‘Dinesh was shot like in the Wild West’

PKR duo maintains that businessman Dinesh's death was a cold blooded murder.

PETALING JAYA: Kapar MP S Manikavasagam today described the ruthless police killing of businessman, D Dinesh, as akin to the shooting in the Wild West.

“Dinesh was shot ruthlessly by the police near Ampang Point traffic light,” he said after attending the 26-year-old’s funeral in Prima Damansara, Selangor.

Dinesh, who was the youngest child in his family, was shot on Aug 21 while travelling with six of his friends and two relatives.

According to Manikavasagam, the police shot Dinesh, engaged to be married next month, at a close range.

“The post mortem report shows one shot went through his skull and another went through his shoulder.

“The police are claiming gang clash but we have eyewitnesses to prove otherwise,” said Manikavasagam.

Dinesh was sent to Ampang Hospital and then to Kuala Lumpur Hospital for post-mortem.

The funeral held today attracted a large crowd.

Dinesh’s body was taken from his home in Prima Damansara to his car-wash outlets in Damansara Damai and Sungai Buloh before the burial ceremony was held in Jalan Loke Yew.

PKR vice president N Surendran, who also attended the funeral, meanwhile described Dinesh’s death as a “cold blooded murder”.

“We want an explanation from the police on this cold blooded murder and we urge them not to cover up the case.

“We will also prove that this is a cold blooded murder since we have eye witnesses,” said Surendran.

A press conference would be called tomorrow in PKR headquarters where eye-witnesses are expected to debunk police allegations of a gang clash.

Sufi Muslim Shrine Bulldozed in Libya

Attackers bulldozed a Sufi Muslim shrine and mosque in the Libyan capital on Saturday, one day after hardliners razed a similar shrine and library elsewhere in the country.

It was not immediately clear who was behind Saturday's attack, the third on a Sufi shrine in Tripoli in recent months, although officials have blamed past vandalism on Islamic hardliners, some of whom are followers of the ultraconservative Salafi doctrine.

Libya is a deeply conservative Muslim nation, and Islamists were heavily repressed under longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured and killed in October after an eight-month civil war. Since then, there has been a string of attacks on shrines across the country belonging to Muslim sects.

The campaign appears to be aimed mainly at shrines revered by Sufis, a mystical order whose members often pray over the tombs of revered saints and ask for blessings or intervention to bring success, marriage or other desired outcomes. Hard-line Salafi Muslims deem the practice offensive because they consider worshipping over graves to be idolatry.

Libya's Grand Mufti, Sheik Sadek al-Ghariani, condemned the vandalism and said it was the government's responsibility to protect the graves.

"No group outside of the government should use weapons and it is the responsibility of the government to provide security and prevent religious strife and division," he said in a statement Saturday.

Resident Abdullah Zakaria said he saw the bulldozers destroy the Sufi tombs Saturday morning. Hours later a group of men bulldozed a mosque in the same area that also contained tombs.

Security officials closed the road leading to the shrines and mosque but did not intervene to stop the men from attacking the mosque hours later. Police were seen instead protecting a nearby hotel.

Interim President Mohammed el-Megarif said in a televised speech Saturday called the actions "unacceptable" and vowed the perpetrators would be prosecuted. He also called on citizens and the security services to be more vigilant in preventing disruptive behavior.

Following the civil war, Libya has been largely without a military or police force and has relied on disparate militias to provide security and protect government installations.

Libyan writer Fathi Bin Eissa, a Sufi, said he had hoped the police would investigate who ordered past desecration of the shrines and wanted answers as to why security forces moved to protect the hotel, but did nothing as the mosque was being bulldozed before their eyes.

A security official said the police were ordered only to ensure violence does not break out.

Other attacks have taken place in the past against shrines in the eastern cities of Darna and Benghazi.

More recently, extremists on Friday bulldozed one of Libya's most important Sufi shrines and Sufi libraries in the city of Zlitan, 90 miles (145 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli.

Security officials say the attackers took advantage of deadly clashes between tribes in Zlitan this week to attack the more than 500-year-old shrine and library.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Muslim woman 'beaten, hair hacked off' for kissing 'white' boy in UK

London, Aug 25 (ANI): A Muslim woman in the UK was attacked by her siblings for kissing a white boy during her 18th birthday celebrations.

Shamima Akhtar, now a 19-yr-old, suffered a sickening assault by her siblings, sisters Nazira, 29, Nadiya, 25, and brother Mohammed-Abdul, 24, which culminated in her sisters slapping and punching her and hacking off her waist-length hair.

Akhtar now lives with Gary Pain, 23, the work colleague whom she had kissed, after she severed ties with her strict Muslim family.

"Gary is the one good thing to come out of this. I am happy, but at the same time I've lost my entire family and that's hard. I can never go back," the Daily Mail quoted Akhtar, as saying.

Akhtar was the youngest of six siblings raised by a Muslim family, who had immigrated from Bangladesh to the UK.

It was during March last year when Akhtar turned 18, and had gone out with her colleagues to celebrate her birthday, when her siblings saw her kissing Pain and launched an assault on her.

"My brother grabbed Gary by the throat and my sisters dragged me into the car. Nazira punched me in the head as soon as I got in. They put the childlock on so I couldn't escape," she said.

Following the incident, Akhtar managed to text Pain and asked him to call the police, after which her siblings were arrested, the paper said.

Akhtar admitted that she had hoped that her siblings would go to prison, but instead the jury in the case gave them each a conditional discharge and a fine.

"I couldn't have asked for more from the police, but part of me felt like a fool. I wanted the judge to send a message to families like mine," she said.

"I don't want people to feel sorry for me. I just want people to know this is going on behind closed doors. In some ways I'm one of the lucky ones. I've got Gary. But there are hundreds of girls like me out there who have no one to turn to," she added. (ANI)

Review 114A, rights group demands

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today urged Putrajaya to review or even repeal the new law that threatens to curb freedom of expression on the Internet as it violates basic human rights principles.

Suhakam said today the controversial section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950 violates the human rights principles of freedom of expression as enshrined in Article 19 of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The commission added that the newly-introduced provision, which came into force on 31 July 2012, also goes against a fundamental principle of law that a person is considered innocent until proven guilty as provided for under Article 11(1) of the UDHR.

“While the presumption of fact under the Section 114A is rebuttable, a person against whom the presumption is applied may lack the time, resources and more importantly, technical expertise in relation to the Internet environment, to prove the contrary in order to rebut the presumption,” the commission said today in a press statement. “In contrast, the prosecution, in criminal cases, may be better equipped to prove the guilt of the accused, as they are authorised to compel any of the potential witness to produce evidence, and has the technical expertise and resources to assist its investigation or prosecution,” it added.

The commission pointed out the new law may also discourage expression, dissemination and sharing of ideas, news and information, “thus limiting and impinging on the freedom of expression — an essential attribute of a full- functional democracy”.

It also detailed conditions of how any power or measure on the limitation of rights must be subjected according to human rights norms:

i. That the limitation of rights of an individual must be imposed solely for the purpose of protecting a legitimate aim (i.e. national security, rights or reputation of others, public health or morals) that is prescribed by international human rights principles;

ii. That the limitation of rights must be absolutely necessary for the protection of the legitimate aim;

iii. That the limitation of rights must be proportional to the protection of the legitimate aim. It must be remembered, however, that, there are some rights and freedoms that cannot be limited and they include the freedom from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and

iv. That there must be adequate safeguards so as to avoid any abuse of powers. These conditions are important to strike a fair balance between public interests — legitimate national security concerns, on the one hand, and fundamental freedoms of an individual, on the other.

Suhakam reiterated that although national security is paramount to ensure peace and stability, Section 114A of the Evidence Act must be reviewed or repealed to protect and respect fundamental liberties and human rights to freedom of expression and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

“The Commission looks forward to engaging with the Attorney General’s Chambers and other stakeholders in the review of the Act, as well as in the drafting of any new law to ensure that they are consistent with universally accepted human rights principles,” it said. Review 114A, rights group demands accepted human rights principles,” it said.

MIC youth condemns JAIPP for ‘stealing’ ashes

Department must explain its action and disclose what it was going to do with alleged Muslim convert's cremated ashes, says its chief J Dhinagaran

NIBONG TEBAL: Penang MIC youth condemned the state Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JAIPP) for taking away the ashes of an alleged Muslim convert in Sungai Bakap last week.

Youth chief, J Dhinagaran said: “JAIPP practically stole the ashes of Nagamah without her family’s knowledge or consent, and did not show evidence that she was a convert.

“We strongly condemn the unlawful action,” he said today.

Nagamah passed away in Sungai Bakap hospital on Aug 14 and her family cremated her body at Batu Berapit Crematorium on the same day.

However, JAIPP officials took away her ashes despite objections from her family members, claiming that Nagamah was a convert.

Various Hindu bodies and rights groups, especially Hindraf Makkal Sakti, have condemned JAIPP for its high-handed insensitive action.

State executive councillor in charge of Islamic Religious Affairs, Abdul Malik Kassim, said on Thursday that Nagamah, 64, was converted to Islam by Ustaz Anuar Ismail in November 2006.

He said she was converted at JAIPP’s Seberang Perai Selatan district office after marrying one Ibrahim Noyan and had nine children registered as Muslims by the NRD.

Return Nagamah’s ashes

Nagamah’s family has lodged several police reports against JAIPP for taking away her ashes.

Dhinagaran said JAIPP’s high-handed action without due regard to the process of law has hurt the feelings of ethnic Indians in the state and country.

He demanded JAIPP to explain the rationale for its action and disclose what it was going to do with Nagamah’s ashes.

He said it was unfortunate that Nagamah’s eldest son M Kamasantheran, 46, could not fulfill his religious obligations to conduct Hindu obituary prayers for his late mother.

“Unfortunately her ashes are with JAIPP,” he said.

He hit out at Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s Pakatan Rakyat government for again failing to safeguard Hindu interests in the state.

He said Lim should direct JAIPP to stipulate a standard operating procedure that must be strictly adhered in future cases of ‘body-snatching’ or taking away of ashes.

He also slammed Pakatan Indian elected representatives for being busy in securing seats to contest in the next general election, rather than addressing and resolving Indian issues.

He suggested that JAIPP should return Nagamah’s ashes to her grieving family members to enable them to perform the final rites in accordance to the Hindu practices

“We hope goodwill would prevail,” said Dhinagaran.

Britons back naked prince: poll

Some 75 percent still had a positive view of the 27-year-old army helicopter pilot.

LONDON: More than two-thirds of adults in Britain thought Prince Harry cavorting naked with women at a Las Vegas party was acceptable behaviour, according to a poll out Sunday.

The YouGov survey in The Sunday Times newspaper found that 68 percent thought the third in line to the throne’s antics were acceptable for a young, single man having fun on a private holiday, with 22 percent saying it was not.

Some 75 percent still had a positive view of the 27-year-old army helicopter pilot.

While the two images of Harry are widely available on the Internet and abroad, only The Sun newspaper has published them in Britain, saying it was striking a blow for press freedom.

Some 61 percent thought media baron Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid was wrong to do so, with 25 percent saying Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper had been right to print them.

YouGov sampled 1,731 adults on Thursday and Friday for the poll on whether Harry’s behaviour was acceptable and 694 adults on Friday for the poll on The Sun publishing the images.

UMNO made Indians politically irrelevant

Senator S.Ramakrishnan, 23/8/2012

Last week MIC president Datuk G.Palanivel expressed disappointment over the public Services Commission (PSC) for not including any Indian Malaysians in the recruitment of 21 graduates by the works ministry. In the same week Datuk G.Palanivel expressed happiness over the PSC statement that mentions of wanting to increase Indian counter staff from 1000 to 3000 at government officers. Instead of demanding for more civil service intake MIC is protecting and giving excuses for the UMNO led government. Indians taken in by civil services and local government agencies are mostly contract workers and not permanent civil servants. When the Indians were dominating health and education services Malaysia had a world class service. All these have become history. Indians must correct all these injustice by voting out the UMNO led government.

MIC sings praises each time there is an announcement of wanting to increase Indian Malaysian in civil service intake. But when there are no Indians taken in MIC is quite. Despite all the empty promises MIC, PPP and other mosquito Indian parties in BN will continue to support UMNO. In 1971 Indians were 17.4% of the civil service but this has dropped to 5.12% in 2005 and now it dropped further to 4.1%. The bulk of Indian civil servants are in Tamil schools. In the police forces Indians account for only 3%. Despite the solid support from Indians to BN before 2008, they are deceived and cheated by MIC/UMNO government. Even after 2008 UMNO has not changed its racist attitude and arrogance.
The government will say that Indians don’t apply for jobs in civil service but those non Malays in government service know how conveniently those applications are thrown into the rubbish bins. Malaysia is the only country where ethnicity is the main criteria for civil service intake and not qualifications and capability to perform. Malaysia exports talents and professionals and imports illegal and legal migrant workers. One World Bank report says that Malaysia could have attracted 5 times more FDIs if not for NEP. 1.5 million Malaysian professionals are working overseas with about half of them in Singapore. But the BN government is dreaming to form a world class civil service. As long as UMNO in power there is no hope of Indians increasing their presence in civil service?
UMNO will only take proactive actions when their vote bank is affected. They want the Indian votes but they don’t want to give a fair share to Indian community. They think Indians are beggars and therefore Indians don’t deserve any job or business opportunities except hampers and rice bags. That is MIC’s achievement after 55 years in coalition with UMNO. During elections and by elections it is MIC that distributes hampers to poor Indians on behalf of UMNO to support BN.
MIC has successfully produced stateless Indians, criminal Indians and poor and unskilled Indians. Indians need a political change. The current political system neglects and side lines Indians. UMNO made Indians politically irrelevant. This has to change. Indians must become politically relevant to play a key role in the development of this country. Indians need to redeem their dignity and pride. It’s now or never

We know this man, Mahathir

AUG 25 ― He says that the Barisan Nasional is the devil that Malaysians know and we should stick with this devil because the Opposition is the devil we don’t know.

But we do know the Opposition. We know that DAP/PAS/PKR politicians don’t always stand on the same page; they make mistakes and say really dumb things and may even be arrogant. And not all their populist ideas will be good for Malaysia; some may be downright stupid.

We also know that they don’t have a Dr Mahathir Mohamad in their midst and that is always an advantage. He is the devil we know and have to put up with for more than two decades and now it does seem that, Mahathir is still running the country. And offering unsolicited rubbish as advice.

This is what Dr Mahathir the “angel” has given Malaysia:

1) A corrupt culture, where civil servants, corporate figures and even ordinary Malaysians don’t think twice about bribing, stealing and cheating. A Malaysia where the government and police fudge crime figures and where ministers live beyond their means without fear of getting arrested.

2) A country where race relations have worsened over the years. Dr Mahathir can take credit that all his slogans have remained slogans and we still live in race silos. And his party Umno and Utusan Malaysia have crossed the line with a campaign of driving the wedge between Muslims and non-Muslims.

3) A country where corporate figures and cronies milk the system with one-sided privatisation deals. These sweet deals are the norms here; look at the NFC and Ampang LRT.

4) A country where the education system is in a mess.

The list can go on. So take a bow, Dr Mahathir, “the devil” we know.

* Ali Kadir reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

PM Advises People Not To Make A Change They Are Uncertain About

PEKAN, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today advised the people not to make a change which is uncertain of guaranteeing them prosperity and well-being.

Not all change would bring good, he said, adding that the people should institute change in something dependable rather than go for others who have no successful track record.

"We must hold on to something which we know well. God willing, it (the BN government) will bring about a better future," he said in his address at the Aidilfitri open house hosted by him and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, in Taman Tasik Sultan Abu Bakar, here.

Najib cautioned the people against being easily fooled by the sweet promises of the opposition political parties which he said had evidently failed in the four states they had been administrating after the general election of 2008.

He said that not all the changes promised would bring good for the people, but the BN-led government had brought about various changes which benefited them since the era of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first prime minister.

"We cannot change a government solely because the time has come for us to make a change. We are not wanting to make a change but wanting something better.

"Change will not necessarily bring good. It can lead to something worse than what we are enjoying today," he said.

Najib said the BN government was continuing the struggle of past leaders in the effort to value add and bring about a better change to realise Vision 2020.

He said even developed countries which were not administered well and failed to grow new wealth would collapse and face a critical economic situation, such as the several European countries which had to put up with unemployment and economic recession.

"The truth is we cannot go on accepting aid after aid without figuring out how to create and generate wealth. Countries which do not generate economic wealth will face problems," he said.

The Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, and Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob and other state leaders were among the more than 70,000 people who attended the open house.

-- BERNAMA

Defectors put Sabah in spotlight

The defection of two key ruling coalition parliamentarians to the political opposition has shifted Malaysia’s pre-election equation and highlighted the importance of the crucial swing states of Sabah and Sarawak in what is expected to be a neck and neck contest.

Historically a “fixed deposit” of votes for the Barisan Nasional (BN), the coalition that has ruled the country consecutively since independence from colonial rule, Sabah and Sarawak are expected to play a prominent role in the coming general election pitting Prime Minister Najib Razak versus opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

BN won 140 of 222 federal parliament seats at the 2008 elections, a result that saw the Pakatan Rakyat opposition win control of five of 13 federal states. After the recent defections, BN holds 20 of 25 federal parliament seats allocated to Sabah and 29 of 31 in Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

M'kini subscribers' comments earn wrath of Muslim NGOs

(Malaysiakini) Several NGOs have lodged police reports on allegedly inflammatory comments posted on the Malaysiakini website, threatening to hold protests in front of its office as well as that of the Home Ministry's if no action is taken.

"Some 200 subscribers used pseudonyms in Malaysiakini to criticise and lower the status of Islam.
"This would have consequences and bring chaos to this peaceful country," read three largely identical police reports from each NGO.

Malaysian Muslim People's Coalition (IRIMM), Dewan Ekonomi dan Sosial Muslim Malaysia (Desmma) and Malaysian Muslim Consumer's Association (PPIM) lodged the reports together at the Dang Wangi police district headquarters, Kuala Lumpur, at around 2.30pm today.

A representative from the Malaysian Indian Muslim Missionary Council (MIM) was also present to endorse the complaint.

The report refers to readers' comments posted on Aug 22 regarding in an article titled ‘Police reports against JAIPP for 'body-snatching''.

"They (Malaysiakini subscribers) said in one comment, ‘Umno has turned Islam into a mafia religion.' What is this?
"These people are trying to act funny in this country.
"We don't want these kinds of things to happen in this country," said IRIMM president Amir Amsaa Alla Pitchay (left), commenting on one of several readers he quoted.
"(They said) a lot of things, you know. I didn't print them all out... We want Malaysiakini to put a stop to such things. We don't want these kind of things.

"We will send a memorandum to the Home Ministry and we will protest in front of their office (in Putrajaya) for allowing such comments," he said.

He added that the protest is tentatively scheduled for next week, and he would try to get more NGOs on board.

"We will protest in front of Malaysiakini as well if they don't do anything about this issue," he said.
'Don't publish sensitive issues'
In the Wednesday article, Malaysiakini reported that a group of Hindu devotees lodged police reports against Penang Islamic Affairs Department (JAIPP) for confiscating the ashes of M Nagamah, who was cremated in accordance to Hindu rites.

Her family claims that she had lived and died as a Hindu, while South Seberang Perai (SPS) Religious Department said records show that she had converted to Islam in 2006.

Nagamah's family wishes to conduct the ‘karumakirei' ceremony on the remains, which is to be held 14 days after her death on Aug 28, after which the ashes would be strewn into a nearby river.

Amir Amsaa said that any criticism of the matter should be directed at JAIPP, but not Islam itself.

Desmma president Mohd Fazil Abdullah (right), who lodged one of the reports, also urged Malaysiakini not to publish such sensitive issues.

He described the issue as an ‘isolated case' in which the deceased had not informed her next-of-kin of her conversion and the online news portal should not have played it up.

"We urge Malaysiakini to stop giving space to statements that could affect the harmony, sensitivities and tolerance within Malaysia's multiethnic society," he said.

Effigy of Karpal Singh

Meanwhile, MIM secretary general Mohammed Shariff Ghani noted that ‘body snatching' allegations are not new and urged Muslim converts to take necessary precautions.

"I recommend whoever who converts into Islam to contact the relevant religious departments and to practice the religion. Don't cause an issue when you pass away," said Mohammed Shariff (right).

He stressed that no Muslim would condone another Muslim being cremated because it is against the religion's beliefs.

On a separate issue raised during the same press conference outside the district police headquarters, IRIMM secretary-general Zainol Abidin Ahmad said a protest could be held against DAP chairperson Karpal Singh next week for allegedly questioning hudud law.

"We may do a protest in Pulau Pinang against Karpal Singh where we would probably burn his effigy," said Zainol Abidin (left).

When asked, he said the protest is slated to take place after Friday prayers in Teluk Air Tawar, Butterworth.

"We warn the DAP chairperson not to play with fire. Do not press Malaysian Muslims on sensitive issues about religion and religious laws to be point of turning the issue into a racial conflict," he said, urging Karpal to apologise.

He alleged in his police report that whilst watching TV recently, some time before the Raya celebrations, Karpal was shown questioning hudud.

Death threats against Little India chair from 'cemetery'

(Malaysiakini) Little India Action Committee (LIAC) chairperson S Pathavachalam has been receiving death threats against him and his family from a man calling himself Sudukattu (graveyard) Ravi, since last Thursday.

According to Pathavachalam (left in photo), Sudukattu called him on his handphone about 12.30am on Aug 16, threatening to chop him up and destroy his family.

"The man said that he will send a coffin to my house and will come to my house if I test him," he said.

Pathavachalam, who is an estate agent, lodged a police report on the threat at 5.29pm the same day, at the Jalan Travers police station.

He said the threats are related to his dialogue with Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.
This was when Raja Nong Chick was introducing reporters to the developer in charge of the land where former Brickfields district police headquarters once stood.
Pathavachalam said Sudukattu Ravi threatened him because he and many other NGOs had rejected Nong Chik’s idea of building a police beat base, instead of a proper district police station, at the site.
Setting RM10,000 reward for death
The estate agent had lodged another police report on Aug 22, saying that Sudukattu had called him a second time on Aug 16 at around 10.30pm, warning him against going to the police if he wanted to be safe, and advised him to send a representative for a "table talk" with his men.

"The man told me to send someone for a table talk, to discuss my safety with his group since an order had been issued for my death, with a reward of RM10,000 offered.

"The man told me it would be useless for me to lodge a police report. He said the police and government belonged to him," Pathavachalam told a press conference at Tropicana in Petaling Jaya today.

According to him, the investigating officer handling his case vowed to personally catch the man.

"The officer told me that the government might be his government, but we are not his police," Pathavachalam said.

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar (left), who was also present at the press conference, said she would compile all documents and evidence obtained from the Brickfields police station land deal case and forward these to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) next week.

French councillor beaten by Tunisian extremists over family's dress

Paris (dpa) - A French councillor of Tunisian origin on Wednesday said he was beaten by religious extremists in Tunisia because his wife and daughter‘s clothing were seen as provocative.

Jamel Gharbi, a councillor in the north-western city of Le Mans, said that he and his family were strolling around the northern coastal Tunisian town of Bizerte August 16 when they came across a group of men with the long beards and tunics of ultra-conservative Salafi Muslims.

"I saw they were looking at them (his wife and daughter) with hate because of their summer clothes, even though there was nothing provocative about them (the clothes)," he was quoted by the Lemainelibre.fr, a Le Mans news site, as saying.

"They told us we were in an Islamist country and I quickly understood things were going to degenerate," he said.

"I cried out to my wife and daughter to run. They then pounced on me and struck me with their fists, feet and sticks," he added.

Gharbi, 62, said he had reported the attack to police and cut short his visit to Tunisia.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who was born in Tunisia, condemned the "cowardly, despicable act by an extremist minority" as an "attack on Tunisia‘s values."

The attack took place on the same evening as a group of Salafis attacked festivalgoers in Bizerte with knives and batons, injuring five people.

The demonstrators were protesting the presence of a Lebanese Shiite militant, who had expressed support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Salafis are Sunnis. They see Shia Muslims as heretical.

Two other towns also saw protests last week by Salafis against artists they accused of offending Islam in their work.

The opposition and civil society groups accuse the authorities of hanging back during Salafi demonstrations.

Tunisia is run by a tripartite coalition headed by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda. dpa str cfb jln

‘Explain manipulation in crime statistics’

Several Pakatan Rakyat leaders urged the government to clarify allegations made by an anonymous policeman who said that the government had tampered with the crime statistics.

PETALING JAYA: The government must explain allegations made by an anonymous policeman who alleged that there was a manipulation in the nation’s crime index, said Pakatan Rakyat.

“Home Ministry and Performance Management and Delivery Unit [Pemandu] must clarify the accusation. The allegation is serious as it casts doubt on the integrity of official statistics,” said several Pakatan leaders in a joint statement today.

The statement were signed by PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Kuala Krai MP Hatta Ramli and Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong.

Yesterday, Liew published a letter on his blog, purpotedly from a policeman, claiming that there was a systematic attempt to lower the crime statistics by shifting the index crime to the non-index crime when a police report is lodged.

Citing examples, he said that a robbery case, which falls under the Penal Code, comes under the index crime category. However, the police would classify it under Section 382 of the code and automatically relegate it to a non-index crime .

The policeman added that causing hurt comes under Sections 324 and 326 of the Penal Codem which are index crimes. But these offences will be classified under Section 148 of the Penal Code.

Since Section 148 of the Penal Code is a non-index crime category, the case will not be reflected in the crime statistics.

The policeman said that under-classification of the index crime to non-index crime runs into several thousand cases.

The opposition pact urged Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Pemandu chief executive Idris Jala to disclose the statistics of cases classified under Sections 148, 382, 452 and 453 of the Penal Code as soon as possible to clarify the matter.

“The data provided must start from the time the National Key Results Area (NKRA) system was implemented and the three years preceeding it, to refute the allegation made,” they said.

Johor MB expects to lose nine seats

If Umno can convince former minister Shahrir Samad to contest, the party may get to keep Johor Baru in the coming general election.
COMMENT

Johor has always been touted as the bastion of Umno, but one wonders if it really is so, given the inroads the opposition made in 2008.

In the 2008 general election, there was a 14% swing to the opposition. What has happened to that swing? It is increasing and getting stronger.

And this has got the menteri besar worried, intimating to his Umno division heads in one meeting that he expects at least nine parliamentary seats and up to 16 state seats to fall to the opposition in the 13th general election.

That means he has not discounted fully the swing to the opposition.

He has acknowledged that, at best, with all the efforts and the bribery that Umno has carried out, the party has only managed to claim back some 5%.

That means there is still around a 9% swing with the opposition.

Based on that conservative assumption, the nine parliamentary seats are indeed in jeopardy.

My personal view is that Pakatan Rakyat can win the nine parliamentary seats and more.

Umno and Barisan Nasional is dicey in at least six more seats – Tanjung Piai, Gelang Patah, Pulai, Pasir Gudang Tebrau, Simpang Rengam and Parit Sulong.

Which really means, Pakatan could end up with between nine and 15 seats.

Will Shahrir contest?

Having said that, there is also the Johor Baru seat to consider. JB has a sizeable Chinese population which should prove to be a boon to Pakatan.

The determining factor here would be Umno’s choice of candidates. If Shahrir Samad chooses to retire, then JB will fall to Pakatan.

Shahrir can only be persuaded to stand if the Umno people can stoke his contempt for Anwar Ibrahim.

Shahrir himself is not that confident. He has said privately that most of the faces he sees in JB are not familiar to him.

The other seat which I am interested to see is Pulai. It’s currently held by UDA Holdings Bhd chairman Nur Jazlan Mohamed Rahmat.

Nur Jazlan is a decent fellow but has recently been the victim of Umno’s habit of practising infanticide. It kills off its young talent.

When Nur Jazlan came up with a strategy of raising money for UDA with the redevelopment of the Pudu Jail area, he became a victim to the ravenous appetite of Umno warlords ever on the lookout of using government to make tons of money.

And that has not gone down well with him and his supporters.

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman but joined DAP earlier this year. He is a FMT columnist.

No roses in Palanivel’s GE list

The MIC president has decided not to field a single woman for the upcoming general election, reveals a party source.

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC president G Palanivel is expected to meet Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chief Najib Tun Razak next Tuesday to finalise the party’s candidates list for the coming general election.

Apart from some minor changes to the list, the most shocking was that the largest Indian-based party in the country would not field any women candidates.

Sources revealed that although Palanivel had submitted a list of potential candidates, the meeting on Aug 28 would “finalise everything including two seat swaps”.

The source said that Palanivel had a meeting with the party’s women’s wing towards the end of July.

“And the outcome of the meeting shocked the wing as the president decided not to field any women candidates for the general election,” he added.

The source also claimed that Palanivel was peeved when only six representatives from the women’s wing turned up for the meeting.

In the last general election, MIC fielded four women, one for a parliamentary seat and the rest for state assembly seats.

Of the four, only T Murukasvary managed to retain the Tenggaroh state seat in Johor defeating PAS member Shahar Abdullah with a large majority of 8,233 votes.

Not up to expectations

Wanita MIC chief Komala Krishnamoorthy was defeated in the Kapar parliamentary seat by PKR’s S Manikavasagam.

However, the source claimed that the MIC leadership would also drop Murukasvary for the coming polls.

“Palanivel has decided to close the door to women candidates since the next general election will be toughest in the history of MIC,” he told FMT.

He said the president only wanted winnable candidates and the latter felt that those from the women’s wing would not make the cut.

The source also pointed out that the women’s wing had not performed up to expectations since the 2008 general election.

“Just look at the Wanita office in the party headquarters… it has remained locked for the last four to five months,” he added.

The source also said speculation was rife that Wanita MIC might boycott the polls as a result of the president’s decision.

“But I believe it will not happen since the women’s wing depends on the party’s top leadership for funds,” he added.

Nesa Land Scam

The Traveler, Thursday, August 23, 2012

Two years back  Traveler wrote an article, Family of Land Scam, highlighting how lawyer Pathmanaban, who is on trial for the murder of cosmetics millionaire Sosilawati Lawiya, her driver Kamaruddin shamsudin, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, and CIMB Bank officer Noorhisham Mohammad,  and his family benefited from Nesa Cooperative Society in the land deals in Banting district.

On July 28 2012, expelled Vice President Nadaraja has exposed Nesa’s several other land scams in a press conference. Since then, Nesa has been maintaining a resounding silence on the allegations.

PAS needs to state stand on Hudud, not the DAP

(Bernama) It is PAS that needs to issue a statement on its stand on the 'hudud' law, not the DAP, said the Prime Minister's Political Secretary, Datuk Mohamad Fatmi Che Salleh.

Mohamad Fatmi, who is also the Kota Baharu Umno division head, said that PAS, as a party that champions Islam in the opposition pact, must be firm on its stand to implement the hudud law although the DAP disagreed on its implementation.

"What is important today, PAS must make a stand, not the DAP. Malaysians had already known from the start that the DAP was against an Islamic state, and rejects hudud.

"The mistake was why PAS had accepted the DAP," he told reporters when met at the Open House organised by the Kota Baharu Umno division, here today.

The press reported today that PAS Youth deputy head, Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz had said that the DAP top leadership, especially its advisor Lim Kit Siang, and secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, should make an official party stand on the implementation of Islamic law in the country such as the hudud law.

Nik Abduh had said that the statement was crucial to correct the public perception following a series of statements by the DAP chairman, Karpal Singh, who rejected the hudud law and Islamic state which PAS was trying to implement if it were to take over the federal government.

Mohamad Fatmi said PAS should also make a stand whether it wanted to remain in the opposition pact after their statements on the setting up of an Islamic state appeared to be rejected by the DAP.

Be aware of Fitch’s fiscal warning — Ramon Navaratnam

AUG 23 — International ratings agency Fitch Ratings has once again warned Malaysia that its public finances are under sustained strain!

This firm but polite expression of censure, if not admonition, should not be played down by unduly highlighting Malaysia’s short-term good economic growth gains in the last two quarters of this year .

Neither should we be complacent about the serious declines in economic growth and stability occurring currently in the relatively rich developed industrial world. We can do this only at our own peril.

The fact of the matter is that Malaysia will be adversely affected by the global slowdown in the near future. The extent of our economic slide is difficult to project at this time. But we know for sure that we cannot take a “business as usual” attitude against the headwinds and strong disruptive socio-economic currents whirling around us, at home and from abroad.

Thus we have to safeguard the economy against increasing strains on our national “credit profile”. This means, in short, exercising more fiscal discipline to restrain our high budget deficits and the budget and national debt from growing big and bad.

Budget 2013, to be tabled in Parliament next month, must therefore ensure that the necessary budget fiscal and monetary measures are adopted to strengthen our economic foundation and the fiscal reforms relating to better management of budget revenues, expenditures, the national debt and balance of payments, in the face of the inevitable global economic slowdown

Budget 2013 must therefore clearly show that it has taken Fitch’s fiscal warning seriously or Malaysia will have to pay penalties now being experienced by many developed countries!
We believe 2013 Budget should and will accordingly be designed appropriately.

* Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam is chairman of the Asli Centre of Public Policy Studies.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Shah Rukh Booked For Insulting National Flag

PUNE, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has been booked by city police for allegedly insulting the national flag, police said Tuesday.

Police in the western Indian Pune city brought the case against the actor on Aug 14 after Lok Janshakti Party national secretary Ravi Brahme claimed the 46-year-old actor had insulted the flag in a video purportedly uploaded on Youtube.

"Shah Rukh Khan has been booked under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act 1971. The case has been transferred to Mumbai police for further investigation. The case documents consist some photos and videos," Press Trust of India quoted a police officer as saying.

Brahme had recently lodged a complaint against Mumbai-based model Gehna Vashisht for allegedly insulting the national flag by wearing it as a bikini.

She was arrested on Aug 18 by police in Pune and released on bail the next day.

Shah Rukh's manager was unavailable for comment.

However, sources close to Shah Rukh said the actor did not have any knowledge about the complaint lodged against him.

Anti Party-Hopping Proposal Is Mere DAP Political Spinning - Chua

PETALING JAYA, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek today slammed DAP for proposing to amend the Penang state constitution to prevent party-hopping, saying that the move was only political spinning by the opposition party.

Questioning DAP sincerity on the matter, Dr Chua said DAP also knew it well that the proposal would not pass through the state assembly and it was against the Federal Constitution to restrict an individual's political freedom.

He said if DAP was really committed on preventing party-hopping, they could just do so by amending its party constitution.

"Amending party constitution is the simplest. It is easy to amend and to say that the party will not accept any "political frog", and if they (party-hoppers) jump, they will not be offered any seat.

"The whole story ends. Why need to go to the state assembly. At the end of the day, you make a lot of noise, attract attention but it is not as honorable as the DAP make it out to be," he told reporters after witnessing a presentation of monetary rewards by The Star Publications (M) Berhad to national Olympians Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Pandelela Rinong Pamg, here today.

Lee, who won a silver in badminton and Pandelala, a bronze in the diving event in the just concluded London Olympic Games were awarded RM100,000 each.

The MCA president was commenting on Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's proposal to table at the state assembly an anti-party hopping law.

Recounting several events on party hopping since 2008, including PKR's advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's Sept 16 infamous claim that the opposition would form the Federal Government after a list of Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers were said to be defecting to the opposition, Dr Chua said DAP had been all along supporting party hopping.

He said DAP had accepted two former Umno leaders to its fold early this year and the two Umno veterans were even promised seats in the upcoming general election.

"In a recent case, two former Sabah BN leaders also joined the opposition but the DAP didn't say a word," he said referring to Beaufort MP and chairman of BN Beaufort Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin and Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing, who is also United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) deputy president, who had quit BN last month to support the opposition.

"If DAP was sincere about anti-party hopping, they should not accept party hoppers from the very beginning," he added.

Earlier in his speech at the reward ceremony, Dr Chua urged all Malaysians to be united and support the national atheletes in their quests to bring greater glory to the country.

"If politicians failed to unite all Malaysians, at least both of you have helped to unite all Malaysians.

"Let us not let politics divide all of us when it comes to us," he added.

New Study: Eggs as Harmful as Cigarettes

New research has found that egg consumption is nearly as harmful to heart health as smoking tobacco. The study found a correlation between the number of egg yolks consumed and thickened arteries; the correlation was nearly as high as the correlation between the amount of tobacco smoked and thickened arteries.

Researchers measured the carotid wall thickness (an indicator of heart health) and measured the smoking, diet, and exercise habits of over 1,200 participants. "We believe our study makes it imperative to reassess the role of egg yolks, and dietary cholesterol in general, as a risk factor for coronary heart disease," the study authors concluded. 

 

 

 

 As scientific research continues to show the harmful effects of egg consumption on human health, undercover investigations continue to expose the horrific abuses hens and other farmed animals endure. Fortunately, preventing cruelty, heart disease, and cancer is easy with a plant-based diet.

Police reports against JAIPP for 'body-snatching'

A total of 18 police reports have been lodged by a group of Hindu devotees against the Penang Islamic Affairs Department (JAIPP) for snatching the remains of a woman it believed to be a Muslim without proper documentation.
One report was lodged at the Nibong Tebal police station by the deceased's son M Kamasanthren and 17 other relatives and friends of the family.
In his report, Kamasanthren said his family received information by telephone from the crematorium on Aug 14 that several officers claiming to be from JAIPP wanted to take possession of the cremated remains of his mother, M Nagamah.
He added that his uncle R Raja, who spoke to the person from the crematorium on the telephone, had categorically stated that the family would not allow JAIPP to do so.
He stressed that unless JAIPP has gone through the due process of the law, the officers have no legal authority to take possession of his mother’s remains which rightfully and lawfully belongs to the family.
"As it turned out, the JAIPP officers forced the issue and eventually took possession of the remains of my mother. In fact, they had stolen her remains from us," said Kamasanthren, 46, from Sungai Jawi.
"My mother and the rest of my family are Malaysians and our rights and interests should be protected by the federal constitution and the laws of Malaysia.
"This act of stealing the cremated remains of my mother is blatantly unlawful and is in serious and clear violation of rights guaranteed us in Article 11 on freedom of religion," he stressed.
Kamasanthren said he lodged the report as he wanted police to investigate the matter, adding that he wants the problem with JAIPP resolved "amicably" so that he could carry out his final Hindu funeral rites as the eldest son, on Aug 28.
The rite known as ‘Karumakirei’ ceremony is to be held 14 days after the death, after which her ashes are to be strewn into a nearby river.
Nagamah, who hailed from Bryam estate had passed away on Aug 14, where her remains were brought home from the Sungai Bakap hospital.
According to the family, they prepared to give her a Hindu funeral as she lived a life as a Hindu and died a Hindu.
However, JAIPP officers came to her house following her death and allegedly demanded the family surrender her body for a Muslim funeral, Kamasanthren said.
"The family refused as the officers did not provide documentary evidence about the claim. So, Nagamah was cremated according to Hindu rites at the Batu Berapit crematorium".

JAIPP told to go to civil court

Hindraf national advisor N Ganesan, who accompanied the son to the police station on Sunday, claimed the incident is clearly a state-sanctioned act as the police had accompanied the JAIPP officers at the crematorium.
Ganesan questioned by what superior law or authority can JAIPP order the crematorium and the family to turn over the cremated remains to them.
He said that, based on the federal constitution, Kamasanthren is guaranteed his rights to practise his religion and to perform the last rites for his mother.
He added that this is one of the most important obligations of a son to his parents in Hinduism, and accused JAIPP of acting "unilaterally and with impunity in violating all these rights".
"If JAIPP feels that they do have rights over the cremated remains, they should go to the civil courts which protect the rights of non-Muslims for adjudication on the matter.
"Unilateral pronouncements by the Syariah court does not apply to non-Muslims, therefore this effectively becomes a theft by JAIPP," he added.
Malaysiakini has been unable to obtain comment from JAIPP or the state mufti Hassan Ahmad.

Meanwhile, state exco member in charge of Islamic affairs Abdul Malik Abul Kassim told the media that he was aware of the incident.

"We will be making a statement on the matter in a few days time," said Abdul Malik, who is also Batu Maung assemblyperson.

Shooting leads to chaos at Odense hospital

Police are currently inspecting the area and have made several arrests stemming from last night's shooting and subsequent storming of Odense University Hospital

Odense University Hospital was last night the scene of chaos, as 60-70 people stormed the facility following a violent incident in Vollsmose (Photo: Scanpix)

Chaos broke out in Odense last night when a conflict between two rival groups in the suburb of Vollsmose surged, resulting in a young man being critically injured.

After a shooting victim was brought into the emergency room at the Odense University hospital, a group of between 60 to 70 men showed up and began to vandalise and create disorder.

“There were pictures torn down from the walls. There were vases knocked into pieces. It was quite intimidating to both the staff and police there, and several officers had to fire their guns to get them to disappear,” the head of security at Funen Police, Erik Halkjær, told bt.dk.

In connection with the ongoing investigation currently going on at Bøgeparken in Vollsmose, the Funen Police have arrested six people who are suspected to have been involved in the hospital vandalism, according to Ritzau.

The trouble started during Eid celebrations in Vollsmose when a 26-year-old man was shot in one leg and stabbed in the other, and another man, a 24-year-old, was hit by a car which fled the scene.

“It most likely involves two groups of immigrants from Vollsmose, but we do not know anything about the motive. We have not been able to talk to the victim as he is still in intensive care,” the Funen Police deputy commissioner Jack Liedecke told DR News earlier today.

“There has been some unrest in Odense recently, but we could not predict that it would result in this,” he added.

Later in the night, the chaos continued in the centre of Odense, where members of the two groups clashed.

It was then that the group of 60-70 people stormed Odense University Hospital in an attempt to reach the shooting and hit-and-run victims. The group threatened hospital staff and police, vandalising furniture and police cars along the way. In total, one ambulance and four police cars were destroyed from the night’s events.

Police reported that although this was not the first time people have come to the entrance hall of the emergency room to cause trouble, no one has made it all the way to the emergency room before.

“It is not unusual that you meet many people in the emergency room either trying to get ahold of the victim or to give support to the person who has been brought in. We have seen that many times,” Liedecke said.

The 26-year-old victim was admitted to the hospital in a fatally critical condition due to significant blood loss, but after a lengthy surgery, he is now in a more stable condition. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Iran's supreme leader orders fresh terror attacks on West

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issed a directive to intensify attacks against the West and its allies around the world Photo:

Iran's Supreme Leader has ordered the country's Revolutionary Guards to intensify its campaign of terror attacks against the West and its allies in retaliation for supporting the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

According to Western intelligence officials, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave the order to the elite Quds Force unit following a recent emergency meeting of Iran's National Security Council in Tehran held to discuss a specially-commissioned report into the implications for Iran of the Assad regime's overthrow.

Damascus is Iran's most important regional ally, and the survival of the Assad regime is regarded as vital to sustaining the Iranian-backed Hizbollah militia which controls southern Lebanon.

The report, which was personally commissioned by Mr Khamenei, concluded that Iran's national interests were being threatened by a combination of the U.N. sanctions imposed over Iran's nuclear programme and the West's continuing support for Syrian opposition groups attempting to overthrow the Syrian government.

Intelligence officials say the report concludes that Iran "cannot be passive" to the new threats posed to its national security, and warns that Western support for Syrian opposition groups was placing Iran's "resistance alliance" in jeopardy, and could seriously disrupt Iran's access to Hizbollah in Lebanon.

It advised that the Iranian regime should demonstrate to the West that there were "red lines" over what it would accept in Syria, and that a warning should be sent to "America, the Zionists, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others that they cannot act with impunity in Syria and elsewhere in the region."

Mr Khamenei responded by issuing a directive to Qassem Suleimani, the Quds Force commander, to intensify attacks against the West and its allies around the world.

The Quds Force has recently been implicated in a series of terror attacks against Western targets. Last year U.S. officials implicated the organisation in a failed assassination attempt against the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington. It was also implicated in three bomb attacks against Israeli diplomats in February, planning to attack the Eurovision song contest in Azerbaijan while two Iranians were arrested in Kenya last month for possessing explosives.

Intelligence officials believe the recent spate of Iranian attacks has been carried out by the Quds Force's Unit 400, which runs special overseas operations.

"Unit 400 seems to have been involved in all the recent Iranian terrorist operations," said a senior Western intelligence official. "The Iranian regime now seems determined to retaliate for what they regard as the West's attempts to influence the outcome of the Syrian unrest."

Iran has been actively supporting the Assad regime's attempts to suppress the wave of anti-government protests that erupted in March last year. Iranian opposition groups claim teams of experienced Revolutionary Guard officers have been flying to Damascus on specially-chartered Iranian aircraft on a weekly basis to advise the Assad regime.

The extent of Iran's support for the Assad regime was exposed earlier this month when 48 Iranians were captured and taken hostage by Syrian opposition fighters. The Iranians, who are said to include senior Revolutionary Guard officers, claimed they were conducting "reconnaissance missions", and their capture by Syrian opposition fighters was deeply embarrassing for Tehran, which is demanding their immediate safe return to Iran. Syrian rebels have threatened to kill the hostages unless Iran ends its support for the Assad regime.

MYDaftar terima lebih 9,500 permohonan dokumentasi

Sebanyak 6,527 ialah permohonan kewarganegaraan dan baki melibatkan dokumentasi lain seperti kelahiran, perkahwinan dan kad pengenalan.

KUALA LUMPUR: Program MyDaftar yang dilancarkan Februari tahun lepas hingga Mei lalu, telah menerima 9,529 permohonan dokumentasi daripada masyarakat India.

Sebanyak 6,527 ialah permohonan kewarganegaraan dan baki melibatkan dokumentasi lain seperti kelahiran, perkahwinan dan kad pengenalan, kata Penyelaras Pasukan Petugas Khas Pelaksanaan Jawatankuasa Kabinet Masyarakat India, Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam.

“Permohonan kewarganegaraan tertinggi melibatkan warga asing yang mempunyai permit masuk iaitu 3,770 dan daripada jumlah itu 2,016 diluluskan Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN).

“Kita juga menerima 1,922 permohonan pendaftaran kewarganegaraan daripada masyarakat India lahir di Malaysia selepas merdeka dan 1,479 diluluskan KDN,” katanya dalam temu bual di Wisma Bernama di sini.

MyDaftar merupakan program membantu masyarakat India di negara ini yang tidak memiliki dokumen berkaitan kelahiran, pengenalan dan kewarganegaraan menyelesaikan masalah dokumentasi mereka.

Bukti sukar

Siva Subramanian berkata kesukaran membuktikan mereka lahir di Malaysia dan kurang fasih berbahasa Melayu adalah antara sebab sukar memberikan taraf kewarganegaraan kepada pemohon yang lahir di Malaysia sebelum merdeka.

“Sebelum merdeka dokumentasi susah mahu cari. Sebelum MyDaftar mereka susah untuk tampil ke depan kerana takut dan kurang pengetahuan tentang pendaftaran ada juga ejen yang datang tolong tapi ejen ini ambil kesempatan ambil duit.

“Ada kes ejen tipu mereka ‘gave-up’ (menyerahkan) warganegara mereka 30, 40 tahun lepas untuk keluar wang KWSP (Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja).Ejen dapat ‘percent’ (komisen) banyak. Kita susah mahu tolong kerana mereka ‘gave up’ kewarganegaraan mereka dengan sukarela masa itu,” katanya.

Beliau berkata MyDaftar turut menerima 708 permohonan kewarganegaraan daripada mereka yang berkahwin dengan warganegara Malaysia, dan daripada jumlah itu 600 telah diluluskan KDN.

MyDaftar turut menerima 12 permohonan kewarganegaraan daripada anak warganegara dan daripada jumlah itu lapan permohonan diluluskan.

Daftar lewat

Siva Subramaniam berkata masalah mendaftar lewat kelahiran merupakan permohonan tertinggi diterima iaitu sebanyak 1,778 dan daripada jumlah itu 1,459 diluluskan.

“Ini juga masalah kesedaran masyarakat untuk mendaftar kelahiran anak mereka, ada kes yang datang pada kita anak bukan daripada isteri pertama atau anak luar perkahwinan, jadi susah mahu daftar.

Siva Subramanian berkata selain itu, MyDaftar menerima 913 permohonan daftar lewat kad pengenalan, perkahwinan (222), pindah maklumat sijil kelahiran (88) dan satu permohonan dokumentasi anak angkat.

Ditanya kenyataan Naib Presiden Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) N. Surendran yang mendakwa 300,000 keturunan India di negara ini tidak mempunyai dokumen pengenalan diri, beliau menyarankan agar pemimpin PKR itu membawa kesemua mereka memohon menerusi MyDaftar.

“Jangan sekadar beri angka dan cuci tangan selepas itu. Ini tidak menyelesaikan masalah. Kumpulkan semua 300,000 itu dan datang kepada kami, kami akan bantu daftar.

“Jangan politikkan isu ini, kita bercakap soal masalah rakyat dan sebagai pemimpin kita mesti selesaikan masalah rakyat bukan dijadikan alat untuk membenci kerajaan,” katanya.

Bernama

Ambiga to leave Bersih after GE

The Bersih co-chaiperson told Bloomberg that she wants to devote more time to her firm which specialises on many legal issues.

PETALING JAYA: Bersih co-chaiperson S Ambiga said that she would step down from the electoral reforms movement after the next general election.

In an interview with Bloomberg today, Ambiga said that she intended to pay more attention to her firm which specialises in commercial, intellectual property and industrial law.

Ambiga, a former Bar Council president, shot to fame after leading two Bersih rallies in 2010 and in April this year, calling for reforms to the Malaysian electoral system.

Although she received support from Pakatan Rakyat and other NGOs, the government had poured scorn over her attempts, claiming that she was a “pawn” of the opposition.

Sri Gading MP Mohamad Aziz even called for her hanging during a parliamentary session, but withdrew his remarks after receiving brickbats from his own colleagues in the ruling coalition.

In the interview, Ambiga said that she has some unfinished business from her previous campaign on women’s rights, which was not well received by the government.

“The courts had abdicated their responsibility over a lot of family law issues in situations involving both the syariah and civil courts,” she said.

Ambiga was referring to cases where husbands converted to Islam and unilaterally converted their children too, creating a lot of confusion in families and leaving their wives in the doldrums.

“In 2008, the government had proposed legislation requiring individuals wishing to convert to first inform family members and address custody issues, but the process was stalled at the Council of Rulers, who are responsible for Islamic affairs,” said Ambiga.

On growing calls for reforms, she said that the government could ill-afford to ignore the masses and one way to live by the people’s aspiration is by making the electoral system free and fair.

“If enough people want change, there’s very little anyone can do to stop it,” she said. “Malaysians are generally peace-loving – we are nowhere near what was happening in the Middle East, Tunisia and Egypt.

“But we are at the right point in time for positive change, and if we are going to bring change, we only want to do it by clean and fair elections,” said Ambiga.

‘Guilty until proven innocent’ law applies to Umno Youth in Facebook probe

Umno Youth representative Ibdilillah Ishak shows a copy of the police report lodged on behalf of the wing’s chief, Khairy. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — The burden of proof is on Umno Youth to show that it is not the publisher of controversial remarks suggesting that a vote for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will result in Christianity becoming the country’s official religion, due to recent amendments to the Evidence Act, lawyers have said. Umno Youth has claimed that the person who put up the poster with the controversial remarks was “unauthorised” to do so and that the page was not its official Facebook page.
The poster, which was uploaded last Saturday and taken down the same day, appeared to suggest that votes for federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will cause Islam to be replaced by Christianity as the country’s official religion.
It had read: “Jika anda setuju untuk jadikan KRISTIAN sebagai agama rasmi persekutuan Malaysia, teruskan sokongan anda kepada Pakatan Rakyat. (If you agree to make CHRISTIANITY the official religion of the federation of Malaysia, continue supporting Pakatan Rakyat.) ‘God bless you my son’.”
If Umno Youth is brought to court over the “unauthorised” Facebook post, it would be the test case for the newly-enforced Section 114A of the Evidence Act that has already seen widespread opposition from the public.

A screen capture shows an enlarged thumbnail of the anti-Christian poster on the “Pemuda Umno Malaysia” page.

Section 114A makes even coffee shops offering free Wi-Fi services liable for any defamatory or criminal acts of customers using computers at their premises. The new law creates a presumption that any registered user of network services is presumed to be the publisher of a publication sent from a computer linked to that network service, if he cannot show otherwise
The Section also provides that any “person whose name, photograph or pseudonym appears on any publication depicting himself as the owner, host, administrator, editor or sub-editor, or who in any manner facilitates to publish or re-publish the publication is presumed to have published or re-published the contents of the publication unless the contrary is proved.”
Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan told The Malaysian Insider that Section 114A would impose a presumption that Umno Youth had published the poster, but notes that “this factual presumption is not tested in court” yet.
“But say, for whatever reason, Umno Youth is charged under the Sedition Act for promoting ill will between the Muslim and Christian communities, the factual presumption would operate,” Syahredzan said.
“All the prosecution would need to prove is that the Umno Youth is stated to be the owner or administrator of the Facebook page,” he said, noting that it is “quite easy to do so” as the page “represents itself as Umno Youth’s”.
Once that is proven, Umno Youth would be “presumed to be the publisher of the post” and would then need to “rebut this presumption”, he added.
“This is a perfect example of the absurdity and injustice of Section 114A in operation.”
The prime minister had on Twitter last week said his Cabinet would review the law after several organisations ― including the Malaysian Bar ― chose to black out their websites to signal their opposition to the law.
A day later, however, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim announced that the law will stay.
Foong Cheng Leong, the Kuala Lumpur Bar IT committee co-chair, agreed with Syahredzan, saying that “if we follow (Section) 114A, looking at subsection 1, it seems that the presumption of fact is that Umno Youth is the publisher of the poster.”
He said there is an “impression that it’s a legitimate Pemuda Umno page”, saying that the Facebook page, which has over 50,000 “likes”, features Umno Youth’s logo and the party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s photograph.
Foong said that Section 114A is unclear on a number of things, saying that it “does not say when the presumption is rebutted.”
“We don’t know if a police report is sufficient to rebut the presumption,” he said, saying that “we’re left at the unknown stage.”
“Can the media go and tell everybody that Pemuda Umno is the publisher of the poster? Can the media publish it as fact because in the law it’s presumed as fact?” he asked.
When asked if there was any law for Umno Youth to fall back on in court, the lawyer said there is “no exemption under (Section) 114A” and “the only thing they can do is come out with proof it’s not them.”
Lawyer Faisal Moideen shared Foong’s view, saying that “making a police report may not be enough because it seems to be a bare denial.”
However, he defended the law and stressed that it does not impose a presumption of guilt but only the presumption of fact of publication.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t mean they have committed a crime,” he said, adding that “it takes more than just publication to make a person guilty.”
Based on his reading of the law, he said “you don’t have to show who did it, you have to show you didn’t publish it” to rebut the presumption.

Double standards in sentencing

There are times we hail court decisions and there are times we find them bizarre. But if we ignore the incredible disparities in some court decisions, it is only at our own peril.
Azmi Sharom, The Star
HOSLAN Hussein gets one year in jail for inaccurately chucking (he missed) his slippers at a judge. Noor Afizal Azizan gets a fine and zero jail time for raping a 13-year-old girl.
It boggles the mind. Hoslan’s sentence, in my view, was very harsh and over the top.
But even if one were to believe that the sanctity of the courts is so fragile that a punitively deterrent punishment is required for the flinging of footwear, it is impossible to ignore the incongruous disparity in the punishments meted out to these two men for crimes of such vastly different seriousness.
Much has been said about the judge’s unbelievable comment when sentencing Noor Afizal. Apparently being a national bowler with a bright future is enough to let you escape jail time for rape.
Actually, what is this “bright future” the judge is thinking about? The man is a child rapist; he confessed to it. He should not be allowed to represent the country in anything at all.
And in case you think there are mitigating issues in this case, namely that the sexual act was supposedly consensual, allow me to argue otherwise.
In this case, the girl was under the age of consent. This means the crime committed is statutory rape. The issue of consent does not even arise in such cases.
The reason for this is because we as a society have long ago determined that the young girls of our community deserve protection.
It does not matter in the slightest that children mature at different rates; what matters is that in general, this society believes that girls under the age of 16 are not yet ready to make decisions regarding their own sexual activity.
There are mental, psychological and also physiological elements to this need for protection.
The sexual act by itself could have implications for a child’s well-being, but a child from our society would surely be traumatised in the event that she got pregnant and had to face either childbirth or abortion.
Furthermore in immature bodies, the experience can also be seriously harmful physically.
I use the term “a child from our society” because I realise the age of consent will differ from nation to nation and culture to culture.
But in the case of statutory rape, there is no room for comparative anthropology. What matters is what we value for our girls.
I always believe that Malaysians care for our children. We want them to have a sound and safe childhood so that they can go to school and build a strong foundation for their future.
This is why we want to protect them for as long as possible, for it is this safety that helps to establish an environment where they can mature and flourish at a pace which we believe is healthy.
The judge in making his decision could not possibly have been thinking about this bigger picture. For if he had, he would have realised that his judgment was not only about Noor Afizan and the girl he violated, but also about all the girls in this country and our collective concern for them.
He has in effect dealt a blow to one of the few noble values that the people of this country universally accept — that our children should be cared for and be protected.

A Cautionary Tale on Sri Lankan Refugees

The Jaya Lestari and cargo

(Asia Sentinel) An alleged con man cons the Australian press

During the final quarter of 2009, a cargo ship called the Jaya Lastari, with 256 Tamil asylum seekers aboard, was impounded off the island of Java by the Indonesian navy. The Tamil asylum-seekers refused to disembark, saying they no longer had a country of their own.

The three-year-old story has relevance today because of the current drama of the Wallenius Wilhelmsen, a freighter with 67 male asylum-seekers on their way to Christmas Island to seek Australian safety. As with the refugees aboard the Jaya Lestari, the clutch of refugees aboard the Wallenius Wilhelmsen “threatened to harm themselves” to secure safe passage.

Three years ago, an earnest, articulate Tamil named Alex Kuhendraraja on the boat with the refugees became their spokesman, appearing on Australian television channels with a 10-year-old girl named “little Brindha” who begged for safe haven. It became a major international incident, with “Alex” pleading for any country anywhere to take the refugees.

“Have a look at this picture you see today and ask yourself one question,” he said, gesturing to the media and the bedraggled Tamils behind him, many staring in bewilderment, “If you had no place, if you had no country of your own, what would you do? And how long would you stay in a boat before you were able to enter a country that will give you asylum?”

There was no allusion to Alex’s Canadian accent in a commentary, and the author accepted the pseudonym “Alex” as entirely reasonable: “His distress was palpable. Alex, purportedly an English teacher frm Jaffna who had left behind his pregnant wife, choked on his words.

‘We are not animals,” he said. “We are not dogs. We are not stray dogs. We are people without a country to live in’.”

Then came a bombshell. In early November the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Canberra claimed that Alex was Sanjeev Kuhendrarajah, a member of the Kannan gang in Toronto who had been deported from Canada 2002 and that that he was part of a people smuggling chain in Chennai, India.

It was only after his mother, identified as Sathia Rajaratnam, arrived that “Alex” admitted that he had been a member of a gang in Toronto. Claiming youthful indiscretion, he nevertheless continued to insist that his wife and several children faced danger in Sri Lanka.

But on Dec. 2, 2009, his mother -- reportedly a “businesswoman” sufficiently endowed to travel to Merak to visit her son -- said she felt guilty over his predicament, having urged him last year to move from Chennai, where he and his wife had a hotel business, to Sri Lanka, where business opportunities looked to be opening after the civil war.

Kuhendraraja ultimately acknowledged to Sean Fitzpatrick of the Australian that he didn’t have a pregnant wife and that she didn’t live in Sri Lanka. Later, according to Fitzpatrick, Alex “quietly admitted to me [that] he ‘made up stuff’ about the fate of the downtrodden Tamil community.”

This note was buried within the Fitzpatrick text, however. There was no highlighting of Sanjeev Kuhendrarajah’s work of deception and the equally stark fact of comprehensive media gullibility extending across major Australian news enterprises. The whole episode must surely enter into the annals of Australian journalism as a failure of skepticism and investigative technique.
It is, on first impression, a tale of gullibility. Or, is it? It could also be a tale of culpability. It is possible that the editorial line favored by The Australian discouraged any questioning caveats because it was adhering to the horror stories about Sri Lanka pressed by The Times group in London and regularly recapitulated within The Australian’s pages since early 2008. Stirring the public and selling news-as-commodity calls for sweeping generalizations and any attention to complexity and intricacy through caveats and detail simply spoils the grand plot.

The Australian media has also suffered from its profound ignorance of the migrant scene. It does not seem to have given weight to the presence of thousands of Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu in India since 1983, presently numbering around 110-125,000. Australian media circles appear to have been unaware that several thousand Sri Lankan males, mostly Sinhalese Catholics from the Negombo region, reached Italy by fishing trawler between 1990 and 2002 until Italy took action to thwart the process.
What this fact does to the easy acceptance of the widespread theory that people will only get unto so-called “leaky wooden boats” because they suffer from political discrimination and persecution cannot be addressed by Australians – cannot be addressed because ignorance is bliss.

It is this outstanding failure that is highlighted by my story about Alex the con man. It is not an unfamiliar shortcoming. The lack of investigative acumen revealed simply replicates the mind-boggling errors of omission displayed by other reporters when they relayed other similarly credulous stories and commentary of individuals who pose as “experts” on Sri Lanka.

Today, "Alex" could also serve as a conduit towards revealing information from all those on the Jaya Lastari who are prepared to tell us more about his role in those crowded days on the ship at Merak. We know that Brindha and 86 others from that ship made it to Christmas Island from Java on another boat. They clearly were not short of cash, resourcefulness or connections. What decisions have been made about this body of people is hidden by the stonewalls surrounding official Australian action (though it seems that Brindha and family have now been accepted as refugees subject to community detention. These refugees could be a mine of information.

They could also aid us in building a fuller picture of Alex. Why not pursue this fascinating character and get more details about his business in Chennai and how he lived from 2003 to 2009? He is a captive soul now, within reach for enterprising journeymen. It seems that he had hidden in Malaysia for quite a while, but was apprehended at Padang Besar on 29 April 2011 carrying a false Malaysian passport. He is now in jail in Thailand unsung, uncelebrated, and hardly benighted.

(Michael Roberts taught History at Peradeniya University from 1966-76 and Anthropology at Adelaide University from 1977 to 2004. He remains an Adjunct Associate Professor at the latter. He has written extensively on Sri Lankan issues.)

Are inflammatory religious remarks now fair game? — Pak Sako

AUG 21 — Statements made by Mahathir Mohamad after a mosque function in Kedah as recorded by Sinar Harian (‘Hudud boleh dilaksana jika Pas sertai Umno’, August 17, 2012), if true, would constitute an unprecedented rebuff of the culture of religious respectfulness by any Malaysian politician of that reputation.

The report cites him as saying that:

•    PAS should leave Pakatan Rakyat as soon as possible because they embrace “infidels” who evidently reject hudud. (“Pas harus keluar dari PR secepat mungkin kerana mereka saling berpelukan dengan orang kafir yang secara nyata menolak hudud.”);

•    PAS will not be able to implement hudud as long as they are with a political party that does not recognise that “Islam is a superior religion.” (“Selagi Pas bersama parti yang tidak mengakui Islam adalah agama unggul, hukum hudud tidak dapat di laksanakan.”).

The first remark uses a derogatory term that no self-respecting Muslim Malaysian would cast in referring to his non-Muslim brothers and sisters, political differences notwithstanding. The second remark implies that all other religions are inferior to Islam.

Both are insensitive and divisive. They ought to have no place in our multi-religious political discourse.
It is regrettable that these words were issued by a former prime minister. They must nonetheless be censured. Silence would only signal that it is legitimate to engage in such religious mud slinging.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Police Cripple Gang Of Shoplifters Specialising In Branded Milk Powder

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- The police have detained 13 people, including six suspected members of a gang of shoplifters, during a two-day operation in Kajang, beginning Aug 16.

The gang is believed to be involved in the theft of 160 boxes of branded milk powder worth about RM12,800.

Kajang police chief ACP Ab Rashid Ab Wahab said today, on Aug 16, the police detained three men and a woman at a sundry shop in 9th mile Cheras for allegedly shoplifting branded milk powder.

He said, the suspects had concealed the items in their robes before they were caught in the incident about 4.30pm.

"On the same day, the four suspects took the police to a medicine shop in Kuchai Lama where five men were nabbed.

"Two of them were believed to be owners of the shop which bought stolen goods from the gang of shoplifters," said Ab Rashid, adding that two Indonesian women, believed to be shop assistants, were also picked up.

The next day, two men were nabbed in Klang, he said.

The suspects are aged between 20 and 48.

Police Arrest Two Security Firm Personnel Over Botched ATM Theft

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- Five security firm personnel thought they could escape with cash from one of the automated teller machines (ATM) at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in Bangi on Aug 15.

Lady Luck, however, did not smile on them.

Two of the personnel were caught by a UKM security guard and policeman while the group attempted to prise open the ATM about 7.40pm, while using an oxygen gas torch.

The rest, comprising mechanics and a technician, escaped in a car.

Kajang police chief ACP Ab Rashid Ab Wahab said today, one of the would-be thieves had earlier attempted to deceive the guard into thinking that maintenance work was in progress.

However, the ruse failed as the guard became suspicious upon getting the whiff of something burning, he said.

Ab Rashid said the police had also seized an oxygen gas cylinder, a pair of gloves, hook and other equipment which were used in the attempted theft.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah said the police had not ruled out 'inside job' involving security firm personnel in some of the ATM thefts in the Klang Valley.

He said the police suspicion was based on the thieves being well-versed in ATM alarm systems and closed-circuit television cameras near the machines.

He said the police were in the mids

Johor: String of seats could fall to Pakatan

At least half a dozen parliamentary seats could easily fall to the opposition in the coming general election, say informed political observers.

That’s the view shared by a veteran Johor-based journalist and a Johor opposition politician, whom I met over the last couple of days. They both said that Pakatan could easily bag six or seven seats, perhaps more.

At present, the BN holds 25 parliamentary seats from Johor and Pakatan (DAP) has one. The BN’s seats are held by Umno (16), MCA (7), MIC (1) and Gerakan (1).

Umno’s seats, however, appear fairly solid, given the unique position of the party in the state and the handouts announced by Najib. Also, property owners have benefited from soaring prices, as a result of Singaporeans snapping up property in the state and driving up prices. Then there are those working in Singapore who earn higher salaries after converting to Malaysian currency.

On the other hand, those working in Johor or looking to buy their first property in the state could struggle to cope with the rising cost of living.

Pas, meanwhile, has relatively limited appeal in the state, compared to the support they enjoy in the northern and eastern states of the peninsula.