A mutton seller’s fight for justice

The father of three claims that he has lost 'everything' after being tricked into 'selling' his house by moneylenders.

PETALING JAYA: A Muthukrishnan refuses to give up despite being hit by a series of misfortunes that has left him with close to nothing.

The 44 -year-old father of three is officially considered disabled, having lost his right thumb. He may now also lose the house he calls home.

The tragic tale of Muthukrishnan, a mutton seller from Selayang, centres around a double-storey freehold house in Selayang Baru, Batu Caves, which he bought in July 1997.

He took a loan from Standard Chartered Bank, paying RM1,000 a month to finance the house, then priced at RM200,000 (it is now estimated to cost about RM500,000).

Muthukrishnan’s problems began when he fell into financial hardship and had to take a RM50,000 loan from a licensed moneylender in 2006 to help finance the loan.

“I agreed with the man (money lender) that a caveat be put on my house as one of the terms for the loan. He told me this was so I can’t sell the house,” he said.

The money lender then told him that he had to sign some documents. Muthukrishnan, who is illiterate, did as he was told.

Little did Muthukrishnan know that the money lender had taken advantage of his illiteracy and tricked him.

“Instead of a caveat, it was in fact a Power of Attorney document somewhat similar to a sales and purchase agreement. This I found out much later,” he said.

House has been sold

The following is the sequence of events of how Muthukrishnan slowly discovered that he had been duped by the moneylenders and later “wronged” by the bank, which caused him to “lose everything”.

In December 2008, the collection department of Standard Chartered Bank contacted him, informing him that a third party was asking for the redemption sum of his loan.

“The bank told me that I was selling my house and someone wanted to know the balance needed to pay off the remainder of my loan. I was shocked. I told the officer I wasn’t even thinking of selling it at all,” he said.

On the bank’s advise, Muthukrishnan then lodged a police report a day later, saying that he had no intention to sell his house, a copy of which he handed over to the bank.

However, on July 2010, he suddenly received a cheque of RM1,672.38 from the bank.

“I was confused, why was I getting money, was it a bonus for paying the loans on time? Curious, I went to check. The bank told me: ‘your house has been transferred. And this amount you received was the balance someone paid for you.’”

“I was devastated. Nowhere did I confirm that I would sell the house. I didn’t even know that somebody had secretly ‘helped’ me settle the amount owed to the bank,” he said.

Later, a bank officer told him there was an additional RM10,000 and RM2,506.64 cheques to be paid to him. However, in protest of what happened, Muthukrishnan returned the cheques given to him.

“I said I didn’t want the money… I wasn’t selling my house. How come the bank didn’t tell me or inform me that someone was taking my house away?” he asked.

When the bank informed him that they had acted based on a document handed over to them by the moneylenders, it was then that Muthukrishnan realised that he had been duped.

But Muthukrishnan felt that it was Standard Chartered Bank which was being negligent when it plainly accepted this so-called document despite his police report clearly stating that he was not selling the house.

“Why didn’t they check with me? There was never a letter of any kind sent to me to say that the house was being transferred. At least give me a call right? If I was properly informed or warned, I would have done something, but now it has been done.

“Also, how come a financial institution like Standard Chartered could still collect money from me if they are acting from a document that was signed two years ago. They were collecting my money for one year plus,” he complained.

At his wits end, Muthukrishnan made at least 33 different complaints to seek help and redress.

These included approaching the bank itself, Bank Negara, seven reports with the police, Consumers Tribunal, Bar Council, Money Lenders’ Association, Ministry of Housing and Local Authority and even a politician from MCA. All to no avail.

Beaten and slashed

In the meantime, he was continuously harrassed by the moneylenders asking him to vacate his home which they now claimed belonged to them.

The worst incident happened on April 23, 2011.

“It was about 2am when I was leaving my house for work, a Malay boy stopped me so I slowed down my bike and took off my helmet to talk to him, thinking he needed help.

“Suddenly a white Proton Perdana car rammed into my motorcyle and three men with parangs alighted and started slashing me.

“One of them shouted ‘Why you don’t want to get out from the house?’ I was slashed repeatedly, from head to toe.

“One of them said: ‘Sudah kahwinkah? Minta tangan you’ They starting sawing off my right thumb, but it did not come off. It was so painful, I begged them to chop my hand at one go instead,” he said.

By the end of the ordeal, Muthukrishnan’s right hand was almost severed and his right thumb dismembered, which the assailtants took with them. His left ear was also partially sliced off and in total, he received more than 50 stitches.

He slipped into a coma and only regained consciousness after two weeks. And although doctors managed to re-attach his right hand, he received an OKU (Orang Kurang Upaya) card that certified him to be disabled.

He told FMT that his greatest embarassment was that the newspapers had reported that he was attacked because he owed money to “Alongs” (loansharks).

“My relatives, people at the market and my neighbours now look at us differently. They stare at me and my family. I feel so shy to put my children through that.

“I can’t work anymore, as I can’t handle the knife, and my wife has to sell the mutton for me at the wet market. She even has to help feed me and bring me to the bathroom,” he said.

‘Bank is at fault’

But Muthukrishnan said that he did not mind the ordeal as long as he could get back his house.

“I feel the bank was responsible for making me lose my house. They did not give me a chance to fight for it.

“I don’t need an admission from the bank that they had been negligent. I just need my home, the bank should help me because they messed up,” he said.

He asked how was it possible that his house was sold so easily when he signed the documents without a lawyer present.

“Also, how could the bank reveal my loan information to a third party? I did not tell the moneylenders my account information,” he said.

In addition, Muthukrishnan questioned why the bank had offered to help him finance the costs of a lawyer to help him go to court over this case earlier.

He claimed that the bank said the “free” legal aid would come with the condition that he did not hold the bank accountable for anything.

“You give me a lawyer, surely they would support you right? I don’t believe them… they’re just trying to wash their hands off everything,” he said.

The past few weeks had been especially hard for Muthukrishnan — the moneylenders on Monday had wanted to evict him from the house, serving him a legal notice.

Muthukrishnan managed to obtain the services of lawyer, Kaharuddin Harun, who was now fighting his case.

No detailed response from bank

Kaharuddin said that a earlier court decision had ruled that Muthukrishnan’s re-possession of property case should be heard at the High Court.

However, he remarked that it was “beyond my stretch of imagination” how the moneylender’s lawyers had ignored it and continued to proceeded to seek to possess Muthukrishnan’s property.

“If there is a challenge in the High Court, wherein the purchaser was not bona fide and it was a wrongful transaction, the other side cannot keep trying to evict him. In fact, the title should be null and void, and damages be awarded to my client,” he said.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered’s head of business communications Sharon Mak said that the bank was unable to provide a detailed response to Muthukrishnan’s case due to strict confidentiality policies set by the bank and Bank Negara.

“We can’t discuss customers issues, we are bound by confidentiality laws…we have to discuss it with the customer. We take customer data very seriously,” she added.

However, she revealed that the bank had communicated with Muthukrishnan several times, verbally and via letters, but the complainant had failed to reply.

“The thing is, from our last communication, we’ve not heard from him. I don’t know why he goes to the media, and expects the media to help him. We have suggested all sort of recommendations for him. He has not come back with a response… since June this year,” she said.

Mak said that the bank would issue a press release to explain the situation soon.

“As much as we empathise with him. He himself approached the moneylender. That’s the issue here. In any case, we will come back to you, we will try to respond to the media soon,” she added.

S’gor DAP branches reject Ganapathirau

Selangor DAP branches warn the party leadership that DAP would lose the Kota Alam Shah seat if Ganapathirau, a former ISA detainee, is fielded.

KLANG: Eight DAP branches here have called on the party leadership not to field V Ganapathirau (photo) as candidate in Kota Alam Shah state seat in the next general election.

The branches, all from the state constituency, warned the party leadership that the DAP would lose the seat if Ganapathirau, a former detainee of now repealed Internal Security Act, was fielded.

The DAP eight branches, with collectively some 500 members, openly opposed Ganapathirau are Taman Gembira, Klang, Teluk Pulai, Bayu Tinggi, Taman Chi Liung Indah, Southern Klang, Persiaran Raja Muda Musa and Ehsan.

The group spokesman Ivan Ho said they were all against Ganapathirau because he was not a local familiar with the party grassroots leaders and members, or constituents in the area.

Ho said Ganapathirau does not have close rapport with party grassroots in the constituency, a winning factor so crucial for a potential candidate.

He urged the party leadership to respect grassroots sentiments and not to force in parachute candidates like Ganapathirau in Kota Alam Shah.

“DAP members and constituents don’t know him much.

“The party should not push us to accept Ganapathirau.

“We don’t want him,” Ho, the Taman Gembira branch head, told FMT.

Kota Alam Shah incumbent assemblyman is M Manoharan, a protégé of DAP national chairman Karpal Singh.

It’s learnt Selangor DAP leadership under Teresa Kok planned to replace Manoharan, also a former ISA detainee, with Ganapathirau.

Ganapathirau is a staunch confidant of deputy secretary general and Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy.

Not an Indian hero

Taman Chi Liung Indah head K Yogasigamany reminded the state party leadership that time had lapsed to promote the Ganapathirau as a former ISA detainee and his so-called involvement in Hindraf Makkal Sakti.

He said DAP grassroots members and constituents know that Ganapathirau, who now leads NGO Malaysian Indian voice, was not a Hindraf leader.

“Constituents have realised that Ganapathirau was never the Hindraf leader or Indian hero.

“He is no more relevant for Indian community.

“It will be futile and fatal for party leadership to field Ganapathirau in Kota Alam Shah.

“The leadership should drop the idea altogether,” Yogasigamany told FMT.

PM: Sabahans won’t fall for Pakatan

The people of Sabah cannot be easily duped by the opposition pact, says the prime minister.

SANDAKAN: The people of Sabah are wise and cannot be easily duped by the opposition, said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

He said Sabahans know that it was only through Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) that Sabah could enjoy continued development and their interests looked after.

The people of Sabah and Malaysia on the whole, he said, clearly understood that the most important agenda of the government was the National Transformation Programme.

“So far, many successes have been achieved (by the BN government), give us five more years to double that,” he said when opening Sabah’s Umno Zone 5 divisional delegates meeting here today.

Umno Zone 5 involves the divisions of Libaran, Sandakan, Batu Sapi, Kinabatangan and Beluran.

Najib said the federal government was aware that Sabah needed more roads, electricity supply, houses and various other facilities.

He said all these could be delivered by the BN which was in line with its ‘Janji Ditepati’ pledge to fulfill the needs of the people wherever they were.

Good ties with state government

He noted that the good relationship between the federal government and the Sabah government was a further boon for efforts to develop the state.

“I am very pleased with the cooperation given by the Sabah government led by Chief Minister Musa Aman in developing Sabah.

“If there are differences in opinion, these are discussed in an amicable manner and resolved in the interest of Sabahans. This forms an important basis for the cooperation between the federal government and the state government,” he said.

He added that he would ensure that development in Sabah would be at the same pace as states in Peninsular Malaysia.

Among efforts taken in this direction was providing huge allocations under the National Transformation Programe, he said.

Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor later attended an Aidil Fitri open house organised by the divisions before leaving for Kota Kinabalu.

- Bernama

Security firm boss shot dead

GOMBAK: A security firm owner was shot dead while his wife was seriously injured when two gunmen shot the couple outside a school in Selayang here.

K. Archuthan, 41, and S. Chitra, 36, were waiting to fetch their 17-year-old son from school when the gunmen on bikes shot them at about 1pm.

Archuthan died on the spot while Chitra is in critical condition at Selayang Hospital after a bullet hit her in the abdomen.
A passer-by took her to the hospital.

Gunned down: Policemen removing the body from the scene outside the school in Selayang, Gombak.

Gombak OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Rahim Abdullah said police found six 9mm bullet slugs at the scene.
He said initial investigation revealed Archuthan was a recently released Emergency Ordinance detainee.

A police source said the only witness who could provide information to the police on the incident were the school students.

None, however, have come forward.

“We have obtained a CCTV footage from one of the nearby premises but it does not point to the scene of the crime,” he said.

A student, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was at the library when he heard the shots.
“By the time we went out, we saw people carrying the woman out of the car. I did not see the shooter as it happened very fast,” he said.

A school security guard was inside the guard house when she “heard some loud noise”.
“I thought it was firecrackers because students always throw them into the school compound.

“I did not expect it to be gun shots,” she said, adding that she then ordered all the students into the school compound immediately.

BN confirms M’sia as a pariah state to the world

Instead of investigating a national laureate for reciting a poem on the eve of Independence Day, the time and manpower can be put to better use to help reduce crime. But, to Najib and Muhyiddin, that is not so. Anyone or party that do not agree with BN, it is a crime.

Lim Victor

AS MALAYSIANS’ fear of deteriorating crime rate grows day by day, the government of the day, that is Barisan Nasional (BN), continues with its nonchalant ways.

Instead of showing deep concern and care for public safety, the BN continues to deploy the police force personnel to clamp down on political rivals and dissent.

On the eve of Merdeka Day (Independence Day) on Thursday (Aug 30, 2012), when all Malaysians proudly declared their pride and loyalty to the country, the BN government misuses and abuses the power of the police to clamp down on public dissent, so much for independence and freedom of speech.

The BN government does not realise that its mindless use of the police to clampdown on national laureate A. Samad Said for reciting a poem on Merdeka eve tantamount to ridiculing Malaysia as a pariah state globally.

This is a quote from an internet news portal: “PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police), it’s not a crime to disagree with BN. I think PDRM has to get their brains checked.”

I like the quote but I do not think it is accurate. The police don’t need to get its brains checked. It is the BN government, led by the fake 1Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy, Muhyiddin ‘Malay First Malaysian Second’ Yassin, who need the brain scans.

The police, like all other government enforcement agencies, and including the judiciary, are under the influence and control of BN-Umno (United Malays National Organisation) which has ruled Malaysia for 55 years.

Instead of investigating a national laureate for reciting a poem on the eve of Independence Day, the time and manpower can be put to better use to help reduce crime.

But, to Najib and Muhyiddin, that is not so. Anyone or party that do not agree with BN, it is a crime.

However, there is still hope for Malaysians to pull themselves out of the rot.

Despite an eleventh hour police declaration that the Janji Demokrasi (Democracy Promise) gathering on the eve of Merdeka is illegal, some 10,000 Malaysians turned up in yellow tee-shirts to defy and display their displeasure, swamping Merdeka Square (Independence Square).

This time around, the police did not use force – chemical-laced water cannons and tear-gas canisters – on the Merdeka Day celebrants.

At least there is still that pea bit of brains left in the police and the government not to blatantly expose its shameless abuse of power on the rakyat (people).

To me, what the world witnessed, and without doubt, is the maturity of Malaysians of all races today – that they can gather peacefully in public for a cause if there is no violence or agitation from the BN-led police.

As long as Malaysians - especially the Malays, Chinese and Indians – continue to be united and not swayed by the seditious racial and religious slurs spewed by the evil Umno-BN and its cohorts, we have hope to pull the nation out of the doldrums for a new dawn.

[VIDEO] Rakaman Kejadian Serangan Oleh Perkasa Di Masjid Seberang Pumpong, Alor Star

Janji Demokrasi - the real Merdeka event - Malaysiakini

COMMENT The occasion could not have been better chosen or timed: The eve of the country's 55th Merdeka anniversary, two hours before countdown.

The venue could not have been more appropriate: Dataran Merdeka, where the countdown to Merdeka is held every year to commemorate the very first countdown to independence in 1957.

The theme could not have been more telling: ‘Janji Demokrasi', a response to the government's Merdeka theme, ‘Janji Ditepati'. Sasterawan Negara (National Laureate) A Samad Said (centre) to read his impassioned poem with its powerful ending:

Kita laungkan jerit senyaringnya: "Janji Demokrasi!"
sehinggalah janji itu turut menjeritnya sendiri!

(We cry with all our hearts: "The promise of democracy!"
until the promise itself joins in and cries out together with us!)

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein predicted few people would turn up. But he was wrong. They came by the thousands - some counted tens of thousands - dressed in yellow, as requested by the organisers.

They came to show their disapproval of the government's hijack of this year's celebrations by imposing the theme ‘Janji Ditepati' (Promises Fulfilled), which is actually the ruling party's election campaign slogan. They came to remind the government that it had indeed not fulfilled its promises - above all, the promise of clean and fair elections.

A demonstration like this would have come in the past from the opposition, but the amazing thing about this one is that it came from the rakyat. The rakyat came to Dataran Merdeka - people of all races, dressed in yellow, in fraternity, united in a common cause.

When this comes from the rakyat, not opposition politicians, the ruling party must needs tremble.

The rakyat even defied the police ban on the gathering. Hours before the event, the police tried to frighten people away by declaring the gathering illegal. But the people didn't care. Their disregard was a clear sign that the system is falling apart. When the people don't respect the law enforcers as well as the policy-makers, the end for the latter has to be near.

These were people who came of their own accord, braving the possibility of arrest. Very different from many of those who would be attending the official Merdeka Day celebrations the next night at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, the extravaganza organised by the government to display its might.

Of those who attended the Bukit Jalil event, ‘Himpunan Merdeka', an insider tells me, "at least 50 percent were instructed to attend. We were given RM60 for meal expenses, free travel on the LRT. Those who brought their family got an additional RM50. Free rides on chartered buses were provided."

About 100,000 people reportedly showed up, but there must have been many who were lured by the live performances of famous local artistes, the fireworks display and the lucky draw. The prizes included a Proton Prevé, a Chevrolet Cruze, air tickets to London and Sydney, motorcycles, bicycles, etc.

Striking differences

The comparison of the participants at the Janji Demokrasi gathering and those at Himpunan Merdeka is striking. The former were not promised any incentives. The only incentive for them was expressing their disaffection for the government, sending the ruling party the message that it cannot hijack Merdeka for its own selfish purpose: Merdeka belongs to the people, not to BN.

That they managed to do so, in defiance of the police, on such a significant national occasion must be devastating for the government.

Going by this, if BN were to retain Putrajaya at the next general election, it will not have an easy time governing for another five years. It will likely face consistent resistance from a recalcitrant rakyat. Would it be facetious then to suggest that it capitulate now? Indeed, some people have already been calling this year's Merdeka celebrations "Umno-BN's farewell bash".

However, BN's leaders continue to strive to maintain that they are right.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, in defending the use of ‘Janji Ditepati' as the Merdeka theme, says there is no reason for anyone to dispute it "unless a person is not used to keeping promises". He says everyone should fulfil their promises, including ordinary people. "If the people want the country to be peaceful, stable and more prosperous, the people must promise to contribute to peace and prosperity."

The reasoning sounds weird and warped. Mainly because the logic of putting the onus on the people to ensure peace and stability is strained and contrived. Usually, that duty is assigned to the government. But what is more telling is Najib's evasion of the all-important point - that ‘Janji Ditepati' is also BN's campaign slogan for the upcoming general election. That is the point of contention that he should have addressed.

In his speech at Himpunan Merdeka, Najib responded to the Janji Demokrasi gathering by saying that it involved only the minority whereas the gathering at Bukit Jalil involved the majority.
Again, he overlooked the key considerations.

First, many people were compelled to attend Himpunan Merdeka - among them civil servants and staff of some statutory bodies.

Second, many of the people of his so-called "majority" are those still zombified by the massive doses of government propaganda they are fed every day through the mainstream press and television, and have therefore not awakened to the government's chicanery.

Third, if there had been no banning of the Janji Demokrasi gathering and the threat of possible arrest, many more people might have gone for it. Plus, many who did not show up nonetheless support it in their hearts. On social media that night, many said they wished they had gone, and many more cheered the success of the turnout.

Fourth, those who did come for the Janji Demokrasi gathering were not attracted by incentives, like payments, free transport and lucky draws. Their reason for coming was sincere and genuine.

Sore losers
It speaks poorly of the nation's prime minister that he used the Merdeka Day celebrations to lash out at Janji Demokrasi.

Not only that, he also demonised the opposition by accusing them of trying to bring chaos to the nation. Merdeka Day is supposed to be a day of national harmony and reconciliation. Desperate though Najib may be to win the next general election, he should still have shown respect for the occasion. Instead, he hijacked the event and used it as his election platform.

How then can it not be said that the Janji Demokrasi gathering was totally justified?

By the way, the gathering was peaceful, and Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Zainuddin Ahmad admitted that no untoward incidents were reported. Yet even so, he added, "We'll investigate later (for any violations)." What's there to investigate if there were no untoward incidents?

He also said they would investigate Samad for reading a poem. Since when has reading a poem become an offence? Don't the police have more important things to do - like going after criminals instead?

It's time the police realised that people power is on the rise and adjusted to the new paradigm - or they will look stupid playing their outdated games. It does not do them well to take their cue from their boss at the Home Ministry, Hishammuddin Hussein, who in commending them for maintaining security at the Janji Demokrasi gathering said: "We see that the event, which was aimed at creating chaos, failed ..."

His statement was outright unfair - and downright stupid. He also sounded like a sore loser. But then, if you have seen how gamblers behave when their chips are down, you will understand why he said it.

---

KEE THUAN CHYE is the author of the bestselling book ‘No More Bullshit, Please, We're All Malaysians', available at major bookstores.

Experts split over review of consent age

The Star

PETALING JAYA: Experts are divided on whether the age of 16 in cases of statutory rape should be reviewed due to children maturing at a younger age.

Lawyer Edmund Bon said maturity and their understanding of sex and consent should be considered.

“The education system needs to provide advance sex education, teach children their rights, make them more assertive and help them understand what rape is and what consent means,” he said, but declined to state if he was in favour of either increasing or reducing the age of consent from 16.

Lawyer Karpal Singh said although 16 was acceptable in cases of statutory rape, the Attorney-General could study if it was necessary to lower the age.

However, senior consultant community paediatrician in Ipoh Datuk Dr Amar Singh said people should ask themselves if they would want their daughters to have sex at age 13 or 14.

“This is not about restricting their freedom but whether they are in a position to decide for themselves when older men take advantage of them,” he said.

Suhakam commissioner James Nayagam said 16 had been recognised as the age when a teenager could recognise and be responsible for sexual relations.

“Relationships between young adults and girls, especially those below 14, are not a fair playing field because when a girl is emotionally dependent on an adult, she will be more vulnerable to having sex,” he said.

Lawyer Honey Tan said it would not be wise to reduce the age limit.

“We should look at studies regarding the impact of having sex at a very young age from the physical, psychological and emotional angles,” she said.

Tan said she was concerned that judges seemed to think that young girls of 12 and 13 could consent to having sexual intercourse when they had been “socialised” to be “respectful to their elders”.

Reject Elements That Can Disrupt Unity, Says Muhyiddin

PAGOH, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today called on the people, particularly the younger generation, to reject the elements which could disrupt unity which has been the country's strength since it achieved independence 55 years ago.

He said these elements would also threaten the socio-economy development that was steering the country to become a developed, high-income nation by 2020.

"There have been signs that because of political ideology, certain groups have been arousing hatred and disrespect for the basic principles of good people relations established since a long time ago," he said.

Muhyiddin said the signs could be seen in the behaviour of certain youths in not respecting the Jalur Gemilang to the extent of wanting to change it, claiming that the national flag did not portray the real Malaysia.

He was speaking at the launching of the Gempak Merdeka 2012 Carnival at the Pagoh Sports Complex.

The deputy prime minister wants the younger generation to also shoulder the responsibility of maintaining racial unity for Malaysia to continue developing and be respected by the world community.

At the function, Muhyiddin also launched the Pagoh IM4U programme to encourage volunteerism among young people.

Earlier, he attended a TNB Aidilfitri function in Muar where he handed out "duit raya" to 30 orphans.

'Merdeka March for Jalan Sultan'

Supreme Court upholds Kasab's death sentence. Hang Kasab Immediately.

26/11: Supreme Court upholds Kasab's death sentence.

NEW DELHI | Aug 29, 2012 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the plea of Ajmal Kasab in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case and upheld the sentence of death penalty awarded by the Bombay high court. 

Kasab and his nine fellow jihadis had attacked CST railway station, Cama Hospital, Vinoli Chaupati junction, Oberoi Hotel, Taj Hotel, Nariman House and Leopold cafe in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 resulting in killing of 166 people and injuring 238 others. 

A two-judge bench of the apex court pronounced the judgement at 10.30am. 

The bench said the first and foremost crime committed by Kasab was that he participated in a conspiracy to wage war against India. 

The apex court rejected the Kasab's plea that he did not get a fair trial and observed that there is no prejudice that has been caused to him. 

The apex court said the trial court had made repeated attempts o provide him with a lawyer but he had spurned the offer initially and said he did not want to accept Indian lawyers.

The judges said that in the totality of facts, evidences and circumstances the court had no option but to impose death sentence on Kasab.

Earlier, the Bombay high court had upheld the trial court's verdict to award death sentence to Kasab, the lone surviving gunman who was part of the 10-member fidayeen team that attacked Mumbai. 

Kasab was convicted of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation, Section 302 of IPC (murder) and terror related provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The HC had agreed with the trial court that the case against Kasab fell in the rarest of rare category and upheld the decision to award death penalty to the Pakistani.[TOI].Courtesy: TOI | Jagran.

Men shave off woman's hair, parade her in streets

Lahore: Five men allegedly shaved off the hair and eyebrows of a young woman and paraded her in the streets of a village in Pakistan's Punjab province, police officials said Tuesday.

The incident occurred yesterday in Layyah district, 350 km from Lahore, after the married woman was accused of having "illicit" relations with a man.

According to an FIR registered by police, Parveen Bibi, 25, the wife of Sabir Husain, had a quarrel with her sisters-in-law.

Yesterday, her brothers-in-law Muhammad Pervaiz and Muhammad Zafar and three other men shaved off her hair and eyebrows. They then blackened her face and paraded her through the streets of their village.


Police arrested Parveen's sisters-in-law and a man named Muhammad. The woman’s brothers-in-law are still at large.

Shafiq told police that Parveen had developed "illicit" relations with a man of her neighbourhood.

"We stopped her from meeting him but she continued seeing him," Shafiq, who is related to Parveen, told the police.

PTI

Youth group: Don’t vote Pakatan Rakyat

A vote for Pakatan Rakyat is a vote for PAS, which could spell an end to personal liberties, says the Malaysian Youth Rights Movement.

PETALING JAYA: A youth group is urging Malaysians not to vote for Pakatan Rakyat during the next general election as it claims that PAS, which is a member of the opposition pact, will endanger non-Muslims’ personal liberties.

The Malaysian Youth Rights Movement said this in light of the deputy PAS Youth chief Nik Abduh Nik Aziz’s statement yesterday, who likened a pool party held last night to a “sex party” due to the dress code allowing participants to don swim wear.

Its president Shen Yee Aun pointed out that not only was swim wear optional, the emcee for the “Wet and Mad Wednesday” party had also announced that Muslim women should refrain from wearing outfits deemed inappropriate to the Muslim faith.

“The pool party had a dress code stating ‘stylish, sexy, trendy and tasteful swim wear allowed”, but swim wear was not a requirement – participants could choose what to wear and whether to enter the pool or not,” Shen said in a statement.

“The event is basically just a pool party. It is out of line for PAS to even bring up things like prostitution, abortion, abandoning babies while condemning the event, all because of an event at a licensed entertainment outlet that caters to people of legal age.”

Shen said that PAS’ reaction to the event was just another addition to the Islamist party’s “dangerous track record” of encroaching on non-Muslim’s lives – a record that he claimed included attempts to ban Valentine’s day celebrations in Malaysia, the segregation of men and women in Kelantan, as well as the banning of bikinis in Terengganu and Kelantan.

Simple pool party

“Malaysia has long enjoyed freedom – be it dress code and fashion, or even choices of lifestyle and entertainment. However in the states that PAS has held power for a long time, the freedom to dress and even mingle with others is severely restricted,” he said.

He said that the group was not alone in questioning PAS’ restrictions, pointing out a New Straits Times article in July which quoted 20-year-olds’ unhappiness that unmarried couples were banned from sitting side by side in Kuala Selangor’s sole cinema.

But the ruling was revoked within the same month, with Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad telling reporters that the enforcement was very unlikely to be implemented in the future.

Shen also flayed DAP and PKR for remaining silent on the issue and “failing to stand up for the rights of the youth, women and non-Muslim community in Malaysia”.

“We sincerely urge all Malaysian youth, women and non-Muslim community to vote against Pakatan Rakyat in the upcoming general election unless they clarify their stand,” he said.

“Pakatan continues to manipulate the public that hudud law is only for Muslims and non-Muslims will not be affected, but they have shown their intent by speaking out against a simple pool party,” he added.

He also said that the group would launch a campaign to “enlighten all Malaysian youths regarding the danger to personal liberties if they were to vote Pakatan into power”.

Janji Demokrasi: 10,000 near Dataran Merdeka

About 10,000 people gathered near Pasar Seni and Dataran Merdeka to remind the government of its unfulfilled promises.

UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: About 10,000 people gathered peacefully near Dataran Merdeka tonight where the Janji Demokrasi coalition and supporters of Save Jalan Sultan converged to remind the government of its unfulfilled promises.
While the Janji Demokrasi coalition wants electoral reform, the Save Jalan Sultan group is opposing the construction of the MRT. The crowd started gathering as early 9.30pm.
There was an air of fiesta despite police presence and Dataran Merdeka itself was cordoned off to facilitate the official Merdeka celebration tomorrow morning.
PAS deputy president Mat Sabu’s presence was greeted with cheers from the crowd. Also seen in the crowd was PKR vice-president and Batu MP Tian Chua.
National Laureate A Samad Said also arrived along with Empower executive director Maria Chin Abdullah – both also being the steering committee members of Bersih. Samad was expected to read out a poem before the gathering was officially called to an end just past midnight.
Earlier, more than 2,000 people from the Save Jalan Sultan group gathered at the Gospel Hall along Jalan Hang Jebat to protest the construction of the My Rapid Transit (MRT) line.
The crowd started congregating at around 8pm with many of them clad in yellow Bersih T-shirts. They demanded the government and the MRT project to stay away from the Jalan Sultan area.
Three demands

Their protest was part of a matter that dominated the area for the past 13 months: the building of underground tunnels, which some argued would put heritage sites there at risk.
Preservation for Jalan Sultan Committee chief Stanley Yong Yew Wei told the crowd: “If it is to be built, what will happen to the memory (of Jalan Sultan)?”
He was flanked by several Jalan Sultan landowners and DAP elected reps.
They were also supported by Himpunan Hijau Raub, Janji Demokrasi and other activist groups.
They then demanded three things:

• withdrawal of the new gazetting of the land and its subsequent land acquisition.

• for the importance of public consultation to be realised.

• urging Malaysians to make a “wise decision” in the next general election.

Yong further warned that the committee would not hesitate to call for another rally to defend Jalan Sultan “if necessary”.
The crowd later marched from the Gospel Hall at around 9pm towards the Pasar Seni LRT station. They were accompanied by drummers and a lion dance troupe.
Along the way, they chanted “Defend our heritage!” and “Bersih!”
Many of them later made their way for the Janji Demokrasi rally, which started at nearby Dataran Merdeka at 11pm. The iconic square itself is cordoned off to facilitate the official Merdeka celebration tomorrow morning.
Asked later on what he meant by more rallies, Yong said: “Certainly one rally is not enough to translate our message clearly (to the government)… It is clearly a useful tool to bring solidarity among the people.”
He added that he did not see large rallies forming along Jalan Sultan in the future unless there was a need for it.
The committee’s supporters, he said, would gather at Parliament or at various ministry headquarters, instead.

Unpublished news: Malay rulers were against any move to turn the country into an Islamic state

Malay rulers were against any move to turn the country into an Islamic state from the very beginning of Malaya independence talks, said Hindraf Makkal Sakti here today.

During the pre-independence talks for Malaya, Hindraf supremo P Waytha Moorthy said the rulers definitely backed for establishment of a secular state to safeguard rights and interests of all Malaysians.

He said documents on pre-independence talks disclosed that the rulers wanted Islamic religious matters to be under their jurisdiction.

He said Malaysians must know that during pre-independence days, all states in Malaya were identified and recognised as separate countries.

He said respective rulers wanted control over Islamic religious affairs and maintain a secular state in their respective “countries.”

He said the rulers submitted a collective representation on this to the Reid Commission through their legal counsel, a highly respected British Queen’s Counsel Neil Lawson, who was a member of British Communist Party.

Reid Commission was formed to receive recommendations and draft the Constitution for the imminent independent Federation of Malaya.

“The rulers unanimously agreed and accepted only the proposition and implication of parliamentary democracy and civil law to reign supreme over everything else.

“They never wanted an Islamic state,” Waytha Moorthy, pointing out that the system of constitutional monarch was a fundamental foundation of an independent Malaya.

He was responding to the political furore caused by PAS’s desire to turn Malaysia to an Islamic state and introduce hudud as the supreme legislation.

He said DAP national chairman and senior parliamentarian Karpal Singh was absolutely right to opposing PAS’s Islamic agenda as unconstitutional.

He charged that the Islamisation process of administration started by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamed was unconstitutional and disdainful against the spirit of country’s independence.

He said Umno had committed so much unconstitutional misconduct, intimidation and bullying via religious extremism and racism under its 55 years of misrule in the country.

He chided other Barisan Nasional component parties for having been politically impotent to stop Umno hegemony for half century.

Since pre-independence days, he said the rulers opposed Islamisation of administration and federal government interference or involvement in religious affairs.

Hence, he said an Islamic agenda would be unconstitutional and against interests of all Malaysians, the very spirit of independence and wishes of rulers to be just and fair to all Malaysians.

“This was well documented in Malaya pre-independence talks,” said Waytha Moorthy.

He said the rulers’ unanimous stand against an Islamic state was discovered when he scrutinised documents on Malaya pre-independence talks in London archives.

He extracted about 40,000 documents after perusing some half-million documents on Malaya pre-independence taks to facilitate Hindraf’s multi-million ringgit class action suit against the UK government.

Waytha Moorthy, who returned to Malaysia after five-years living in England, filed the suit in London High Court on July 2.

The suit was to seek justice for colonial wrongs done by the British government, the country’s former colonial government, on Malaysian ethnic Indians.

Waytha Moorthy rubbished suggestions that the country’s Islamic agenda was an exclusive Malay – Muslim issue and not for others to deliberate because of its sensitivity.

He said the agenda affects some 13 million non-Muslim Malaysians who have equal citizenry rights to oppose any attempt to establish an Islamic state.

He said the pro-Islamist groups should not foolishly talk as if only Malay – Muslims have dignity, rights and sensitivity while others don’t.

He said ethnic Indian and Chinese communities who represented the world’s earliest, greater and dominant civilizations have all rights to uphold a secular state and civil law supremacy.

“Islamic agenda was matter of national interests and the Malay – Muslims should realise they were not the only citizens in the country. 

The Special Position of the Malays (Part One)

The special position of the Malays is not a concept that was invented by the ethnic Alliance parties in 1957. The concept had existed at least as early as the 1948 Federation of Malaya Agreement, clause 19(i) of which provided that:

In the exercise of his executive authority, the High Commissioner shall have the following special responsibilities that is to say: …
(d) the safeguarding of the special position of the Malays and the legitimate interests of other communities.

When, therefore, the Alliance parties agreed to preserve the special position of the Malays in 1957, they were simply continuing what had existed in Malaya the decade before Merdeka.
Between 1948 and 1957, the special privileges consisted mainly in reservations for the Malays in four areas:

• estates in land;
• positions in the public service;
• scholarships, exhibitions and other similar educational or training privileges or special facilities;
• permits or licenses for the operation of trade or business, where required by federal law.

A memorandum prepared for the Reid Commission set out the extent of these privileges. In the area of landholdings, the special privilege consisted primarily in the reservation of land for Malays pursuant to State laws in gazetted areas in the Malay States (but not in Malacca or Penang). The specific provisions and the extent of the reservations varied from State to State; e.g. in Kelantan, nearly the whole State was reserved for the Malays, whereas in Trengganu, no reservations had been made.
Within the public service, qualified Malays were given preference over other applicants for employment. In addition, certain government departments applied a 4:1 or 3:1 ratio of Malays to non-Malays. But as the memorandum noted, these policies applied only to first appointments to the Service and not for subsequent promotions, pursuant to clause 152 of the 1948 Federation of Malaya Agreement, as ‘racial considerations cease to count in respect of the promotion of officers who are already in the Government Service.’
In education, similar quotas also applied. The memorandum states that in 1948, due to the fact that there were few non-Malays who were federal citizens (Malays formed 85% of the electorate in the first nationwide election in 1955) a 3:1 ratio had been proposed ‘to safeguard not only the special position of the Malays but also the legitimate interests of the other communities’.
Eventually, it was thought, the awards would be divided in accordance with the proportion of Malays and non-Malays among federal citizens as a whole. But the 3:1 quota came to be seen as fixed, and relaxing it required the consent of the Conference of Rulers.
Nevertheless, minimum standards were maintained: each year between 1952 and 1956, because of the shortage of qualified Malays in technical subjects, the British asked for, and Rulers consented to, the majority of overseas scholarships to be given instead to qualified non-Malays.
In the area of business licences and permits, the special privilege only applied to the road transport industry, where the policy was applied to licences and permits for taxis, buses and haulage lorries in each State or Settlement, in order to ‘render the proportion of [Malay operators] equivalent to their proportion of the population of that State or Settlement as a whole’.
It is with this background in mind that we can now consider the agreed position of the Alliance parties at the time of Merdeka. The Alliance memorandum to the Reid Commission on 25 September 1956 provided:

Special position of the Malays
While we accept that in independent Malaysia, all nationals should be accorded equal rights, privileges and opportunities and there must not be discrimination on grounds of race or creed, we recognize the fact that the Malays are the original sons of the soil and that they have a special position arising from this fact, and also by virtue of the treaties made between the British Government and the various sovereign Malay States. The Constitution should, therefore, provide that the Yang di-Pertuan Besar should have the special responsibility of safeguarding the special position of the Malays. In pursuance of this, the Constitution should give him powers to reserve for Malays a reasonable proportion of lands, posts in the public service, permits to engage in business or trade, where such permits are restricted and controlled by law, Government scholarships and such similar privileges accorded by the Government; but in pursuance of his further responsibility of safeguarding the legitimate interests of the other communities, the Constitution should also provide that any exercise of such powers should not in any way infringe the legitimate interests of the other communities or adversely affect or diminish the rights and opportunities at present enjoyed by them.

The first point that we may note is that the special position of the Malays was meant to be a limited derogation from the general principle of equality and non-discrimination.
The extent of the derogation was to be limited, firstly, by the specified areas to which reservations could be made, and secondly, by the requirement that such reservations must be reasonable.
The second point that we may note is that the special position of the Malays was not intended to ‘adversely affect or diminish’ the rights and opportunities that were then available to the other communities.
Further clarification was obtained by Lord Reid on 27 September 1956, during submissions by the Alliance before the Reid Commission:

Chairman: But you would be prepared to leave [State reservations of land for Malays] to the provision that an extension of the privilege is not to be increased substantially because you say at the end, the privilege “should not in any way infringe the legitimate interests of the other communities”. That would mean that you must not have more of these privileges than you have at present, I suppose.
Dato Abdul Razak: We do not want to reduce the legitimate interests of the others. What we have in mind is not to give Malay special rights by taking away the legitimate rights of other people.

Chairman: I think what you mean here—the Malays have certain rights at this moment, and of course every additional privilege is, to some extent, prejudicing the others because it is limiting the amount of land or the number of jobs they could get and so on; and I think what you have in mind was that there should be no substantial increase in the present rights and privileges but that they should gradually be diminished and that it should be the responsibility of the Prime Minister, in Federal matters, to regulate the way in which it should be diminished?

Dato Abdul Razak: In certain cases it should be increased—in business or trade the Malays have very few permits, and they should be given more, but by giving more we should not take away from what the non-Malays now have. That is the idea.

A third point that may be noted is that the special position of the Malays was not intended to be permanent, but on the contrary was to be regularly reviewed, and diminished over time:

Tunku Abdul Rahman: The suggestion is that there should be a review every 15 years.

Chairman: That would not mean, I suppose, that it was wrong to do anything before that?

Tunku Abdul Rahman: No. The present system of doing it is this: for instance there is a condition that there should be three Malays appointed to every one non-Malay, but that particular rule has been relaxed from time to time … the main thing is that we say here under general terms of the special position of the Malays that it should be reviewed every 15 years, but that does not prevent the government of the day from relaxing the rule from time to time.

In the next Part of this series, we shall see how the Reid Commission implemented the intra-Alliance bargain in the Draft Federal Constitution, on the basis of the Alliance submissions presented above, and how this came to be rejected by the Alliance parties.

Vigilante "Justice" in Pakistan

Holy man and his book

(Asia Sentinel) Murders for alleged Islamic blasphemy are on the rise 

Pakistani police and government authorities have remained silent over the recent immolation of a mentally disabled Muslim male near Bahawalpur, in the southern region of Pakistan, for alleged blasphemy against the Holy Quran.

It is the latest in a growing string of such murders. No arrests have been made since the July 25 incident, which took place in the South Punjab of Pakistan region. Ghulam Abbas, a homeless male in his 40s, was burned to death by a mob of 2,000 men for allegedly desecrating the Muslim holy book. Locals complained that he had supposedly ripped pages from the Quran.

Although he was arrested and taken into police custody, Muslim religious leaders began demanding on mosque loudspeakers that the people punish the alleged blasphemer. Within hours, a mob gathered outside the police station and demanded either police kill him, or hand him over for punishment The police were unable to control the emotionally charged crowd, mainly students from the neighborhood madrasahs, who attacked the police station, injured seven policemen, burned several police vehicles and broke into the jail. The mob also attacked the home of a police officer and burned his furniture.

The mob then dragged Ghulam through the streets, beating him, then doused him with petrol and set him alight despite his screams for help.

The case again highlights the dangerous nature of country’s blasphemy laws, under which anyone can be killed on a simple allegation of insulting Prophet Muhammad or the Quran. Human rights organisations, minority groups, and others have denounced the outrage. Although President Ali Zardari ordered an investigation of the incident, no progress has been made and none is expected. The absence of action by the Punjab government appears to endorse the vigilante justice and empowers those who make their own justice in the name of religion.

"It is upsetting that police did not arrest anyone even though a First Information Report has been filed against the attackers," a Christian leader said.

Local people say that fundamentalists were involved, making it unlikely that police will take action. It is also the act of an angry mob, making it difficult to identify a lone culprit. However, in previous cases, the culprits remained unpunished even after they were identified.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has demanded a credible inquiry and said its findings should be made public.

“The government must not only compensate the family of the deceased for its failure to protect the life of a man in police custody from ‘mob justice,’ but also take concrete measures to avoid such unfortunate incidents in the future,” the rights commission said. Since the introduction to the blasphemy laws, many people belong to religious minorities including Christians, Hindus and Ahmadis have been murdered. Although the laws are mainly used against religious minorities, many Muslims have been charged as well.

Mob lynching of alleged blasphemers has been on the rise. In the recent months, many incidents have taken place across the country. On June 17, for instance, a mob tried to storm a police station in Karachi to get hold of a Muslim, Saleem, who was booked and arrested for allegedly desecrating the Quran, but police fired into the air and threw tear gas to scatter the crowd. By the police accounts, the accused was a drug addict. The mob demanded that the police hand over the suspect so that they could hang him. Later, the police have put him in insolation as a protective measure.

On June 16, in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, a mob stormed into a police station and was intent on stoning a man to death accused of blasphemy, and desecration of the Quran. The police responded with tear gas and gunfire to restore order, with the result that two children were killed and around 15 people injured.

In April this year, in a similar case in Faisalabad another Muslim, identified as Imran, was also rescued by police from a mob, which was fired up by a local fundamentalist organization. Police sources said the man was mentally ill and had denied the charges. During the same month in Lahore, yt another Muslim man, Iqbal Butt, 80-year old, was murdered after having been released from jail after having been acquitted of the charge of blasphemy.

Under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, introduced by the military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, blasphemy against the Prophet is punishable by death while blasphemy against the Quran is punishable by life imprisonment. Unfortunately, people have been killed despite the fact that the majority of charges have been proven false later.

Such charges go back a long way. In 1994, Hafiz Farooq Sajad, also a Muslim, was murdered by a mob in Gujranwala, Punjab province, because his neighbor had accused him of desecration of the Quran. He was burnt to death in the same manner as Ghulam Abbas was killed.

Two Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous pamphlet were gunned down at the session’s court in Faisalabad on July 19, 2010. In 2009, seven Christians, the majority of them women and small children, were burnt alive in Gojra, Punjab province, when a Muslim mob attacked a Christian church alleged desecration of the Quran in a village near Gojra City.

Minorities have been constantly living under pressure because they are the easiest target of blasphemy allegations. Many members of minority community have been jailed and executed. Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, has been imprisoned for more than three years and awaits a death sentence for alleged blasphemy charges. Last year, two prominent Pakistani political figures, Governor Salman Taseer and Minority Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, were killed, raising serious concerns over the rise of religious extremism in. Ironically, Urdu media, especially electronic media, offered a platform for the justification of Taseer’s murder by inflaming passions.

Unfortunately, the nexus of bigotry between mullah and media promotes intolerance with pride, which is putting many innocent people’s lives on risk.

Although recently President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the government is determined not to permit anyone to misuse blasphemy laws against minorities or any other vulnerable groups, the misuse of the laws is on the increase. It is not only the government which has little appetite to save innocent people from the wrath of the fanatics. Regrettably, the majority of political parties are not ready to take the issue. For some, this is not even an issue.

For instance, emerging political leader Imran Khan, a famous cricketer, has no interest in the violent cases related to blasphemy laws because, as he told the BBC, only few hundred people are affected by these laws. People are not surprised over his thoughts because he is a major supporter of Taliban and their ideology. However, what he said, certainly, has serious ramification. Khan has also attended the rallies of the Defa-e-Pakistan Council, led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, head of a terrorist organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba.

When the establishment, a big section of the media, the judiciary, religious groups and many political parties have the same illogical approach towards blasphemy cases, asking rational questions about the laws are almost impossible. About a month ago, Gabriela Knaul, the UN’s special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, criticized Pakistan’s application of its blasphemy laws.

“I am especially concerned regarding cases brought under the so-called ‘blasphemy law’ as it was reported to me that judges have been coerced to decide against the accused even without supporting evidence; as for the lawyers, in addition to their reluctance to take up such cases, they are targeted and forced not to represent their clients properly,” KNaul said during her visit. “In addition, judges, prosecutors and lawyers working on cases related to terrorist acts and organized crime are also often the target of serious threats and attacks from various actors, including non-State actors.”

She was further struck, she said by reports of existing laws, such as the blasphemy law, being misused to target women and strip them of their fundamental rights.

“Many stages of the justice system, starting with filing a case with the police, to accessing lawyers and appearing and testifying before courts, are gender-biased, and this impedes the full functioning of justice for women.”

Recently, the London based Minority Rights Group International said it was deeply disappointed at the failed efforts to amend Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which discriminates against and targets religious minorities.

“This law poses a serious threat to Pakistan’s religious minorities and should be removed,’ said Carl Soderbergh, Director of Policy and Communications.

Although the widespread misuse of the law remains a serious concern for human rights organizations in and outside of the country, the laws cast a murky shadow across Pakistan. The laws have become the source of intimidation, fear and violence. Minorities have been demanding the total repeal of them. If it is impossible at this stage, the laws must be modified to offer safety contrary to fabricated blame, and the victim should get free and fair trial.

(Aftab Alexander Mughal is the editor of the E-Magazine Minorities Concern of Pakistan)

TERUS TERANG : Sebangsa Senegara Sejiwa - ANWAR IBRAHIM

Regime change looms in Malaysia — Liew Chin Tong

AUG 30 — A very young demographic profile, a high urbanisation rate, ever increasing access to the Internet and extreme longevity in power, among other factors, will be working against the ruling coalition in Malaysia’s coming election.

There are many reasons for the international community to be deeply cognisant of this fact, and to prepare for a regime change in that country for the first time since it gained independence in 1957.

Soon after the government suffered severe setbacks in elections held on March 8, 2008, the country went into a permanent campaign mode, and has remained that way ever since.

A general election have to be called soon, since the Malaysian Constitution requires that Parliament be dissolved by 28th April 2013 upon the completion of its five-year mandate.

It may be true that the government won 140 of 222 seats in the Lower House while the opposition managed to secure the remaining 82. But a closer look shows that the actual gap between the two coalitions to be much smaller.

The ruling Barisan Nasional actually won only 51.4 per cent of the votes while the opposition gained 48.6 per cent. Of the 7.9 million effective votes, BN and the three national opposition parties were separated by a mere 313,509 ballots.

As of the end of June 2012, there are 12.9 million Malaysians on the electoral roll. As many as 2.5 million of these — about 20 per cent — are first-time voters; and it is these who will decide the outcome of the election.

The 13-party ruling coalition — the BN — will be highlighting past achievements in its campaign and playing on the appeal of the status quo while the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, vows to improve governance in the country through radical policy changes.

The status quo message is however unlikely to have an impact on an almost Arab-spring demography: 48 per cent of Malaysia’s population are below 25 years old and 70 per cent are below 40 years old (though not all are voters).

The BN, especially its kingpin, Umno, has always relied heavily on a rural vote bank. It has therefore good grounds to worry since as many as 70 per cent of Malaysians now live in cities, compared to 11 per cent in 1957 and 35 per cent in 1980.

The young and urban are highly wired online as well. With 17.5 million internet users, Malaysia’s internet penetration rate is 61.7 per cent of the population and 81 per cent of the populated areas. On top of that, Malaysia is also one of the most active country on Facebook, with 12 million users, ranking 19th in the world.

The easy access to alternative information has undermined the efficacy of the control over the mainstream media exercised by the government, be it through licensing procedures, censorship or partisan ownership.

The BN has been ruling Malaysia ever since its earliest guise, The Alliance Party, won a self-government election under British auspices in 1955. It is now the longest serving elected ruling party in the world. The only longer serving ones, are the non-elected communist regimes in North Korea, China and Vietnam.

The many negative signs of this political longevity are all too visible to the increasingly sophisticated voters. Essentially, not only has the government over the years alienated non-Malay ethnic groups through its race-based politics, rampant corruption and intra-ethnic economic inequality, but have also driven Malay voters away.

BN had for quite a while styled itself as the moderating force in the ethnically charged population. However, after Umno began turning right in 2005 both in rhetoric and in action, it began losing ethnic Chinese and Indian support.

In 2008, significant numbers of ethnic Malays frustrated with corruption and cronyism joined this movement to vote against the government.

This sense of alienation has not diminished in the intervening years. On the contrary, more groups are showing open dissent against the central government. The Kadazan Dusun Murut group in the state of Sabah is strongly aroused and highly critical of the government’s handling of the long-standing citizenship-for-votes scandals that allegedly allow Umno to build up its support base in the state.

Umno strategists, using the party-controlled newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, and the affiliated right-wing group Perkasa, are working overtime to stop the dwindling of their Malay support base, and are doing all they can to portray the party as a fiercer ethnic champion than opposition Malay parties and leaders. So far, this seems to be alienating more middle-ground voters.

Across the board at the moment, what Malaysians seem to be seeking is greater economic equality as well as an open and clean government. And yet, Prime Minister Najib Razak continues with micro-level vote-buying measures such as giving cash handouts to strategic groups at a time when the country is in great need of macro-level reforms.

The long years in power has also seen the BN generate its own worst enemies. Many leaders in the opposition were formerly from the ruling coalition, including former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Their experience in government has been serving as a much-needed reassurance to voters that the opposition is ready to exercise power efficiently, while their personal networks within the system has brought valuable information and understanding of the system that had previously eluded the opposition.

Previous opposition coalitions (in 1990 and 1999) were hastily formed during election time and they easily collapsed soon after. An alternative coalition that has been tested for more than four years, with that has gained substantial administrative experience in governing four out of 13 states is in itself a novel — and critical — factor.

While all the built-in advantages that favour BN in an election have not disappeared and those that remain will be put to full use in the electoral contest that is to come, the factors that work against the government have been gaining strength as well. For the first time ever, it does look very possible that the old government will be voted out. — New Mandala

* Liew Chin Tong is the member of parliament for Bukit Bendera

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

13th General Election Will Determine Umno And BN's Survival, Najib Reminds

BALING, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today reminded party members that the upcoming 13th general election would determine Umno and Barisan Nasional's (BN) survival.

He also reminded them to learn from the experience of losing (five states) in the 2008 general election and not to repeat those actions which caused the loss.

"I don't want to see anymore politics of playing one against another and no more factions in the party...don't want anymore sulking and back-stabbing in the election campaign.

"If all the party members support the candidates chosen, it will be impossible for us to lose in the elections," he said when simultaneously opening the delegates meetings of six Umno divisions in south Kedah at the Rakan Muda Complex, here.

Also present were the prime minister's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Kedah Umno liaison chief Datuk Paduka Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah, his deputy Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, Baling Umno division head Datuk Abdul Azeez and its Wanita chief Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim.

The other five division chiefs present were Datuk Tajuddin Abdullah (Sik), Datuk Tajul Urus Mohd Zain (Merbok), Ali Yahya (Sungai Petani) and Datuk Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir (Kulim/Bandar Baru), and acting chief Abdul Halim Saad (Padang Serai).

The prime minister said as an experienced and mature party, Umno should be able to resolve all its problems.

"It's already four years (since the last general election)...there should be no more problems, no more finger pointing...enough is enough. Time to close ranks. Too much already been said, until foaming at the mouth.

"If we love the party, we have to accept (the decisions) with resignation. If chosen (as candidates), we say alhamdulillah (Praise to God). If not chosen, we also say alhamdulillah. If that is the attitude, it means we are mature," said Najib who is also Umno president.

"When I say the party wants winnable candidates, all (aspirants) will claim they are winnable candidates but actually, only half of them can win."

Najib said although there were ups and downs in politics, Umno was still a relevant party and would live long.

"Learn from your success but the most effective lesson is failure. It is easy to make promises but difficult to fulfil," said Najib, adding that members must love the party unconditionally.

"I have been long (in the party). When I 'salam', I can read the person's feelings and in a tight grasp, I can read even more. All our election candidates must pass the test," he said

Najib said there were signs of public support returning to Umno as the government's various policies and programmes that were inclusive to assist the people, such as the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M), were much appreciated by the people.

"We understand the needs and demands of the people, unlike the opposition which has chosen to raise the hudud issue close to the general election.

"We have built thousands of mosques, but PAS has built only two while ruling Kelantan for 22 years."

He said Umno would continue to stuggle for Islam and work at enhancing its civilisation.

"InsyaAllah (God willing), we place the right people, qualified and trustworthy. There is no wedge between the ulama and national leaders so that Islam will continue to flourish," he added.

On the general election in Kedah, Najib said south Kedah was the pillar for BN to wrest back the state from the opposition, but other divisions were equally important.

At the end of his speech, Najib said in jest that he had the urge to dissolve Parliament but added, "let me see first."

The prime minister and his wife than made time to attend a Hari Raya gathering with Baling folk before leaving for Alor Setar for another Hari Raya do with the people at the grounds of Darul Aman Stadium.

Ex-EO detainee gunned down outside school

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — An Emergency Ordinance (EO) detainee who was recently released from custody did not live long to enjoy his freedom.

K. Archuthan, 41, was shot dead at close range by a gunman in front of a secondary school in Selayang Baru this afternoon.

He died on the spot in the incident at about 1pm, while his wife sustained injuries to the waist.

The couple were waiting in their Toyota Camry for their 16-year-old son to finish school for the day when the gunman fired in their direction.

According to the couple’s close relative, the assailant, wearing a full-face helmet, escaped in a high-powered motorcycle ridden by an accomplice.

The body was sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital while the victim’s wife was warded at the Selayang Hospital.

Gombak police chief ACP Abdul Rahim Abdullah said the police found six 9mm spent shells at the scene of the shooting. — Bernama

Statutory rape cases: Who is the law protecting?

The Women's Centre for Change Penang (WCC) notes the recent decisions on the imposition of bonds for good behaviour in two separate statutory rape trials where the victims were about 13 years of age and the offenders were 19 and 21 respectively at the time of the offence.
Both the victims were said to have consented to the act.

Statutory rape is when a man has sex with a girl below the age of 16 years with or without her consent.
The law is to protect young girls from being sexually exploited and is based on the assumption that young girls are unable to give informed consent.

The social reality today is that teenagers can be in sexual relationships where one or both are below the age of 16 years.

There is no minimum jail sentence for those convicted of statutory rape where consent is said to have been given unless the girl is below 12 years of age.

There are, however, adults or older teenagers who prey on naïve, vulnerable under aged girls and although the sex may be allegedly ‘consensual', the element of exploitation is very real.
While the courts may have had good reasons to make the judgments in both the cases, WCC is concerned that the impact of the sexual exploitation of the young victims may not have been acknowledged or taken into account during the sentencing.
That the act was ‘consensual' often merely points to the fact that no physical violence or coercion took place.
It is imperative that we ask ourselves whether a child aged 12 or 13 is able to effectively ‘consent' to a sexual relationship.
We also need to be aware of the consequences to a child's emotional and physical well being when she enters into a sexual relationship especially if she is a young adolescent.
Furthermore the manipulation and manner of exploitation of the young girl must also be considered.
It is important that the dispensation of justice in every case of statutory rape reflect various considerations including the impact on the victim.
WCC reiterates the call for reproductive health rights and awareness education for our youth.
It is urgently needed.

---

PREMA DEVARAJ is the program director for WCC, Penang.

Don't disrupt Merdeka event, Janji Demokrasi NGOs told

Montpellier: Police Attacked by Mob While Trying to Arrest 'Jeune'

Note the remarkable similarity between this story and the last one I posted. This is what it is like in France now, as the 'no-go areas' extend ever further across the country. This is what makes a no-go area a no-go area. The police can't arrest anyone without coming under attack from Muslim mobs.

Three agents of the Montpellier anti-crime brigade were wounded on Tuesday evening in an estate in Montpellier when they tried to arrest a 14-year-old adolescent who was pushing a stolen scooter, it has been learned from corroborating sources.

At noon, the police officers were "attacked by the family of the 'jeune', friends and a group which formed rapidly" in the district of Cévennes, in the west of the City, and they were struck with iron bars, indicated the assistant prosecutor Patrick Desjardins.

In the confusion, the minor took flight, while his parents, aged 34 and 37, were taken into custody, along with another 'jeune', added Mr Desjardins. The adolescent returned to the scene one hour later, his hands still bound by the handcuffs behind his back, and was arrested in turn, specified the Hérault director of public safety.

Transported to the emergency department of Montpellier teaching hospital, the officers are suffering from a "broken wrist, damaged finger and an ear in poor condition", according to the prosecutor's office.

‘Young Power’ wants Indian-based Pakatan party

Fed up with way things are, a group of young Indians are planning to form an Indian-based component party in the opposition coalition.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of young Indians are planning to form an Indian-based component party in Pakatan Rakyat.

Talking to FMT, one of the members G Krishnan said they were fed-up with both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan leaders with regard to issues affecting the Indian community.

“We call our group ‘Young Power’ and our goal is to help the Indian community become on par with the other races. Look at our nation. It is a Malay-dominated Chinese-controled nation,” he added.

He insisted that Young Power was not against the Malays and Chinese but focussed on upholding the rights of Indians.

“It is unfair to talk about multi-racialism when the Indians live in deplorable conditions compared with other races,” he added.

Krishnan said that Young Power had been collecting feedback from community leaders regarding the possibility of forming a new party within the Pakatan framework.

“We sent SMS to about 30 Indian Pakatan and BN elected reps, NGO leaders, businessmen, celebrities on Aug 25,” he added.

According to Krishnan, the response was positive with even DAP MPs welcoming the move.

He said that on Aug 26 and 28, Young Power sent text messages to grassroots leaders, who also mostly backed the suggestion.

Krishnan pointed out that there was only one Indian in Pakatan’s 30-member council.

“Is Pakatan going to say that there are no capable Indians to be members in the council. How many state chairmen or bureaus are headed by Indians in PKR or DAP?” he asked.

“Do not ask why we [Young Power] did not raise the same issue with BN because we voted for Pakatan and not for BN in the last general-election,” he said.

“The issue is not not about how many seats Pakatan is going to give to the Indians but how are they going to treat the community,” he added.

Krishnan also said that Young Power had identified several business tycoons who were willing to fund their movement and more details would be made public soon.

Janji Ditepati insults Indians, says senator

DAP’s Ramakrishnan calls on the community to treat 13th GE as payback time.

GEORGE TOWN: The theme of this year’s Merdeka celebrations is a grave insult to Malaysian Indians, at least from the viewpoint of Senator S Ramakrishnan of DAP.

In a hard hitting statement calling on Indians to punish Barisan Nasional at the next general election, Ramakrishnan said no ethnic community had suffered more than the Indians from unfulfilled promises that Umno and its political allies had been making for the last 55 years.

“It’s payback time,” he said, referring to the 13th general election. “Indians need a political change. They need to redeem their dignity and pride. It’s now or never.”

He accused Umno of having designed a political system that neglects Indians and isolates them from the mainstream political and socio-economic development of the country.

“The Umno government has deliberately made Indians politically irrelevant today,” he said.

He claimed that Umno had maintained its “racist attitude and arrogance” even after suffering unprecedented electoral losses in 2008.

He called on Indians to assert their pride by rejecting the deception of sweet words and other vote-baiting tactics.

“Umno thinks Indians are beggars who don’t deserve job or business opportunities but only hampers and rice bags.”

He said the intake of Indians into the civil service had been negligible, noting that the figures had been sliding through the decades.

According to his statistics, Indians currently account for only 4.1% of civil servants, dropping from 5.12% in 2005 and 17.4% in 1971. Most of them work in Tamil schools.

He rejected government claims that Indians eschew civil service jobs, claiming that their applications were often thrown into dustbins.

“So long as Umno is in power, there is no hope for an increased Indian intake into the civil service.”

He cited a World Bank report saying that Malaysia could have attracted five times its foreign direct investments if not for New Economic Policy (NEP).

He said Malaysia was the only country to use ethnicity as the main qualification for entry into the civil service and the only country to export home grown talent and import migrant workers.

“But the BN government dreams of forming a world class civil service.”

Why disregard people’s safety?

Despite a court ruling that acknowledged the threat to the safety of 10 families in Green Cow, developers pushed ahead with their development by obtaining an ex-parte injunction.

KUALA LUMPUR: An activist has questioned the motives of two developers in Cameron Highlands in disregarding the safety of 10 families in their pursuit to build four-storey shoplots on a hillslope in Green Cow, Kea Farm.

“Why are they disregarding the safety of the people in favour of profits?” Cameron Highlands PSM secretary-general B Suresh Kumar asked.

On Oct 13 last year, local residents S Nagarajan, S Thanabalan and Suresh were detained for blocking bulldozers from entering the land that is to be developed.

“We were charged with wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation,” said Suresh.

However on July 30 this year, Cameron Highlands magistrate Nik Habri Muhamad released the three without their defence being called on the grounds that residents acted to restrain developers because their homes were under the threat of being demolished.

Nik Habri had also pointed out that the bulldozer driver had no licence and a developer’s permit to move the land was also doubtful.

The rest of the residents had set up camp at the land since May 25 this year to prevent the developers from developing the land.

Meanwhile, the first developer had obtained a court order against Suresh and three of the residents on Aug 17 so that they can continue with the development.

On July 17, Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob and MIC president G Palanivel in a joint press statement acknowledged that the residents living near the hill were in danger and announced that a plot of land had been identified to relocate all 10 families but no action has been taken yet.

“We want the state government to provide land for the residents and compensation from the developers to rebuild their homes,” said Suresh.

PSM chairman Nasir Hashim also criticised the lackadaisical attitude of the developers.

PAS environment bureau chairman Zulkifli Omar, who was also present during the press conference, said this case proved that the government’s “Janji Ditepati” Merdeka theme was merely a slogan.

“It is odd to note that the district office has given the green light to develop the steep slopes,” Zulkifli added.

Suresh also announced the launch of Green Cow Cameron Legal Fund.

Chinese firms down on Malaysia’s prospects, survey shows

ACCIM said many of its members have been hit by shrinking orders and rising costs. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 ― Malaysia’s Chinese business community have poured cold water on the government’s goal to move Malaysia out of the middle-income trap, with a staggering 72.9 per cent saying they are unhappy with the state of the economy ahead of the 13th general election, a nationwide survey has found.

Many small medium enterprises and small medium industries (SME/SMI) have also “appeared not” to have benefited from the Najib administration’s many initiatives, leading to their pessimistic outlook of the country’s economy for the year ahead, the Malaysia Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ACCCIM) survey said.

According to the survey report, which gathered feedback from local Chinese businesses on the economic situation for the first half of 2012, the major factors adversely affecting business performances during this period included the increase in operating costs and prices of raw materials, government policies such as the implementation of a minimum wage, shortage in manpower, and domestic competition.

“Many businesses have become less optimistic, on the back of shrinking new orders and production, as they feel the pinch from weakening global demand, while efforts by the government at the macro level may not yet have filtered down to them.

“They are being squeezed by rising costs of doing business,” ACCCIM president Datuk Lim Kok Cheong said at a press conference today.

The survey polled 374 respondents mainly from the wholesale and retail sectors (24.3 per cent); manufacturing (19.5 per cent); professional and business services (14.2 per cent); construction (8.8 per cent); tourism, shopping, hotels, restaurants, recreation and entertainment (5.3 per cent); transportation, forwarding and warehousing (5.1 per cent); finance and insurance (5.1 per cent); and others (17.6 per cent).

Some 81 per cent were domestic market oriented, while the remaining 19 per cent focused on “both domestic and export” markets (12.6 per cent) or just export markets (6.4 per cent).

In summary, the survey found that for the first half of 2012, the Malaysian economy had only experienced little growth following slight dips in sales performance, production volumes, inventories and payment collections, a drop in orders from both the local and overseas markets, weakening local sales prices, a soft employment market and a drop in investment in new resources or plans.

“The increase in operating costs and prices of raw materials has become the greatest concern among businesses.

“The increase of one percentage point in EPF (Employees Provident Fund) contribution for workers earning under RM5,000, the imposition of a one per cent feed-in tariff and impending implementation of minimum wage are perceived to aggravate operating costs and affect the businesses of SMEs,” said Lim.

According to the survey, 55.9 per cent of respondents polled believed that the government’s recently introduced minimum wage policy would only bring about negative effects on the businesses, despite raising the general income of Malaysians.

“The government is advised to undertake further research and dialogues with the industry players, and finally implement different wage structures according to the different sectors and regions in Malaysia, to take into account the differences that are prevalent in various businesses and different living standards,” the survey report said.

It said that 70 per cent of respondents had said they would be more supportive of a wage floor policy if the wage structures differed according to sectors and regions.

At the same time, Lim said employers were also pre-empting more cost increases when another ruling — the extension of the private sector retirement age to 60 years — is implemented.

“Wage costs are now expected to further increase for businesses through the extended retirement age of the older staff,” he said.

The survey also found that despite the widespread concern felt by Chinese businesses here towards the euro zone crisis, 45 per cent said it had not impacted their businesses.

“They were shielded somewhat by stronger domestic demand, on the back of higher fiscal spending through various handouts and the implementation of projects under the ETP (Economic Transformation Programme), and various economic corridors,” the report said.

The Najib administration is expected to call for polls within months, hoping to ride on a feel-good factor arising from its reported plan to disburse another round of RM500 cash handouts to lower-income households nationwide.

The Malaysian Insider reported last week that the move, to be slotted under Budget 2013, is expected to boost the ratings of Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition ahead of the federal polls.

The RM500 paid out to nearly five million families at a cost to taxpayers of RM2.6 billion earlier this year saw Najib’s approval ratings shoot up to 69 per cent, largely due to a surge of support among poorer households.

But the aftermath of violence that erupted between police and demonstrators at the April 28 Bersih rally for free and fair elections saw his popularity slide to 65 per cent last month.

Najib will table the Budget on September 28 and besides the fresh handout, he is expected to announce other measures to boost domestic spending and the economy in a bid to head off a worsening economic outlook as he prepares to call his first elections.

The economy grew at a surprising pace of 5.4 per cent in the second quarter, blowing away economists’ expectations and potentially giving rise to a feel-good factor ahead of the general elections.

But the good news is not expected to last, as the global outlook is likely to affect Malaysian exports.

Malaysia’s surprisingly strong second-quarter economic growth, despite weakening exports, was largely due to the buffer of ongoing construction projects and increased spending attributed to civil servant salary hikes and government cash handouts, say economists, which could point to uneven growth in the months ahead.