Kenyataan Media dibawah diedarkan oleh pihak peguam saudara Amir Bazli yang didakwa dipukul oleh Ahmad Zahid Hamidi kerana mempunyai hubungan dengan anak Menteri berkenaan. Saya menerimanya dari seorang Ketua Pengarang sebuah akhbar tabloid. Saya menyiarkannya dengan suntingan.
Perbicaraan kes saman malu En. Amir Bazli bin Abdullah terhadap YB Datuk Zahid Hamidi (ketika itu Timbalan Menteri Pelancongan Malaysia)
Diharap pihak tuan dapat menghantar wartawan untuk sesi sidang tersebut. (Untuk urusan pertayaan sila hubungi pejabat peguam En. Amir Bazli)
(Tetuan Karpal Singh and Co.)
Sekian, terima kasih.
1. ***Sempena Hari Media Sedunia, jadilah anda seorang wartawan yang mempunyai prinsip dan beretika. Tidak seperti (disunting) dari Kelantan.
2. Beliaulah yang mula-mula mempertegahkan isu ini di dalam blog beliau tetapi telah berhenti separuh jalan. Urusetia Anak Kelantan yang membela Amar Bazli. www.anti-zahidhamidi.blogsport.com telah menyiasat dan mendapat pengakuan dari Ahmad Zahid Hamidi sendiri bahawa (disunting) telah dibayar sebanyak RM20,000 (dua puluh ribu Ringgit Malaysia) serta telah ditanggung untuk menunaikan ibadat haji ke Mekah. Ini jenis wartawan yang dianggap Haji subsidi/wartawan pelacur.
3. Terkini, Amir Bazli patah hidung (KECEDERAAN KEKAL) akibat ditumbuk oleh penjenayah ini. Laporan perubatan daripada HUSM Kubang Kerian ada. Lengkap. Mata sebelah kiri (ROSAK KEKAL) akibat dilibas dengan batu oleh anak penjenayah ini. Dahi dan tulang dahi lekuk (KECEDERAAN KEKAL) akibat dihempuk dengan batu oleh menantu penjenayah ini.
4. Amir Bazli sendiri terlantar di wad HUKM Cheras, dan di wad HUSM Kubang Kerian selama 12 hari. Semuanya tiada tindakan daripada pihak berkuasa.
Saksi kejadian ada tetapi tiada kawad cam dilakukakan …. Dan laporan doktor yang lengkap juga ada tetapi semuanya telah DICOVERUP. Kerana melibatkan penjenayah VVIP ini.
Then, on 14th September that year, Pak Lah threw him a lifeline and extended his appointment by contract.
For two years.
That would run out on 13th September this year.
I hear, though, that Musa’s lobbying for an extension of his contract.
Presumably for another year.
And I hear that a decision is due to be made by the powers that be next week whether to keep Musa or to get someone else to do the job.
I know that no-one in the present administration gives a toss about what the public want but, for what it’s worth, I thought you might want to register your views on this question.
I welcome the public release of the PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) audit report into the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, which I had been pressuring the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat in the past year, which had been intensified in the past two months, not only on Ong, but also on the Cabinet and the new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
I commend the Prime Minister and Ong for the publication of the PwC report on the PKFZ scandal. In fact, there should have been no foot-dragging and procrastination in withholding the PwC report from MPs and public if the Cabinet is serious about accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance.
I would not say anything until I have the opportunity to study the PwC report, except to say that the first thing I would look for is whether the PwC report furnish answers to five questions on the PKFZ scandal which I posed to Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, on 9th April last year, viz:
1. Was it true that when the Port Klang Authority and the Transport Ministry insisted on buying the 1,000 acres of Pulau Indah land for PKFZ at RM25 psf on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis, in the face of strong objection by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Treasury which had recommended that the land be acquired at RM10 psf, the Cabinet had given its approval subject to two conditions: (i) categorical assurance by the Transport Minister that the PKFZ proposal was feasible and self-financing and would not require any public funding; and (ii) that every RM100 million variation in the development costs of PKFZ would require prior Cabinet approval.
2. In the event, the first condition was breached when the PKFZ project ballooned from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion requiring government intervention and bailout while the second condition was breached with the original PKFZ development costs of RM400 million ballooning to RM2.8 billion without any prior Cabinet approval ever sought for every RM100 million increase in development costs.
3. The Transport Minister had unlawfully issued four Letters of Support to Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB), the PKFZ turnkey contractor — to raise RM4 billion bonds, which were regarded as government guarantees by the market. The Transport Minister had no such powers to issue financial guarantees committing the government, as it could only be issued by the Finance Minister and only after Cabinet approval. The first Letter of Support was issued by the former Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik on May 28, 2003, which was Liong Sik’s last day as Transport Minister while the other three were issued by Kong Choy.
4. Whether it wasn’t true that in recognition that the four unlawful “Letters of Support” of the Transport Minister had nonetheless given implicit government guarantee to the market that the Cabinet had in middle of last year gave retrospective approval for the unlawful and unauthorized four Letters of Support by the Transport Ministers in the past four years creating RM4.6 billion liability for the government in the bailout of PKFZ.
5. Why no action had been taken against the two previous Transport Ministers, both Liong Sik and Kong Choy, as well as the government officials responsible for the unlawful issue of the four “Letters of Support” - getting the government embroiled in the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal?
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Bernama) -- Former Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar contends that his suit against the Election Commission (EC) and three independent assemblymen is still an issue despite the Federal Court's ruling that the commission was the rightful entity to declare vacancies of the seats.
Sivakumar's counsel, Sulaiman Abdullah said the Federal Court's decision on April 9 declaring that the EC was the rightful body to declare vacancies of the seats and not Sivakumar, who was then the assembly speaker, did not mean that the EC's decision could not be challenged.
He said whether or not the EC's decision was right or wrong, it was still a live issue and the court was the final arbiter to decide.
In the landmark decision on April 9, the Federal Court's five-man bench granted the trio's application to declare that they were the state assemblymen for the three constituencies.
The trio, had filed a suit against Sivakumar at the Ipoh High Court seeking a declaration that they were the valid elected representatives for the three constituencies although Sivakumar had announced that the seats were vacant.
They had applied for their suit against Sivakumar to be referred to the apex court on the grounds that it involved constitutional issues.
The case came up before High Court judge Lau Bee Lan today in chambers.
Sulaiman had sought time for them to file a further affidavit following the Federal Court's decision on April 9 declaring that the EC was the rightful body to declare vacancies of the seats and not Sivakumar who was then the Perak State Assembly Speaker.
Justice Lau fixed July 28 for mention of the case.
She also fixed Sept 4 to hear Sivakumar's leave application for a judicial review to compel the EC to hold fresh elections in Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang following the resignation of the three assemblymen who turned independent.
Sivakumar, opposition assemblymen Chen Fook Chye, Tai Sing Ng and A. Sivanesan and three voters -- Ahmad Sabry Wahab (Behrang), Abdul Latif Ariffin (Changkat Jering) and Foo Hon Wai (Jelapang) -- had separately filed for the judicial review.
They want a declaration that the Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang seats are vacant following the resignations of assemblymen Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang), Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) and Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang) and an injunction order to stop the trio from acting and carrying out the functions and duties of assemblymen.
They also seek a writ of "quo warranto" to compel the trio to show why they were still representatives of their constituencies and can carry out the responsibilities, functions and duties of assemblymen.
Jamaluddin and Osman won their seats on PKR tickets and Hee, under the DAP banner, in last year's general election. Last month, they left their parties and pledged support for Barisan Nasional, leading to the collapse of the PAS-PKR-DAP coalition government in Perak which was then led by Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.
On Feb 3, Sivakumar notified the EC that the three seats were vacant after receiving letters purportedly on the resignations of the trio.
The EC, however, doubted the resignations and refused to hold by-elections in the constituencies. Meanwhile, Senior Federal Counsel Datuk Kamaluddin Md Said appearing for the Attorney-General's Chambers informed the court that the Federal Court's decision had answered the issues raised by Sivakumar in his judicial review application.
Therefore the judicial review applications sought by the applicants were academic.
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Bernama) -- There are no real winners in any war and in the recently-ended civil war which raged for 26 years in Sri Lanka, it is the people who have suffered most, be they Tamils or Sinhalese, says the president of the Malaysian Ceylonese Congress (MCC), Datuk Dr NKS Tharmaseelan.
In the years of feuding, especially with the escalation of guerrilla warfare by dissenting Tamils in the northern region of Sri Lanka to the final battle between the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) a fortnight ago, some 100,000 lives, including civilians, have been wiped out while thousands of homes, factories, offices, roads, railway lines, places of worship, schools and hospitals were destroyed.
It had meant years of waste for Sri Lanka, a country that was once a vibrant economy during the 1970s, and upon hindsight it is sad to think of what it could have become if civil war had not precipitated, he said.
"If only the parties involved had negotiated and concessions made for some of the legitimate claims of the Tamil people," Dr Tharmaseelan told Bernama in an interview.
Recalling a trip made by a group of Malaysians to Sri Lanka, he said they were shocked that the so-called highway connecting Colombo to the northern part of the country could not even allow two cars to pass by easily.
"Village after village along the highway had been destroyed, students were studying in schools without roofs, and no factories or industries were visible on either side of the highway. And this was in 2002 when the there was a ceasefire. I can't imagine the destruction now," he said in reference to the long-drawn violence in Sri Lanka.
A fortnight ago, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse declared that the civil war was over as the army snuffed out the LTTE.
But the final onslaught by the army, has been described as a "war without witnesses" as no media or aid workers or observers had been allowed so far into the safety zones in the country.
"If there is to be any real recovery for the destroyed parts of Sri Lanka, it has to start with immediate humanitarian assistance to the Tamils said to be homeless, sick, injured and without any proper aid in the northern part of Sri Lanka," said Dr Tharmaseelan, a Melaka-based consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, who currently also serves as the Medico-legal Adviser for the Medical Protection Society (London).
Unnecessary conditions should not be placed on those seeking to provide humanitarian assistance to the refugees in make-shift camps, he said.
"Some of the relief organisations have been told not to send any Tamil volunteers. How does anyone communicate with poor distressed village folks?" he asked, adding that the need for humanitarian aid was urgent as there were other concerns like starvation and lack of medicine.
Rajapakse, speaking before the Sri Lankan Parliament recently, had pledged equality and resolution for the Tamils in Sri Lanka and even called on those overseas to return to the island nation. But this has been viewed with much scepticism from Tamils across the globe.
MCC Secretary-General Vijayakone Thanigasalam said that it was unlikely that displaced Sri Lankan Tamils overseas would want to return to their homeland because of the strained relations between the Tamils and Sinhalese.
After gaining independence from the British in 1948, critics have often cited the discrimination of Sri Lankan Tamils under the so-called veil of democracy in areas like job and educational opportunities.
The ban on the import of Tamil books and the burning and destruction of the Jaffna Library which had contained irreplaceable ancient Tamil manuscripts are other sore points.
Vijayakone told Bernama after a prayer for peace at the Sithi Vinagayar temple in Petaling Jaya recently that said some of the most educated and wealthy Sri Lankan Tamils were forced to flee their homes as fighting escalated in the early 1980s, leaving behind their ancestral homes, businesses and relatives who opted to stay behind.
Most of these places are now occupied by resettled Sinhalese, he claimed.
Most of the Tamils who fled are now successful residents in various parts of the world, with a significant number of them still supporting better treatment for the Tamils in their homeland in northern Sri Lanka.
As for the present, the international community as well as the United Nations have asked the Sri Lankan government to allow aid workers to help the 280,000 refugees in camps.
But the government has so far rejected these calls and critics said that its refusal could be due to its fear that by allowing them in, they gain access to witnesses who might have seen abuses by government forces when civilians were not allowed to escape the war zone.
There have been moderate voices among the Tamils in Sri Lanka and Douglas Devananda, a former Tamil fighter who is now a minister of social services in the government, had said that the end of the civil war would enable Tamils to achieve their aspirations.
Devananda said the government must now "fully implement" a 1987 peace accord, which was rejected by the Tamil Tigers, for this would allow for power sharing and grant greater autonomy to historically Tamil provinces in the north and east.
Tamil leaders around the world are now monitoring the Sri Lankan government's handling of the refugee crisis in Tamil areas as well as how it would account for the conduct of its military toward civilians.
These two issues would heavily weigh on the chances of reconciliation, Tamil leaders said, and until the Sri Lankan government treated all of its citizens fairly, there could only be a remote chance for the peace that Rajapakse had promised his country.
FOR decades, Jaya Shopping Centre, better known as Jaya Supermarket, in Section 14 was the landmark in Petaling Jaya. It housed the first supermart in the area when it was built in 1974, and for most of the 80s and early 90s, it was the focal point of activities for PJ residents.
As the city grew, and newer, bigger shopping malls became the flavour of the day, Jaya lost its lustre. Its owners decided to redevelop the area and the tenants were asked to vacate the blue building by 6 Feb 2008.
But on the afternoon of 28 May 2009, the empty building, which was undergoing upgrading works, suffered a partial collapse when a demolition operation went badly awry.
Nine people, all Indonesian construction workers, were trapped when the back portion of the six-storey building came down. As of 10pm that night, there has been one confirmed fatality, and two workers rescued. The search for the six other workers remained ongoing.
More than 100 police and rescue workers, including Smart, the Civil Defence Department and Rela members, were on the scene. Police had to constantly remind the hordes of curious onlookers to stay back and allow the rescuers to do their jobs.
The incident also caused a massive traffic jam on busy Jalan Semangat.
PETALING JAYA, 28 May 2009: For the first time in its annual human rights report for Malaysia, Amnesty International (AI) has highlighted racial discrimination as one of several human rights violations in the country.
The 2009 report said that racial discrimination was institutionalised in Malaysia, particularly in government-backed affirmative action policies for bumiputeras such as the New Economic Policy, in land ownership, employment and education.
Compiled by the AI headquarters in London, the report cited the example of the outcry in response to Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim's proposal to open up 10% of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) places to non-Malay Malaysians.
It also noted that UiTM has been opened only to Malay Malaysians for the last five decades.
"These policies have resulted in the exclusion of the poor from minority groups from enjoying equal opportunities," said AI Malaysia campaign coordinator K Shan during a press conference today.
Control over dissent
The AI report also said that the government continued to tighten control over dissent, and curtailed the right to freedom of expression and religion.
The reported cited the examples of bloggers Syed Azidi Syed (better known as Kickdefella) and Raja Petra Kamarudin who were detained under the Sedition Act. The Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) was also invoked to suspend Tamil daily Makkal Osai's publishing permit in April 2008.
Also noted was the authority's threat to revoke the publishing permit for Catholic newspaper The Herald for using the word "Allah" under the PPPA in May 2008.
"The PPPA needs to be repealed to allow for more media freedom," said Shan.
AI executive director Nora Murat also called on the government to abolish the Internal Security Act (ISA) and implement the recommendations made by Suhakam in their 2003 report titled Review of the ISA 1960.
"We also urge the government to remove all conditions imposed on the Hindraf leaders upon their release (from ISA detention)," said Shan.
Politicisation of religion
The AI report also noted that the politicisation of religion markedly increased in 2008.
"People continued to face barriers to conversion from Islam," it noted.
It documented the case of Kamariah Ali, who was sentenced to two year's jail by the syariah court for renouncing Islam.
The report also noted that "no action was taken" against protesters who disrupted a Bar Council forum on conversion issues in August 2008.
The report noted the continuing discrimination against asylum seekers and refugees who are treated as illegal foreigners, citing widespread abuse by Rela.
Suhakam commissioner Dr Denison Jayasooria, who was also present at the press conference, said Malaysian politicians lacked the political will to respond to these issues even though substantial studies have been done.
KUALA LUMPUR, 28 May 2009: Chin Peng, the former secretary-general of the outlawed Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), is not a Malaysian citizen but a British national, according to historian Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim.
Khoo said Chin Peng, whose real name is Ong Boon Hua, was born in 1923 in Sitiawan which is in the Dindings District.
He said Dindings then was a part of the Straits Settlements which came under the British colonial administration.
"Dindings was a part of the Straits Settlements since 1826 and was only handed over to Perak in the 1930s. The Straits Settlements comprising Penang, Malacca and Singapore had been under British colonial administration between 1867 and 1941.
"According to these facts of history, Chin Peng is a British national and not a Malaysian citizen," he told Bernama when asked to comment on calls by several people for the former CPM leader to be allowed to live in Malaysia.
Penang Gerakan chairperson Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan had asked the government to allow Chin Peng to return to the country on humanitarian grounds as he was no longer a threat to national security.
Teng's statement drew strong opposition from various quarters, particularly members of ex-police personnel's and ex-service personnel's associations whose relatives and colleagues had fallen victim to the communist brutality during the Emergency between 1948 and 1960.
Chin Peng's attempt to get to reside in the country through the process of law also failed when the High Court dismissed his appeal because he did not furnish his identification documents.
The Federal Court in April upheld two lower courts' decisions compelling him to produce his identification papers if he wanted to enter the country. Chin Peng is believed to live in Bangkok.
"There may be no problems if Chin Peng intends to go to Britain. But if he wants to come to Malaysia, he has to prove that he is a Malaysian citizen," said Khoo.
He said many people assumed that only Malays were killed by the communists during the Emergency but many Chinese and Indians were also murdered.
Thousands of civilians and members of the security forces were killed in the guerrilla war staged by Chin Peng and his colleagues from the jungles between 1948 and until the CPM laid down arms in 1989.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said yesterday the government would not allow Chin Peng to return to Malaysia as it would lead to dissatisfaction among the people, especially those who fought the communists and families who lost their loved ones during the Emergency. — Bernama
Outside the DAP office at the corridor from the Perak state government complex to the Democracy Tree. Heavy police presence all around. Today is the last day of the hunger strike.
The Malaysian Bar expresses grave concern over the atrocities that were committed in Sri Lanka during the armed conflict, especially against civilians, and the alleged concomitant violations of international humanitarian law and of international human rights. There are allegations made that war crimes were committed during the final days of the armed conflict and that there was genocide against the Tamils that exceeded the horrors of Srebenica.
We are disappointed that the Malaysian Government voted in favour of the self-congratulatory United Nations Human Rights Council resolution put forward by Sri Lanka. This resolution praises Sri Lanka for its current policies and focuses solely on the alleged abuses committed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, without addressing the allegations of long-standing and continuing violations of human rights by government forces.
We strongly urge the Malaysian Government to take a consistent position in its stand against human rights abuses abroad. That position must include a call for an “independent and credible international investigation into recent events” to “ascertain the occurrence, nature and scale of violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as specific responsibilities”, as recently articulated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay.
On 12 January 2009, the Malaysian Government moved a Parliamentary resolution to establish a UN-sponsored War Crimes Tribunal to investigate Israel’s attacks against Gaza. We urge the Government to take an equally strong stand in the case of Sri Lanka.
Your browser may not support display of this image.
1. I am the person named in your reports which appeared practically in all the mainstream media or otherwise today .Please allow me to respond to your publications.
2. Friends and relatives have called me wondering how on earth a matter which is a non-issue and most of all not worthy of publication have been given prominence at par with National issue.I was never the IGP,nor a Director or a CPO before.I was just a common retired Senior Assistant Commissioner II who went on optional retirement some 8 years ago.I am not a member of any political party and have no intention of being one.Surely you too are curious to know the reasons why the above news on me had to be played up as such.No ordinary person can influence the entire media to run this sort of news simultenously and over radio and TV.(I shall touch on the subject matter later).
3. I say with certainty that there are very powerful hidden hands that wanted it so.Their reasons are to destroy my credibility and/or to paralyze my capabilities and preventing me from giving evidence against Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail(Gani)and IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan(Musa) for fabricating evidence in the “Black-Eye” case of 1998 involving Dato ‘Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Anwar).
Brief Facts:Allegation by Anwar.
4. I was the Investigation Officer of the infamous Black-eye incident in 1998 which I assure you was done professionally and without fear or favour.
5. On 1.7.2008 Anwar lodged a police report alleging four persons namely Gani,Musa,one Dr.Abdul Rahman Yusof (Dr.Rahman) and myself have falsified a medical report on him(Anwar) in the black-eye case.This allegation was investigated by the MACC(then ACA).
6. My detail statements was recorded no less than five times by the Investigation Officer.I made full disclosure and provided the MACC with documentary evidence which I believe,was more than sufficient to proof criminal wrongdoings on the part of Gani in particular.
7. On 1.3.2009,Dato Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan(Ahmad Said),the Chief Commissioner of MACC announced in The Star that a 3 member independent panel appointed by the Solicitor General to scrutinize the investigation paper have found Gani and Musa cleared of any criminal wrongdoings
8. Again on 11.3.2009 YB Dato Seri Mohd.Nazri Abdul Aziz(YB Nazri)Minister in PM’s Department in answer to a question posed in Parliament repeated that Gani and Musa are both cleared of any wrongdoings except with regard to Gani, where one of the panel members dissented,but still leaving Dr.Rahman’s and my position in jeopardy..
9. In view of this, on the 15.4.2009 I submitted my appeal to the Chairman of the Advisory Board of MACC and extended copies of same to all the Committee Members as well as to the Chairman of the other Panels, including all members of the Select Committee to review the above findings.I provided the members with detail arguments and attached supporting documentary evidences that I believe would be sufficient to proof that Gani and Musa were involved and/or abetted in the falsification of the medical reports on Anwar in the black-eye case,and that they should not have been cleared..I have yet to receive any response from the Board but believe it is still under their considerations.
10. Yet again on the 7.5.2009 I followed-up my appeal and extended copies to the Solicitor General as well as to the Solicitor General II.Once again I provided them with arguments and submissions which I believe could show that Gani not only falsified 1(one)medical report as alleged by Anwar,but instead THREE , with Musa believed to be involved in at least two of them. I hope this too is being looked into seriously.
11. However,I am justified to state that YAB Prime Minister,was never told the true and entire facts of this issue.Should the truth be told,I believe YAB PM would have taken the appropriate actions.
12. Looking at the contents of your publications,the bankruptcy notice was issued on the 21.4.2009 whilst the order was issued on 14.5.2009.Why was it only publicized on the 27.5.2009?.I have reason to believe that the notice was obtained about 1 week after I have filed my appeal to the MACC Board on 15.4.2009 while they were only published on 27.5.2009 after Anwar vowed that he will provide a tough defence in the sodomy charge against him fixed to be heard beginning 1.7.2009 when he addressed an International Correspondence seminar in Singapore a couple of days ago.
13. I have reasons to believe that the Prosecution team anticipated that Anwar will certainly raise at certain point of his trial the issue of fabrication of evidence in the black-eye case.My evidence would be vital at this stageTheir only option is to destroy my credibility.
13. Though this publication may cause some inconvenience to me and my family,but I take it as a blessing and that it will only enhance my resolve to disclose the whole truth of the “black-eye” episode.Believe me,that this is not the only case the duo had their fingers in.There are others which are as sensational.The truth shall prevail.
14. With regard to the bankruptcy matter,I have instructed my lawyer to look into the matter which came as a surprise to me especially when I was never served personally of any notice of the hearing I hope this explain my position.
15. I am in no position to demand my response to be published in its entirety,but certainly there are issues which are of common concern.
PETALING JAYA, May 29 (Bernama) -- Part of the building which once housed the popular Jaya Supermarket in Jalan 14/20 collapsed Thursday evening during demolition work, killing two of nine workers trapped in the rubble.
Two of them were rescued and sent to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Petaling Jaya OCPD, ACP Arjunaidi Mohamad said.
All the nine victims of the 5pm incident are Indonesian workers who were on the ground floor of the four-storey building at the time of the incident.
The search and rescue team had identified the location of the five workers still trapped, and at 11.30pm, was still trying to get them out of the rubble.
The first dead victim, known as Maskor, 28, was brought out of the rubble at about 6.50pm and the second who was still unidentified, at 10.20pm.
Arjunaidi said firemen used a skylift to assess the safety level of the affected building before the search and rescue team could enter it.
Among those involved in the operation are 50 policemen, Fire and Rescue Department personnel (30), SMART (15), Civil Defence Department (30) and Rela (30), he said.
The road in front of the collapsed building was closed to traffic to facilitate the search and rescue operation.
UMMC deputy director (Professional) Prof Dr Jamiyah Hassan said the injured victims were Maskor's brother Suryano, 32, and Sale, 48. They are in stable condition.
Dr Jamiyah said 45 paramedics from three hospitals - UMMC, Sungai Buloh Hospital and Kuala Lumpur Hospital - were at the scene of the incident to provide medical assistance.
Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin said the initial investigation indicated that the structure might have collapsed due to overloading as heavy machinery were used in the demolition work.
Eyewitness Syed Mohammad Aidid Syed Ahmad Aidid said he heard a loud roar like that of thunder while driving past the area.
"I saw dust rising in the air and pieces of stone came crashing down on my car like a hailstorm," he told Bernama.
Syed Mohammad Aidid, 41, said he had just left the nearby Digital Mall to go to his office at Phileo Damansara when the Jaya Supermarket building collapsed.
"I saw in front of me several cars but they managed to escape. I just floored the accelerator but some of the rubble hit my car and dented it.
"I was shaken with fear and prayed that I would be out of harm's way," he said.
Opening warning: If PKA failed to immediately restructure the MoF soft loan of RM4.632 billion, the first potential default in repayment may be as imminent as 2012.
Here's the final warning from PricewaterhouseCoopers on Page 48:
Shareholder's funds turned negative by Financial Year End (FYE) 2007. PKFZSB has been in net current liabilities position since its first financial period, FPE 2006. Therefore, without continuing support from PKA, PKFZSB would be insolvent.
Key weaknesses are in the two C's: Conflict of interest (leading to weak governance and weak project management) and cost overruns.
Who is to hang to dry?
While the actual masters may be shielded, the immediate collateral damage is a trio of BN politicians who were named in the damning PwC audit report, two of whom cited for "possible conflict of interest" involving the controversial project.
They are... drum roll... Deputy Finance Minister Chor Chee Heung, Backbenchers Club chairman and Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing, and Semanta state assemblyman Abdul Rahman Palil.
CHOR CHEE HEUNG, at the material time, served as deputy chairperson of Wijaya Baru Global Berhad (WBGB) from April 2004 to July 2007. On the other hand, WBGB is the parent company of Wijaya Baru Sdn Bhd (WBSB), which in turn is the main contractor to turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd.
TIONG KING SING, according to the report, was a 32% shareholder of WBGB, which has a 45% stake in WBSB, the main contractor to the turnkey developer. In addition, Tiong is also 70% shareholder of WBHSB, which is the sole proprietor of Kuala Dimensi, the turnkey developer.
ABDUL RAHMAN PALIL was a PKA board member from 1997 to 2003, and also president of Koperasi Pembangunan Pulau Lumut Bhd (KPPLB), which were the original landowners of PKFZ project site.
Other parties cited for possible conflict of interest are:
Perunding BE Sdn Bhd, which was the quantity surveyor consortium appointed by PKA to assess the final cost for the project, but it was previously acted for Kuala Dimensi.
Rashid Asari & Co, a legal firm, was also cited for possible conflict of interest. It was appointed PKA’s legal advisor, but it had also acted in the sale of same land by KPPLB to Kuala Dimensi in 1995.
Interestingly, the PwC report did not make any reference to Tiong as having any conflict of interest.
UPDATES: PKA website at www.pka-report.com is acting up and access is barred. If you need a copy of the report (PDF, 1.05Mb) please let me know (jelutong at jeffooi dotcom). Some Little Birds may be ready to help.
And I certainly need volunteers to help me analyse the report for my Parliament debates (June 15-30).
Let's do the maths
How did the final figure of RM12.5 billion come about?
Berita Harian for the last two days has been carrying Hindraf bashing Headlines.
Yesterday26th May it was: BENDUNG PROVOKASI HINDRAF.
Kerajaan didesak segera bertindak terhadap pihak gugat
keamanan.
The Article quotes several NGOs. They want the UMNO government to take quick action against the leaders of the banned organization. Their assertion is that the leaders of Hindraf are threatening the stability of the nation by issuing extreme statements, which is racist in natureand challenges the rule of the law. These NGOs further recommend that the leaders be re-detained in Kamunting.
UMNO is running out of ideas to continue to maintain the loyalty of the people that it now turns to these kinds of irresponsible methods to try and regain Malay voter loyalty.
Hindraf is not an extremist organization. It never, explicitly or implicitly espoused anything other what is within its constitutional rights. So, to say that Hindraf is threatening the stability of the country is true to UMNO style of sabre rattling (like Keris kissing) is another method out of its methods kit to hang onto power. Scare the people, one way or another. In Tamil, we say, ‘Poochaandi kamikerathu..”.This is exactly George Bush style – like the WMD in Iraq.
As long as UMNO continues in total denial like this and continues with trying only to manage perceptions rather than the substantive issues, the country will continue to slip.
As UMNO becomes more and more bankrupt of ideas to remain in power, we can expect more of this kind of saber rattling.
If UMNO is to reform at all, it must first stop these racist antics. Yes, they can turn around and say that it is not they who are making these statements, but the NGOs. That is an argument that will no more be bought. The people are more savvy than that and they can make out sandiwara clearly after all the education that UMNO has given them over the years.
UMNO stop Hindraf bashing. Get real. Stop your antics.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has been barred from visiting internment camps in Sri Lanka to check on people held by the Colombo government, the head of the organisation has said. Jakob Kellenberger has asked the Sri Lankan government for access to all its camps, which are ringed by barbed wire and soldiers, to check on conditions of hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians. He pointed out the present situation is "not satisfactory," Swissinfo reported. The ICRC, which usually refrains from publicly criticizing governments, is mandated under the Geneva Conventions to aid victims of war, Canadian Press reported.
But the ICRC, like the United Nations and other aid agencies, complained that the Sri Lankan government denied it access to the war zone during the final weeks of the conflict.
The other agencies also have had problems reaching camps since the war ended, the Canadian Press said.
Kellenberger called Wednesday for greater humanitarian support for the 300,000 displaced Tamils.
"The direct humanitarian consequences of the conflict are immense. We have to increase aid," he said, adding that he was especially concerned about medical assistance.
"Access that the Sri Lankan government has granted is still not clear," Kellenberger said, adding that discussions are continuing between the ICRC and the Sri Lankan authorities.
"Just now, what's still not clear is to what extent the government of Sri Lanka will really make it possible for us to carry out the tasks we find important," the ICRC chief said. "But we are in discussion with them."
“We would like to visit all these camps to check if the conditions are right, in order to see if the treatment is right, and in order to allow those in the camps to be in touch with their family members,” Kellenberger said.
Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapakse on Sunday rejected a call by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, who visited the least squalid of the campa, Manik Farm, to lift restrictions on aid delivery to overcrowded displacement camps,
"We have access to some camps and we don't have access to others," Kellenberger said. He declined to give further details when speaking to journalists on Wednesday at the launch of the 2008 ICRC annual report..
ICRC aid workers have access to some parts of Manik Farm, ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard told the Canadian Press.
Kellenberger said some of the people in the camps are being "interned" for security reasons. He declined to elaborate.
“There is important protection work to be done (in the camps). We want to visit those who are in clear detention,” he said.
The mother of deceased police detainee Kugan Ananthan today filed a suit against the police over the seizure of items from the office of an Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UUMC) pathologist.
MCPX
The suit was filed by N Indra at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning.
Previously, the family's lawyer N Surendran had said that the family wants the specimens of organ parts, photographs and other materials returned.
"The family wants the pathologist to send the specimens to Australia to determine if there were traces of poison in the tissues," he had added.
The police raided the office of Dr Prashant N Sambekar at the UMMC on April 6 and seized the specimens after a search warrant was produced to the hospital authorities.
Federal CID director Mohd Bakri Zinin was quoted as saying the documents obtained from the hospital would be used as evidence in police investigations.
Kugan, 22, died on Jan 20 at the Taipan police station, five days after he was arrested in connection with a car theft case.
The family has since accused the police of foul play.
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — The High Court here will today hear the Catholic Church’s suit against the Home minister for barring it from using the word “Allah” as a reference to the Christian God.
The lawsuit stems from the government’s assertion that “Allah” should strictly refer to the Muslim God in Malaysia. This is a view that the Catholic Church has been challenging.
The word “Allah”, the church argues, does not belong only to the Muslims.
It also wants the court to allow it to continue printing the word “Allah” in its weekly newspaper, The Herald, while the case is being heard.
The Herald is published in four languages, including the national language Bahasa Malaysia (BM), which caters to the indigenous Malaysians from Sabah and Sarawak, who are mostly Christians.
Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam filed the suit on February 16 to get a declaration from the courts that the church has the right to use the word in print and in church services.
The Home ministry, which issues the annual printing permit for all publications, had warned the church to stop using the word.
Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, who headed the ministry then, claimed the church’s use of the word “Allah” in any literature published in BM would confuse Muslims, who make up the biggest religious group in the country.
This is the second consecutive year in which Archbishop Murphy Pakiam is suing the Home minister to settle the dispute over the use of the word “Allah”.
PENANTI, May 28 — PAS spiritual leader Datuk Seri Nik Abdul Aziz joined an all-star ceramah session last night as Pakatan Rakyat stepped up efforts to wrap up the by-election and bag the win.
Nik Aziz went straight for the Barisan Nasional (BN) jugular and mocked prime minister and BN president Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s decision not to allow former communist leader Chin Peng to return to Malaysia, describing it as hypocritical.
“Chin Peng wants to come back and somebody asked me what I thought about it so I said if BN wants to reject the communists, then the same can be said about nationalists,” he said.
The statement was made in reference to his belief and past statement that Umno should replace its nationalist trait with Islam as the main ideology.
Nik Aziz, who vehemently opposes the “cooperation with Umno” idea supported by some of his own party members, had stated in the past that the Islamist party will only work together with its rival if the latter discards its nationalist ideology.
But judging by how the charismatic PAS leader pounded BN last night, this “cooperation” is a long way off.
BN was accused of total evil, reigning with treachery, manipulation and corruption. He urged Penanti voters to rise against the BN rule and vote for PKR candidate Mansor Othman this Sunday.
The other big names at the ceramah were Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who also asked voters to send a strong signal to BN.
He also blasted BN for their decision to contest in Manek Urai, slamming the decision as a reflection of their arrogance and hypocrisy.
“When they did not want to contest at Penanti, they said they wanted to focus on improving the country’s economy and not play the political game supposedly created by me.
“But it seems that the economy of the country, in fact the world, has been solved since BN now has the time to contest there,” he said.
The Manek Urai by-election in Kelantan will be the seventh since the March 8 polls. The state seat was vacated following the death of its assemblyman, Ismail Yaakob.
Also present at the ceramah was PKR vice-president Azmin Ali.
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 – Self-exiled Hindraf leader P. Waythamoorthy today strongly condemned the prime minister calling the movement’s statements extreme, accusing him of being callous and playing to racialism.
“In what way were the statements made by Hindraf leaders extreme in nature?” Waythamoorthy asked in a statement released from London, where he has been staying since other Hindraf leaders were held under the ISA for organising a street rally in November 2007.
He was responding to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s comments on Sunday that Hindraf leaders should not overstep boundaries in making comments after their release from Kamunting.
“How can the call by the Hindraf leaders against the review on the release of the Hindraf detainees and accordingly equal & fairer treatment towards all Malaysian are construed as extreme in nature when the prime minister shouts out for 1 Malaysia,” he said.
Waythamoorty, who has vowed to return to Malaysia following the release of all Hindraf leaders from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA), including his brother P. Uthayakumar, accused Najib of ignoring the grievances of the Indian community in Malaysia.
“Instead of looking into the genuine grievances raised by Hindraf and addressing them objectively, the government plays to the tune and sentiment of racialism as capitalised by certain elements,” added Waythamoorthy.
The government has outlawed Hindraf, accusing the unofficial organisation of inciting racial sentiments after the rally but the Hindraf leader said the movement has created awareness with the objective “ to ensure an equal and fair treatment in a nation that we call Malaysia”
He also asked the Najib Administration to engage with all parties to deepen the solidarity, respect history, culture and traditions “rather than abusing its power by threatening and intimidating through its machinery, which is more in line with authoritarianism, intolerance, and a police state”.
“The warning issued by the PM is one that is callous in nature, without regard for the suffering of the minorities, in particular the poor and neglected ones across the board, and their sentiments to create a better Malaysia for all,” Waythamoorty said.
In what way was, the statements made by HINDRAF leaders are extreme in nature?
How can the call by the HINDRAF leaders against the review on the release of the HINDRAF detainees and accordingly equal & fairer treatment towards all Malaysian born are construed as an extreme in nature when the Prime Minister shouts out for One Malaysia.
Instead of looking into the genuine grievances raised by HINDRAF and addressing them objectively, the government plays to the tune and sentiment of racialism as capitalized by certain elements and warns that something that is pursuit in the sense of fairness and justice as extreme statement.
To date, HINDRAF has been demonized by the government with all kinds of allegation and accusation, yet the government fails to see that HINDRAF has created an awareness within the public with its sole objective is to ensure an equal and fair treatment in a nation that we call Malaysia.
If the Prime Minister and his government is really working towards promoting unity, then it should take the trouble to engage all parties and voices genuinely and deepen the solidarity between their people, while respecting their history, culture and their traditions, rather than abusing its power by threatening and intimidating through its machinery which is in line with authoritarianism, intolerance, and a police state.
The warning issued by the Prime Minister is one callous in nature without regard for the suffering of the minorities, in particular the poor and neglected ones across the board and their sentiments to create a better Malaysia for all.
One of the reasons why there are so many Indian children without proper birth certificates is that the parents who are late in applying for the BCs are punished, derided and bullied by the racist administrative system. Here is a story of such punishment, derision and bullying from a mother who is able to speak up.
She is but one of the very few who can speak out. The rest just suffer in silence or become victims to opportunists who try to make a buck out of this adversity.
Please read on
An angry parent | May 27, 09 5:34pm Malaysiakini
I am deeply disappointed with the National Registration Department (NRD). I gave birth to my second child on 9 January 2009. However, I only went to the NRD after the required 42-day registration period because I was still recovering from my caesarean. I believed the registration is within 45-days after birth.
MCPX
Anyway, when I went to the NRD in Sri Petaling, I was told that they cannot register me anymore since I was late and therefore have to go to their headquarters in Maju Junction Mall. Upon arrival at the headquarters, we were told to get ready a list of documents to be submitted to them -- our ICs, marriage certificate, immunisation records, photos of the whole family including my older child, copy of my older child's birth certificate, and my pre-natal appointment card as well as a letter from the commissioner of oath.
When I went back to submit all these documents, I was told that I had to come back for an interview. And I had to bring my baby with me. This was in February and the interview took place only on 26th May 2009, two to three months later. I was told that they only conduct three interviews a day despite their admission that there are many people who are waiting to register their children.
When I went yesterday, I was expecting that they will ask me relevant questions and have a good look at my baby to see if she resembles me or my husband and to even take a DNA swab since I was under the impression we were seen to have bought this child. But nothing intelligent like that happened. Instead, we were told that we would be interviewed separately -- me with my baby and my husband on his own.
The questions asked were: where were you married, when were you married, how many children do you have, where did you give birth, who performed the delivery, did you get pre-natal check-ups, why were you late, and when was the child born. That was it. All the answers to the questions were in the document that was submitted to them and my poor baby was exposed to the dirty environment in the department.
The same questions were asked of my husband, which leads me to think that they were actually trying to see if my husband and I were actually married, instead of helping us quickly get our baby's registration done.
When the interview was concluded, I asked what was the next process, expecting I would obtain my baby's birth certificate on the spot. Instead, I was told that I had to wait for another one and half months to see if they approve my application. After that I had to wait for one more month to obtain my baby's MyKid. In total, I've to wait for an additional two to three months, assuming they would approve of my application.
When I questioned why the need to wait when we had done all the paperwork and the interview, I was told flatly because I was late. And the lady who interviewed me was outright rude too. They did not take into consideration that my delivery was complicated and I was in pain and discomfort. On top of that my baby was a colic and had to be cared for all the time. I was scolded for not getting my husband to come, but then, who will care for me and the baby if my husband had gone off? We were just a family trying to make good of our baby's early days and we went as soon as we can.
I was also stating that since we did not have the birth cert, I could not obtain an insurance policy for my child. I was told. "Tak payah beli lah! Siapa suruh lambat?" Oh my, such empathy shown. I am really annoyed and angry with this. I admit I am at fault but there is really no need to penalise my baby for it.
On the registration form, it was clearly stated that should we be late than 42 days, we would be fined not more than RM50. If the NRD really did want to make it tough on the parents, then impose a higher fine. I am sure we will gladly pay in exchange for not penalising the kids.
Really NRD, what were you thinking when you imposed such a hassle on us? Did you think that it was going to deter people? This is going to be my second and last baby. What has NRD taught me with these type of processes in place? That they are inefficient? That I really regret having to pay their salaries? That NRD does not place the needs of us Malaysians over the needs of foreigners? Why do we approve applications of foreigners by the buckets when we are putting our own nationality at risk by not issuing them their rightful documentation?
This type of mindset and attitude is exactly why we see Malaysians are leaving their homeland and not come back.
The recent deaths of two illegal immigrants in one of Malaysia's many detention centres has raised the issue of the conditions under which detainees are held in the country.
Last year Suhakam, Malaysia's Human Rights Commission, identified medical care as an overriding reason why 1,300 detainees have died over the last six years.
Now two Burmese immigration detainees have died from leptospirosis, a disease caused by exposure to contaminated water.
Dato Siva Subramaniam, a Suhakam commissioner, told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program denial of health care was a violation of detainees' right to life.
Visiting doctors
"At present the 22 centres throughout Malaysia do not have a permanent clinical dispensary manned by doctors or a medical assistant to help detainees," he said.
"They have a visiting doctor only."
He noted that the 1,300 deaths notified to parliament covered not only immigration detention centres but prisons and police lock-ups.
Nevertheless, "we want improvement", the commissioner said.
He said Suhakam had identified health care and hygiene, including proper water supplies for detainees, as key issues at the centres, which are overseen by immigration officers.
New diseases
The commissioner said: "Suhakam wants to ensure there is medical care, that there is a permanent doctor placed, and we want this to be done in every camp."
With new diseases such as swine flu breaking out in the region, each inmate "should be a proper medical check before they are put together with other detainees".
Their embassies should also be notified, he said.
Another problem was too many inmates in centres. "The problem of overcrowding is something we need to be looked seriously at."
Malaysia’s economy contracted for the first time since 2001 last quarter as exports slumped, pushing the nation toward its first recession in a decade.
Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy shrank 6.2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, after a 0.1 percent gain in the previous three months, the central bank said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Economists were expecting a 3.9 percent decline.
Asia’s export-dependent economies from Japan to Singapore have shrunk as the deepest global recession since the Great Depression saps demand for Intel Corp. computer chips and IOI Corp. palm oil produced in the region. Still, Malaysia’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 2 percent this week, saying previous cuts and government stimulus measures will contribute to a recovery later this year.
“We expect the first quarter to be the worst in terms of the contraction,” said Suhaimi Ilias, an economist at Maybank Investment Bank Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. “The strong fiscal impulse will lift the economy, especially in the second half of this year and 2010, with the implementation of the annual budgets and the two economic stimulus packages.”
Asian policy makers, who have slashed borrowing costs and pledged more than $950 billion of stimulus plans, have started saying their economies may be past the worst.
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said last week the region’s largest economy is improving after a record first- quarter contraction. Singapore’s government said the economy shrank less than initially estimated in the first quarter and the nation may have “hit the bottom” of its worst recession since gaining independence in 1965.
‘Gradual Improvement’
Malaysia’s central bank refrained this week from cutting interest rates for a second straight meeting after lowering it three times from Nov. 24 to Feb. 24, saying there’s “potential for a gradual improvement in the second half of the year.” It had reduced borrowing costs by 1.5 percentage points to the lowest since the benchmark was introduced in April 2004.
Overseas shipments from Malaysia fell for a sixth straight month in March in the longest slump since 2002, dropping 15.6 percent from a year earlier. The decline eased from a 28 percent plunge in January.
“The main drag on the economy in the first quarter came from the external front,” said Irvin Seah, an economist at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore. “Going forward, the headline GDP growth numbers are expected to rise gradually, reflecting the underlying improvement in the domestic economy as well as the broader external economic environment.”
Global Recession
A worse-than-expected slump in exports will force policy makers to lower the country’s full-year forecast from the current estimate of a contraction of 1 percent or growth of that much, Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said earlier this month.
The deterioration in the global economy “sharply affected our export sector,” Zeti said yesterday. “From what we see, export demand continues to remain weak and the environment still challenging” in the second quarter.
Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah said this week the economy will “definitely” shrink more than 1 percent in 2009. The last time Malaysia posted an annual contraction was in 1998.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose coalition has lost three of four regional elections this year, has unveiled two stimulus plans comprising 67 billion ringgit ($19 billion) of public spending, loan guarantees, tax incentives and other measures to spur growth.
More Optimistic
Malaysian companies are turning more optimistic. Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd., the nation’s second-biggest bank, said May 22 it plans to raise its profit and dividend targets for this year after posting the first profit increase in five quarters.
Unisem (M) Bhd., Malaysia’s second-biggest listed semiconductor assembler, said May 14 it expects sales and earnings to improve “substantially” in the second quarter, forecasting a return to profit for the rest of 2009.
Malaysia’s manufacturing industry shrank 17.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier and exports of goods and services plunged 15.2 percent, according to yesterday’s report.
Investment as measured by gross fixed capital formation declined 10.8 percent last quarter. Private consumption dropped 0.7 percent.
Inflation may average between 1.5 percent and 2 percent this year, Governor Zeti said yesterday.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak at his 3 pm media conference today to announce the revised figures of the countrty’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should put to rest the heated and contentious speculation in the blogosphere on new and important appointments in Petronas.
The Petronas Board of Directors met yesterday.
Najib should clarify once and for all whether former Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar has been appointed Petronas Chairman and if so, explain why a person deemed unfit to continue as Cabinet Minister as to be dropped in the recent reshuffle should be considered proper material as Petronas Chairman.
Furthermore, whether Omar Ong, one of the Putrajaya “Level Four” boys of former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been appointed non-executive director of Petronas, with a view to his future appointment as Petronas CEO and replacement of Tan Sri Hassan Merican next year – as well as the basis and criteria for such an appointment.
Malaysians are shocked today by more evidence that Malaysia is taking on the characteristics of a failed state, when they read reports and see photos of “Loan shark’s hellhole torture for defaulters”, with men chained like dogs, beaten and forced to survive on water and bread for months on end, the horrific treatment inflicted by loan sharks on their debtors.
The discovery of such hell-hole came to light when police rescued three men who were held in an unoccupied shoplot in Seri Kembangan, near Kuala Lumpur, for two months as they could not pay their loans which ranged from RM1,500 to RM4,000.
A police party raided the shoplot yesterday afternoon and found the three men tied to the wall with heavy chains.
The victims, aged 25, 34 and 49, were abducted from Segambut, Semenyih and Gombak.
As Gombak police chief Assistant Commissioner Abdul Rahim Abdullah described it:
“The victims were very weak. They were wearing the same clothes they had on for the past two months and had been beaten regularly with sticks.
“The loan sharks contacted the victims’ families and demanded they settle the loans if they wanted to see their loved ones again.”
The families could not raise the money but did not seek police help.
Rahim said the victims were imprisoned in two makeshift six-by-seven metre cells, each with an open toilet. They were chained at their necks and feet to a wall.
Firemen used an electric chainsaw to cut through the 6kg chains.
The captives sobbed uncontrollably when they saw the rescue party.
He said they were only given five slices of bread every few days and water from a small tap connected to their cells.
“If we made noise, we would be kicked and beaten.”
How many such hellholes and dungeons are there in the country where Ah Longs illegally imprison their hostages in their own underground system of “prisons”, making an utter mockery of the police and justice systems?
Who would have thought that 52 years after Merdeka, Malaysia’s law and order system have degenerated to such a level where Ah Longs dare to institute their own system of illegal prisons and dungeons?
Instead of declaring a war against endemic crime so that Malaysia become a low-crime and a safe ground for citizens, tourist and investors, the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan has completely lost his proper sense of bearings, preferring to play political games together with his political games in a criminal misallocation of police personnel and resources from fighting crime and criminals.
Instead, police personnel and resources were channelled to harass and detain peaceful protestors who pose no threat to law and order, just because the powers-that-be have become increasingly afraid of dissent whether in the form of wearing black, candlelight vigils, balloons to highlight people’s support for dissolution of Perak State Assembly or even singing birthday song!
The Inspector-General should immediately recall all police personnel back to the barracks and to return them to their first duty to be on the streets to fight crime and criminals and not to appease the fears and anxieties of their political masters at dissent and protests by Malaysians committed to peaceful, democratic and non-violent means of expression.
I was in Bangkok two days ago for the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) meeting over Aung San Suu Kyi’s continued incarceration in Myanmar, and when I asked Thais, I was told that they go about their lives in Bangkok without any fear of snatch thiefs or snatch-thief killers, and that they are blessedly spared the menace of Mat Rempits.
The Police will never be able to convince Malaysians and investors that they are professional and world-class so long as they continue to be more “efficient” in dealing with peaceful civic-minded protestors than criminals, whether robbers, rapists, Ah Longs, snatch-thiefs or snatch-thief killers, and the criminal Mat Rempit elements. - Lim Kit Siang
"THE Barisan Nasional (BN) should change its name to Barisan Pondan (faggot)!" bellows Penang Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chief Datuk Zahrain Mohamed Hashim to the 5,000-strong crowd in Jalan Berapit on 23 May 2009.
The audience applauds the Bayan Baru MP, and emboldened, he goes on to repeat this homophobic epithet three times in the campaigning for the Penanti by-election. "They are pondans because they are afraid to contest here in Penanti," he says.
This certainly raises an interesting question: why does PKR, a party born out of Umno's homophobic attacks against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, boast of leaders who have no qualms perpetuating such homophobia?
"Depa pondan"
Zahrain's use of the word "pondan" is not without context. Pakatan Rakyat (PR)'s star leader, popularly-elected Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, had earlier given the audience a blow-by-blow account of what happened during the 7 May Perak assembly sitting.
When he got to the part where he described PR state assemblypersons being ambushed and shoved by their BN peers, Nizar said, "Luckily the PR assemblypersons had fit physiques and could stand their ground. The BN folks were all unfit, all have high blood pressure."
A member of the audience then shouted: "Depa pondan (They are faggots)!" Nizar laughed it off but was noticeably thrown off by the comment.
When The Nut Graph raises Zahrain's speech over the phone with PKR elections director Saifuddin Nasution, Saifuddin says, "I'm sure that was not the only message in his speech. It depends how you want to interpret his meaning."
Saifuddin, however, clarifies that he wasn't there, but if indeed it was true that Zahrain used such a word to describe the BN, it was wrong.
"It's true, in the 10 years since Reformasi, the BN has been using these sorts of terms to attack Anwar, and their rancour is beyond compare. But it would be wrong for us to counter their arrogance with even more arrogance," he says.
"And my comments do not apply to the Penanti by-election campaign alone — our leaders should not be making these sorts of comments in any situation at all," he continues.
Homophobia
During the BN's campaign in the Bukit Selambau by-election, The Nut Graph noted that Umno supreme council member Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim used a range of homophobic expressions to discredit Anwar during a 6 April ceramah.
"Our leaders are living angels, but their side is stuck with someone who is obsessed with backsides," said Azeez, and the crowd of 200 young Malay Malaysian men exploded in laughter.
But, as Saifuddin rightly points out, Azeez's wrong does not make Zahrain's wrong right. PKR vice-president R Sivarasa is even more candid when he confesses to The Nut Graph, "Zahrain's statement reminds PKR of the baggage that we carry, and that our own leaders need a lot more sensitisation on these issues.
Zahrain's statement a reminder PKR's leaders need more sensitisation on certain issues"There is a lot of work to be done within the party and outside, and sadly, the party sometimes reflects society's prejudices instead of challenging them."
Sivarasa, however, does not think PKR will be focusing on challenging homophobia anytime soon. "Look at the situation in the country now — we are fighting for our basic political survival," he says via telephone. "And so, while issues like homophobia are important to deal with, we have to put out other more urgent fires first."
Sivarasa, too, has a valid point, given the spate of arrests of PR leaders ever since Datuk Seri Najib Razak took office as prime minister barely two months ago. But could he perhaps be evading the real social conservatism that permeates through large sections of PAS and PKR?
"Conservatism is prevalent in Umno and PAS, and to some extent in PKR, but again that is merely a reflection of the societal attitudes of the Malay (and Muslim Malaysian) community," he says.
Which then points to the heart of the problem — if the PR stands for justice and human rights, can it afford to be selective and not tackle homophobia in its larger agenda?
Walking the talk
"Talking about human rights as an issue and actually being guided by human rights principles in one's day-to-day conduct are two different things," says Angela Kuga Thas, a spokesperson for the Women's Candidacy Initiative (WCI).
Kuga Thas tells The Nut Graph that in Malaysia, parties from both the BN and PR seem to lack a rights-based framework to guide party members in how they interact with the public and with each other.
"When this code of conduct does not exist, it then becomes very hard to shake off entrenched attitudes and prejudices," Kuga Thas says via telephone.
When asked to provide an encouraging example of private sexuality being respected in Malaysian politics, Kuga Thas is quick to cite the so-called scandal involving intimate pictures of PKR's Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong which were exposed in February 2009.
"It's amazing that despite the internal conflicts within PKR about Wong's case, she was not fired and is in fact back at work," she says.
Kuga Thas's point is that Umno's homophobic comments against Anwar, Zahrain's homophobic comments about the BN, and attacks against Wong's private life all come under a big umbrella of issues, which she refers to as "sexual rights".
"This is not merely about people of non-normative sexualities, but also about people of 'normative' sexualities who do not fulfill society's expectations, such as an unmarried, working woman like Wong," she explains.
And in this sense, she says there are no comparable scenarios within the BN that work in its favour. It is difficult to disagree with her. At least in PKR, Zahrain has been publicly rebuked by his own party leaders, Saifuddin and Sivarasa.
Like Kuga Thas, Sivarasa also locates the issue within a larger framework.
"Things like homosexuality, religious conversions, polygamy in Islam, and so on — these are difficult things to discuss," he admits. "But we will be able to talk about these things without fear of persecution or violence if the country democratises effectively."
Kuga Thas couldn't agree more. "Civil society needs to believe that it can change the political scene in Malaysia."
She says that with PKR carefully starting to denounce homophobia in this way, it will start a trend in Malaysian politics, where other parties will also be challenged to be more sensitive.
"And as long as there is space for dialogue and debate, there's always hope for Malaysia," she adds.
They are not doing this with East- timor delegates but it is just piece of low class mentality that they want to show other. This country will appear as Pakistan , Sudan and Somalia one day.
The Malaysian Bar expresses grave concern over the atrocities that were committed in Sri Lanka during the armed conflict, especially against civilians, and the alleged concomitant violations of international humanitarian law and of international human rights. There are allegations made that war crimes were committed during the final days of the armed conflict and that there was genocide against the Tamils that exceeded the horrors of Srebenica.
Previously, the family's lawyer N Surendran had said that the family wants the specimens of organ parts, photographs and other materials returned.
PENANTI, May 28 — PAS spiritual leader Datuk Seri Nik Abdul Aziz joined an all-star ceramah session last night as Pakatan Rakyat stepped up efforts to wrap up the by-election and bag the win.
Nik Aziz, who vehemently opposes the “cooperation with Umno” idea supported by some of his own party members, had stated in the past that the Islamist party will only work together with its rival if the latter discards its nationalist ideology.
