The Education Ministry gets a one-week deadline to withdraw Interlok.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has been given one week to immediately withdraw Interlok, the controversial Form 5 novel.
The ultimatum was issued by the National Interlok Action Team (NIAT), a coalition of over 200 non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
If the ministry fails to meet the deadline, NIAT threatens to make Interlok an international issue.
Said its president, Thasleem Mohamed: “Interlok must be withdrawn with immediate effect as it doesn’t portray the community well.”
“It has a long-term negative effect in moulding the Malaysian community,” Thasleem told a press conference.
If the ministry ignores the one-week deadline, the issue will be exposed to the international media, especially the press in India, he added.
It was revealed that the chapters on the Chinese and Indian families failed to meet five out of the six criteria set by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka’s literature department.
The six criteria are:
The literature must reflect the positive culture of a race;
The literature can withstand the test of time;
The literature can be used as a role model for future generations;
The literature is used widely as research and reference material continuously by all in society;
The literature has high quality of literary value; and
The literature has won for the author a national laureate status.
Thasleem also revealed that negative aspects of the Malay community were totally edited out of the student edition of Interlok.
However, only 20% and 10% of the negative aspects of the Chinese and Indian communities were edited out.
Thasleem also said that NIAT would oppose any books used in schools that degrade any community.
On Human Rights Party’s plan to stage a mammoth rally against the book, he said: “NIAT has its own approach to resolve the matter. Our approach is diplomatic negotiations.”
Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also education minister, said the book would be retained but would only be distributed to students after a panel, comprising literary experts and Indian representatives, made the necessary amendments.
Controversy surrounding the book began in December and gathered steam as many Indian NGOs opposed them.
However, the Federation of National Writers Association (Gapena) and Malay NGOs are supporting the use of the book.
'Orang Melayu mesti duduk bersama dan mengambil kira pengalaman lepas supaya pelan lengkap yang berjaya dapat dirangka.'
PETALING JAYA: Menteri Besar Selangor Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim berpendapat penyesalan terhadap kegagalan Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB) bukanlah satu cara untuk menyelesaikan masalah ekonomi dalam kalangan masyarakat Melayu.
Malah jurang perbezaan pendapatan yang masih wujud antara kaum majoriti di negara ini juga belum tentu dapat dipulihkan jika DEB dihapuskan.
Demikian menurut Khalid dalam responnya terhadap pengakuan terbuka mantan Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad bahawa DEB tidak mencapai matlamatnya akibat penyalahgunaan kuasa pihak tertentu untuk mendapatkan kekayaan dengan kadar segera.
“Menyesal atau tidak itu bukan jawapan. Jawapannya adalah apa yang perlu dilakukan untuk generasi masa akan datang.
“Penyelesaian terbaik adalah orang Melayu kena belajar semula kesilapan, memahami kesalahan dan membuat agenda baru yang tidak berpandukan keinginan politik tetapi keinginan untuk melihat kejayaan orang Melayu,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas membentangkan kertas kerja Seminar Pembangunan Semula Pemikiran Islam Melayu di sini hari ini.
Namun Tun Mahathir dalam ucaptama di Simposium Dilema Melayu ‘Perspektif dan Konklusi’ anjuran Persatuan Alumni Pemimpin Mahasiswa Aspirasi Malaysia (Aspirasi) di Dewan Merdeka, Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra (PWTC) hari ini berkata dasar itu perlu diteruskan kerana 30 peratus ekuiti Bumiputera yang ditetapkan masih belum tercapai.
Khalid ketika diminta mengulas mengenai kenyataan itu bagaimanapun turut sependapat dengan Mahathir supaya DEB tidak perlu dihapuskan, tetapi perlu ‘dikaji’ dan ‘distruktur semula’.
“Sudah tiba masanya DEB perlu dilihat semula. Orang Melayu mesti duduk bersama dan mengambil kira pengalaman lepas supaya pelan lengkap yang berjaya dapat dirangka.
“Kalau tiada (pelan) kita masukkan supaya dengan cara itu kita dapat memberi keseimbangan dalam pembangunan DEB dan dalam masa yang sama dapat diterima oleh semua masyarakat,” katanya.
Beliau berkata isu Perkara 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang menyentuh keistimewaan hak kaum Melayu dan Bumiputera juga tidak akan timbul selagi pendekatan sedemikian tidak menjejaskan proses pelaksanaan dan cara pembawaan DEB untuk menangani arus cabaran perubahan globalisasi pada masa akan datang.
Kadar jenayah meningkat
Sementara itu, beliau turut mengulas mengenai respon Menteri Keselamatan Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein yang menolak permohonan kerajaan Selangor untuk menubuhkan pasukan polis bantuan bagi menangani kadar jenayah yang semakin meningkat di negeri itu.
Hishammuddin dalam alasannya kelmarin berkata, mengikut perlembagaan isu keselamatan dan urusan polis terletak di bawah bidang kuasa kerajaan Persekutuan serta menyifatkan cadangan itu hanya membazirkan wang kerajaan negeri.
“Kita tak nak rakyat kata kerajaan negeri tak buat apa-apa. Tidak ada sesiapa pun nak masalah jenayah berlaku disekeliling mereka.
“Saya tak kata polis tak buat kerja malah mereka telah menjalankan tanggungjawab dengan cara yang terbaik (namun) dalam keadaan yang terhad.
“Sebab itulah kerajaan negeri berpendapat sehingga polis dapat memantapkan lagi tenaga kerja mereka, kita mintaklah supaya (khidmat) polis bantuan dilakukan.
“Kalau kerajaan Persekutuan kata tak perlu dan nak tambah lagi jumlah anggota polis, itu kita tak ada masalah tapi jangan sampai rakyat kata kita tiada usaha untuk selsaikan masalah ini,” ujar Khalid.
In a landmark decision, the Cabinet gives the green light to a proposal that will help Christian students sitting the SPM exam.
PENAMPANG: Bible Knowledge will now be taught as subject in the school premises, but outside the normal class hours.
The decision puts an end to the problem faced by students taking the subject in public examinations.
In the past, these students had to learn it on their own outside their respective school premises.
The decision was made during the first meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak meeting chaired by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on Feb 7.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok, who is also the committee’s technical committee chairman, said the decision would assist students taking this subject in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam.
“On behalf of all quarters, I thanked the prime minister and the federal government for being attentive to the wishes of the community, particularly the Christians.
“We believe this landmark decision will go a long way towards the full realisation of the 1Malaysia concept,” he said.
Dompok, who is also Penampang MP and Upko president, was speaking at a press conference after he officiated at the launch of a mobile clinic unit and an ambulance for the district health clinic here.
Education Ministry circular
Dompok said that prior to this, students like those studying in SMK Datuk Peter Mojuntin here, who took up Bible Knowledge as a subject, had to learn it on their own outside the school premises.
“I raised the difficulties faced by students of SMK Datuk Peter Mojuntin on this matter.
“Such a situation also happened at the government schools in other places. With the decision, the students concerned now can learn the subject after their normal class schedule has ended,” he said.
Dompok also said the Cabinet had also agreed with other requests made by the technical committee based on the resolutions of the Federation of Christian Mission Schools Malaysia conference held in the middle of last year.
He said this included setting up a Christian club and organisation in the mission schools which now only needs the approval of the school principal, unlike before.
“It was agreed during the meeting that a circular on this matter will be issued by the Education Ministry to the schools concerned.
“The circular will also stated that the Cabinet has agreed that the principal of mission schools have the power to approve the setting up of a Christian club and organisation,” said Dompok.
The Feb 7 meeting was said to have also discussed the intake of Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak into the civil service, native customary land issue, economic opportunities for the local contractors, as well as the Sabah Native Court institution.
Siti Nor Bahyah Mahamood is a well-known Islamic motivator on local television and a popular TV personality, with Semanis Kurma on TV9 and Astro being her biggest hit.
As a famous personality, one would expect her to have all the facts on her fingertips in her efforts to educate, motivate and even propagate her faith! Surely her experience as a professional motivator would teach her that you can’t motivate people by humiliating others!
Recently, she decided to discourage Muslim youth from celebrating Valentine’s Day. It is actually quite a noble effort. I too do not believe in V’s Day (Catholic though I be) and I think it is tragic to have to say “I love you” only once a year and with a blooming rose that costs a bomb!
But I have no problem with the rest of the world who are caught up by the commercialization of love and romance (though now its extended to more than just a celebration of lovebirds) and are ready to pay a crazy and costly sum, probably to make up for their neglect of 364 days in the year!
V’s Day has become a day when, love is blind, the florists flourish, and hotels and restaurants reap roaring profits by holding the ridiculous! It has no religious significance whatsoever! As for those who wish to unleash their lust on V Day, VD (a different kind of rose) might await them!
Sadly, Siti’s ignorance showed when she, in an RTM programme last week, linked V’s Day to Christianity and immoral activities. She said “immoral activities, partying and unmarried couples associating in private are traditions of the Christian community”!
Surprisingly, as a motivator, Siti is glaringly show of understanding. V’s Day is not a Christian tradition and all Christian traditions and tenets do not condone, in fact abhor “immoral activities”, and “unmarried couples associating in private”.
If only Siti would sit quietly and ponder she will realize that vice and virtue lie in the adherents of every faith and there is really no need of making a scapegoat of other religions and insulting them for the sins of the people of her own faithful!
A Christian Conspiracy to Corrupt Muslims?
The Malaysian Insider reported on 11 Feb. 2011 that both the KL Islamic Department (Jawi) and Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) have banned Muslims from celebrating V’s Day, calling it “a Christian tradition” in a Friday sermon delivered in mosques on that day.
Alas, if Jawi, Jais or Jakim want to reduce themselves into one big Joke, it is really none of our business, but claiming that V’s Day is a Christian tradition and inferring that it is part of a Christian conspiracy to “corrupt” Muslims, is to say but the least, a jaundiced view…very unislamic indeed!
The sermon continued with its slanderous spree: “Remember that the Jews and Christians would continue to deceive Muslims. They will do everything to undermine the Muslims’ belief and personality”!
Prepared by the Selangor’s Islamic authority, the sermon also said that V’s Day “is celebrated in many ways, starting with greeting cards, flowers and dance parties. In fact some celebrate it with a date which would eventually lead to illicit sex”!
What about the illicit sex that takes place on non-Valentine Days? Who is to be blamed? What about the sex scandals committed by Members of Parliament, Ministers and a host of people in high places….were they all committed on V”s Day? Were they the result of a conspiracy by the Jews and Christians?
Jais caused quite a jolt when it pointed out that there were 257,411 births out of wedlock between 2000 and 2008 and blamed V’s Day celebrations as one of the causes. You mean to say nine V’s Days could produce 257, 411 births? Is this what Najib’s model of moderate Islam is all about?
Not only are they insulting the Christians but they are so condescending in how they view the Muslims in Bolehland – who have in recent times been portrayed as people who are so very easily confused, convinced, converted and corrupted! But then again, we are told that is none of our business.
It appears that Siti, Jawi, Jais and Jakim need to do a lot of soul searching. Surely the strength of Islam does not lie in creating a “siege mentality” and in their ignorance, insulting other religions.
The different faiths in this country are often faced with many similar challenges which could be more easily overcome if we were to synergise our earnest efforts rather than creating slurs and suspicions on the supposed salacious conspiracies of other religions to turn young Muslims into sex fiends!
May I wish Jawi, Jais and Jakim Happy Anti-Valentine’s Day! And to those who celebrate it in a big way, Happy Valentine’s Day – whatever it means!
To PAS Youth, instead of conducting “immorality checks” on V’s Day in opposition-ruled states, why not take a break from politics and be romantic enough to spend precious time with your beloved under the moon, always conscious that God is watching you from a distance!
To the Muslims who really want to celebrate V’s Day but cannot as a result of the recent ban, please do not be angry but in keeping with the spirit of the day, send a rose to Siti, Jawi, Jais and Jakim – unless the rose is deemed by them as a Christian flower used to seduce Muslims into immorality!
KUALA LUMPUR: Orang asli claims of encroachment into native land should move faster now that 70 lawyers have agreed to act pro bono.
“We are preparing a database which will be used to farm out cases and other disputes to these volunteers,” said Bar Council member Steven Thiru when contacted.
On Dec 1, The Star had reported that more and more cases of encroachment into orang asli lands were coming to light but the council’s Legal Aid Centre did not have enough lawyers to act for them.
Thiru, who is also the deputy chair of the council’s Committee on Orang Asli Rights (COAR), said the lawyers volunteered their services for free after a workshop on Dec 4.
“At the moment there are about 10 cases in Peninsular Malaysia and we are in the process of organising representation for those affected.
“COAR will be sending out a notice to ask members handling orang asli cases to notify us so we can offer assistance,” said Thiru, adding that most cases were of encroachment, either to appropriate native land or the produce on it.
“A major problem for us is to determine who is the trespasser; in many cases, they are independent contractors of state authorities but it is not easy to pin them down.”
On the fund launched on Dec 4 to defray part of the volunteers’ costs, he said a council member had donated RM5,000.
“In our next term (2011/2012), we intend to approach the Bar for contributions,” he said.
The orang asli are expected to come up with the remainder of the money, depending on what they can afford, said Thiru.
“COAR takes the view they must take ownership of their cases and contributing is one way of doing this.”
He said COAR would engage with the orang asli and visit their settlements, with the help of Centre for Orang Asli Concerns coordinator Dr Colin Nicholas.
When contacted, Dr Nicholas, who is also a COAR member, said while 10 cases had been filed, there were between 50 and 60 more such cases.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- Members of the Indian community who have no identity documents are advised to take the opportunity to apply for these documents during the eight-day 'Mydaftar' campaign beginning Feb 19.
MIC vice-president Datuk M. Saravanan said the campaign was to ensure that they obtained their identity documents and avoid facing problems in future.
"The Mydaftar campaign had been approved by the government to assist the Indian community who are facing problems as they have no birth certificate, identity card and still possess the red identity card and have yet to apply for a citizenship," he told reporters after attending a briefing on the campaign together with the Indian community at the Public Housing Project in Kampung Air Panas Baru, on Sunday.
The campaign is being organised jointly by the Special Implementation Task Force of the Cabinet Committee on the Indian Community, and the National Registration Department, and supported by several other government agencies besides the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the MIC.
Saravanan, who is also the Deputy Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing, said under the campaign, the Indian community without any personal document would be assisted in filling up their application forms by the Special Implementation Task Force, the MIC, NGOs and volunteers supporting the campaign.
(Malaysiakini) At least 30 Human Rights Party (HRP) members in Selangor, Perak and Kuala Lumpur have been arrested as police came down hard on their nationwide convoys.
Six were arrested at Jelapang, Ipoh police station while five more were nabbed near Jalan Templer in Selangor, as police mounted roadblocks to stop the convoy to promote an upcoming anti-racism rally.
According to eyewitnesses, a convoy member in Selangor had her camera confiscated and was hit in the face, while police were “very harsh” towards HRP members in Perak.
“The police raised their fists and threatened to hit (the HRP members),” an eyewitness said when contacted.
He added that the Jelapang police station is now closed off and other members of HRP are not allowed in, nor were they told why the six - Perak HRP chief P Ramesh, his deputy N Subramaniam and four other Perak HRP members - were arrested.
There are similar convoys in Johor, Negri Sembilan and Kedah.
According to HRP information chief S Jayathas, who was contacted moments before he was arrested along with Selangor party chief K Selvam and three others, police also mounted a roadblock in Rawang.
“They only stopped our cars, not other road users. We staged a small protest and they let us pass.
“We have the right to use the road. They can only check our road tax and drivers' licences,” said Jayathas, who is now held at the Selayang district police station.
Around 3pm, HRP activists in a convoy of three cars were taken into custody by police officers just after they alighted from their vehicles in Bangsar Utama, Kuala Lumpur.
Twenty activists had just arrived from Brickfields when police officers stopped them and took them into custody. They are currently in the Travers police station.
During a press conference later, Brickfields OCPD Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said that 21 people were arrested and brought to the Travers police station because they were obstructing traffic and moving in a big group.
“As we know, Brickfields is a very busy area,” he told reporters at the station today.
He added that the 21 detainees will have their statements recorded and will be investigated under Section 27 of the Penal Code.
Those arrested were 15 men and five women aged above 40, and a boy aged 10.
“We hope to release them under police bail by today,” he said.
Also confiscated were 55 posters, ten flags and 200 leaflets.
“We will also return their cars when we release them,” he said.
There are reports, meanwhile, that arrests have also been made in Kedah, Negeri Sembilan and Johor.
This includes 32 HRP activists who were arrested in Seremban and brought to the district police station there. Negeri Sembilan HRP chief S Sivakumar was among those taken in by the police.
HRP had yesterday expressed its fears of a crackdown after Perak police warned them not to proceed with the convoy.
Religious leaders could help head off interfaith tensions before they exploded, said Azman. — file pic
PUTRAJAYA, Feb 13 — Tomorrow, Malaysia will for the first time celebrate World Interfaith Harmony Week as put forward by the United Nations (UN) with various programmes prepared, including a meet-and-greet session with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and religious leaders here.
National Unity and Integration Department director-general Datuk Azman Amin Hassan said the prime minister’s participation demonstrated his commitment towards resolving religious issues in the country and preserving the wellbeing of Malaysia’s multi-racial community.
“The Committee for the Promotion of Inter-religious Understanding and Harmony has also agreed on this celebration, which it says signifies the government’s concern on religious matters.
“This is also in line with Najib’s expressed hopes at the UN, in which he said he did not want any extremist or militant groups to threaten unity and security in Malaysia,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama on the programme here.
World Interfaith Harmony Week, was mooted by the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, and his personal envoy and special advisor, Prince Ghazi Muhammad that was presented at the 65th UN General Assembly in New York last year.
It was then accepted and has been slated to be an annual celebration in the first week of February in all member countries.
The celebration also hopes to increase multi-racial co-operation and harmony worldwide following misunderstanding on Islam and terrorism after the September 11 incident at the World Trade Centre (WTC), New York, in 2001.
The Interfaith Week was mooted to address the linking of Islam to terrorism following 9/11. — Reuters pic
Commenting on the highlights of World Interfaith Harmony Week celebrations tomorrow, Azman said the prime minister will address religious leaders and followers to preserve harmony among Malaysia’s varied cultures and religions.
He is also scheduled to present letters of appointment to members of the Committee for the Promotion of Inter-religious Understanding and Harmony, he added.
Although the UN proposed for celebrations to be carried out in the first week of February, Azman said Malaysia had already started various programmes since early this year which would be held until end of this month.
Among the activities include “Muzakarah” (discussion) with Muftis from each state and prominent Muslim figures organised by the Islamic Development Institute, as well as dissemination of religious harmony and “muhhibah” (goodwill) messages at prayer houses with help from the Islamic Development Department and other religious organisations.
“We also took the opportunity to spread word about World Interfaith Harmony Week at several Chinese New Year events and invited all religious leaders to attend, emphasising that there needs to be increased co-operation among all followers in the country,” he said.
He added that religious leaders could help pacify conflicts and tension faced by any race or religion before they escalated into something more serious.
Citing the conflict among Muslims and Christians in Nigeria which took hundreds of innocent lives, he said the problem was resolved only after two prominent religious personalities — Imam Dr Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa and Pastor Dr James Movel Wuye — championed reconciliation.
“Both of them came to Malaysia last year with representatives from several other countries to tell their experiences which ended in friendship and joint campaigns to create interfaith understanding through peace, not war,” he said.
Commenting on unity in Malaysia, Azman said the situation was good with solutions found for most of the issues raised.
Other countries celebrating World Interfaith Harmony Week include Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Philippines, United States of America and Germany. — Bernama
(Malaysiakini) Representatives of more than 140 Indian NGOs assembled at a special closed door session in Kuala Lumpur yesterday afternoon decided unanimously that the controversial Malay literature textbook 'Interlok' must be withdrawn.
"It has failed to meet the first five of the six criteria set by Jabatan Sastera. It is the unanimous decision of the meeting that 'Interlok' novel must be withdrawn", the chair of the session Haji Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim (left) told the press conference at the end of the session.
In addition to the representatives of the 140 Indian NGOs, who, according to Thasleem, the chair of National Interlok Action Team (Niat), "represents some three-quarter million Indians."
Leaders of all the political parties had also been invited, with Deputy Minister M Saravanan turning up for a while. Senator S Ramakrishnan and M Kula Segaran were at the meeting till the end.
Thasleem said that this novel is not suitable for 17-year-old students and that he was concerned about the long-term effects it would have on Malaysian society.
He said that this issue is not just a matter concerning only the Indians. "It is a national issue.
"It must be out of SPM syllabus. No addition, deletion or anything else. That is our unanimous decision.
"Any book that seeks to insult any race, Niat will be there to protest. We also want to make it absolutely clear that we have nothing against the writer as an individual," Thasleem added.
The six criteria
Hindu Sangam deputy president Bala Tharmalingam said of the six criteria of selection stated by Hamdan Yahya, director of Jabatan Sastera, for the selection of a textbook, only one is met on the Ching Huat chapter and Maniam chapter. But for the Seman chapter all the six criteria are met.
He then cited the criteria:
1. Literature that reflects positive culture of a race.
2. It should withstand the test of time.
3. It can be used as examples for future generations.
4. Literature that is used widely as research and reference material continuously by societies, scholars and students.
5. Literature that has a high quality of literary values of its time.
6. Literature whose author has achieved national laureate status.
In addition to these six criteria, there is another strict guide line laid down by the Education Ministry's Biro Buku Teks. "Any book that contains negative elements and negative characters should not be selected as a textbook."
Bala pointed out and asked, "How come this book was selected in violations of all these conditions and without prior consultation with specialists from the respective community,"?
The memorandum setting out its case for the withdrawal of 'Interlok' as a textbook will be submitted to the minister of education and the prime minister by Wednesday.
Thasleem said that they expect to get a reply within a week.
'MIC should do its job properly'
Shoud Niat fail to get the positive reply that it expects from the education minister, further measures will be instituted. Meetings and consultations with all the national leaders, Indian leaders, briefing of Indian and international media are some of the measures under consideration, Bala said.
"We are not alone in this issue. I have spoken to many Malay and Chinese friends who appreciated our concern. We also appeal to the leaders of our Chinese community to speak up. I know how they feel about it," Thasleem said.
To a question as to what MIC, as a member of the government, should do in this matter - quit the government?
Thasleem replied, "MIC should do its job properly."
To another question whether Niat would support and participate in the demonstration that Human Rights Party had proposed to hold on Feb 27, "HRP is different and has a different approach. We sympathise with their cause, but our objectives are different", Thasleem said.
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egyptians on Saturday cleared burned cars, garbage and debris that accumulated over 18 days at Tahrir Square, a sign that Cairo and the rest of the country were beginning to get back to work while wondering what government comes next after the revolution.
A day after President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, employees and businesses readied themselves for Sunday, the traditional start of the work week. The country's stock market is expected to reopen Wednesday.
Volunteers repainted black and white striped street curbs around a monument by the Egyptian Museum, which had been on the front line in street battles between Mubarak's foes and supporters.
In the immediate future, the military -- largely respected by Egyptians -- will have to grapple with guiding the country of more than 80 million people through the transition amid massive problems of unemployment and considerable economic underdevelopment, said CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman, who is based in Cairo.
Former Egyptian Trade Minister Rachid Mohammed Rachid recently told CNN that the new government must show it is business-friendly.
The African nation virtually shut down during the unrest, losing vital tourism dollars as well.
CNN's Nic Robertson reported Saturday that citizens who make their living off foreign tourists are angry.
"Young boys 17 years old and 18 years old, they want to say 'We are hungry, we want to eat, we want to work,' " said businessman Ayman el Myonir.
Businessmen near the famed Pyramids say about 50,000 people are employed in the tourism industry, Robertson reported.
"We try to help each other. We would like to put our hands together, and to help each other," said el Myonir.
As thousands reveled in their improbable revolution, the nation's newly appointed military caretakers laid out priorities Saturday geared at establishing stability, though they revealed little to elucidate the future.
The Armed Forces Supreme Council said it was committed to a democratic process resulting in civilian rule, but urged respect for the reviled police forces that had brutally clashed with protesters in the early days of the uprising.
"The armed forces council calls on the people to cooperate with the policemen," Lt. Gen. Sami Anan said on state television. "We ask our policemen to adhere to their slogan: Police is at the people's service."
It was unclear whether the statement signaled a return of the police security apparatus, noticeably absent from the streets after the violent clashes and the deployment of the army.
CNN's Arwa Damon visited a coffee shop in central Cairo, where patrons said they now feel free to speak honestly about Egypt's political problems.
"I am happy and sad," said Fateh, a customer. "I am sad because this is the president who carried us through wars and tough times."
He said the turning point came when Mubarak supporters rode horses and camels into the Tahrir Square crowd.
The military, meanwhile, announced measures geared toward establishing stability after the abrupt death of a 30-year dictatorship in the Arab world's most populous nation.
Anan, the armed forces chief of staff, said Egypt would still honor international treaties and commitments, a statement perhaps aimed at calming a jittery Israel that has quietly watched dramatic change unfold in its Arab ally.
Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979. The Israelis on Saturday welcomed the Egyptian statement and Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke on the phone with his Egyptian counterpart Hussein Tantawi, who heads the supreme council, the Israeli Defense Ministry said.
"The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is confident in Egypt's potential, institutions and people to successfully go through these difficult times," Anan said.
But as thousands of people still celebrated on the streets, the army's first statement since Mubarak's departure did little to spell out how long Egypt would remain under military rule.
"They want to see structural change," Parag Khanna of the Global Governance Initiative told CNN Saturday. "They want to see a change in the Constitution. They want to see democracy. That speech did not tell them any of those things."
Thousands of Egyptians were in a still electric Tahrir Square Saturday, vowing to stay there until, as one protester put it, "Egypt is ruled by a civil government, not a military one."
A marble memorial was going up to remember those who died in the 18-day uprising. Human Rights Watch has documented 302 deaths, a number the monitoring group called conservative.
Protester Yehya Kheireldin said an "unspoken plan" had been reached between the military and a group of protest organizers to take down barricades and tents in Tahrir Square, even though some people wanted to hold out longer.
"It's time to start rebuilding the country," Kheireldin said, pointing to the hundreds of volunteers armed with brooms who are sweeping away the debris left by the sit-in.
Tantawi, the head of the military's supreme council, has a controversial reputation among the armed forces and had been derided by midlevel officers as "Mubarak's poodle" for his fawning over the now-ousted president, according to U.S. diplomatic cables sent from the Cairo embassy in 2008 and published by WikiLeaks.
The Constitution allows for only two scenarios for a head of state to relinquish power. The first stipulates that if the president has to step aside temporarily, the vice president steps into the top role. That is what the regime briefly orchestrated Thursday.
If the office of the president is vacated or the president becomes permanently disabled, the Constitution states that the parliamentary speaker is to assume the role until new elections can be held. Those elections, in turn, must occur within 60 days.
In opting for a third way, which put all power in the hands of the military, the Mubarak regime in effect rendered the Constitution inoperable.
Shawee El-Sayed, an independent member of Egypt's parliament and an expert on the country's Constitution, said Mubarak's move to transfer power to the military left Suleiman without an official role.
"The next step the council must (decide) is whether or not to validate the Constitution -- otherwise there will be a constitutional vacuum," he said.
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said if the military wants to protect its self-interests, it has to help in a transition process to civilian rule.
"Otherwise," said Hayden, "they're going to see what's happened in the past 18 days repeated again and very likely not as peacefully."
A high-ranking Egyptian military official said the army's command has been discussing how to deal with Mubarak's government and when the next election would be held.
Saturday, Anan, the supreme council's spokesman, said the current government would remain in place until a new one could be formed. State television reported, citing a judiciary source, that several high-ranking government officials, including the former prime minister and interior minister, were facing lawsuits and were barred from traveling out of the country.
U.S. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, praised the Egyptian military for acting responsibly and said it now needs to help ensure a credible transition as it attempted to better gauge the unfolding situation.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, plans to visit key U.S. allies Israel and Jordan this weekend, a Pentagon official told CNN Saturday. Under Secretary of State Bill Burns was already in Jordan meeting with King Abdullah, the State Department said.
And U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke with Tantawi on Saturday, the sixth phone conversation with the minister since the start of the Egypt uprising, a Defense Department spokesman said. It was the first call since Mubarak stepped down.
Among other things, Egyptian authorities need to set about "protecting the rights of Egypt's citizens, lifting the emergency law, revising the Constitution and other laws to make this change irreversible, and laying out a clear path to elections that are fair and free," Obama said.
But some analysts were sounding the alarm over the takeover by the military, which has suddenly become accountable for the nation. Analysts with Stratfor, a global intelligence company, said Egypt had essentially experienced a coup.
"Egypt is returning to the 1952 model of ruling the state via a council of army officers," the Stratfor statement said. "The question now is to what extent the military elite will share power with its civilian counterparts."
And Amnesty International warned that Mubarak's departure did not necessarily mean an end to the police state. Egypt's emergency laws, said the monitoring group, remain intact.
But even as officials hash out the details of Egypt's murky political future, its people power rippled throughout the region.
In the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, protesters chanted: "Yesterday Tunisia, today Egypt, tomorrow Yemen will open the prison."
Saturday, men wielding knives attacked the anti-government demonstrators, said Human Rights Watch.
And in restive Algeria, anti-government protesters chanted "Change the power." Security forces clashed with the crowds.
Saturday in Algiers and detained roughly 100 protesters, according to the opposition Algerian League for Human Rights.
(Malaysiakini) Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad today conceded that the New Economic Policy has been abused by the Malays for quick gains but argued for the continuation of the controversial programme.
Addressing an audience of aroud 2000 at a symposium on the Malay dilemma, Mahathir said that is it those who had abused the NEP who were partly responsible for the failure to meet the 30 percent bumiputera equity target.
"I am embarrassed. I often defend the the NEP, but I realise that many of the opportunities awarded through the policy have been abused by the Malays.
"If not, we could have already achieved the 30 percent targets, if not more. We often do things that defeat the government's efforts to bring progress to the Malays," he said.
But despite its flaws, Mahathir (right) is adamant that the NEP should remain as revoking the policy would mean that all Malays losing out, including those who may need help.
"The problem is not the policy but the implementation. (It should be that) if they abuse, they don't get anything anymore," he said when clarifying to reporters later.
Dr M: The fault is ours
In his hard-hitting speech, the elder statesman said that Malay have abused the privileges by selling off permits and licenses awarded to them under the ethnic-based affirmative action policy, and thus have only themselves to blame for their current predicament.
"They receive approved permits (for automobile dealerships) and sell it, they are awarded contracts, they sell it. Quick gains don't last. Whose fault is it? It is ours.
Calling for unity, the former Umno president also urged the exclusively Malay audience to stand up for their rights and not be scared of being called racists for doing so.
"They say Malays come from India, Bugis, Sumatra, Turkey etc, so we are also pendatang (migrants) and some of us are afraid to be accused of racism so we keep quiet.
"(But) we fulfill the definition of a Malay, that is to speak the Malay language, practise Malay customs and Islam...It is the same in other countries ,too, where migrants learn the language, culture and some even change religions to be known as the people of that land," he said.
He added that defending Malay rights does not mean taking away from other races "who had worked hard for what they have", but to take what "rightfully belong to (Malays)....in their original land".
"We had willingly changed the name of our country, the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Federated Malay States) to Malaysia, and no one is thankful that we had done so for their interests," he said.
"Our dilemma now is whether to continue this struggle or to accept a Malaysia where Malays have no relevance," he said.
Perkasa lodges police report against HINDRAF Negeri Sembilan on protest against UMNO racism.
A police report was lodge at 4.30pm 11/2/2011 at IPD Seremban. ( See UM 12/2/11 page 24)
Against:-
HINDRAF Forum End UMNO racism & Revoke INTERLOK today 12/2/11 @ 7.15pm at Kuil Sri Subramaniar Balathadayuthapani, Lobak, Seremban.
100 over car convoy “End UMNO racism & Revoke INTERLOK” from Kemayan Curry House at 2.00pm on 13/2/2011
Negeri Sembilan Chairman Mr.S.Sivakumar said despite police report made by Perkasa all program will continue as planned. For more information please contact:- 0196944693, 0166909874, 0176616114
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad placed racial equality as top on his list of priorities to develop the country if he were given a second shot at running the country as prime minister.
Dr Mahathir told songstress Datuk Siti Nurhaliza on the first episode of the latter’s new TV talk show “Siti” on Astro Ria tonight that despite having relinquished his job for over seven years now, he still had “many ideas” on how to improve development in Malaysia.
“I have many ideas that can help to develop the country, especially to achieve racial unity.
“But these plans can only be carried out by those in power... because I am not in power, all I can do is try to influence the present leaders,” he said.
The outspoken octogenarian explained that now that he was no longer in government, his only avenue to affect changes in the country was by speaking with present government leaders and writing in his blog chedet.co.cc.
“My wish if I were to be PM of this country again, which is unlikely, is to ensure that Malaysia achieves its objective to achieve developed nation status,” he said.
Dr Mahathir (picture) said this when responding to a question from a member of the audience who had asked the former prime minister what he would do if he were given the opportunity to run Malaysia again.
The country’s longest serving prime minister was the first guest on Siti’s maiden television programme.
During his 20-minute segment with the popular songstress, Dr Mahathir spoke of his early years growing up as the son of a school principal and strict disciplinarian, his passion for reading, his eating habits and the secret to his youthfulness.
The still-influential leader said that as a child, he had been “surrounded” by books and had naturally picked up the passion for reading, a past time he enjoys until today.
“My parents gave me guidance on how to lead a good life and how to achieve success through education,” he said.
He noted that the many youths today no longer turn to reading as a hobby due to the advent of other distractions like the Internet and social media.
“During my time, there was no TV, just the gramophone and even then, we rarely use it. Now, it is so easy, you only have to press a button and you can see the world.
“That is why we do not seek for knowledge from books these days and perhaps that is why we do not see many youths reading,” he said.
Dr Mahathir added that to encourage the habit, parents needed to convince and force their children to read more until they were able to enjoy reading on their own.
“In my opinion, in the beginning, some force is needed. But after that, once they begin to enjoy books, they will start to become more attracted to books on their own,” he said.
When asked for a message to the youth, Dr Mahathir said the young needed to appreciate the efforts of the nation’s founding fathers to achieve independence for Malaysia.
He noted that more often than not, such “blessings” were taken for granted by those who did not witness the struggle achieve independence.
“The youths who were born after Merdeka, they take Merdeka and freedom as a natural phenomenon that does not need to be worked at or defended.
“Because of that, we do not truly appreciate these blessings that we have received. But if we do not feel indebted in any way, do not appreciate and are not thankful, then we would not be successful human beings,” he said.
Dr Mahathir later laughed when asked of the secret to his youth and revealed that he always believed in moderation when it came to his eating habits.
“And it’s not that we should stop eating when we are full, we should stop once we feel that the food is terribly tasty. That was what my mother taught me,” he said, smiling.
Dr Mahathir, now 85, was Malaysia’s prime minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003 but remains today a significant and influential figure in local politics even after his retirement.
Another by-election is looming with the death of Umno's Kerdau elected representative, Zaharuddin Abu Kassim.
PETALING JAYA: The country will see yet another by-election, the 16th, with the death of Umno’s Kerdau elected representative Zaharuddin Abu Kassim this evening.
Zaharuddin, 63, died of a heart attack at the Hospital Sultan Ahmad Shah here at 7.15pm.
Temerloh’s deputy police chief Supt Zundin Mahmood said the hospital confirmed that the assemblyman had suffered a heart attack.
Zaharuddin was reported to be in critical condition last year when he was admitted at the National Heart Institute (IJN) due to kidney complication as well as a heart ailment and unstable blood pressure.
He, however, recovered sufficiently and got married to Rozlifah Ahmad, 33, late last year.
In the 2008 general election, Zaharuddin defeated the PAS candidate, Hassanuddin Salim, with a 1,615-vote majority.
He polled 4,135 votes while Hassanuddin obtained 2,520.
The country had just witnessed a by-election in Tenang, Johor – a state seat which was retained by Barisan Nasional.
There will be another by-election in Merlimau, Malacca, on March 6 following the death of the Umno incumbent Mohamad Hidhir Abu Hasan.
The Kerdau by-election will be the first in Pahang, the homestate of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has maintained what he said in Tom Plate’s new book “Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad” that he had “actually met all of the opposition members (beforehand) and assured them that they would not be arrested”.
Following my rebuttal that I had never met Mahathir and that he never gave me any assurance that I would not be arrested before the launch of Operation Lalang on Oct. 27, 1987, Mahathir repeated yesterday: “I met Kit Siang and his friends as a group”.
He said he felt some of the political figures did not need to serve detention at that time.
“It was the police who took action against them and I accepted their decision.”
I had challenged Mahathir to name the Opposition leaders he had met and given assurance that they would not be arrested – now reduced to “Kit Siang and his friends as a group” –but subsequently overruled by the police in the Operation Lalang crackdown, but Mahathir has not been able to name anyone of the others.
The simplest rebuttal to Mahathir’s claim would be to pose the question – Whether the Opposition leaders to whom Mahathir had given an assurance that they would not be arrested in an Internal Security Act (ISA) crackdown would have let off Mahathir for two decades if he had broken his solemn word to us before Operation Lalang of no ISA arrests?
We would have ridiculed him as a impotent Prime Minister and Home Minister at the beck-and-call of the Police – which everybody know was not true.
Former Inspector-General of Police Tun Hanif Omar has come out to corroborate Mahathir’s version of Operation Lalang, claiming that “it was entirely the police’s decision”.
If so, can Hanif explain why the UMNO Youth leader at the time, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was not arrested in the Operation Lalang crackdown as it was the Umno and Umno Youth leaders who were chiefly responsible for creating the racial tensions of October 1987?
Or was Najib in the police arrest list but overruled by Mahathir?
I did pose this question to Mahathir after my release together with Guan Eng from Kamunting Detention Centre on April 19, 1989 – the last two Operation Lalang detainees to be set free after 18 months of detention.
Both of us were released without conditions but there were 16 former Operation Lalang detainees who were subject to restrictive conditions relating to freedom of speech and movement depriving them of their civic and political rights.
In my meeting with Mahathir on 6th May 1989, I had asked Mahathir point-blank why Najib had not been detained if Operation Lalang was allegedly to deal with the racial tensions in October 1987, referring in particular to the Umno Youth rally at Jalan Raja Muda Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on 17th October 1987 with banners displaying slogans: “MAY 13 HAS BEGUN” and “SOAK IT (KRIS) WITH CHINESE BLOOD”.
There was no proper answer from Mahathir, only the typical illogical Mahathir retort: “Who asked you to provoke him?”
Mahathir never told me that it was the Police who wanted to make the Operation Lalang arrests and that he had no choice as Home Minister but to go along.
Despite Hanif’s collaboration, nobody would believe that Mahathir was not the mastermind of the Operation Lalang arrests to consolidate his power position in Umno.
It is public knowledge at the time that Hanif was on his way out, and the man who had the full confidence of the Prime Minister was the then Special Branch Director, Tan Sri Rahim Noor, whom everybody expected to take over as IGP after Hanif. May be, an explanation from Rahim Noor might be more appropriate than from Hanif.
Be that as it may, what is intriguing is why Mahathir is trying to rewrite history as to who was responsible for the Operation Lalang arrests – some two decades after the darkest chapter of human rights in Malaysia.
This is not the first time that Mahahtir had passed the buck of responsibility for Operation Lalang to the police. He did it the first time in August 2006 and I had immediately rebutted him at the time.
KUALA LUMPUR, 12 Feb (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Embassy in Egypt will continue to monitor the situation despite the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, the Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said there were 1,584 Malaysians waiting to be flown home from Jeddah.
The ministry said in a statement Saturday that Malaysians in Egypt are safe, and that the last batch of 574 will be evacuated this Monday.
The ministry also said that Malaysia hoped that the transfer of power to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces would lead to a peaceful transition to a democratic and stable Egypt.
Ousted Tunisian dictator Ben Ali had to put up with serious insult from his wife Leila before they boarded the plane to flee the country.
'Lady Macbeth' Leila - Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
When hubby refused to board the plane, Leila commanded, “Get on imbecile. All my life I’ve had to put up with your screw ups.” “Leave me, I don’t want to go, I want to die here for my country,” pleaded Ben Ali pathetically, sounding a bit like Mubarak.
But Ben Ali’s hated political police chief, Ali Seriati, pushed him up, shouting: “For —-’s sake, get on!” Read more
(Malaysiakini) The Human Rights Party (HRP), which is organising the 'People's March in Solidarity Against Umno's Racism' on Feb 27, claims they have been subjected to intimidation in a move to thwart its efforts.
The demonstration is to protest against Interlok, the controversial novel that Form Five students use as a literature text.
HRP information chief S Jayathas told Malaysiakini when contacted that the police had called their branch in Perak and told its chief to cancel a car convoy planned for tomorrow to rally support before the big march on Feb 27.
The party had previously organised a similar convoy in Penang to publicise their upcoming protest in Kuala Lumpur.
However, the alleged phone call to their office in Perak was made after cops had attempted to “raid” HRP's branch in Johor.
“About half a dozen police officers had enquired from the neighbouring shops on the ground floor on the anti-Interlok and anti-Umno banners hanging outside the headquarters as the office was closed (yesterday),” he said.
The police also allegedly asked about the leaflets that are being circulated in Johor Baru regarding an anti-Interlok forum being organised at the HRP Johor office at 10.30am tomorrow.
Jayathas (left) added that they expect raids at their offices in Bangsar, Lunas, Prai, Buntong and Port Dickson until the march, which is in two weeks time.
“Irrespective of this police harassment, HRP will proceed with its peaceful Interlok march against Umno's racism at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC),” he said.
The issue first surfaced at the end of last year when Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department T Murugiah registered his protest against Interlok after his ministry discussed the novel with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP).
MIC has also called for changes to be made to the novel before it is used as a literature textbook, as it contained a chapter that was offensive to Indians.
Indian NGOs decry the book's description of Indians in Malaysia as being from the lower caste, among other racial stereotypes.
Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had announced on Jan 27 that the novel will remain as the textbook for the literature component of the Bahasa Malaysia subject for Form Five, but with amendments to those parts deemed offensive by the Indian community.
Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces and ending a 30-year grip on the largest Arab nation.
In a stunning reversal of fortunes, Omar Suleiman, the new vice-president, announced in a televised address on Friday evening that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
Suleiman's short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well as by other pro-democracy campaigners who were attending protests across the country for 18 days.
IN VIDEO
Tahrir Square responds to Mubarak's resignation
The top figure in Egypt's new regime is now Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the country's defence minister.
After the announcement, he drove past Mubarak's former palace, where crowds cheered him. He stopped briefly to thank and hail the pro-democracy campaigners before driving in.
In its third statement to the nation since Thursday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it was examining the situation "in order to materialise the aspirations of our great nation".
The statement said that "resolutions and statements regarding the ... actions to be followed" in order to achieve the demands of the people will be handed down later.
In the televised address, the spokesman also extended "greetings and appreciation" to Mubarak for his service to the country, and saluted the "martyrs and those who have fallen" during the protests.
'Dream come true'
The crowd in Tahrir responded to Suleiman's statement by chanting "we have brought down the regime", while many were seen crying, cheering and embracing one another.
Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent opposition leader, hailed the moment as being "a dream come true" while speaking to Al Jazeera.
"I can't tell you how every Egyptian feels today," he said. "We have been able to restore our humanity ... to be free and independent".
ElBaradei reiterated that Egypt now needs to return to stability, and proposed that a transition government be put in place for the next year.
Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage
The government, he said, would include figures from the army, from the opposition and from other circles.
"We need to go on ... our priority is to make sure the country is restored as a socially cohesive, economically vibrant and ... democratic country," he said.
Ayman Nour, another opposition figure and a former presidential candidate, told Al Jazeera that he would consider running for the presidency again if there was consensus on his candidacy.
He called Friday "the greatest day in Egyptian history".
"This nation has been born again. These people have been born again, and this is a new Egypt."
Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab league, said on Friday that he would resign from his post, one that he has headed for about ten years, "within weeks". Some analysts say he may well run for the Egyptian presidency when elections are held.
Following Mubarak's announcement, our correspondent in Tahrir Square, said: "Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation ... today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world."
'Explosion of emotion'
Al Jazeera's correspondents across the country reported scenes of jubilation and celebration on the streets of major cities.
Our online producer in Tahrir Square describes scenes of celebration
"The sense of euphoria is simply indescribable," our correspondent at Mubarak's Heliopolis presidential palace, where at least ten thousand pro-democracy activists had gathered, said.
"I have waited, I have worked all my adult life to see the power of the people come to the fore and show itself. I am speechless," Dina Magdi, a pro-democracy campaigner in Tahrir Square told Al Jazeera.
"The moment is not only about Mubarak stepping down, it is also about people's power to bring about the change that no-one ... thought possible."
In Alexandria, Egypt's second city, our correspondent described an "explosion of emotion". He said that hundreds of thousands were celebrating in the streets.
'Farewell Friday'
Suleiman's announcement came after hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took the streets for the 18th consecutive day, marching on presidential palaces, state television buildings and other government installations.
Earlier on Friday, hordes of pro-democracy activists took to the streets in several cities, including Alexandria [AFP]
Pro-democracy activists had dubbed the day 'Farewell Friday', and had called for "millions" to turn out and demand that Mubarak resign.
Hundreds of thousands were seen to have gathered at Cairo's Tahrir Square, which has been the focal point of protests, chanting slogans against the government.
Similar numbers were also reported in Alexandria, where some protesters marched to a presidential palace there.
Protests were also reported from the cities of Mansoura, Mahalla, Suez, Tanta and Ismailia with thousands in attendance.
Violence was reported in the north Sinai town of el-Arish, where protesters attempted to storm a police station.
At least one person was killed, and 20 wounded in that attack, our correspondent said.
(Malaysiakini) No matter how hard Dr Mahathir Mohamad tries to whitewash his dark record over Operation Lallang, he will surely fail because there will be many more truth-seeking historians on stand-by to put the record straight.
At least one fact stands out: Mahathir now seems ashamed of his role in Ops Lalang. And so he should be after more than two decades of trying to justify the dastardly act.
But can he wriggle out of the responsibility even though former inspector-general of police Hanif Omar has so graciously come forward to claim credit for it?
First of all, what do you expect of a former IGP who was prepared to walk through the revolving door of a top police post upon retirement straight into the board of a corporation that makes its money from gambling in Genting Highlands?
There are two issues here: (i) the ethical problem of top government servants retiring into companies which have a bearing on their previous departments; (ii) the hypocrisy of prohibiting Muslim workers from serving in establishments which serve alcohol but allowing Muslim elite to be in the board of gambling outfits.
The former IGP now claims that the police force he led was responsible for Ops Lalang and not the prime minister, who was then also home minister.
Is this the way our democracy operates? What has happened to the principle of ministerial responsibility? True, these are mere principles you might say, but it also makes our ministers and former prime minister look like idiots.
Tunku's take on Ops Lalang Of course, Mahathir would not want to be remembered as an idiot or a weak prime minister either. The truth is, as the Tunku Abdul Rahman said when Ops Lalang happened: “Overnight Malaysia has become a police state.”
In a police state, there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive. It does not mean that the police have taken over the political reins of power. Such a situation is facilitated by the existence of laws that allow detention without trial.
People in a police state experience restrictions on their freedoms of expression, assembly and association, while a secret police force operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state which can tell the executive who the “enemies of the state” are.
In 1987 when Ops Lalang was unleashed, our elderly 'Bapa Malaysia' could see that the country had become a police state even though the donkeys in the BN could not. He could also see the underlying reasons for Mahathir's actions and put it bluntly:
“Umno was facing a break-up. The prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad's hold on the party appeared critical when election rigging was alleged to have given him a very narrow victory against Tunku Razaleigh (Hamzah).
“The case alleging irregularities brought by Umno members was pending in court. If the judgment went against him he would have no choice but to step down. So he had to find a way out of his predicament.
“A national crisis had to be created to bring Umno together as a united force to fight a common enemy - and the imaginary enemy in this case was the Chinese community...
“If there was indeed a real security threat facing the country, why was action not taken much sooner when (the arrested and detained) ... were alleged to have made dangerous racial speeches as far back as 1984?”
The underlying factor, which determined the uncertainty in Malaysian politics ever since 1986, was the power struggle within Umno. This relentless power struggle was inevitable considering the size of the spoils of the New Economic Policy at stake.
The irreconcilable differences between Team A led by Mahathir and Team B led by Razaleigh was the destabilising factor which dominated the ruling BN coalition. This, in turn, set in train other destructive forces within the coalition's member parties.
Orchestrated communalism
And as communalism is the stock-in-trade of the BN communal partners in any precarious situation, race politics becomes the order of the day.
Not surprisingly, the factions in Umno began to beat their breasts about Malay dominance which had been aired by Abdullah Ahmad in 1986 while the MCA played out its own orchestrated role as the champion of the Chinese.
It was in this communalist climate that the usual “sensitive issues” were bandied around; raising such issues as non-qualified senior assistants being sent to Chinese-medium schools. If one studies the daily papers in the period before Oct 27, 1987 - the day of the crackdown - the characteristic racial exchanges between Umno and MCA can be clearly discerned.
What is characteristic of Malaysian politics is that when the dominant party Umno has internal problems, these problems are quickly externalised. Controversies then seem to break out over various government directives.
This included one regarding the recitation of a pledge in Malacca schools in May 1987, which the non-Malays regarded as having Islamic connotations and unacceptable to their beliefs.
In July, the 'electives' issue erupted over the Universiti Malaya's decision to scrap elective courses taught in English, Chinese and Tamil in the respective language departments. Meanwhile, within the Islamic quarter, there emerged a hue and cry over the Christianisation of Malays by Christian evangelists.
Then in October, the Education Ministry decided to appoint (linguistically) non-qualified senior officials in Chinese-medium primary schools. This met with outrage by the Chinese community who did not want the character and standards in these schools to be altered irreparably.
Mass meetings were held in various parts of the country calling upon the parties to resolve the issue. It must be noted that these meetings were orderly and there have been no complaints from the police who actually sanctioned the meetings.
In mid-October, Umno Youth staged a rally at an open-air stadium in Kuala Lumpur. At this rally, several leading Umno politicians including a cabinet minister who is now prime minister made racially provocative statements. Banners bearing flagrantly racist and seditious slogans such as “Bathe this (kris) in Chinese blood” and the like were blatantly displayed (See the government's White Paper).
These leading Umno politicians somehow escaped the ISA dragnet. Perhaps the gracious former IGP would care to explain why?
Games the police play
Were the police powerless in that situation? As I told my Special Branch interrogation officers during the Ops Lalang crackdown, the limits to the freedom of expression must surely lie not only where it trespasses upon racial sensitivities but also where the police feel confident of keeping law and order.
In this particular incident, the flaunting of racist and seditious banners and speeches clearly showed that the police had no control unless of course, they condoned it. And if they could not manage a few thousand people, how could they even contemplate allowing the proposed Umno anniversary rally of some 500,000 to take place?
By not disallowing the massive rally plans outright, the racial tension was left to build up and this provided the perfect justification for another ISA swoop on all Mahathir's dissidents.
Mahathir craftily counted on the ignorance of Tom Plate, the author of 'Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad', who did not follow through his probing by asking how the then home minister signed the two-year detention orders for detainees such as me after the 60-day solitary confinement.
He wouldn't have been able to wriggle out of that one nor will the former IGP be able to play the gracious government servant.
KUA KIA SOONG was arrested under Ops Lalang and spent 445 days behind bars. He is director of human rights group Suaram.
Rumours are making the rounds that the chief minister may slap a persona non grata order on opposition leaders.
KOTA KINABALU: Embattled Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud may soon slap a “persona non grata” order on Jeffrey Kitingan and Anwar Ibrahim, two influential opposition leaders.
Insiders in the know have tipped off FMT that Taib’s circle is mulling the drastic action to stop the two from bolstering the state opposition PKR and SNAP ahead of the impending state election.
An insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Taib’s political aides recently suggested state use its powerful immigration powers to deny entry to few peninsular opposition leaders, notably Anwar, and Jeffrey from Sabah.
Apparently this is to stem the tide of critical views, especially from the Dayaks who are questioning Taib and his 30-year regime.
Taib, however, sidestepped the idea for the time being, convinced that such action might not necessarily weaken the opposition groups but could instead embolden more people to go up openly against him.
Recently a political secretary to Taib issued a warning to Sarawakians not to fall into the trap of Jeffrey.
Observers said his statement underlines the worries of Taib’s men on the expanding clout of the leader of United Borneo Front (UBF) among the Dayaks.
Possible threat
Asked on the possibility of such an order, academician Dr Dusit Jaul, who is also Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association president, said: “It is a real possibility… if Jeffrey and Anwar are deemed a threat to the state.”
Sarawak Dayak National Union president, Mengga Mikui, also agreed with Dusit that Taib might slap a ban on the two opposition leaders, especially in the run-up to the crucial state election.
The Sarawak government has been banning outside politicians and social activists for years from entering the state.
Among the recent victims were DAP leader Lim Kit Siang, Subang MP R Sivarasa, Padang Serai MP Gobalakrishnan and Sabah Suhakam commissioner, Jannie Lasimbang.
Sarawak and Sabah derive their powerful immigration power from the Part VII (Section 61-66) under Special Provision for East Malaysia of the Malaysian Immigration Act 1959/1963. This gives the states unfettered power to decide who can and cannot enter the states.
The Act also empowers the two states to ban locals from leaving the states by impounding their passport. In Sarawak, there are anti-logging activists who had been slapped with this order.
Sabah, however, has seldom used this power for more than two decades.
Is Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman blind that he can't see the abject poverty in his own backyard in Sandakan?
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman stands accused of misleading the people when he declared that hard-core poverty was eradicated in Sabah.
Common Interest Group Malaysia (CigMa) deputy president, Daniel John Jambun, said that it was a gross deception as anyone could still easily pinpoint hard-core poor families in any district in Sabah.
“Be they in the interior, on islands, or even within the vicinity of urban areas like Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and even at Musa’s own backyard in Sandakan, they are easy to spot,” Daniel said.
After setting the Dec 31, 2010 target to wipe out poverty in the state, Musa a few days ago declared that his government had successfully fulfilled its pledge to the consternation of the people.
This was same assurance he gave earlier last year when he surprised all by declaring that Tawau is the first town in Malaysia to rid itself of hard-core poor households.
One Sabah Umno leader in an off-the-cuff comment at the time said it was a “hollow and dangerous” declaration as it would mean that the federal government would no longer make special funds available to eradicate poverty in the state.
According to Daniel, poverty-ridden households would never be eradicated unless a different definition of hard-core poor is used.
Economist Dr James Alin of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) defines hard-core poor households as those who do not have good shelter, sufficient food, clothes and who lack access and the ability to pay for their basic necessities like electricity, water, medicines and schooling.
According to him, disabled persons and unemployed single mothers could also fall into this category.
Soaring prices
If this definition is used, then Musa’s claim that there was no more abject poverty would be misleading. This, despite the fact that the government had built wooden houses for some of the hardcore poor families.
“The families would still need money to feed their family and to pay their bills. Musa’s computerised report just does not tally with what we can see on the ground.
“Hundreds of families everywhere – Pensiangan, Nabawan, Banggi, Semporna, Ranau, and Kota Belud and on the many islands – are still living in abject poverty.
“Many live in dilapidated houses, with no water and electricity. Is this what Musa means when he says no more hard-core poor?” Daniel asked.
Daniel also alleged that many children are not going to school or dropping out of school, including college students who gave up their studies to go to work to ease their family’s financial burden.
“There are even BN leaders who complained of unfairness in the distribution of e-kasih aid to poor and hard-core poor families like those in Tenom as reported recently.
“The only thing preventing more poor families falling into the hardcore category right now is the soaring prices of commodities like rubber latex, which has tremendously helped thousand of families in Sabah,” he said.
Naughty trick
But Daniel pointed out the improved condition of living was not the effort of Musa-led Sabah government.
He said that in fact, the Sabah Rubber Industry Board (LIGS) owes rubber tappers hundreds of thousand of ringgit because it failed to pay them on the spot when buying rubber from them.
“Either Musa tell us how his people plan to manage the cash-flow of LIGS, or remove its lackadaisical management if the state is serious about helping alleviate poverty.
“Certainly BN has failed to acknowledge that it did not fulfil its election promise to eradicate abject poverty by 2010.
“The problem is BN refuses to admit its failure and instead is trying to mislead the people and the world.
“Or, could it be just a naughty trick to say there is no hard-core poor families now, only to admit later that yes, they are coming back in droves and we need money for this?” he asked.
Late last year, the World Bank’s 2010 Malaysia Economic Monitor revealed that Sabah remains the poorest state in Malaysia.
World Bank human development director (Southeast Asia and Pacific region), Emmanuel Jimenez, said that a large percentage of poor people remaining in Malaysia are in Sabah, and most of them live in the rural areas.
The opposition latched on the disclosure and demanded to know what the BN government had done to alleviate the problem despite 16 years of rule.
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.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has been given one week to immediately withdraw Interlok, the controversial Form 5 novel.
Thasleem also revealed that negative aspects of the Malay community were totally edited out of the student edition of Interlok.
According to eyewitnesses, a convoy member in Selangor had her camera confiscated and was hit in the face, while police were “very harsh” towards HRP members in Perak. 
There are similar convoys in Johor, Negri Sembilan and Kedah.
Twenty activists had just arrived from Brickfields when police officers stopped them and took them into custody. They are currently in the Travers police station. 
Also confiscated were 55 posters, ten flags and 200 leaflets.
"It has failed to meet the first five of the six criteria set by Jabatan Sastera. It is the unanimous decision of the meeting that 'Interlok' novel must be withdrawn", the chair of the session Haji Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim (left) told the press conference at the end of the session.
In addition to these six criteria, there is another strict guide line laid down by the Education Ministry's Biro Buku Teks. "Any book that contains negative elements and negative characters should not be selected as a textbook."
But despite its flaws, Mahathir (right) is adamant that the NEP should remain as revoking the policy would mean that all Malays losing out, including those who may need help.
The police also allegedly asked about the leaflets that are being circulated in Johor Baru regarding an anti-Interlok forum being organised at the HRP Johor office at 10.30am tomorrow. 
