accused by certain groups lately.”

Hishammuddin, defending the cow-head protesters in a press conference in his office. In August 2009, around 50 Muslim protesters demonstrated against the relocation of a Hindu temple to a Muslim-majority area in Section 23, Shah Alam after Friday prayers during Ramadan. They stamped and spat on a cow’s head during the protest despite knowing that the cow is sacred in Hinduism.
Hishammuddin said he was “convinced”, after his meeting with the cow-head protesters, that they did not have any political motive. He also defended their actions by noting that it was not the first time animal heads had been used in a protest. Hishammuddin said that previously, a pig’s head had been wrapped in the Umno flag and placed at the Umno building. (Source: Temple protest: Various parties try to resolve issue, The Star, 2 Sept 2009)

Anwar Demands A-G Respond To RPK’s ‘Affair’ Allegations

From Malaysian Insider
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s lawyers have demanded that Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail respond to Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s claims of a female deputy public prosecutor being romantically involved with the lead witness in Anwar’s on-going Sodomy II trial.

Fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin had alleged in a blog posting recently that a female deputy public prosecutor, a junior member of the prosecution team in Anwar’s trial, is having an “affair” with lead witness Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Lead counsel for Anwar’s defence team Sankara Nair said that the Attorney-General or the prosecution team had yet to respond to Raja Petra’s allegations, stressing that if the matter were left unaddressed, it could affect the on-going trial proceedings which is set to continue this coming August 2.

“This will have serious implications in the trial, we want the Attorney-General to confirm or deny these allegations. The Attorney-General’s chambers has to be impartial and prove to do so in its dealings, even though Saiful is the complainant and the prosecution’s material witness,” Sankara told The Malaysian Insider this morning.

Sankara said that the defence team will be submitting a letter to the Attorney-General’s office today, demanding that the Attorney-General step in and provide answers to Raja Petra’s claims.

“We will be sending a letter to the Attorney-General’s office today. They should be getting it (the letter) in the afternoon,” said Sankara.

Sankara also said that they would have to wait for an “official response” from Abdul Gani before they can proceed with any further action.

But the prosecution team say that they are still undecided on whether the female deputy public prosecutor named by Raja Petra would be dropped when the case resumes next month.

Lead prosecutor for the case, Solicitor-General 2 Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, stressed that any decisions on whether she would still be on the team would only be made when the trial resumes.

Mohd Yusof refused to disclose her status following Raja Petra’s allegations.

“I cannot tell you for now, I have not heard about these claims or allegations. But I will have to consult my team, and we will see on August 2 whether she will still be on the team,” Mohd Yusof told The Malaysian Insider last week.

But the senior prosecutor insisted that her role in the case was minimal, as she was “not officially” part of the team when the trial commenced.

Mohd Yusof was also at great pains to explain that she had only been brought in to assist with compiling data and taking notes of trial proceedings because another prosecutor left the team.

“To begin with, she was not in my team. She is not a permanent member of the team… she was only brought in to help with taking notes, compiling data, evidence.

“So I cannot say that she’s been dropped from the team, because she was well, not really part of the team, not like (DPPs) Noorin (Badaruddin), or Wong (Chiang Kiat), or myself. She was brought in to help out, but now we have at least three lawyers who can do the compiling, and sometimes Noorin also takes down notes.

“Besides this she (the implicated DPP) is a prosecutor, a lawyer. She also has other cases to handle. If we decide not to include her on the team next month, it’s because we can handle it without her… it’s because she too has other cases to manage,” said Mohd Yusof.

Yusof has refused to comment on whether there was any truth to Raja Petra’s allegations.

Anwar is being prosecuted by an eight men prosecution team comprising Mohd Yusof, Datuk Nordin Hassan, Mohamed Hanafiah Zakaria, Wong, Noorin, Mira Mirna Musa, Naidatul Athirah Azmad and Farah Azlina Latif.

Anwar, the 62-year-old PKR de facto leader, is charged with sodomising Saiful at Unit 11-5-1 of the Desa Damansara Condominium in Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara here between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

The former deputy prime minister has denied the charge, describing it as “evil, frivolous lies by those in power” when the charge was read out to him. He is charged under section 377B of the Penal Code and can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction. The trial is taking place 18 months after Anwar was charged in court in August 2008.

Anwar was charged with sodomy and corruption in 1998 after he was sacked from the Cabinet and was later convicted and jailed for both offences. He was freed in September 2004 and resurrecting his own career by winning his old Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in a 2008 by-election.

He had earlier led the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, to a historic sweep of five states and 82 parliamentary seats in Election 2008.

Scrap the 10-yr-old Education Ministry circular restricting formation of non-Muslim religious societies in schools – against 1Malaysia and NEM to educate a critical and creative generation of Malaysians

The 10-year-old Education Ministry circular restricting the formation of non-Muslim religious societies in schools is the best example of Little Napoleons running riot in the civil service working against the national interests of educating a critical and creative generation of Malaysians and harnessing the multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural assets of plural Malaysia.

What is the use of boasting about Malaysia as a model of ethnic, cultural, religious and biological diversity and Malaysia’s rich and unique cultural heritage when restrictions continue to be in place affecting the formation of non-Muslim societies in schools?

The Cabinet on Wednesday should scrap the 10-year-old Education Ministry circular restricting the formation of non-Muslim religious societies in schools as it is against Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia slogan and policy and the New Economic Model objective to educate a critical, creative and innovative generation of Malaysians.

The Education Ministry circular dated 16th December 2000 stated that non-Muslim religious societies formed before 2000 need not have to be registered but remain as status quo. Those set up from 2000 onwards need approval by the registrar, which is the state education department director.

For ten years, the circular was used by Biro Tatanegara-trained Little Napoleons in the Education Ministry to discourage, hamper or downright disallow the formation of non-Muslim religious societies.

Why should there be a distinction between non-Muslim religious societies formed before 2000 and after – when it should be a positive factor to allow and encourage the formation of non-Muslim religious societies in schools under proper guidance and supervision?

The Cabinet should not only scrap the 10-year-old Education Ministry circular restricting the formation of non-Muslim religious societies in schools, but should call for up for review all government regulations and circulars which run contrary to the 1Malaysia policy enunciated by Najib as well as the other pillars of Najib’s National Transformation programme to transform Malaysia into a inclusive, sustainable high-income developed nation.

Nepali Government To Introduce Free-visa Regime To Attract More Tourists

KATHMANDU, July 26 (Bernama) -- If a proposal forwarded by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) is endorsed by Nepali government, foreigners coming to the country will not need to pay visa fee, reports China's Xinhua news agency.

According to Monday's Republica report, in a bid to attract more foreign tourists to the country and make Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign a grand success, MoTCA has proposed the government to waive visa fee at least for the campaign period.

Nepal has set a target to welcoming more than one million foreign tourists in 2011. More than half a million foreign visitors had visited the country in 2009.

Laxman Bhattarai, spokesperson and joint secretary at MoTCA, said the proposal have been forwarded to Ministry of Finance to incorporate it in the budget for fiscal year 2010/11.

He informed the daily that the proposal to introduce free-visa regime was worked out by the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 National Coordination Committee.

At present, foreign visitors need to pay US$25 for visa for 15 days and US$40 for a month. But visitors from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries get visa for free.

MPPP’s slow response frustrates worried TBRA

Unlike the MPPP’s prompt, decisive action in the case of a RMAF hostel following a complaint from a neighbouring resident, the council appears slow to respond in another nearby project, despite repeated reminders from a residents group.
Frustrated, the Tanjung Bunga Residents Association has sent yet another email to the MPPP which it says will be its final message to the council. The group wants answers to the following questions regarding the Bolton Surin project on a steep hill-slope in Tanjung Bunga:

Yesterday, Sunday, 25 July 2010, the developer of Bolton Surin were at it again – working on so-called electrical and other construction work (which caused quite a din, by and by), when we believed that they are supposed not to be working on a rest day.
As such the questions that we have been putting to our MPPP are really relevant and require a simple answer. Can we please get an answer from our MPPP relating to our questions…  These questions are now long overdue (since June 2010) for answers…
i. Please advise us all at what time daily is the developer required to cease all work in the Bolton Surin project?
ii. Has Bolton Surin been given permission to work beyond the normal working hours?
iii. Has Bolton Surin been given permission to work on rest days and public holidays, thus disturbing the tranquility of the surrounding neighbourhood on such rest days and public holidays?
iv. Should the developer work beyond the permitted time or day, what is the penalty that will be imposed by Bolton Surin on the developer?
v. What is light work and what light work does the developer carry out when permission is given to do light work after the permitted daily hours and on rest days/public holidays?
vi. What are the machinery & tools allowed to be used during light work?
vii. Has MPPP officials advised our “blur” members of the Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Majlis that the residents living all around the Bolton Surin project are NOT in favour and strongly oppose any application to extend work beyond the normal daily working hours?
viii. We have not yet received any response from (the) Engineering Dept of MPPP towards any of the questions posed and promised to be answered by (the MPPP head).
… In the above MPPP is not even able to make simple answers to areas that are within its purview/control despite repeated requests by members of the public via their association – TBRA. What more to view its actions….
Do also note that the rains & winds over the last few days have caused the sheet coverings of the Chee Seng hill-slopes/cliffs to fly apart, thus exposing many areas of the near 90-degree cliffs in the Bolton Surin project. Perhaps a reminder by your council to Bolton to recover them and to do it well is in order.

The residents association has also questioned the hoarding of the 1Tanjong project, which restricts access to state land.

PI Bala's lawyers issue challenge to critics

Israeli Islamic leader begins jail sentence for spitting on police

Sheikh Raed Salah is surrounded by supporters as he arrives at prison 

near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday.

 

Jerusalem (CNN) -- The leader of the Islamic movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, begins a five-month jail sentence Sunday after being convicted of assault for spitting on a border police guard during a protest against Israel's construction near the Al-Aqsa mosque in 2007.

Islamic movement spokesman Zahi Injidat told CNN that followers were heading to the mosque Sunday in solidarity.

"We are going to show our support with Sheikh Raed Salah that the fight is for the Aqsa mosque and make the Israelis feel that there will be thousands of Salahs, not only one. The Israeli authorities will not bring us down," he said.

Injidat also described the ruling and charges against Salah as an "an unprecedented ruling."

A court in East Jerusalem reduced Salah's sentence from nine months to five months earlier this month and also acquitted him of incitement charges.

Salah was one of the passengers on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara flotilla boat trying to break Israel's blockade on May 31. Israeli troops raided the ship, killing 8 Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American dual citizen and injuring others. Nine Israeli navy officers were also injured during the operation.

Soi Lek says Guan Eng behaving like ‘opposition’

KLANG, July 25 — MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek today accused Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of behaving like he was still in the opposition for initiating the ongoing spat with a federal officer.

Dr Chua (picture) mocked Lim’s attitude and how he had chosen to handle the tiff, pointing out that the DAP secretary-general could have used a more civilised channel to voice his grievances against State Development Officer (SDO) Nik Ali Mat Yunus.

“Look at how Lim Guan Eng handled the issue with the SDO. From there, you can generally conclude that he (Lim) himself is not aware of his own role as an administrator,” he told reporters after opening the Selangor MCA convention at Centro here this afternoon.

He said that as the chief minister, Lim had the right and the responsibility to evaluate Nik Ali’s performance and come up with an official verdict through the state government.

“He can evaluate the SDO and make a decision during the state executive council meetings. Through that channel, he can present the state government’s views to the Chief Secretary to the Government,” said Dr Chua.

He added that the chief secretary would have “no choice” but to accept and respect the views of the state government.

“But by forwarding your views out in the open like that, the SDO would be forced into retaliating to defend himself.

“In the end, the issue does not get solved,” he said.

Dr Chua claimed that if the spat, which has now turned into a full-fledged war between the Penang state government and the federal civil service, failed to be settled, it would be the people who would suffer.

“He (Lim) still acts like he is from the opposition party although they are actually the ruling government in Penang,” he said.

The debacle between Lim and Nik Ali began when Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhamad Farid Saad alleged recently that illegal sand excavation was taking place at a plot in Kampung Kenanga, which had been earmarked for a government polytechnic.

Lim had responded to the allegation by saying that the state had not been able to probe the matter as Nik Ali was not co-operative.

He had also accused Nik Ali of refusing to respect the principles of accountability by answering queries on the Penang Botanical Garden, the illegal sand excavation at the Balik Pulau polytechnic and how federal projects were being carried out without approval from the local councils.

The accusation escalated into a verbal war between Nik Ali and Lim with the federal officer retaliating by calling Lim “insolent, uncivilised and a coward” at an Umno function.

Since then, other leaders including DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang and even Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan have joined the fray, turning the spat into an all-out battle between the civil service and the DAP.

Mohd Sidek has so far accused Lim of being “excessive” in his remarks and has given his assurance that Nik Ali would not be reprimanded for criticising a chief minister.

Lim then retaliated by accusing Mohd Sidek of preferring to protect “little Napoleans” than defend the integrity and professionalism of the civil service.

Conman's victim: He destroyed my legal career

By Teoh El Sen - Free Malaysia Today

SUBANG JAYA: "I was used by him, I was one of his many victims... because of him, my career is totally destroyed.
"These were the words Teoh Ming, 46, who not only lost RM500,000 but was suspended from being a lawyer for two years and subsequently declared bankrupt last year.

She is now a single mother providing for her 11-year-old son through freelance jobs, and her predicament is because of one person, the elusive conman "Baladevan".

Teoh is the first victim to come forward and go on record following media reports on the 56-year-old "conman" who had allegedly swindled more than 40 local companies and individuals of more than RM7 million in the span of 10 years.

Baladevan's modus operandi was to claim close links with influential people, even government officials here and in India, and be able to obtain contracts for large-scale government projects.

Speaking at a press conference here, Teoh described Baladevan as "very well dressed" and a “very good speaker".

"He would splash money and buy us drinks and all that. We were taken by this, especially me. I was even used by him to convince others to wait for his projects. And like a stupid fool I did all that.

"He is so good I think he can even charm ten birds off a tree," she said.

Samy Vellu's name was used
Recounting her experience with the smooth-talking scam artist, Teoh said in 2003, a friend introduced her to Baladevan, who claimed that he was close to then works minister S Samy Vellu as his brother Mogana Devan was the private secretary to the minister.

Teonh said she felt more convinced after confirming the identity of Baladevan's brother at the Works Ministry office.

"He told us then that Samy Vellu wanted to help them earn some money and he (Samy Vellu) wanted some funds for the coming election.

“He said Samy Vellu told him that there would be some 'mark up' for some projects and the money from these 'mark-ups' would then go to both of them," she added.

Teoh said Baladevan told her to look for contractors for the roadworks and railway projects worth more than RM40 million.

"I found some contractors for him. They were usually convinced at first but when he asked for upfront money or 'commitment fees' to be paid to his people inside the Works Ministry in order to expedite the matter, they backed off," she said.

Teoh said she then decided to pump in the money herself - with help from friends and even money lenders - and "invested" a sum of RM650,000 with the promise of getting part of the commission from the would-be contractors.

That, however, never materialised and she lost almost RM500,000.

Second incident

Teoh said the second time around, Baladevan had contacted her in 2004 and told her that he had three other projects which were road upgrade and repair works along the Seremban to Senawang road; the Sungai Balang, Batu Pahat road; and the Lubok Cina, Malacca road.
"I then represented three contractors who were interested in each of the three projects. The three, who also met Mogana Devan at the Works Ministry, were required to deposit an amount in my firm at the time," said Teoh, adding that one company paid RM200,000 while the other two paid RM500,000.

However, Teoh said she had released the money to Baladevan after he told her he needed the money for the bill of quantities to be issued before a letter of award could be obtained.

"Because I still believed in him I released the money but I also got him to sign an undertaking to guarantee that he would refund the money if the letter of award was not issued," said Teoh.

However, there was no letter of award or contracts and Baladevan grew evasive and finally disappeared.

And one of the upset contractors Teoh was representing decided to lodge a complaint with the Bar Council and she was subsequently suspended from practicing.

"Thankfully, the two other contractors decided not to pursue legal action against me as they knew I was also a victim," she said.

In 2006, Teoh made two police reports against Baladevan but to date, the latter had not been arrested.

"The reason I am coming out now is because I don't want this to happen to anyone else. I have actually put this part of my past behind me but looking at how many others actually were his victims, I felt that I needed to do my part to put him behind bars for all this," she told FMT.

Polygamy makes for unhappy families: study

KUALA LUMPUR: Men in polygamous relationships find it difficult to meet the needs of all their wives and children, and the result is unhappy and cash-strapped families, according to a landmark Malaysian study.

Polygamy is legal for Muslims, who make up more than 60 percent of Malaysia's population, allowing Muslim men to take up to four wives.

But activists and women's groups say polygamy is cruel and has deviated from its original purpose in Islam, which was to protect widows and orphans.

A study by advocacy group Sisters in Islam (SIS) found that the majority of first wives and children in polygamous families were unhappy with the arrangement.

Husbands and junior wives gave a more positive response, according to the study which backed activists' views that first wives are often forgotten after a man creates a new family.

"The husbands are the most advantaged in terms of fulfilling his desire and satisfaction in life. He has access to more than one sexual partner every day or night while the wives take turn," the study said.

According to preliminary data, more than 90 percent of the 523 children in households interviewed vowed not to enter into polygamy themselves, and two-thirds of first wives were against the practice.

"Generally, it is due to the fact that their right to demand (time and money) from their husband has decreased because their father now has another family," SIS researcher Syarifatul Adibah Mohamad Jodi told AFP.

"Despite some women saying they are not happy in the marriage, they have to accept it and they are resigned to it. They are in a vulnerable position -- financially or emotionally," she said.

Husbands unhappy too

SIS estimates that up to five percent of marriages in Malaysia are polygamous, a figure that has risen as rules limiting multiple marriage have been watered down over the years.

However, husbands were not entirely happy with the situation, either. Many of those surveyed said they found it "most difficult to fulfill the needs of the first wife and their children".

The study, which involved extensive interviews with 1,235 individuals from polygamous families, will be formally published next year.

SIS hopes it will trigger a change in legislation that allows the practice to flourish in Malaysia.

Adibah said that reforms should include ensuring that first wives are not cut off financially and that their consent is required before their husband enters into a second marriage.

Critics of polygamy say that such laws, where they exist, are frequently ignored in Malaysia.

Polygamy is illegal for non-Muslims in the multi-ethnic nation, which is also home to large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.

- AFP

What we should focus on

Some lament about the FDI. Some scream about Malay Supremacy (Ketuanan Melayu). Others worry about what T-shirt or jersey we wear. There are those who would like all Malays absorbed into just one political party for the sake of ‘Malay unity’ -- and so on and so forth. But all these people overlook one important thing -- and that is the quality of life in Malaysia and what your Ringgit can buy.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The average price of houses in the UK is roughly RM700,000. This is based on the nation-wide house prices although in some instances you could be looking at millions depending on locality and type of house. But a ‘working man’ would need to fork out RM500,000-600,000 for a decent British home, unless you live in London.

The minimum wage is now about RM30 per hour (based on a rate of exchange of 5:1). This will be going up in October. Yet the British complain that this minimum wage just can’t meet the cost of living.

In Malaysia there is no minimum wage. In spite of the campaign by the opposition and civil society movements since the 1990s, the government still refuses to set a minimum wage. Today, the minimum wage has to be at least RM1,800 per month to make it possible for Malaysians to live a decent life.

In the UK, the lower-rung income earners bring in about RM4,500-5,500 per month. A skilled worker earns about RM8,000-10,000 per month. The higher-income bracket earns about RM15,000-25,000 per month. Of course, with overtime thrown in, most hourly-waged employees can see an additional RM2,000-3,000 per month.

But what is the cost of living in the UK?

You would need to set aside about RM2,500 per month either for house rental or for your housing loan repayments, unless you are living in a council house. Your utilities and groceries would take away another RM2,500 per month, at the most. So about RM5,000 per month is gone just to survive. But if both husband and wife (or housemate/civil partner) work, then the cost sharing makes it very affordable (two can live cheaper than one).

Now compare this to Malaysia. Can we say the same for the Malaysian worker? A full cart of groceries in Malaysia will cost you about RM500-600. It costs only RM300-400 for a full cart of groceries in the UK. But the salaries in the UK are eight to ten times higher than in Malaysia.

The basic pay for a security guard in Malaysia is about RM800 per month. In the UK, the basic pay for a security guard is about RM8,000. The Malaysian security guard can’t survive on RM800 per month. The UK security guard needs only RM5,000 per month to survive.

Anyway, I have written about this many times before. And this is what Malaysians need to focus on -- not on whether it is right to wear certain football jerseys.

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Minimum wage to rise by 2%: but increase dwarfed by inflation

By Stephen Hunt, 22nd June 2010

The minimum wage for adults in the UK will increase to £5.93 in October, a rise of 13p, or 2%, the government has announced. The change is the result of a recommendation by the Low Pay Commission, which has been rubber-stamped by the government.

Working adults are not the only beneficiaries of the increase - 21 year olds will now receive at least the full adult minimum wage, whereas only people aged over 22 years were previously eligible.

Also unveiled were smaller percentage increases to the minimum wages for other age brackets - 18-20 year olds get 9p extra, while 16 and 17 year olds earning the minimum wage will enjoy 7p more. Furthermore, a minimum wage for apprentices has also been implemented.

The changes were well received by the TUC, it said: "The minimum wage has been a great success, and if this announcement means that this is an area that will see continuity rather than change it will win wide support."

This is in spite of the percentage rise of 2% falling well below that stipulated by the retail price index of inflation, an indicator of pay rises, which for May was as high as 5.1%

Edward Davey, Minister for Employment Relations, claimed that the rise "will strike a balance between helping the lowest paid whilst at the same time not jeopardising their employment."

The rise in the national minimum wage was however incongruous with the "London Living Wage", which rose by over a percent more to £7.85. Mayor of London Boris Johnson underlined that the increase was necessary to give people ample incentive to work.

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What is the Average Salary in the UK?

While there are several different factors that contribute to an employees’ salary, the average salary in the UK is considered to be £25,800 for full-time employees in the United Kingdom. This number is available from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earning report issues in November, 2009, by Office of National Statistics in the United Kingdom. The average salary in the UK was determined through a survey of working professionals in the UK, but primarily focused on government employees and other similar professions. When converted to dollars, the average salary in the UK is around $41,700 based on the current average rate of conversion.

Of course, there are varying fluctuations in the rate of pay for certain employees based on their profession, their level of education, and the amount of experience they have in their given profession. As for the profession, the highest paid jobs in Britain according to this survey was Chief Executives and Directors of businesses. They raked in around £115,576. The service industry saw the worst average salaries in the country, pulling in £11,930 annually, although it was unclear whether or not this includes tips and gratuity if the job allows for it. Most waiters and waitresses will typically get between 10 and 12 percent from customers depending on the type of establishment they are employed at.

The average salary in the UK has risen steadily over the past several years according to the report this data was drawn from, but the number of jobs has dramatically decreased. Those who are employed are being paid better, but there are fewer jobs for people to get. According to the report, the average salary increase of around 2.8 percent for those working in the public sector, and only 0.8 percent in the private sector. The private sector is estimated at losing over 2,000 jobs daily in the UK.

The Best Salaries in the UK

Sure, we know that Chief Executives and Directors make the most in the UK, but what are some of the other high average salary jobs in the UK. Since the report by the Office of National Statistics, covered around 300 different professions, we can easily examine what the highest paying jobs are, what the lowest are, and where those in the middle fall. Here are the best salary jobs in the UK.

* Medical Practitioner and other Health Professionals - This job is high paying in almost every country you visit. The health care field is one of the highest paid fields in the UK, with average salaries ranging between £60,866 and £78,366.

* Senior Officials and Corporate Managers - Highly similar to the Chief Executives, only in a reduced function, Senior Officials and Corporate Manages make an average salary of between £85,000 and £86,000 a year.

* Brokers - Brokers help people to buy and sell stocks, futures, bonds, and other types of investment options. The average salary of a Broker in the UK is around £61,117, but it is not stated if this includes commissions and bonuses.

* Government Figures - While this may seem like commonplace, the senior officials in National Government make around £68,283 in the UK.

The Worst Salaries in the UK

Like in most countries, the service industry typically pulls in the worst annual salary, and the UK is not different. While it is already known that waiters and waitresses pull in the worst annual salary, who else is at the bottom of the Office of National Statistic's report? Let's take a look at the four worst paying jobs in the UK.

* Bar Staff - This can include bar backs, dishwashers, bartenders, and bar maids. Their average salary is around £12,184, but it does not say whether or not this includes any gratuity they may get through the job.

* Tour and Travel Guides - This includes people who offer guided tours of historic areas to tourists and visitors and those who help to make arrangements for those staying in the UK. This job, while it does sound like fun to many, only has an average salary of around £23,561.

* Hairdressers - Hairdressers and those in a related or highly similar position make an average salary of around £13,194. This is about the average, since many in this type of career does make some type of gratuity.

* The Cashier - Your standard retail store cashier and similar job titles make a very meager salary in the UK of around £12,736.

http://averagesalaryuk.com/

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UK Average Salaries & Expenditures http://www.worldsalaries.org/uk.shtml

Not only politicians but investors draw battle lines in Malaysia

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

The worst is still far from over for Malaysia, which recorded an 81 percent plunge in foreign direct investment last year as investors bet that Prime Minister Najib Razak will not be able to steer his country to safe shores.


“From their point of view, Malaysia is beginning to look more like Thailand each day. They don’t think Najib is in control at Umno anymore and they are worried about the next handover of power,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

“The second-line Umno leaders like Muhyiddin, Hishammuddin are not inspiring. Then the type of politicking displayed by people like Khir Toyo and Ibrahim Ali frighten investors even more. And that’s why they bail out. And I’m not talking about foreign investors but also Malaysians themselves. Both categories are running away.”

Najib has to call for a general election latest by March 2013, but pundits beleive it will happen before October 2011.

Sore thumb amongst ASEAN nations

Indeed, Malaysia was the only country in the region to record negative FDI in 2009. According to the World Foreign Investment Report 2010 released by the United Nations on Friday, Malaysia received only US$1.38 billion.

This is even less than Philippines’ US$1.95 billion and pales in comparison with Singapore’s US$16 billion. Only Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos and Timor-Leste received less than Malaysia.

The WIR data is chilling given that Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala had earlier warned that Malaysia could go bankrupt by 2019, if the government was not allowed to embark on a subsidy-slashing program to reduce debt.

But experts and opposition politicians have dismissed Idris’ arguments as masking the real problems, arguing that the reasons for the economic downfall was due to endemic corruption, a weak political and administrative system.

In particular, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has lashed out at Najib, who is also Finance Minister, for offering piecemeal solutions rather an integrated and structural revamp."Burdening the people on the pretext of reducing deficit and using 'government savings' to fund government excesses must be stopped immediately," said Anwar.

He warned that subsidy cuts, which would trigger prices hikes, should only be used as a means to cut the national deficit. However, Malaysia’s national debt has soared to record high and the fiscal deficit was 7 percent of GDP last year, he pointed out.

DAP chief economist Tony Pua was also unconvinced by Najib's five-year plan unveiled last month. This aims to bring the deficit down to 5.3 percent this year, and reduce government debt as a proportion of GDP to 49.9 per cent in 2015 compared to 52.9 per cent in 2010.

“What was previously unimaginable, that we may one day be compared to countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar, is now a real possibility,” said Tony, pointing to the WIR data.

“The government cannot use the excuse of global financial crisis as the reason for the precipitous drop in FDI as we have performed the worst compared to all other countries big and small in the region.”

Najib's roadshows failed to inspire

The WIR data also showed that despite its current problems Thailand recorded a 30.4 per cent drop, Vietnam 44.1 per cent and Indonesia 44.7 per cent.

The other ASEAN nations Singapore, Brunei, Philippines and Myanmar managed to register positive FDI growth despite stiff challenge from East Asian dragons like China and Hong Kong.

Earlier this month, Anwar had suggested 4 key measures to bolster public and investor confidence. These include the immediate announcement of drastic reforms for a transparent government procurement system; restructure of gas subsidies for Independent Power Producers; vigilant management of Government-Linked Companies and government agencies and lastly, stepping up efforts to combat corruption and to stop political meddling in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Attorney-General's Chambers.

“It is not a mystery at all why we did so badly. Investors fear not the Pakatan Rakyat but Umno and BN. They are afraid Umno might instigate or trigger a political stalemate if they lose at the next General Election. Bear in mind some Umno leaders have hinted they would fight to the end not to lose political power,” Tian said.

“We also have to look at the performance of Najib as Finance Minister. He has done poorly and should relinquish the post to someone more capable immediately. So far, his New Economic Model has disappointed and the weak FDI numbers are another testament to his inability to draw in funds despite numerous expensive road shows. He spends too much money on frivolous thing like public relations and media advertisements to boost his image and on the political front - too much time on negative politicking.”

And if it should come to pass, then what?

In my ‘Can you feel it coming?’ post on 11th July, I ask :
Has the stage been set?
Do you feel it coming?
Suara Keadilan permit in jeopardy?
Harakah’s?
The Rocket’s?
Chegubard’s arrest Friday night last over a Najib – Altantuya post on his blog?
Is this the first of many more?
Do you feel it coming?
According to Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA, and as reported by  Malaysiakini, on 15th July, a Malaysian re-entering the country from Thailand was detained under the ISA, allegedly for being involved in an international terrorist network.
We’ll never know, will we, as long as the detention is under the ISA?
And, if RPK is to be believed, the ISA is no longer just about protecting national security, but is also about shielding personal improprieties from public scrutiny.
Dr Kua Kia Soong, himself an ex-ISA detainee, was reported by Malaysiakini on 21st July as saying that ‘there was a good reason why the government was still clutching on to the archaic Internal Security Act’
“The reason is because they want to be ready for a crackdown. It is always there for them in case of a rainy day…Umno seems to be unsure of what to do after the last general election. They are flip-flopping as to whether to continue to be more racist and hold on to their power or to be more attentive to the human rights condition,” , Dr Kua is reported to have said.
UMNO people I’ve spoken to reckon that the Najib administration, aided by advisers with their thinking caps on, would be too bashful to resort to a ‘Ops Lalang’ type crackdown.
“What would de Niro think? Who would duet with Rosmah in New York after that?”, they jokingly asked.
These same UMNO chaps acknowledge, though, that UMNO is not in thinking mode these days and is running around like a desperate two-headed chicken, pulling the leaders and  members in opposing directions, and tearing at the seams of the party.
And, they concede, a desperate UMNO might will resort to the ISA.
A thinking UMNO, they reason, would instead resort to the Sedition Act.
Sedition charge in court, quickie trial, quickie conviction, jail, no bail pending appeal, delayed hearing of any appeal.
Different, somewhat protracted route, but same desired effect.
Voices of the people silenced.
I told them that as UMNO plans, God says in the Holy Qur’an that He too plans and that He is the best of planners. As God assures us that He is only with the righteous, He cannot be with UMNO.
They laughed.
Earlier this week, I spoke to a few ‘voices of the people’.
They all share Dr’ Kua’s point of view.
I want to quote one of them, whose words generally echoed the sentiments expressed by the others.
“I have been speaking up for the freedom of the people. I will continue to do so. If they take me in, it remains to be seen whether the people, like those in 1987, will be indifferent, or will rise to set me free. My fate would be in their hands”.

If it should come to pass, then what?
Posted by Haris Ibrahim

Penjawat Awam Wajib Menunaikan Amanah Yang Dipertanggungjawabkan

Prinsip asas pentadbiran awam adalah jelas: ketaatan kepada ‘government of the day’. Dan prinsip ini digunapakai di seluruh dunia. Dalam erti kata lain,biar pemerintah datang dan pergi, penjawat awam harus terus mencurahkan khidmat bakti kepada negara dan rakyat.

Sikap Pegawai Pembangunan Negeri Pulau Pinang, Nik Ali Wan Yunus nyata sangat mendukacitakan. Meskipun Nik Ali merupakan pegawai lantikan persekutuan,tetapi memandangkan beliau merupakan penjawat awam yang berkhidmat di Pulau Pinang,maka keakuran beliau kepada Kerajaan Negeri harus diletakkan sebagai prioriti.

Biarpun ada kecenderungan politik, penjawat awam harus kekal neutral dan telus,demi menjunjung integriti dan akauntabiliti perkhidmatan awam.Asal saja sesiapa yang memerintah,maka taat setia penjawat awam harus diberi. Prinsip ini sewajarnya digunapakai di negeri-negeri Pakatan Rakyat.Penjawat awam harus kekal menjadi tiang seri.

Kenyataan Ketua Setiausaha Negara juga tampak mengecewakan,apabila melihat tidak ada keperluan Nik Ali untuk dipersalahkan,malah punya hak untuk mempertahankan diri dan dipertahankan. Kononnya Nik Ali dimalukan. Prinsip ini tidak pula digunakan apabila Nazri Aziz menyerang pegawai Kementerian pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi apabila timbul isu permit teksi satu masa dulu.Sewaktu Tukiman Nail dihadiahi penyapu oleh Khir Toyo,tidak juga dipertahan sedemikian rupa.Apakah kerana yang menyerang penjawat awam ini politikus Umno maka mereka perlu senyap?

Penjawat awam merupakan nadi kepada pembangunan negara. Malah merekalah tunjang kepada kestabilan sesebuah kerajaan. Justeru jangan dicemar profesionalisme mereka.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

FDI crashing because investors lost faith, says DAP

By Boo Su-Lyn | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — A lack of confidence in Malaysia’s economy has driven foreign direct investment (FDI) to our neighbours, leaving the once-roaring “Asian tiger” to compete with Indochina countries, the DAP said today.

The World Foreign Investment Report (WIR) 2010 released by the United Nations showed that FDI in Malaysia plunged 81 per cent last year, trailing behind countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.

“For the first time ever in history, Malaysia attracted less investment than the Philippines,” DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said in a statement today.

The Philippines attracted US$1.95 billion (RM6.24 billion) in FDI compared to Malaysia’s US$1.38 billion, while Singapore raked in the most — more than US$16 billion.

“Among Southeast Asian nations, we are now only attracting more FDI than Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos and Timor-Leste,” added Pua.

“What was previously unimaginable, that we may one day be compared to countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar, is now a real possibility,” said the Petaling Jaya Utara MP, pointing out that those countries had also attracted less than US$2 billion in FDIs last year.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been trying to lift Malaysia’s profile as a destination for foreign investment to help the country achieve an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of at least six per cent per annum over the next five years.

But Malaysia’s FDI rates have fallen faster than other regional players like Singapore and China, and at the same time capital outflows have dampened private domestic investments.

The Najib administration has also warned that the economy may slow down in the second half of the year due to external factors but have insisted that a six per cent growth was still achievable.

Today, Pua also said that Malaysia had suffered the biggest decline of FDI in Southeast Asia from 2008 till 2009.

“The government cannot use the excuse of the (global financial) crisis as the reason for the precipitous drop in FDI as we have performed the worst compared to all other countries big and small in the region,” said Pua.

Data revealed that Malaysia suffered a large 81.1 per cent drop in FDIs compared to far healthier figures in Thailand (30.4 per cent), Vietnam (44.1 per cent) and Indonesia (44.7 per cent).

However, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines and Myanmar still managed to register positive growth, said Pua.

Pua, also DAP’s chief economist, pointed out that Malaysia was the sole Southeast Asian nation to have registered a net negative FDI flow last year.

“Malaysia was the only country where our outflow of FDI amounting to US$8.04 billion is substantially greater than the FDI of US$1.38 billion received,” said Pua.

“Not only are foreign investors unwilling to invest in Malaysia, our own local investors as well as foreign investors who are already in the country have a total lack of confidence in the ability of our economy to generate an attractive return to their investments,” added Pua.

He pointed out that Malaysia’s net FDI flows have declined from US$2.56 billion in 2004 and US$1.09 billion (2005), to a net negative US$0.02 billion (2006), negative US$2.7 billion (2007) and negative US$7.67 billion in 2008.

“Despite Datuk Seri Najib repeatedly insisting that the era where ‘the government knows best’ is over, his administration continues to crowd out private investments by directly awarding mega-projects to government-linked entities, such as the Sungai Buloh land to an Employee Provident Fund joint venture with the government, or the Sungai Besi airport redevelopment, to the 1 Malaysia Development Fund,” said Pua.

“Without these necessary and critical changes to the government’s economic policies, the Malaysian economy will only continue to drift away from the radar of both local and foreign investors,” he added.

Pua went on to criticise Najib for not moving ahead with his New Economic Model, pointing out the prime minister had been forced to call it a “trial balloon” after a sour reaction from some Malay groups.

FAM: Khairy Throws His Weight Behind Tengku Abdullah And Annuar Musa

KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 (Bernama) -- Incumbent Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Khairy Jamaluddin who is not seeking re-election, has decided to back Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and Tan Sri Annuar Musa for the post of two deputy presidents.

Khairy said Tengku Abdullah's partnership with Annuar would be a perfect combination to steer Malaysian football to new heights.

"Tengku Abdullah is my choice for the post because I respect him and confident he can bring about changes.

"Tan Sri Annuar Musa is also a good choice and I see their partnership as a very capable one," he told reporters when asked his choice of candidates for the forthcoming FAM Congress on Saturday.

Khairy who earlier attended a 'gotong royong' organised by the Kelana Jaya Umno Youth division in Taman Desa Ria here said though during his tenure the Malaysian squad had won the SEA Games gold medal in Laos, it would not be enough to stimulate the development of football in the country.

Khairy said he had previously discussed the prospect of developing Malaysian football, with former international Lim Teong Kim who is currently coaching the Bayern Munich youth squad in Germany, but the proposal was not given much attention.

"I had discussed with Lim and he had offered himself to assist, but the decision made did not reflect the dedication of some to change the direction of Malaysian football," he said.

As such, he urged the delegates to choose capable individuals who can contribute towards the development of football in the country.

The Congress would elect office bearers who would chart the path of Malaysian football for the next four years (2010-2014).

Among the candidates vying for the deputy president's posts are Datuk Seri Redzuan Sheikh Ahmad, Datuk Che Mat Jusoh, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and Datuk Abdul Mokhtar Ahmad.

The FAM executive committee will be made up of 15 members, comprising a President, two deputy presidents, four vice presidents and eight executive council members.

Penempatan bersepadu Orang Asli terus dibina

Utusan Malaysia 

KUALA LIPIS 24 Julai - Kerajaan akan terus membina kawasan penempatan Orang Asli secara bersepadu yang dilengkapi dengan prasarana dan kemudahan seperti bekalan air, elektrik, jalan raya dan punca sumber ekonomi.

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata, usaha tersebut dilakukan untuk memastikan semua projek yang dilaksanakan untuk Orang Asli mencapai matlamat dan tidak menjadi projek gajah putih.

Sehubungan itu beliau mengarahkan agensi kerajaan yang berkaitan dengan pembangunan Orang Asli melaksanakannya bersungguh-sungguh dan bukan dibuat sambil lewa sahaja.

''Kita tidak boleh memandang rendah kepada masyarakat Orang Asli, contohnya dengan membina rumah melalui rancangan penempatan semula (RPS) tetapi tidak dilengkapi dengan bekalan air, elektrik dan tidak mempunyai punca sumber ekonomi.

''Kita kata mereka (Orang Asli) suka merayau-rayau dan tidak suka duduk setempat. Macam mana mereka tidak merayau-rayau kalau kita tidak sediakan prasarana tersebut," katanya pada program 1Malaysia di Pos Betau, di sini hari ini.

Menurut Najib, kerajaan akan menyediakan segala keperluan dan prasarana termasuk sumber ekonomi ketika melaksanakan RPS untuk membolehkan mereka hidup seperti masyarakat lain.

Tegasnya, perkhidmatan yang terbaik yang disalurkan kerajaan itu sebagai membalas kesetiaan dan ketaatan Orang Asli yang sentiasa menyokong Barisan Nasional (BN).

Pada majlis itu beliau turut meluluskan peruntukan RM6 juta untuk membina jalan sejauh 15 kilometer dari Pos Betau ke Lenjang dan RM1.6 juta untuk prasarana bekalan elektrik yang meliputi 167 unit rumah Orang Asli di RPS Pantos dekat sini.

British NGOs to hold protest at Oxford U

Oxford University is being heavily criticised for extending an invitation to Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud.
British civil society groups have announced a protest rally today in front of the Saïd Business School. Read more

Jho Low parties with Paris; drinks on Zhen

Our ‘favourite’ millionaire, Low Taek Jho, was spotted partying with Paris Hilton in Saint-Tropez in south-eastern France.

Party time! – Photo source: Celebutopia forum
Check out a couple of pictures from the BZ Berlin website here. And have a peek at the party pictures on the Celebutopia website forum here.
Look at those massive champagne bottles. A lot of champagne flowing there – wonder who paid for it. Apparently, there’s another wealthy dude in tow as well, Zhen Low, who, The New York Post reports, picked up a US$2.6 million booze tab. Some party, eh?
The party to top most other parties has made it to the British press as well – in the Daily Telegraph of all places.
The Telegraph reports:

What recession? Tycoons spend £1.8 million on champagne in St Tropez
Paris Hilton watched as the rival tycoons Zhen Low and Winston Fisher competed to see who could order more £600 bottles of Cristal in a St Tropez nightclub.
By Richard Eden
Published: 6:24AM BST 25 Jul 2010
As Joan Collins and her friends descend on St Tropez this week for a party on board Lady Joy, the yacht owned by the American socialite Denise Rich, they have been made to look positively austere.
Mandrake hears that two rival billionaires spent a staggering €2 million (£1.77 million) on champagne at Les Caves du Roy nightclub. Zhen Low, the younger brother of the Malaysian tycoon Jho Low, became involved in a competition with Winston Fisher, a New York property developer, to see who could order more £600 bottles of Cristal for their chums.
Guests included Paris Hilton, the socialite, who helped the cherubic Jho celebrate his 28th birthday with a four-day party in Las Vegas last year.
“Even by the standards of Les Caves, this was something else,” says my man on the Côte d’Azur.

Meanwhile, the Star reports that Jho Low’s father has asked him to lie low for a while in view of all this unwanted publicity.

Iran urged to free jailed woman

Protest organisers hope international pressure will led Iran's government to free Mohammadi Ashtiani [AFP] Rallies are being held in London and around the world to support Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death in Iran for adultery. Hundreds of people took to the streets of Paris, New York, Berlin, Ottawa and other cities on Saturday to show solidarity with the woman who has been incarcerated in Iran since 2005 and faces execution. "We do want to save her life," Maryam Namazie, a protest organiser in London, told Al Jazeera. Amnesty International, one of several groups publicising her case, said that Ashtiani, who has two children, was convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men and received 99 lashes as punishment. She was initially sentenced to death by stoning, but the execution was put on hold earlier this month after an international outcry. Malekadjar Sharifi, an Iranian official in Eastern Azerbaijan province, was quoted as saying the suspension was not influenced by the international condemnation drawn by the death sentence. Potential hanging Although she will not be stoned, rights groups worry that Ashtiani could still be hanged. Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, enforced since the 1979 Islamic revolution. At least 10 other people, including seven women, are under sentence of stoning in the Iranian jails, Amnesty said. Protest organisers hope continued international pressure will force the Iranian government to free Ashtiani. "We are hoping this will be a stepping tone to ending stoning and executions in Iran once and for all," Namazie said.

Prof Francis Boyle – Aparthied-type policies are Crimes Against Humanity

Professor Francis A. Boyle, an expert in international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, said at a convention in Connecticut that Sri Lanka is a violator of the Apartheid Convention, and that the world should, without delay, intensify a ‘divestment and disinvestment campaign’ against Sri Lanka in the same lines and for the same reason the world did this against the criminal apartheid regime in South Africa."
Article I of the Apartheid Convention, more formally known as the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA), labels the crime of Apartheid as a "crime against humanity," and declares that "inhuman acts resulting from the policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination are crimes violating the principles or international law…"
Prof. Boyle said the long history of discriminatory policies instituted by successive governments including desecration of cemeteries and cultural symbols overwhelmingly qualify as an apartheid regime, and therefore should be prosecuted as a violator of the Apartheid Convention.
Denying to a group basic human rights and freedom, the right to freedom of opinion and expression also qualifies.
Prof. Boyle pointed out that there is some degree of overlap between Apartheid treaty and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). He added that while some nations avoided becoming signatory to the Rome Statute, the crimes against humanity fall into the category of peremptory norms, and the international laws are binding on Governments even when the countries are not signatories to the conventions.
Earlier on another issue of deportations, he said that, "deportation without any reason is illegal, when refugees without visa were not deported."
Rome Statute
http://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/2010/02/rome_statute.pdf
Text of Aparthied Convention
http://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/2010/07/ApartheidConvention.pdf

A Tale of Two Temples by Farish A. Noor

Editor’s Note: Up to date this Hindu temple problems remain unresolved. Even the Mariamman hindu temple in Shah Alam that was said to be the spark for the 25^th November 2007 HINDRAF Rally has refused to be granted land by even the new PKR Selangor government. UMNO, PKR, DAP and PAS has refused to grant land to all Hindu temples all in on go in the states they rule including Kedah, Penang and Selangor. Because they will lose Malay votes!

A Tale of Two Temples

by Farish A. Noor

Tuesday, 04 December 2007

While meandering about in downtown Saigon recently I chanced upon the Sri Mariaman temple close to Ben Thanh market. It was an interesting visit to say the least, for the riotous colour of the temple were matched by the riotous conjunction of many faiths that had come together in that singular enclosed and sacred space.
The reasons for this are obvious to those familiar with Vietnam’s recent history: In 1975 when Saigon finally fell to the triumphant North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong, practically all the foreigners and migrant residents had made a bee line for the dock. The temples, churches and mosques of Saigon – thenafter renamed Ho Chi Minh city – were left vacant and the devotees wondered if they would be allowed to remain standing at all after their departure. At the height of the Cold War the Vietnamese Communists were seen as a rather uncompromising, tiresomely dogmatic, no-fun bloodthirsty lot and many had assumed that the religious texts would be recycled as toilet paper (as the Khmer Rouge treated the Bibles and Qurans that fell into their hands later) and that the sacred sites would be desacralised in the most outlandish manner.
But what followed next was a surprise to many: They, the dreaded Commies, not only allowed the religious buildings to remain, but they also made use of them in a host of imaginative ways. Many of the churches and mosques were restored and preserved, and some were turned into schools or clinics. Not a stone was touched, save by the restorer’s paint brush.
Today the Sri Mariaman temple in central Saigon has once again become a religious site for many, but ironically most of the devotees happen to be Buddhists and Taoists, not Hindu – for there are scarcely a dozen Hindus left in the city. So I sat and watched as mothers and aunts, grannies and grand-kids perambulated around the precinct of the temple, offering their prayers and sending up their hopes and wishes to the Gods of the Himalayas on a cloud of incense smoke. The Hindu priests are still there, though one wonders what they make of it all, with Buddhists and Taoists coming to offer prayers and light joss-sticks before the many avatars of Lakshmi, Durga, Kali and Krishna. If human beings have proven their intolerance time and again, at least the Gods seem more kindly and benevolent to entertain the vainest of wishes even from strangers.
Hop of the next cheapo flight and find yourself here in multi-culti Malaysia, just in time to see the bulldozers smash through another Sri Mariaman temple in Selangor. It was a double blow to me to return to KL in transit to hear the news that not one, but two, Hindu temples had just been flattened on the same day by our endearing developers in the vicinity of Shah Alam. Even less heart-warming were the accounts of the devotees of the temple who were manhandled and forcibly marched out before the hammers came down, some at gun point. If nefarious Commie Vietnam can protect their temples, why can’t we ‘plural, multicultural, multiflavoured’ Malaysians extend the same comfort and protection to our fellow Malaysians too?
Of course there will be the nay-sayers who will point me to the legal fine print and remind me of the legally dubious status of some of these temples. Then there will be those who will insist that this is an Indian-Hindu issue which I should not stick my nose in (even though the issue is a Malaysian one as these are Malaysian temples being destroyed on Malaysian territory and Malaysians are affected). Then there will be the gung-ho testosterone-driven macho types who will yelp and whinge about Malay identity being the paramount defining factor that defines what being Malaysian is, etc. etc.
But prattle and legalese notwithstanding, the bottom line is this: These happen to be Malaysian temples built on Malaysian soil with Malaysian devotees and the Malaysian government is presiding over their systematic and calculated destruction, one by one. One shudders at the thought of the long-term global repercussions of this campaign, for already recorded footage of these temple demolitions are being transmitted to websites all over the globe and the issue taken up by Hindu conservatives in India.
Nor are the parallels being drawn an attractive one: If the Taliban could have leveled the Bamiyan  statues of Buddha with a flick of the trigger-finger (to be followed by the mass slaughter of goats and cows all over the benighted land, which did not make it to the headlines); then what is happening in our plural wonderland called Malaysia? How are we to hold our heads up high and invite the world to visit our wonderfully diverse and colourful country when the very same landscape is being flattened in a rather indecorous way at the same time? Taliban, Wot? Here? Blimey!
The tragedy of course is that the deliberate reconstruction of Malaysia’s urban landscape is being done in broad daylight under the flag of a nebulous formulae of ‘moderate Islam’ that is said by some hopefuls to be the last chance to save the pluralist spirit of the country. However one finds it hard to accept such talk of mutual love and inter-communal cuddlyness when the bulldozers parked outside don’t look all that cuddly. Nor do the cops with their tear gas canisters and batons. Or the Orcish horde of construction (or should we say destruction) workers with mallets and hammers slung precariously over their shoulders, ready to rock and roll. Looking back at the fate of the two Sri Mariaman temples, the question remains: Who were the ones who protected the rights of the religious minorities better? The Godless Commies or the faithful Malaysians? These are the times when I am not proud to admit that I am a Malaysian, I have to say.

MACC fights bad press with Facebook, Twitter

Sutinah (second left) launches the MACC’s Facebook page, July 24, 2010. — Picture by Jack Ooi

SHAH ALAM, July 25 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is fighting back against harmful “gossip” about its work by launching its official Facebook page and Twitter micro-blogging account.

The national anti-graft body has come under sustained fire after its January 2008 start for what its detractors claim were a poor record of prosecution and ineffective fight against corruption.

MACC deputy chief commissioner (Prevention) Datuk Hajah Sutinah Sutan said yesterday that MACC had launched its Facebook page in order to repair negative public perception by providing “accurate information” about the anti-graft body.

“There is plenty of gossip and inaccurate information about SPRM (MACC)’s work. With this, we have the chance to give accurate information,” said Sutinah when launching the MACC Facebook page yesterday.

“I do not see that we are losing,” added Sutinah when asked if the MACC thought that it was losing the media battle on its increasingly dented image.

“People should fight corruption, not SPRM or its officers. With accurate information, there will not be any negative perception towards SPRM,” said Sutinah.

The MACC operation review panel claimed recently that the press had been unfair in its coverage of the anti-graft body and called for the media to protect the commission’s image instead to boost foreign direct investment.

MACC’s Facebook page has garnered about 4,100 fans in three months since its debut in the popular social networking site early May.

Many of the comments on MACC’s Facebook page appeared supportive of the anti-graft body, with some expressing their agreements with an Utusan Malaysia article posted by MACC titled “Isu Beng Hock terlalu dipolitikkan (Beng Hock issue overly politicised)”.

“People are saying that we are not transparent in our actions and that we are selective in our prosecutions,” said Sutinah, when asked to give examples of untrue “gossip” about MACC.

“But all of our actions are transparent,” she added.

Sutinah also cited five parliamentary bodies on graft that monitored MACC as evidence that there was check and balance on the anti-corruption body, adding that “There is nothing for us to hide.”

The deputy chief commissioner (Prevention) added that MACC had also launched a blog (www.ourdifferentview.com) and Twitter account (twitter.com/odvmacc) in late May this year, joining many Malaysian politicians who actively blog or tweet, such as DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

A year after the death of Teoh Beng Hock, MACC is still struggling in a seemingly losing battle to regain public confidence.

The 30-year-old political secretary to Selangor state councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah was found dead July 16 last year on a fifth-floor landing at Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, nine floors below the MACC’s Selangor then headquarters.

He had been interrogated overnight by anti-graft officers probing claims his boss was misusing state funds.

On the anniversary of Teoh’s death, MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed had pledged not to “cover up” the actions of anyone who may have been involved in causing the DAP political aide’s death.

However, MACC’s condolence statement to Teoh’s family had drawn heavy criticism because it was only available in Mandarin.

Beng Hock’s younger sister, Lee Lan, had also slammed Abu Kassim for his “insincere” effort.

MIC targeting one million Indian voters

KUALA LUMPUR: The MIC will ensure that at least one million Indian voters can vote in the 13th general election, said its president S Samy Vellu.

He said out of one million Indians who were eligible to vote, 840,000 had already registered with the Election Commission (EC).

"MIC will work at registering 100,000 more Indians, who are among 500,000 party members identified as having not registered as voters, by the end of October.

"The party will also ensure that 60,000 more eligible Indians will register as voters with the EC before this November.

"I believe that if we (MIC) can secure the support of Indian voters before others could do so, Indians will be the second biggest group of supporters for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election," he said after opening a seminar on registration of new voters for heads of MIC divisions, here, today.

Samy Vellu said based on the political parties' lists of new voters registered between January and June this year, Umno and DAP had each registered more than 50,000 new voters, while MIC had only registered 1,109 in the same period.

"This shows there are weaknesses in the leadership at the branch and higher levels," he said, adding that MIC would launch a nationwide voter registration drive and urged the EC to appoint more assistant registrars from among MIC division, branch, Wanita and Youth leaders.

He was confident that based on the current political scenario, Indian voters would play a crucial role in the next general election.

"I stand by the opinion that the Indians generally strongly support BN and the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

"The prime minister continues to communicate with the Indian community in the effort to gain more support for BN.

"If BN is weak, the MIC will also lose its strength and the channel to bring forward the problems faced by the Indian community to be resolved."

Therefore, Samy Vellu said, MIC needed to carry out transformation at the divisional and branch levels to face the current political challenges.

"Soon, there will be a leadership transformation at the top, a new leader will take over but it does not mean that I am sleeping until that time.

"The new leader must know the challenges in the party," he said.

- Bernama

PI Bala's lawyers issue challenge to critics

The three lawyers of former private investigator P Balasubramaniam are outraged at allegations that their legal fees were footed by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Placing Anwar's former private secretary Anuar Shaari who made the claims on Thursday in their cross-hairs, the counsel dared him to provide them with evidence.

"I challenge him. Show us what you have. You have nothing, Anuar Shaari, both in your hands and and in your head.

"I am calling him a liar. Anuar is a liar. He is rubbish and tell half-truths," said the visibly upset senior counsel Manjeet Singh Dhillon (left).

At a press conference in a Kuala Lumpur hotel today, he also refuted Anuar's claims that he has been repeatedly making offers to Anwar's one-time supporter S Nallakaruppan to return to PKR.

"I was just trying to get two friends who were arguing at the time, to reconcile. Anwar and Nallakaruppan's friendship back then, went beyond political parties. If two friends had fallen apart, is it wrong to try to reconcile them?" he asked.

Anuar had also insinuated that Anwar was footing the legal bills and raised questions of how Balasubramaniam is funding his stay in London.

He was also reported to have "urged" the lawyers to declare their salaries and assets to the Inland Revenue Board so that they could prove that they had no links with Anwar.

"Why is it necessary for us to declare our incomes to a party who is not involved in this. Comments by Anuar show he has no idea of what is going on.

"He is nothing," said another of Balasubramaniam's lawyers Americk Singh Sidhu (right).

Manjeet also pointed out that even if Anwar did foot the bill, it is not a crime.

"It just shows that he is just as interested to see the perpetrators of the crime brought to justice. Isn't that a noble thing?" Manjeet asked.

Legal work pro bono

With all that said and done, the lawyers announced that they have been working with Balasubramaniam on a pro bono (voluntary) basis.

"We have never requested money and payment. All we are interested is making sure that justice is done," said Americk.

He later reiterated that Balasubramaniam funded himself through the RM750,000 allegedly "thrust" into his hands by one of the prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor's associates
and carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan.

Meanwhile, Manjeet said that Balasubramaniam might release his statement that he sent to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

"The questions may be marked rahsia (secret), but the answers are not. There will be a time when we will release the answers," he said.

The MACC officers had at the eleventh hour, aborted a meeting with the ex-private eye in London. They later sent a list of 52 questions with the request that he send his answers in the form of a statutory declaration.

They were to investigate his claims that Prime Minister Najib Razak's brother, Nazim, was "involved" in getting Balasubramaniam to retract his first statutory declaration, detailing the grisly links between Mongolian translator Altantuya Shariibuu's murder and Rosmah as well as Najib.

Business Council Mum Over Rosmah Ad

From The Nutt Graph

By Jacqueline Ann Surin and Koh Lay Chin

The Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), which conferred the prime minister’s wife an award in New York in April, has remained mum about whether it was the party which placed a congratulatory advertisement in the New York Times (NYT) for her.

BCIU president Peter J Tichansky did not respond to e-mail queries to confirm that the council paid for the NYT ad that congratulated Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor for receiving the inaugural and little-known International Peace and Harmony Award.

The Nut Graph sent two e-mail enquiries to Tichansky to ask him to confirm who had actually paid for the award. The first e-mail was sent on 2 June after Tichansky wrote to us to express regret that a “well-intended gesture of welcome and congratulations honoring Malaysia’s First Lady” as the award recipient may have become a “political issue”.

The second e-mail to Tichansky was sent on 15 June after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced in Parliament on that day that BCIU was the organisation that placed the ad. Najib’s statement in Parliament was the first time the government publicly denied that it had paid for the ad. Throughout The Nut Graph’s reporting of the issue, the Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to our queries despite being given several opportunities to comment over a period of one month.

The NYT had originally told The Nut Graph that the ad, signed off “from family and friends in USA and Malaysia” was placed by “an ad agency on behalf of the Malaysian government.”

Eighteen days later, the NYT said it had made a mistake. But it would not reveal who actually took out the ad nor clarify how executive director for community affairs and media relations, Diane McNulty, could have made such a mistake. Instead, NYT’s director of public relations, Abbe Serphos, repeated that the ad was signed by “Family and friends in the USA and Malaysia”. Only when pressed did she reply: “In our internal systems the ad was reserved as a Government of Malaysia ad, but in fact the ad was not placed by the Government of Malaysia.”

Tichansky has not responded to either e-mail from The Nut Graph. In addition, Tichansky also did not respond to questions about when the award was conceived and by whom, what criteria were used in conceptualising the award, who the other nominees for the award were, and how Rosmah qualified for it.

In his first and only e-mail to us on 2 June, Tichansky had reiterated BCIU’s “respect for [Rosmah’s] humanitarian and charity work”, saying she was a “deserving recipient of BCIU’s award”.

Tichansky (source: BCIU.org)

After Najib’s statement in Parliament, Tichansky did not answer why the BCIU would sign off the ad as “family and friends [of Rosmah] in USA and Malaysia” instead of representing itself in the ad. He also did not answer the question as to how the BCIU could represent Rosmah’s family and friends.

The NYT has declined to disclose how much the ad cost. However, according to some estimates, full-page ads taken out in the NYT suggests that the cost of such advertisements ranges from US$180,000 to US$230,000. This amounts to between RM580,000 and RM740,000 for a one-page ad.

The congratulatory ad for Rosmah which appeared on 16 April 2010 was a two-page colour spread that would have cost far more.

It remains unclear why a US-based business council would pay for such an ad.

“Joh”, the receptionist

Apart from the BCIU, another party that is apparently involved in the ad has also remained mum about unanswered questions arising from the ad and the NYT’s retraction.

Henry Thomas Jones of Laurus Group DC, a “small public relations firm”, sent an e-mail on 7 June accusing The Nut Graph of blowing up a “trivial matter” and being unprofessional.

The Nut Graph had written to Jones on 3 June to ask what his involvement in the award and the ad was after he had surprisingly copied us on an e-mail to Tichansky. In that e-mail, sent on 1 June, Jones had responded to Tichansky’s e-mail to us which defended Rosmah as the award recipient. Jones told Tichansky: “This is great. Thank you! Please send, and I’ll forward to Joh.”

Obama meets Najib (© Pete Souza, The White House | Flickr)

The Nut Graph then wrote to Jones, who is known to have worked in a powerful lobbying company and is a seasoned political campaigner, to ask him if Laurus Group, DC was the one that ordered and paid for the ad congratulating Rosmah. We also asked if he was involved in lobbying for Najib’s meeting with President Barack Obama and for Rosmah to be conferred an award.

Additionally, we asked him who “Joh” was, and whether it was a particular individual whose name has been circulating among the New York-based media, and among local business and political circles. Jones did not reply.

However, after our 7 June report on the NYT’s mistake, Jones’s apparent involvement, and the mysterious “Joh”, Jones wrote a scathing e-mail that said:

“‘Joh’ … is my receptionist, Jo. When typing on the iPhone, it is not uncommon for me to misspell words. In this instance, I added an ‘h’. My firm provides occasional PRO BONO services to the Business Council for International Understanding.

“It is unfortunate that such a trivial matter, a misspelling in an internal communication, gives rise for your publication to generate unsubstantiated allegations, and then to publish the same. From an American perspective, I find The Nut Graph‘s standards for publication to be less than professional.”

Despite being asked to clarify in an e-mail we sent on 8 June, Jones did not reveal his receptionist’s full name and contact details. He also did not explain why a receptionist in his firm would need to be copied on a correspondence between him and his client.

He did not specify what about The Nut Graph’s reporting on 7 June constituted “unsubstantiated allegations”.

New York party

Robert De Niro (© Petr Novák| Wiki Commons)

Apart from the NYT ad, Rosmah and Najib were also feted on 16 April at the five-star St Regis Hotel in New York where the award ceremony was held.

The star-studded event was emceed by Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx and attended by Hollywood glitterati including Oscar-winning Robert De Niro and Charlize Theron, and Emmy Rossum. Performances by Grammy-award nominee Leona Lewis, and the Harlem Boys Choir were also held. A rendition of We Are the World led by Foxx and sung by De Niro, Theron and others ended the night.

Various blog postings and Tweets on the event talk about how well Foxx warmed the party up. One blogger, who attended the event, wrote that Foxx performed a “flirty” karaoke version of You’ve Got a Friend with Rosmah, and danced with Najib.

CBS News reporter Kaylee Hartung also tweeted and posted photos of the event saying: “When has a foreign dignitary been honored in this way? Amazing. Jamie Foxx has [the] whole room on their feet.”

According to one Twitter posting by a DJ, known as DJ Irie, who parties with Hollywood stars, Foxx and Rosmah rehearsed for their duet before the party.

According to online reports, the party was co-hosted by BCIU and the United States Sports Academy. No information was available about how much the entire event cost.