SPR mesti laksana 7 lagi tuntutan Bersih – Maria Chin

(Oleh: Masdar Wahid)
KUALA LUMPUR 7 Dis: Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih), menggesa Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Malaysia (SPR) melaksanakan tujuh lagi tuntutan gabungan itu, kata Ahli Jawatankuasa Pemandunya, Maria Chin Abdullah.
Sambil mengalukan pengumuman SPR melaksanakan dakwat kekal, Maria berkata, kesemua lapan tuntutan tersebut perlu dilaksanakan sebelum pilihan raya umum (PRU) akan datang.
“Jika kelapan-lapan tuntutan Bersih tidak dilaksana sebelum PRU-13, pandangan rakyat dan masyarakat antarabangsa mengenai perjalanan sistem pilihan raya di Malaysia tetap kotor, penuh manipulasi dan berpihak untuk memenangkan Umno BN,” katanya dihubungi Keadilandaily.com hari ini.
Tujuh lagi tuntutan itu ialah membersihkan daftar pemilih, mereformasikan undi pos, kempen minima 21 hari, akses media yang adil untuk semua parti politik bertanding, mengukuhkan institusi awam serta menghentikan politik kotor dan rasuah.
Beliau juga mengulas kenyataan Timbalan Pengerusi SPR, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar yang memberi alasan bahawa agensi kerajaan itu akan menemui Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan bagi meminta pandangan.
“Ini hanyalah alasan politik SPR yang dikitar semula sejak 2008, walhal Majlis Fatwa sudahpun memutuskan tiada masalah jika dakwat kekal diguna dalam pilihan raya,” tegas Maria.
Menjelang PRU-12, SPR bersetuju melaksana dakwat kekal, namun membatalkannya disaat akhir pengundian dengan alasan memudaratkan ketenteraman awam.
Pada PRU itu, buat pertama kali, Umno BN hilang dua pertiga kerusi di Parlimen selain tumbang di lima negeri.

Has Barisan Nasional Done Enough To Battle It Out In Selangor?

By Alan Ting

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 (Bernama) -- As it stands, Selangor remains the toughest state for either side of the political divide to wrest control in the next general election.

For that reason, the race for Selangor has begun in earnest with Barisan Nasional (BN) embarking on various strategies. Its latest campaign, 'Sayangi Selangor, Yakini BN' (Love Selangor, Have Confidence in BN), enters the final push for the state with weekly programmes in various constituencies.

Prime Minister and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also Selangor BN liaison chief, has openly stated that he wants BN to win back the country's most developed state.

While the recently-concluded Umno General Assembly seems to put the fighting spirit back into the largest BN component party, especially its members having a better sense of purpose about wresting back Selangor, some political observers are wondering whether BN components are doing enough to get the voters' support.

Selangor's electorate is said to be the most sophisticated and discerning in the country, as reflected by the relatively high Internet penetration and well-educated population.

Of the 56 state seats in Selangor, an estimated 60 per cent are solidly Malay-majority constituencies while the rest are either Chinese-majority or mixed seats. BN currently has 20 seats and it needs only nine more to regain power.

Of the seats up for grabs, 35 are for Umno to contest, 14 for MCA, four for Gerakan and three for MIC.

In the 2008 general election, Umno won 18 of the 35 seats it contested while Gerakan and MIC, contesting four and three seats, respectively, failed to capture even one.

MCA secured only two of the 14 state seats and one of the seven parliamentary seats it contested.

State Umno leaders have hinted that there are signs in many places that the Malay ground has begun to turn in Umno's favour. However, of concern are areas where Chinese voters account for a substantial number. The Chinese make up about 34 per cent of voters in Selangor while Malays account for 49 per cent and Indians, about 14 per cent.

Some questions beg to be answered. What have Umno's counterparts done to make up for lost ground since the last general election? Have MCA, Gerakan and MIC made good progress since then?

An internal survey in BN indicates a significant swing to BN by Malay and Indian voters although the Chinese are still taking a 'wait-and-see' attitude.

Given this situation, it is incumbent upon MCA and Gerakan to do more. Have they?

A divisional leader from one of the BN component parties claimed that MCA and Gerakan members do not seem to be working hard enough while MIC members have at least, been doing something to reach out to Indian voters.

Selangor BN information chief Datuk Yap Pian Hon said the reason for such a misconception was that there was not much publicity in the mainstream English or Malay language newspapers.

"But you can see our programmes in the Chinese newspapers, sometimes even politicians from both sides (MCA and Gerakan) appear at the same function," he said.

"When one doesn't see the news in the Malay or English language newspapers, there is a tendency to believe that other parties, besides Umno, are not doing anything when actually, we (MCA) have been carrying out a lot of activities with the (Chinese) community," he said.

Yap said that another reason for MCA programmes not attracting media coverage was that they included small group activities like dialogues with the community.

For Selangor MCA secretary Wong Koon Moon, he believes the lack of effective fund distribution to BN component parties has hampered efforts to reach out to more people.

"If you have a good coordinator, then the funding will be equally distributed among all the components," he said, explaining the need for fair and effective distribution of funds.

"I give you an example. When a Chinese organisation invites you for a fund-raising dinner, obviously it is asking for contributions. Even if you can't give much, at least, some amount will do. However, without such allocations, how are you going to contribute at all?," asked the Kuala Kubu Baharu state assemblyman.

Some BN component leaders in the state also shared similar opinions.

They claimed that in some of the constituencies where the BN had been defeated, there were meagre allocations or none at all.

To make matters worse, there were also allegations that some politicians from other component parties had asked their political colleagues to make way and give up their seats since their chances were considered "slim".

"If such is the mentality, how do you want those in the grassroots to reach out to the voters?," asked a BN component leader at a divisional level, who declined to be identified.

In addition, some state BN insiders have conceded that some state leaders had not been doing much to win back the hearts of the voters, especially in areas which had fallen to the Opposition.

Even MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek was reported to have publicly expressed that some MCA leaders in Selangor were "lazy" and were not performing up to expectations.

As the general election draws near, some political pundits feel there is still room to make up for lost time.

Respect elders, ‘newcomer’ Rama told

A DAP division in Penang is peeved with the deputy chief minister for branding party veterans as godfathers and demands a clarification.

BUTTERWORTH: The Bagan DAP division has launched a broadside against Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy for describing party elders as “godfathers”.
According to the division, this is a mark of disrespect and called on the academic-turned-politician to clarify who he was referring to.
The division also urged the leadership to take stern disciplinary action against the “newcomer”.
“Never before has a DAP elected representative criticised party elders as godfathers. Its ‘un-DAP-like’,” said division deputy chairman and Bagan Dalam assemblyman A Tanasekharan.
He said party elders, like national chairman Karpal Singh and Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang, have been the pillars of strength for DAP over the years.
“They have sacrificed so much and been the backbone of the party, we must respect them. As a newcomer, Ramasamy should not be disrespectful towards the party veterans. He should not act like a warlord,” Tanasekharan told FMT in the presence of the division’s liaison committee members.
Ramasamy, the Penang DAP deputy chairman, told an online media that DAP should get rid of not only warlords but godfathers as well.
He was responding to Karpal’s warning to certain party leaders against becoming political warlords by circumventing the leadership to promise and announce seats for their cronies.
Karpal also cautioned against using the term godfathers to describe veteran leaders, stating that the latter are also needed for the party’s progress.
The row was caused by Ramasamy’s announcement in Tamil newspaper Makkal Osai on Nov 28 that the party will field three Indian women – D Kamachi, P Kasturi (daughter of the late DAP stalwart P Patto), and an unknown lawyer from Penang, K Mangaleswari.
Ramasamy was also quoted as saying that parliamentarians M Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat), Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong), Charles Santiago (Klang) and M Manogaran, and assemblymen A Sivanesan (Sungkai), A Sivasubramaniam (Buntong), V Sivakumar (Tronoh) and P Gunasekaren (Senawang) were certain of contesting in the coming general election.
According to the article, Ramasamy also announced that he will re-contest both his Prai state and Batu Kawan federal seats, which is against the imminent party’s “one man – one seat” policy.
Although he denied stating it, the Makkal Osai article, sub-titled the report as Ramasamy’s announcement.
Why deny it now?

The unprecedented announcement was described by the Bagan division as running foul of “DAP’s political culture amounting to usurpation of the Central Executive Committee’s (CEC) powers.”
Tanasekharan said the majority of division leaders and members backed Karpal on this matter.
He also questioned why Ramasamy denied making such an announcement only after Karpal’s outburst.
“Instead of accusing the reporters and media of twisting (his remarks), he should have denied the report a week ago,” he added.
Bagan division head and Penang DAP vice-chairman Lim Hock Seng clarified that the CEC is the party’s highest decision-making body to finalise and announce the candidatures.
Under the party selection process, each parliamentary division, in which DAP contests, will submit five fresh names, apart from the incumbents, for the state election committees to consider as candidates.
All incumbents are automatically considered as candidates.
The state election committee will then submit names of shortlisted candidates to the state committee for another vetting.
Finally the CEC will conduct a perusal and has the final say on candidates shortlisted and recommended by the state committees.
Lim said even top national leaders and state chairmen will not be certain of their candidacy until the CEC’s eleventh hour announcement.
Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow, Ramasamy, Lim, vice chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo and secretary Ng Wei Aik make up the current five-man state election committee.
Lim said the relevant DAP divisions have submitted their candidature proposals for seven parliamentary and 19 state seats to the Penang election committee.
“The committee has not met until today,” he confirmed.
Meanwhile, Tanasekharan said the Bagan division is upset with Ramasamy for doing a (former MIC president S) Samy Vellu by projecting himself as the “DAP Indian leader.”
“DAP never projected anyone as a particular community leader,” he noted.
Ramasamy’s announcement in Makkal Osai is set to take centre stage during the Penang DAP delegates’ conference on Dec 11.

Suhakam probes Cambodian maid’s death

Cambodia's opposition MP says this is the first case filed and accepted officially in Malaysia.

PETALING JAYA: Suhakam has accepted for the first time a complaint from Cambodia over the death of a ninth Cambodian domestic worker in Malaysia.

Pov Nich, 18, arrived in Malaysia on Aug 28. Two months later, her mother was informed by the recruitment agency in Phnom Penh of her daughter’s sudden death.

The agency claimed that Pov Nich collapsed after taking the wrong medicine and died following further complications at the hospital.

On Monday, prominent Cambodian opposition MP Mu Sochua (photo) wrote to Suhakam commissioner, Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah urging for investigations into the vague circumstances of Pov Nich’s death and employment.

Sochua yesterday received an email from Suhakam confirming receipt of her complaint and informing her that a file has been opened over the matter.

The email was signed by the human rights commission’s Principal Assistant Secretary of the Complaints and Inquiry Division, Ameer Iznayif Hamzah.

“The swift response from the commissioner is very encouraging,” Sochua said. “This is the first case filed and accepted officially and I will be filing similar complaints for all nine deaths of Cambodian domestic workers in Malaysia.”

In her letter to Sha’ani, she also implored for the retrieval and release of information on the reported deaths of Cambodian domestic workers in Malaysia.

“Despite these deaths being officially recognised by the Malaysian authorities, the names and details surrounding the circumstances of these deaths and the agencies involved remain shrouded in secrecy,” she stated.

Suhakam’s acceptance and response of Pov Nich’s case is a significant step forward in Sochua’s fight against the abuse of Cambodian domestic workers in Malaysia as her previous attempts to contact Malaysian authorities have largely been ignored.

Cambodian domestic workers streamed into Malaysia following a three-year freeze on recruitment of their Indonesian counterparts.

Of the 50,000 Cambodian domestic workers currently in Malaysia, 30,000 arrived this year alone.

Tenaganita has rescued 41 of them to date with 56% having suffered physical abuse, 26% sexually abused, 25% malnourished and 42% forced to work double jobs.

However following complaints of abuse, the Cambodian government banned sending their domestic workers to Malaysia in November.

Shias targeted in deadly Afghan shrine blasts

Two bomb blasts apparently targeting Shia Muslim shrines as hundreds of people gathered to mark the day of Ashoura have killed at least 60 people and injured scores more, according to Afghan police and media reports.

At least 56 people were killed by a suicide bomber who detonated explosives at the gate of the Abu-Ul Fazil shrine in the capital Kabul on Tuesday, many of them children, the AFP news agency reported.

Al Jazeera's Jennifer Glasse, reporting from the blast site in Kabul, said police had confirmed the death toll. The ministry off health said that more than 100 people had also been injured.

Ambulances rushed to the scene to take the wounded to hospital while some berated police for allowing the attack to occur on a major religious holiday, our correspondent said.

'Huge explosion'

"I was there watching people mourning when there was suddenly a huge explosion," witness Ahmad Fawad said.

"Some people around me fell down injurefd. I wasn't hurt, so I got up and started running. It was horrible," he said.

In a separate attack, a bicycle bomb near a mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif killed four worshippers, a district police chief said.

A Taliban statement said the group had not been behind either incident.

The Taliban condemned the bomb attacks in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif as the brutal work of "enemies", a spokesperson for the armed group said.

"Very sadly we heard that there were explosions in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif, where people were killed by the enemy's un-Islamic and inhuman activity," Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement published on their website.

Ahmad Shuja, an Afghan blogger and commentator, based in Washington, told Al Jazeera "there isn't a strong likelihood of sustained violence" as a result of these two bombings.

"We may see a scuffle or two in the streets like, what has happened in [Afghanistan's western city of] Herat in the past but there are a few reasons why it won't lead to sustained sectarian violence," he said.

"No Shia group has the arms, organisation or experience to indulge in sectarian violence based on suicide attacks. They have been disarmed by the Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) process and Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) in Afghanistan [as a result they] have been fairly successful of stripping every one of their arms.

"It's important to consider that Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia have in the past supported various Shia and Sunni sectarian groups and could potentially fill that void now."

Karzai flies home

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has cancelled a visit to the UK to return to Afghanistan after the deadly attacks.

Karzai was in Germany on Tuesday evening after attending the international conference on the future of Afghanistan after NATO troops pull out at the end of 2014, in the German city of Bonn, and was later due to travel to the UK.

Earlier he spoke of the unprecedented nature of the attack, saying it was "the first time that, on such an important religious day in Afghanistan, terrorism of that horrible nature is taking place".

Karzai also appealed to Afghanistan's neighbour Pakistan, which boycotted the Bonn meeting, saying it had "a very important role to play in the peace process in Afghanistan".

At Monday's conference, delegates pledged sustained support for Afghanistan for another decade, in exchange for clear progress on good governance.

Pakistan and the Taliban - both seen as pivotal to any end to the fighting in Afghanistan - decided to not attend the talks, undermining already modest hopes for real progress.

Kabul has been targeted by a series of bold attacks in recent months; include assaults on the US embassy, a major hotel and the offices of the British Council.

The blasts occurred as Shias gathered to carry out religious rituals to mark one of the most significant days in their calendar.

Ashoura, a public holiday in Afghanistan, is marked by Muslims as a whole, but for Shia Muslims it is a major religious festival which commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Shias were banned from marking Ashoura in public under the Taliban. This year, there are more Ashoura monuments around the city than in recent years, including black shrines and flags.

Meanwhile, a bomb placed in a motorcycle exploded in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Tuesday afternoon, injuring three civilians, a spokesmfan for the provincial governor said.

The site of the Kandahar blast was not near any mosque or shrine.

Outcry in The Hague over ‘pedo imam’

Labour Party MP Ahmed Marcouch wants to bar imam Mohamed al-Maghraoui from entering the Netherlands.

The controversial Moroccan imam has been invited to attend a conference in the As Sunnah mosque in The Hague.

Al Maghraoui caused an uproar in Morocco in 2008 when he issued a fatwa approving a marriage with a nine-year-old girl. The fatwa has since been nullified by the Moroccan religious authorities and the controversial imam fled to Saudi Arabia to avoid prosecution. He reportedly repeated his fatwa when he returned to Morocco in 2011.

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders has also said the imam should not be allowed to visit the Netherlands.
The As Sunnah mosque has repeatedly been the subject of controversy. Earlier, the Salafist As Sunnah Imam Sheikh Fawaz Jneid called on his followers not to integrate into Dutch society.

The mosque has declined to comment on the planned visit by the controversial Moroccan imam.

(gsh/rk) © Radio Netherlands Worldwide

MIC prepared to be colour blind if…

Party deputy president Dr S Subramaniam says MIC is prepared to move in the direction of becoming a multi-ethnic entity if Umno, being the backbone of BN, leads the way.

PETALING JAYA: MIC is ready to evolve from being an Indian-centric party towards one that is multi-ethnic.

Expressing this, MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam said political parties in Malaysia must transform in line with the feelings and expectations of the majority.

“The present feeling among the younger generation about multiracial representation has to be respected. And we must allow such a healthy evolution,” he told FMT.

The human resources minister said as far as MIC is concerned, if other parties in Barisan Nasional coalition are willing to do so, then MIC will have “no qualms” going forward in that direction.

However, Subramaniam stressed that Umno, as the biggest coalition partner in BN, has to take the lead.

Last month, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek said his party is hoping to expand itself beyond being an ethnic-based entity. “We no longer want to be a party which looks at an issue from a Malay, Chinese or Indian perspective,” he had said.

MCA previously proposed a “New Deal” for the country, with Chua saying that a paradigm shift is needed for Malaysians to break out of their “superficial and race-centric cocoon”.

Echoing Chua’s sentiments, Subramaniam said: “I think in the long term, ethnic thinking is not good for the country.”

In the end, he said, the political structures of the country should depend on what the people want at that point of time.

“Our current political structures were determined by the requirements of that particular time in history. We were created more than 60 years ago, even before Independence and communities thought there was a need for them to be represented, MIC came, then MCA,” he added.

Najib is heading that way

Since then, Subramaniam said politics has evolved and now a sizeable number of youths, particularly from the middle class, feel that there must be more “trans-ethnic thinking”.

“There is a greater need to think in terms of national causes that go beyond racial lines,” he said.

Subramaniam said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is trying to move in that direction with his 1Malaysia concept.

“I think the thinking now is that it has to evolve towards that stage, that is why recently BN introduced clubs, such as the friends of BN, affiliate members, to allow for a greater openness and more people of all races to be involved.

“For a start, more activities and programmes should be allowed under the BN banner to push this evolution, ” he said.

Subramaniam said other component parties should be able to accept such changes, especially Umno leaders at all levels should be convinced.

When asked, the MIC deputy president denied that the current BN system has failed or remains Umno-domninant.

Instead, he said it has been a fair and open system.

“I think nobody in BN can complain that you have never had the opportunity to express yourself. The BN concept is a compensatory mechanism, allowing multiple ethnic-based parties to work within a common national agenda,” he added.

Umno beating the drums for another May 13

What is new and unexpected is the vitriol and venom directed openly and without inhibition at opposition parties and their leaders.
COMMENT

The Umno general assembly has come and gone. Most political observers had expected it to be the usual rah-rah event aimed at rallying Umno members ahead of the coming elections and in support of the leadership of Najib Tun Razak, the party president. They were right.

The public were subject to yet another spectacle of sound and fury on how important the party is to the future of Malays, albeit with the occasional reminder of how indispensable the party is to the well being of all the citizens of the country.

Optimistic observers who had hoped that the party would live up to its rhetoric of being a mature and transformed party of moderation – at least for the duration of this publicly viewed occasion – were disappointed.

The collective breast beating led by the party president and deputy president – on the greatness and goodness of the party compared with the weaknesses and evilness of the opposition – was quite unprecedented in the history of the party’s general assemblies.

The attacks against PAS, PKR and especially the DAP during the meeting have only just begun.

Can we expect it to continue with greater viciousness and spitefulness as Umno leaders fan out into the grassroots to campaign in the next few months leading to the elections?

What should be of concern is not just the running down and bad mouthing of the opposition. This has been the norm in past assemblies, especially those leading up to the elections.

What is new and unexpected is the vitriol and venom directed openly and without inhibition at opposition parties and their leaders.

In many speeches made at the assembly, there appears a concerted attempt at inciting racial and religious emotions and issues and exploiting Malay insecurities with imagined and wildly exaggerated threats of the looming new dawn of non-Malay and Christian dominance for Malaysia should the party fail to win the coming elections.

The many socio-economic and political challenges facing the community and nation – many arising from bad governance, abuse of power, and corrupt practices practiced or condoned by the party and its coalition partners during the decades of Barisan rule – received little mention or attention.

Umno’s ultimate game changer

The question which arises now is whether the party is laying the ground work – deliberately or inadvertently – for the game-changing political development sought after by hard line Umno leaders in case the coming election results do not go Umno’s way.

This game changer is a repetition of the May 13, 1969 racial riots.

In his opening address to the assembly, it is notable that amongst the developments listed by the Prime Minister Najib as influencing the party he referred to the 1969 racial riots as one of the party’s eleven game changers in its past and current history.

What is regrettable is the way in which he appears to condone the racial violence that resulted in authoritarian rule and the suspension of Parliament, and pins the blame for this darkest event in our history squarely on the opposition.

“Let us never be negligent because there are some among the opposition leaders who are stoking flames and slogans to belittle the Malays so that there will be a May 13”.

The PM as the responsible leader of our nation must clarify this statement and allay the anxieties and fears of our citizenry and voters on the possible recurrence of racial violence.

He and his deputy president must never give the impression to Malaysians and to Umno supporters especially that they are seeking to fan or are condoning extremist sentiments in any way whatsoever.

The oblique warning by the prime minister that there is a possibility of another recurrence of racial violence may not have been apparent to political analysts, drowned by the assembly proceedings and verbiage.

However, that this potential game changing option is being contemplated in high circles is beyond doubt.

May 13 was sparked off as a result of election results in which the opposition parties denied the Umno-led Alliance their customary two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Should the coming election fail to deliver the expected victory for Umno, are we to expect hard-line Umno leaders to resist the handing over of power peacefully and to agitate for power by other means?

Opposition made the scapegoat

Ominously, the scapegoat for any new outbreak of racial and religious violence has already been identified – not Umno extremists but those on the other side of the political fence.

Besides being alerted to Umno’s and the BN’s efforts to cling to power through well honed electoral manipulation (especially through massive gerrymandering and mal-apportionment in constituency electoral numbers) and using a combination of divide and rule racial and religious strategies as well as the buying up and harassment of the political opposition, it is important that the public – Malays and non-Malays – pay attention to – but are not intimidated by or co-opted into any attempted deployment of this ultimate game changing solution to the loss of political power.

Neither should the public be confused or taken in by the spinning on who are the patriots and who are disloyal to the country.

Fascistic elements in Umno (as well as various support elite groups in key institutions) will push the line that the best way to deal with the political challenges confronting the party and failure to win the coming elections is to declare emergency rule and to suspend the democratic process.

A return to authoritarian rule a-la the period immediately after the May 13 racial unrest can then be justified in terms of preserving national unity, security and harmony and the thwarting of the enemies of the Malays and Islam.

In reality, it will amount to an Umno led coup and a major setback in the country’s evolution to a normal democratic system.

It is hoped that wise and responsible leadership will prevail in the campaigning during the coming elections. All of us will be losers if the irrational logic and ferocity of the Umno meeting is unleashed on the country in the next few months.

Lim Teck Ghee is the director of the Centre for Policy Initiatives. This article first appeared at the CPI website.

Ramasamy says he is innocent

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy says Karpal Singh was not targeting him when he said certain DAP leaders had stepped out of line.

PETALING JAYA: Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy dismissed claims that he had announced DAP candidates and seats for the general election.

“It is the prerogative of the party’s central executive committee (CEC) to decide who stands as a candidate. I never promised seats to anyone,” said Ramasamy.

He also denied DAP national chairman Karpal Singh was lashing out at him.

“I still believe that Karpal made a general statement. I will be talking to Karpal on it.

“The news report was twisted to include me,” said Ramasamy, who contacted FMT to respond to a FMT report entitled, “Karpal hits out at DAP warlords”.

The news report published yesterday had Karpal commenting on vernacular press reports about party warlords announcing candidacy and seats.

In particular, Karpal noted that the vernacular newspaper article quoted Ramasamy, a CEC member, as saying that the party had decided to field three Indian women – D Kamachi, P Kasturi, and an unknown lawyer from Penang, Mangleswari.

The article also had allegedly quoted Ramasamy as saying that parliamentarians M Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat), Charles Santiago (Klang) and M Manogaran, and assemblyman A Sivanesan (Sungkai) were virtually certain of contesting in the coming general election.

According to the article, Ramasamy, the Penang DAP deputy chief, has also claimed that he would re-contest both his Prai state and Batu Kawan federal seats.

On the issue of the three Indian women, Ramasamy said: “I merely stated that they would be considered.”

Ramasamy, who is also DAP’s national deputy secretary-general, denied making statements regarding the four Indian representatives’ chances of re-contesting.

On allegations that he would be contesting both Prai state and the Batu Kawan parliamentary seats, he said:

“The state can nominate but it is the CEC that decides.”

He added that the vernacular press has been speculating on his candidacy for a long time now.

Zaid Ibrahim’s KITA opts out of polls, to back Pakatan

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — KITA, a party founded by former Umno-turned-PKR politician Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, announced today it will not be contesting in the coming polls and promised to offer its “unconditional support” to the federal opposition.

In a statement posted on its website today, the party said it had decided to reverse its earlier decision to contest in the polls as it wanted to maintain solidarity with the opposition and not jeopardise its chances.

“Whilst we disagree with some of the opposition’s policies, we believe that despite these shortcomings the opposition will not destroy racial harmony in Malaysia ... unity demands that smaller parties, such as ourselves, give way to larger political parties to ensure optimum results in the election,” it said.

The party also came out in defence of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) amid the ongoing barrage of Umno-led attacks against DAP as a “racist” party.

During the just-concluded Umno annual general meeting (AGM), delegates took turns to warn against DAP’s purported dominance in PR, claiming if the pact claims Putrajaya, the Malays would lose power to the Chinese.

Calling the accusations “dangerous and irresponsible”, KITA said the statements would only widen current divisions in society.

The Dubious Trial of Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar: Back to prison?

Two years later, the government’s case still looks manufactured
After nearly two years of conflicting and often suspect testimony, the so-called Sodomy II trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to finish this week in a Kuala Lumpur High Court, with final summations by both sides.

It is a trial that has been condemned internationally by legal scholars and human rights activists as designed to take Anwar out of Malaysia’s political equation.

Political sources in Malaysia have been building several different scenarios. Given the tone of the trial so far, it appears likely that Anwar, the opposition leader of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat, will be convicted despite a vast number of prosecutorial missteps. That would probably make him a martyr in Malaysia because his followers – and many others – believe he is being railroaded into jail on false charges.

Under another scenario, the judge, acting under orders from the government, would declare him not guilty, which would be followed immediately by a prosecutorial appeal, which would keep Anwar embroiled in more months of legal entrapment that diverts time and energy away from leading the three-party Pakatan Rakyat opposition. It would also give the Malaysian judiciary a thin tissue of respectability.

A then-24-year-old aide, Mohamad Bukyairy Azlan Saiful, made the charge on June 29, 2008, shortly after Anwar had led Pakatan Rakyat coalition to a historic sweep of five Malaysian states, winning 82 parliamentary seats in 2008 national elections and breaking the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition's two-thirds majority hold on parliament. He was arrested at his home on July 16 of that year, by a contingent of 10 carloads of police commandos and was locked up overnight in a Kuala Lumpur jail.

The trial, which began in February 2010, has been marred by what appear to be egregious prosecutorial errors and a long series of prejudicial rulings by High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohamad Diah. Critics say the proceedings appear certain to once again tarnish Malaysia’s reputation in international circles and play a role in destroying whatever confidence there was in the country’s legal system. The case has been condemned by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, 60 members of the Australian parliament, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and prominent leaders from Commonwealth nations including Paul Martin of Canada and others.

From the very beginning, when Saiful sought to get doctors to certify that he had been sodomized, doubts began to surface. Saiful first went to a private hospital, where a doctor found no evidence of penetration and told him to go to a government hospital. At the first government hospital, doctors also told him they had found no evidence of tearing or scarring that would have indicated his anus had been penetrated. He was forced to go to a third government hospital where he finally found a physician willing to say the act had taken place.

In the intervening months, as the trial has droned on, an array other doubtful factors have made the case look like it was manufactured to rid the Malaysian political scene of one of its most charismatic figures, and that the country’s court system, never regarded as independent since former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad fired the Supreme Court in the 1980s, was bending over backwards to do the government’s bidding.

Gordon Trowell, in a report for the Inter-Parliamentary Union, pointed out that the charges had been levied just as Anwar was making a spectacular return to the political scene from a long period in the political wilderness following his first sodomy trial in 1999, when he was jailed for six years on charges that have been universally condemned as rigged.

Mistakes made over DNA samples call into question whether the evidence could survive in a rational court of law. Police officials have testified that Saiful didn’t offer to be tested for DNA samples until 56 hours after the alleged incident, and he said he hadn’t defecated during those two days, which could have corrupted the sample.

Other testimony indicated that the samples taken from Saiful were kept unguarded in a police office for 43 hours without refrigeration before they were turned over to the laboratory for analysis. Chemists testified that as many as 10 different DNA samples had been found in Saiful’s rear, making the whole analysis process suspect.

That any samples could be taken from Anwar is also questionable. Under Malaysian law at the time, suspects could refuse to give DNA samples. However, the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia’s parliament, passed a law repealing the consent requirement after Anwar’s arrest. In most courts, law cannot be applied retroactively.

Although Anwar refused to give a DNA sample, items issued to him during his overnight stay in jail were analyzed and a sample was found. Zabidin in March handed Anwar a major victory by throwing out the purported DNA evidence because it had been taken without his permission. However, a week later, after the prosecution demanded it, Zabidin reversed himself and said the evidence could after all be entered into the court despite the retroactive nature of the law.

Then there is the series of meetings that Saiful has acknowledged in court, at the home of then-Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, on June 24, 2008, two days before the alleged sodomy took place and others with Rosmah's close confidant, the former track star Mumtaz Jaafar, as well.

Saiful also acknowledged meeting secretly twice with Rodwan Mohd Yusof, a senior assistant police commissioner, before the alleged offence took place. Rodwan became famous, or infamous, in Anwar's 1998 Sodomy I trial when he illegally removed Anwar's DNA samples from forensic custody and planted them on a mattress allegedly used by Anwar for a homosexual dalliance. To protect the integrity of the prosecution's case, the presiding judge, Augustine Paul, expunged the entire DNA evidence at the time.

There is also the question of entrapment. Saiful testified that on the day in question he had taken lubricant with him to Anwar’s condominium – hardly the act of an innocent aide who had no idea that the then 63-year-old Anwar was about to jump him for unnatural sex. Surveillance cameras in filmed the former aide in a lift in the building but Anwar said he was having a meeting with a group of economists at the time Saiful allegedly showed up.

But the fact that Saiful went to the condo with lubricant in his pocket, whether he got in or not, is ample indication that he intended to try to lure the opposition leader into a compromising position. It would be questionable whether he tried to do that on his own, and it would dovetail rather smoothly with his meetings with Najib, Rosmah, and the law enforcement officials who put Anwar in jail in 1999.

Trowell in his report called pointed out a flock of other discrepancies. Abdul Gani Patail, the main prosecutor in the 1998 sodomy proceedings that were thoroughly discredited, has been involved in the present case at a time when he was being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency following allegations of fabricating evidence.

There was an “almost systematic rejection of all defense applications for disclosure of prosecution evidence, which it would need in order to mount the defense,”

There was also the fact that Saiful was having a sexual liaison with Farah Azlina Latif, a female member of the prosecution team, which should have further disqualified him as a complaining witness.

The defense and prosecution have both finished presenting evidence and the opposing sides are scheduled to submit their oral summaries on Dec. 8 and 9. After that the judge will probably take a month or so to deliver his decision. If convicted, Anwar is certain to appeal. Whether he will be allowed bail will again remains to be seen. The process will thus probably go on for an indefinite period.

Unfortunately, what the evidence has shown most clearly is not that Anwar was guilty or not guilty of having what the government termed “unnatural consensual sex” with his former aide. It is rather that the trial was skewed so badly in the government’s favor that the opposition leader demonstrably did not get a fair trial.

Chua: Be clear on hudud

The Star
WANI MUTHIAH, FLORENCE A . SAMY and JOSEPH KAOS Jr at the ‘Hudud and its Implications on Non-Muslims in Malaysia’ forum in Kuala Lumpur

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has challenged Pakatan Rakyat to include its stand on hudud and its implementation in its general election manifesto and common agenda.

Pakatan, especially PAS, he said, should be transparent in its stand.

“Right now, there are conflicting signals from Pakatan leaders. Hudud should be in their common agenda since they always never do anything without consulting their partners.

“If the rakyat votes for PAS, DAP or PKR knowing full well that they will implement hudud law, then we should respect it as it is the voters' choice,” he said at a forum entitled “Hudud and its Implications on Non-Muslims in Malaysia” yesterday.

Dr Chua lambasted DAP for its contradictory stand and for misleading the Chinese community, especially with its “agreeing to disagree” statement.

“On one hand, DAP says it opposes hudud. On the other hand, in the last general election and subsequent by-elections, DAP campaigned vigorously to ensure the PAS candidate won,” he said at the forum organised by MCA's Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research.

The forum was moderated by Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee.

Dr Chua reiterated MCA's opposition to hudud and its implementation, adding that hudud law would adversely affect both Muslims and non-Muslims.

“It is a lie that it will not affect us. We have the right to talk about it as it does affect us.

“We do not accept hudud and its implementation in a multi-racial country,” he said.

Explaining the ramifications, Dr Chua said that the implementation of hudud law would affect the country's foreign direct investment, revenue as well as rights of non-Muslims, including gambling and drinking activities.

He dismissed claims by Pakatan that hudud law could not be implemented even if it came into power but did not have two-thirds majority.

He said Muslim MPs from both sides of the divide would be forced to support the Bill although they might not agree with the implementation as hudud was part of Islam.

Dr Chua pointed out that hudud law could not be implemented without amending the Federal Constitution.

“How then can the rights and freedom of non-Muslims be safeguarded? Which court will have jurisdiction which involves both Muslims and non-Muslims as hudud law cannot exist without the existence of Islamic law?'' he asked.

In his closing address, Dr Chua urged non-Muslims to reject the implementation of hudud law because it had great implications on them.

“We also heard the panellists say that the PAS version of hudud does not represent the true essence of Islam.

“Malaysians must make a choice of either choosing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's vision of a high-income nation by 2020 or a failed state run under hudud law,” he added.

On Saturday, Dr Chua had said in Malacca that he had no problem having a public debate on hudud with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng provided the latter answered two questions first.

He said Lim must first explain to the people if he could ensure the implementation of hudud law would not affect the non-Muslims.

Second, he said Lim must explain if the implementation of hudud law would affect the norms and life- style in Malaysia, especially the economic, education and social system aspects.

Bar Council, Suhakam say A-G glossed over street protest ban

The Malaysian Insider
by Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — Putrajaya’s speed in passing a new law that bans street demonstrations has stunned the Bar Council and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) who revealed they were given a far different account of its contents at the draft stage.

The two statutory bodies disclosed too that Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had sought their views over the controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill but failed to provide them with written copies of the draft before its tabling in Parliament last November 22.

“The Bar Council was not given a copy of the Peaceful Assembly Bill during the consultation stage,” its president Lim Chee Wee told The Malaysian Insider when contacted over the weekend.

He said there were good reasons why the copy was not provided, but could not disclose these because they had sworn to keep it confidential.

It was read out to us, and even then there were differences between the two versions, during consultation and what was tabled in Parliament. Notably, during consultation we were told assemblies in motion were allowed,” he said.

Assemblies in motion, better known as street demonstrations, are barred under the new law to replace section 27 of the Police Act.

It is one of the most controversial aspects of the new law, which was hastened after Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s government was globally panned for its harsh treatment of thousands of demonstrators in the Bersih 2.0 street rally seeking to pressure the prime minister for cleaner and more honest elections.

Lawyer Syahredzan Johan, who also attended the consultation meeting, clarified that the A-G had “glossed over” some aspects in explaining the new law.

The A-G, who prohibited street protests but told the Bar Council he was referring to “riots”, created a more positive impression of the new law, said Syahredzan.

“A riot is not a peaceful assembly, so we could understand why it was prohibited,” said Syahredzan, who helms the Bar’s constitutional law committee.

He added his Bar Council colleagues did not push the government for a black-and-white because they were given the impression there would be further meetings held to “fine tune” the draft.

“We didn’t think it would be tabled so soon. The meeting was two to three weeks; definitely less than one month before the tabling,” he said.

The Bar Council, which represents some 12,000 practising lawyers in the private sector, was taken aback at the government’s haste in pushing the Bill through in the Dewan Rakyat on November 29, just a week after it was tabled.

Lim, who led a lawyers’ march to protest the Bill on the day it was tabled, has urged the government against bulldozing through the plan and urged the Najib administration to set up a parliamentary panel to seek further public consultation.

His proposal has also been picked up by other groups, including Suhakam, whose chief Tan Sri Hasmy Agam has been very critical of the new law.

“Having perused the provisions of the Bill, the Commission is of the considered opinion that amendments to some of the provisions of the Bill must be made to ensure that the right of the people to express themselves through peaceful public assemblies is protected and can be expressed in a manner that meaningly reflects the essence of that right,” he said to The Malaysian Insider in an email.

Hasmy said Suhakam commissioners had two brief meetings with the A-G at the latter’s insistence.

He said it was during the second meeting there were exchanges of views on “elements” of the draft Bill (with the A-G reading portions of but without giving us the text of the draft Bill) during which Suhakam, in its responses, had made it very clear that the provisions of the Bill must be in conformity with universally accepted standards and principles on the concept of "freedom of assembly".

 “Clearly, much of what the Commission had stressed during those two meetings were not taken on board in the final drafting of the Bill,” he said.

The assembly law proposal passed from the Dewan Rakyat to the Dewan Negara on November 29 by the BN votes after the entire Pakatan Rakyat pact staged a walkout.

EC Pledge To Have Most Up-To-Date Electoral Rolls

KUALA TERENGGANU, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- The Election Commission (EC) today pledged to make available a most up-to-date electoral rolls for the next general election.

Its deputy chairman, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, said the EC was working with the National Registration Department to remove from the rolls the names of people who have died.

"The EC has all along given serious attention to cleaning up the electoral rolls," he told reporters after a briefing session for returning officers, assistant returning officers and election assistants in Terengganu, here.

"The process of cleaning up the rolls is a daily process," he said.

Wan Ahmad said the number of registered voters for the whole country now was about 12.4 million.

He advised people who have yet to register as voters to do so now so that they will get to exercise their right in the next general election.

He said that for the next general election, the EC would set up 342 polling centres in Terengganu, 332 of them in school buildings.

He also said that the EC would set up 1,145 polling streams and appoint more than 9,000 election workers, the majority of them teachers who have had the experience of serving in past elections.

Wan Ahmad said the election budget for Terengganu would be RM6.5 million from the total national budget of RM300 million for the next general election.

PM: Malays in peril if Pakatan rules

Najib: Malay future at risk under Pakatan

Najib today picked up the race card that his deputy had played during the recent Umno assembly. — File pic

SHAH ALAM, Dec 5 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak warned today the future of Malays would be in doubt if his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) does not remain in power after a general election expected soon.

After presiding over an Umno general assembly last weekend that saw delegates and leaders accusing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) of being anti-Malay and Islam, the prime minister today told a Malay NGO that claims a membership of over two million that their “responsibility is to defend the current government.”

“The alternative choice, are they better than what is already in place? Can they guarantee our power is not dissolved or our position eroded? What about the dignity of Islam and Malays?

“We will not allow our people to be insulted. We will not back down by even an inch. We are warriors,” he said to cheers at Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia’s (Pekida) gathering here before leading cries of “Hidup Melayu (long live the Malays)!”

Umno had sounded the alarm last weekend, warning that only BN will ensure that Islam remains an important aspect within the government administration.

Party delegates had cited events such as claimed proselytisation of Muslims since Election 2008, when PR took power in five states, as proof that the faith among Malays would be in jeopardy.

Najib said today if the Umno-led BN lost power, “all our ambitions will be buried and our future will be full of darkness.”

“What will happen to Muslims if the government changes? What will happen to Islam if we lose our strength?

“What will happen to the Malay rulers if we are no longer there to honour them? What will happen to our descendants if we cannot fight for policies that protect them?” he said.

He accused PR of trying to “demolish what we have built.”

“Without having power, they have defiled the Malay rulers. Without power, they have questioned policies to help Malays and Bumiputeras, which are always questioned by them.

“Without power, they can say they want to halve the civil service. Who will be affected? If hundreds of thousands of civil servants are sacked, who will be the victims?” he said, referring to recent suggestions by DAP to trim the majority-Malay civil service.

Najib also cited DAP assemblyman M. Manoharan’s call for the Malaysian flag to be redesigned as another example of PR questioning “things that should not be discussed or renegotiated.”

Muhyiddin’s hard truth in Johor

Johor which is an Umno fortress could lose as many as seven seats in the 13th general election.
COMMENT

The other night I watched, on TV3, an interview with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said the 13th general election is an uphill battle for Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN). I think Muhyiddin this time around speaks with a touch of realism.

Maybe he refuses to be bamboozled with over-optimistic Jasa (Special Affairs Department) reports – I saw some of them especially on Pahang and I was laughing.

Were these reports written while drinking kopi tiam or eating keropok lekor?

Or were they written while sitting on the bed at home? Those suckers at headquarters won’t be able to tell the difference.

Muhyiddin must be thinking about his home state too – Johor.

Ong Kah Ting, former MCA president, is not going to contest. His seat may go to the opposition.

Umno bastion

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein is retreating to Kota Tinggi. That means incumbent Syed Hamid Albar isn’t contesting anymore as he is no longer winnable.

Sembrong seat too is gone. Bakri is another area that’s losable. Dr S Subramaniam (MIC deputy president) can say bye bye to Segamat. Pasir Gudang is another parliamentary seat that looks shaky.

Johor will remain a bastion for Umno, but a few more parliamentary seats will go to the opposition.

The seats in Labis, Pulai and Gelang Patah are all at risks. If Shahrir Samad does not stand in Johor Baru, then that seat will migrate too.

These may not all go to PKR but DAP is set to take over some of these seats.

The opposition may increase its parliamentary presence from the current one to seven seats in Johor.

Before 2008, former economic adviser Daim Zainuddin predicted that BN will lose five states.

At that time everyone accused Daim of being past his prime and over the hill. They even hurled other unmentionables at him. But this time, too, he’s more or less saying the same thing.

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman and a FMT columnist.

‘Pekida, bantu pertahan k’jaan BN’

Perdana Menteri mahu Pekida bantu kerajaan kekal memerintah Putrajaya selepas PRU 13.

SHAH ALAM: Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Pekida) diseru membantu mengekalkan kelangsungan kerajaan sedia ada bersesuaian dengan piagam pertubuhan itu yang mendokong kerajaan yang memerintah.

Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata pemerintahan kerajaan (Barisan Nasional) dewasa ini adalah selari dengan matlamat dan tujuan Pekida ditubuhkan.

Justeru beliau mahu Pekida menjalankan tanggungjawab untuk mempertahankan kerajaan memandangkan tiada pemerintahan lain yang dapat menjamin masa depan negara.

“Tiada pilihan lain selain tegakkan pemerintahan sedia ada. Tanggungjawab yang digalas Pekida atas jemala adalah untuk mempertahankan pemerintahan sedia ada.

“Apa akan jadi pada umat Islam jika pemerintahan tersungkur dan rebah. Apa akan jadi pada Islam jika hilang taring?

“Asas dan pokok adalah berjuang untuk kelangsungan kuasa jika kuasa terlepas segala cita-cita terkubur dan masa depan akan bertukar jadi gerhana. Ini kerana asas untuk menjadi bangsa yang mulia dan bermaruah bergantung kepada pemerintahan sedia ada.

“Ia akan jadi realiti dan kenyataan jika ada kuasa,” katanya di hadapan 10,000 hadirin pada Majlis Perhimpunan Perdana Pekida Malaysia di Politeknik Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah di sini hari ini.

Tegas Najib, pilihan alternatif yang ditawarkan oleh pembangkang belum tentu dapat menjamin kedudukan Melayu dan Bumiputera.

Pembangkang hanya berperanan untuk meruntuhkan apa yang dibina oleh kerajaan selama ini.

“Pembangkang tawarkan sebagai pilihan alternatif. Adakah mereka lebih baik? Adakah mereka boleh jamin kedudukan Melayu tidak terhakis. Bagaimana kedudukan agama?,” soal beliau lagi.

“Belum ada kuasa mereka sudah runtuhkan apa yang kita bina. Sebab itu kita sangsi seandainya mereka (pembangkang) ada kuasa,” katanya lagi.

Beliau turut memberi peringatan kepada Pekida agar terus merapatkan barisan jika enggan Melayu jatuh seperti sejarah empayar Melaka yang terkenal suatu masa dulu.

“Rapatkan barisan….sejarah dah tunjukkan bahawa empayar Melaka bersengketa sebab ada pengkhianat.

“Segala nikmat boleh terlepas angkara kita. Ini ada dalam pengajaran peradaban manusia. Kita tidak mahu bangsa kita jadi bangsat dan dibuli. Kita perlu pastikan selepas pilihan raya umum ke 13 (PRU-13) kerajaan kekal di Putrajaya,” katanya.

Turut hadir pada majlis itu ialah Ketua Menteri Melaka Datuk Seri Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam, Timbalan Pengerusi Badan Perhubungan Umno Selangor Datuk Seri Noh Omar dan Presiden Pekida Malaysia, Jamaludin Yusof.

DAP should reconsider its no-datukship principle

It will probably improve its image among the Malays.
COMMENT

DAP’s stand against accepting honorific titles betrays either its failure to understand the Malay psyche or its lack of interest in winning the respect of the community.

If DAP is serious about increasing its appeal among Malay voters, chairman Karpal Singh should not have so easily brushed aside allegations by delegates to last week’s Umno assembly that members of his party insult Malay rulers when they decline datukships and other such awards.

Datuks may be a dime a dozen to the sophisticated urban Malay, but to his more traditional minded cousin in the kampung, a person holding such a title still commands awe and respect because it shows that even a sultan has recognised his worth.

Of course, a Yang DiPertua Begeri can also confer a datukship, but that point is quite irrelevant. To the Malay mind, the head of a state is royal, whether his blood is blue, green or pink.

DAP must have noticed that in Penang, any department head with a “datuk” before his name commands greater respect among civil servants than even the Chief Minister, who is only an “Encik”.

Of course, they know that Lim Guan Eng is their big boss. But as long as he is not a datuk, he is still seen as someone who is not fully recognised by the palace.

Officials at the higher levels who engage regularly with Lim may know that he is an Encik by choice. However, to the lower ranking officials and ordinary citizens, his lack of a title could be an indication of his ineligibility for it.

Umno can play on this perception. Some of the more crooked characters from that party might even go around saying that the royal houses do not approve of DAP leaders because they are bad guys, racists or traitors.

With datukships in hand, DAP leaders would gain more credibility when they try to fight off allegations that their party is an enemy to Malays and Muslims.

It is all perception, and DAP as a seasoned political party should know that is what politics is all about.

Lembu dalam budaya Hindu

Penulis menjelaskan antara sebab kaum India-Hindu tidak makan daging lembu.

COMMENT

Suatu perkara yang sepatutnya (ulang: sepatutnya) sudah diketahui masyarakat pelbagai kaum dan agama di negara bertuah ini adalah bahawa kaum India beragama Hindu tidak makan daging lembu.

Bagi sesiapa yang mengambil ikhtiar untuk bertanya, maka biasanya akan diberikan jawapan paling mudah iaitu bahawa lembu dianggap binatang suci dalam agama Hindu.

Alasan sebenar orang India tidak memakan daging lembu adalah berasaskan budaya dan kepercayaan tradisional; bukan berikutan tuntutan agama semata-mata.

Kaum India-Hindu di serata dunia mempercayai bahawa lembu adalah anugerah Tuhan kepada umat manusia, lalu kurniaan istimewa itu perlu dihargai.

Sekadar contoh mudah, apabila melihat anaknya kelaparan, lembu betina akan segera bergegas mendapatkan si anak untuk menyusukannya.

Begitulah dibandingkan dewa-dewi dalam konsep agama Hindu yang datang segera untuk membantu insan yang memerlukan bantuan.

Dalam kepercayaan kaum India, lembu juga dikatakan sama seperti Bumi; dengan erti kata, sanggup menanggung sesiapa sahaja yang bergantung hidup padanya.

Sebab itulah juga lembu dianggap sebagai “ibu” kerana Bumi, ibu dan lembu dikatakan mempunyai persamaan dari segi kesanggupan berkorban dan menanggung derita demi “anak-anak”.

Sekiranya kita berpeluang memperhatikan kehidupan petani dan pesawah kaum India yang masih menggunakan khidmat lembu, maka kita akan lebih memahami sentimen kaum India terhadap haiwan berkenaan.

Sejak zaman dahulu, lembu memainkan peranan penting dalam kehidupan masyarakat di Benua Kecil India. Hasil kajian arkeologi menemukan bukti kewujudan Tamadun Harappa dan Mohenjo-daro di Lembah Indus sekitar tahun 2500-1500 SM.

Antara barangan yang ditemui adalah mohor daripada batu yang mempunyai ukiran lembu jantan dan betina. Tentulah binatang berkenaan mempunyai peranan penting dalam kehidupan masyarakat pada waktu itu sehingga diabadikan pada mohor.

Lembu membantu petani dan pesawah untuk membajak. Haiwan itu juga digunakan untuk mengangkut barang serta menarik kereta lembu.

Ringkasnya, lembu merupakan binatang yang amat diperlukan dalam kehidupan seharian masyarakat India tradisional. Kita tidak perlu memiliki ijazah Doktor Falsafah untuk memahami, menyedari dan mengakui hakikat itu.

Hubungan dengan Dewa


Dalam pada itu, bagi orang ramai yang berpeluang membaca teks Sejarah Melayu (Sulalatus Salatin) secara teliti dan mendalam, pasti tahu mengenai individu yang dikatakan lahir daripada muntah seekor lembu dan meneruskan jurai keturunan Melayu yang ada sekarang.

Kalau diteliti dalam teks klasik India yang dinamakan purana iaitu cerita dewa-dewi, akan dijelaskan bahawa bukan hanya manusia bergantung pada lembu.

Dewa-dewi sendiri mempunyai hubungan rapat dengan mamalia berkenaan.

Misalnya, Dewa Shiva menjadikan lembu sebagai wahana rasmi. Sekiranya kita berpeluang melawat kuil Dewa Shiva, pasti akan kelihatan patung lembu betina yang dinamakan “nandhi” di kuil berkenaan.

Lembu turut menjadi wahana serta binatang kesayangan Dewa Krishna. Tidak setakat itu, purana menggambarkan Dewa Krishna sebagai pengembala lembu.

Terdapat juga sebuah cerita di mana Dewa Krishna mengangkat Gunung Govardhan semasa hujan lebat supaya para petani, penternak serta lembu mereka boleh berlindung di bawahnya.

Sejak dahulu, petani kaum India merayakan ponggal iaitu pesta menuai selama beberapa hari. Hari kedua pesta menuai ini adalah Maatu Ponggal iaitu perayaan khas bagi lembu peliharaan.

Perayaan Maatu Ponggal adalah tanda terima kasih masyarakat India kepada lembu yang amat berguna dalam kehidupan seharian.

Lembu dimandikan dan dibersihkan. Tanduk disapu cat pelbagai warna dan loceng baru dipasang pada leher. Lembu yang diraikan diberi makan nasi manis yang dimasak khas untuknya.

Keluarga petani dan penternak berbuat demikian sebagai tanda terhutang budi dan mengucapkan terima kasih kepada haiwan berkenaan.

Lembu sesungguhnya memberi sumbangan besar kepada keluarga si penternak. Lembu jantan biasanya membantu membajak serta mengangkut barang. Lembu betina pula membekalkan susu yang amat diperlukan untuk diminum, dijadikan susu masam atau dijadikan minyak sapi.

Lembu turut membekalkan tahi yang dijadikan baja organik. Di India, tahi lembu juga dijadikan bahan bakar selepas dikeringkan; termasuk sebagai bahan bakar apabila jenazah dibakar mengikut adat Hindu.
Kajian saintifik membuktikan bahawa tahi lembu mempunyai kandungan bahan kimia yang mampu menghalau serangga perosak dan membunuh kuman.

Amalan tradisi itu ada saya selitkan pada perenggan pertama cerpen “Doa Tahun Baru” (Siru Kambam, 1996) sebagai usaha awal menggambarkan budaya kaum India dalam karya Bahasa Malaysia.

Mungkin orang ramai sedia maklum mengenai Dewi Lakshmi dalam konsep budaya India dan agama Hindu. Tambahan pula, ramai yang suka menonton filem Tamil dan Hindi.

Komatha

Dewi berkenaan dianggap sebagai sumber kekayaan. Namun, tidak ramai – termasuk kaum India beragama Hindu – yang tahu bahawa Dewi Lakshmi dikatakan menghuni tahi lembu.

Mitos dan purana ini sebenarnya bertujuan menunjukkan bagaimana “kekayaan” (Dewi Lakshmi) terdapat juga pada tahi lembu yang mungkin dianggap sebagai bahan buangan yang tidak berguna.

Air kencing lembu turut terbukti secara saintifik mengandungi bahan yang mampu mengubati beberapa penyakit kulit serta bertindak sebagai bahan antiseptik.
Kelebihan ini ternyata sudah diketahui masyarakat India sejak sekitar tahun 2500 SM! Air kencing lembu biasanya direnjis pada lantai rumah untuk membersihkannya daripada kuman.

Tahi lembu yang dikeringkan pula sering dibakar dan asapnya dibiarkan memenuhi rumah kediaman. Langkah ini bagi membersihkan udara di dalam rumah daripada bakteria.

Selain itu, khasiat susu lembu adalah suatu hakikat yang sudah diketahui umum. Secara tradisi, keluarga dalam masyarakat India bergantung pada susu yang dibekalkan oleh lembu peliharaan keluarga mereka.

Susu lembu menjadi minuman sejak bayi. Maka itulah lembu yang membekalkan susu tadi dianggap sebagai “ibu susu” bagi anak-anak dalam keluarga berkenaan. Konsep ini sama sahaja dengan konsep “ibu susu” yang terdapat dalam budaya kaum/agama lain di seluruh dunia.

Itulah juga antara sebab utama mengapa masyarakat India menganggap lembu peliharaan sebagai sebahagian daripada ahli keluarga berkenaan.

Malah, lembu digelar “komatha” iaitu gelaran sama seperti “ibu”. Sejak kecil, anak-anak dididik supaya menyayangi serta menghormati lembu yang dipelihara sebagai sebahagian daripada ahli keluarga.

Lembu juga menjadi simbol kemakmuran, kekayaan dan kebahagiaan. Apabila seseorang membeli – atau membina – sebuah rumah baru, maka tuan rumah akan mengadakan upacara sembahyang khas.

Pada upacara berkenaan, seekor lembu betina akan dibawa masuk ke dalam rumah. Lembu itu akan dibawa ke setiap bilik dan ruang yang terdapat di rumah berkenaan.

Malah, jika rumah itu merupakan rumah dua atau tiga tingkat, lembu berkenaan akan dibawa menaiki tangga!

Tindakan ini dianggap sebagai mengundang Dewi Lakshmi (“kekayaan” dan “kemakmuran”) bertandang ke rumah. Malah, tuan rumah dikatakan amat bertuah sekiranya lembu itu kencing atau berak semasa berada di dalam rumah berkenaan.

Demikianlah lembu yang pendiam diberi kedudukan yang amat mulia dalam budaya kaum India sejak dahulu. Atas dasar itulah juga kaum India-Hindu tidak menyakiti, menganiaya, membunuh – apatah lagi makan! – lembu hingga kini.

Mahatma Gandhi sendiri beranggapan bahawa lembu adalah wakil bagi manusia memahami dunia binatang yang bisu. Menurut beliau, walaupun “bisu” dan tidak mampu berkata-kata, lembu mampu berkomunikasi bersama manusia melalui pergerakan matanya yang besar dan bulat.

Apa yang pasti, kaum India-Hindu di seluruh dunia amat menghargai jasa lembu. Walaupun tidak ramai petani/penternak kaum India yang masih memelihara lembu, amalan yang mendarah-daging sejak hampir 4,500 tahun lalu tentu sahaja sukar dilupakan.

Mungkin ada individu kaum India (khususnya yang tidak mengamalkan ajaran agama Hindu) yang makan daging lembu tetapi itu adalah kes terpencil yang tidak mewakili masyarakat India secara keseluruhan.

Uthaya Sankar SB sering memaparkan budaya kaum India menerusi cerpen-cerpen Bahasa Malaysia yang dihasilkannya sejak 1991.

Bertemu Buku Dengan Ruas

Dari SharpShooter
Sebaran Media

Satu laporan polis akan dibuat pada, 6hb Disember 2011, pada pukul
2 petang di Balai Polis Jalan Travers  ke atas laman sesawang
www.papagomo.com yang dimiliki oleh Wan Muhammad Azri bin Wan Deris, pemegang kad pengenalan bernombor 830121-03-5019.

Wan Muhammad Azri bin Wan Deris dalam laman web beliau www.papagomo.com telah melakukan fitnah terhadap diri saya pada artikel beliau berjudul “AMIN ISKANDAR PENULIS THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER AKUI DICABUL ANWAR IBRAHIM” pada capaian :

http://www.papagomo.com/2011/11/amin-iskandar-penulis-malaysian-insider.html Tulisan ini dilakukan pada tarikh tertera di laman web tersebut : 26hb November 2011.

Fitnah tulisan Wan Muhamamad Azri atau Papagomo ini dipercayai dilakukan atas niat beliau mempertahankan Datuk Razali Ibrahim daripada penulisan dan kritikan saya terhadap Datuk Razali Ibrahim, Timbalan Menteri Belia dan Sukan pada tulisan saya bertarikh 25hb November 2011 di capaian:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/razali-ibrahim-janganlah-bersikap-seperti-anak-kecil/

Tindakan membela Datuk Razali Ibrahim dengan cara membuat fitnah terhadap diri saya adalah satu tindakan yang tidak wajar dan seharusnya dilakukan dengan berhujah secara matang.

Sebagai seorang penulis dan blogger yang menyokong kebebasan bersuara dan menyatakan pandangan, laporan polis ini dilakukan bukan bertujuan untuk menyekat kebebasan penulis blog untuk menulis, akan tetapi untuk mengekang budaya fitnah daripada terus menjadi amalan sesetengah pihak.
Semua media, penulis blog dan rakyat Malaysia dijemput hadir.

Sekian dimaklumkan,

Amin Iskandar
Blog:
www.aminiskandar.net

Bring it on, Pakatan tells Umno

by Nigel Aw
Malaysiakini
Dec 5, 2011

A day after the Umno general assembly concluded with the beating of war drums and vows to wrest back Pakatan Rakyat-held states, the federal opposition went on the offensive as well.

PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim, the star at a rally of 5,000 in Shah Alam last night, said Pakatan will not only defend Selangor, but improve its electoral performance in the state.

“(Prime Minister) Najib Abdul Razak said he wants to recapture Selangor (but) we tell him that he can keep dreaming about Selangor – and that we will capture Putrajaya,” declared Anwar.

He picked apart Umno’s Malay credentials which the party has attempted to project in the run-up to a looming general election.

“Do you believe that Umno defends the Malays? If they defend the Malays they would not sell Malay land.

“The last bastion of Malay land in Kuala Lumpur (is Kampung Baru). They (the government) wants to hand it over to (Federal Territories Minister) Raja Nong Chik under the Kampung Baru Development Act.”

Also present was DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang who moved to deflect Umno’s relentless attacks on his party during the general assembly.

“They (Umno) have accused DAP of being anti-Islam. Is that true?” asked Lim, to which the crowd thundered: “No!”

He went on to list out the accusations levelled against his party by Umno, each time eliciting a roar of “No!”

Lim reiterated the party’s acceptance of Islam as the religion of the federation, as well as the concept of the constitutional monarchy, a pledge that proved popular among the largely Malay crowd that cheered.

PAS president Hadi Awang poked fun at Umno delegates who had publicly backed a leader who is embroiled in National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal. The project was intended to be the primary domestic supplier of beef.

“Umno says ‘PAS diperkudakan’ (is being a mule of) DAP, but what is clear is Umno has memper-lembu-kan (made a fool of) the people. Horses are meant to go to war, but cows are meant for slaughter,” he quipped.

‘We have a good track record’

Aside from drowning out Umno’s election messages, Pakatan amoved to demonstrate its credential as a credible and competent government in Selangor.

“Since Pakatan took over the state, its revenue has increased significantly. But do you see Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim buying a diamond ring for his wife?” posed PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

“Do you see him building a mansion like former Selangor Menteri Besar (Dr Mohd) Khir Toyo?”

Taking the stage, Khalid listed the welfare policies implemented to date and the state government’s prudence in managing finances.

“Selangor has a ‘Jom Shopping’ programme for senior citizens. We give them RM100 for shopping and the federal government tried to emulate us by giving out hampers to senior citizens.

“I’ve checked with my contacts in supermarkets. For every RM100 hamper that it gives out, the federal government spends RM200. In our programme if you’re suppose to spend RM100 and you spend RM115, I will sack that officer immediately.”

The strongest statement was the fact that the rally was held in the middle of a major agriculture carnival organised by the state government.

As the nearby ferris wheel lit up the night and the bazaar bustled with customers, Pakatan leaders tried to make their point in Anwar’s words: “We do not only govern, we strive for excellence.”

Also present were PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and national laureate A Samad Said, accompanied by several exco members, state assemblypersons and MPs from Selangor.

Malays Have Always Practised Moderation, Says Najib

SHAH ALAM, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- The Malays in Malaysia since long ago have been practising wasatiyah or moderation and rejecting racism, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The prime minister said even before the country's independence, they were willing to share power and were fair to the other races, and as such, "never hurt the feelings of the Malays by trying to change what were enshrined in the constitution and what had been negotiated".

"We will defend these. The Malays do not want anyone trying to change whatever had been decided in the constitution and Malaysia must be built based on this constitution.

"We believe that within the framework of our constitution, whether expressed or implied, we can build a nation that is fair to all," he said at the Pekida Malaysia assembly attended by about 10,000 people at the Sultan Salahahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Polytechnic, here, Monday.

"We have adopted wassatiyah as our approach since long ago. We reject extremism. We have never been guided by extreme ideology," he said.

Najib said that the Malays had never been extremists and racists on their own land of birth, and instead had always extended a helping hand to the non-Malays in building a peaceful, united and prosperous country.

"As Malays, we have never been unfair to the non-Malays in this country," he said.

Najib said for this, the Barisan Nasional administration must prevail in order to build a more successful Malaysia based on the provisions of the Federal Constitution on the rights of the Malays and Islam as the country's official religion; matters which could not be disputed nor renegotiated.

"We see there is no other choice in safeguarding our future. Are those who offer an alternative to the people better than the current government? Can we guarantee that our power will not be diluted or the position of the Malays and Islam not be eroded?"

Najib said even if before they (opposition) could gain power they had already planned to destroy what the government had built all this while, then there would be confusion if they came into power.

"They have planned to reduce the number of civil servants, including teachers and army and police personnel.

"Who will be the victims if hundred of thousands of civil servants lose their jobs if the opposition could carry out their plan?

"They also want to change the Malaysian flag, defile the position of the Malay rulers and question policies to assist the Malays and other Bumiputeras," he said.

Najib said the people needed a government which was brave to uphold social justice and not a "justice party" as the former was more meaningful in creating a fair and balanced country where all including the non-Malays also received various assistance from the government.

"This is how we have administered the country and this is why God has allowed us to rule it for 54 years now. We are still in power and God willing, with the people's support, the coming general election will be ours to win.

"This is because BN has struggled for the people, has been fair and has never strayed from religious principles," he said.

Najib said as prime minister, he would do his best for the people and hoped that they would give their trust to the government in charting a brighter future based on realities, unlike some quarters who promised the moon, the stars and the universe.

He said thus far, the BN government's policies had, among others, changed the life of fishermen whereby one of their children, Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir from Pangkor island, had become Perak menteri besar.

The prime minister said the government would continue to strive in ensuring that more of the poor could be assisted in the field of education, and for that, the Tabung Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputera was launched.

Alstorm bribery scandal link to Malaysia

Alstom Network Schweiz AG, a unit of a French power engineering and train firm, has been ordered to pay US$42.2m as punishment for a bribery scandal that spanned three countries including a CHF7.7m pay-off in Malaysia.
This is the excerpt from the summary punishment order under the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure:

14. Payment of bribes in Malaysia
14.1 At the end of the 1990′s, the state-licensed TTPC (Teknologi Tenaga Perlis Consortium Sdtn Bhd) had major contracts for the delivery and maintenance of gas turbines to award for the PERLIS project in Malaysia. At the end of 1999, the then existing ABB ALSTOM POWER (Schweiz) AG, Baden, signed various consultancy agreements to this end with various offshore companies. The contracts provided for success fees to be paid for the successful signing of delivery and maintenance contracts for gas turbines.
14.2 After the sectors in question were transferred from ABB to ALSTOM, ALSTOM exchanged the offshore companies ABB had used as consultants. However, investigation results show that the two new consultants brought in as contract partners of ALSTOM and its national companies ALSTOM Schweiz AG and ALSTOM O&M AG were effectively used as intermediary companies for Chee Liang TI and Abdul Hamid PAWANTEH, who were employed by ALSTOM via the consultancy agreements and “Project Development Agreement” and known to a small circle of ALSTOM employees. Because the original consultants were individuals, the use of an established company was chosen in order to comply with internal control.
However other internal regulations (no offshore companies, no companies with accounts outside the project country, no success fees over 3% of the contract value) were disregarded; distributing payments to different offshore companies with the same financial beneficiaries knowingly exceeded the last of these provisions. Both Chee Liang TI and Abdul Hamid PAWANTEH were leading executives of TTPC at the time, and the latter was also a local politician in the constituent state of Perlis where the power station was to be built. It is obvious that the ALSTOM employees involved in this case wished to influence TTPC decision-
makers with payments to award contracts to ALSTOM. There is also indication that an ALSTOM employee involved illegally and without the knowledge of ALSTOM personally enriched himself.
14.3 The parties to the contractual agreement to deliver, operate, and maintain gas turbines were ALSTOM Schweiz AG and ALSTOM O&M AG on one side and TTPC on the other. TTPC consisted of the consortium members Tenaga Nasional Berhard, TNB (20%), Landmark Sdn. Bhd (20%), Alpha Intercontinental Sdn Bhd (30%), Gerang Sutera Sdn Bhd (20%), and Yayasang Islam Perlis via Infostaas Engineering Sdn (10%). TTPC is a consortium with a state minority holding that could carry out its business solely under a state license and that additionally was authorized to sell the electricity it produced to the state company TNB at predefined rates in accordance with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with TNB.
14.4 After obtaining the authorization to deliver and maintain turbines for the PERLIS power station and after securing the necessary financing, ALSTOM, via the involved Business Units, and within the aforementioned consultancy agreements and “Project Development Agreement” paid success fees which converted in total at approximately 7.7 million CHF via the Defendant to the two offshore companies after art. 102 CC came into effect. After deduction of a commission of about 5%, these payments were channeled through the accounts of additional offshore companies to the two executives of TTPC, Chee Liang TI and Abdul Hamid PAWANTEH, with accounts in Switzerland.
14.5 These circumstances make it clear that the award of contracts / order execution and securing of financing were intended to be illegally influenced by the consultancy agreements and “Project Development Agreement” and were indeed illegally influenced by the payments.
14.6 Both of the aforementioned beneficiaries were at the time leading executives at the client of ALSTOM. In return for payment, they influenced both the award of contracts as part of this project in previous years (including securing of financing) and ensured that any difficulties encountered by the client in the performance of the contract were resolved in favor of ALSTOM. In this case again, the beneficiaries must be functionally characterized as public officials in terms of Art. 322 septies in conjunction with Art. 110(3) SCC and the payments made considered bribery in terms of the former of the two regulations.

Ho-hum, another day, another scandal…
Summary Punishment Order