Ending the Lingam charade

NOV 9 - Question: Just what was Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz doing in Parliament today?

Answer:

a) Retrying the V K Lingam video clip case before a different forum.

b) Pretending as if the Royal Commission into the V.K. Lingam video clip did not reach any conclusions on the judge-fixer and his band of brothers.

c) Finally ending the charade about the government’s intention to really get to the bottom of judge-fixing scandal.

d) All of the above.

After going through the Minister in the Prime Minister’s answers in the House, you would have to say that the correct answer is “d”.

a) Retrying the V K Lingam video clip case:

Nazri’s excuse in Parliament for why no action was taken against lawyer Lingam for fixing the appointment of judges sounded more like an impassioned plea before a judge.

“I am here to stress that there is nothing to stop the prime minister from receiving suggestions from any party. Should anyone act to advise the prime minister on the appointment of judges, the act itself cannot be taken as an offence, ‘’he said, referring to the infamous clip of Lingam conspiring to fix the appointment of judges.

The only problem with this defence is that it was raised by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the Royal Commission of Inquiry, and it was dismissed by the panel.

The commission ruled that action ought to be taken against Lingam and others implicated in this scandal, including former Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim. The conversation by Lingam – which implied that judicial appointments could be traded like cattle – at the very least, brought disrepute to the judiciary.

Of course, a prime minister is entitled to obtain advice from his friends and aides but, in this case, the commission noted that former deputy minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan had direct influence in the appointment of judges and concluded that the process of judicial appointment was open to manipulation by the Executive and private citizens.

b) Pretending as if the Royal Commission did not reach any conclusions

A couple of the judges implicated in the eight-minute video clip telephoned Nazri sometime in 2007 and denied any involvement.

Today the minister tried to airbrush Tun Ahmad Fairuz out of the episode, noting: “I am not denying that it was Lingam in the tape. But I am also saying that there are a lot of conmen in this world. Who knows, he might have just acted when he was calling the so-called judges to impress.’’

He goes on to say that “unless it’s clear that the action by Lingam was clearly aimed at conspiring to subvert the judiciary or made to get favours … (but) the findings of the commission found none of it.’’

Nazri must not have been paying attention to the deliberations of the commission and the subsequent scathing report made public. Based on witness testimonies, the commission concluded that Lingam was speaking to Tun Ahmad Fairuz.

Also, there was evidence that those who had conspired to fix the appointment of judges had breached the Sedition Act, noted the commission.

Based on the commission’s findings, the Bar Council instituted disciplinary proceedings against Lingam.

c) Ending the charade about getting to the bottom of the judge-fixing scandal.

Nazri’s answers in Parliament puts a full stop to a charade which began in mid-2007, when the Opposition went public with the V K Lingam video clip.

Once he realised that he could not skirt around the damning evidence of judge-fixing, the then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi agreed to set up a three-man panel to verify the authenticity of the clip. By doing so, he hoped to isolate what had become a major embarrassment for the government.

When it became obvious that nothing less than a royal commission would hush the critics and allow him to take the high ground, he announced the setting up of five-member panel headed by the former Chief Judge of Malaya, Haidar Mohamad Noor.

Once again, the idea was to take the initiative away from the Opposition and convince Malaysians that the government was serious about reforming the judiciary.

But day after day of shocking testimonies at the inquiry and amnesia by some of the main actors in the episode had an effect on many in Umno/Barisan Nasional. They were convinced that Abdullah had erred by allowing this case to go before a royal commission. They believed that, instead of going down the transparent route, the government should have just stayed silent on this clip. In time, they argued, the Malaysian public would have forgotten about the case.

By going down the commission of inquiry route, the clip episode had become a festering sore, a symbol of decaying institutions in Malaysia, they argued. This same constituency did not want the report to be made public and certainly were dead set against dredging up the past. But they pretended to play along.

Nazri ended this two-year-long charade today.

MI
09/11/09

Hishammuddin said case was still under investigation and Now Nazri says VK Lingam broke no law

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz sparked an uproar in Parliament today when he said “judiciary fixer” V.K. Lingam had been let off the hook “because he had broken no law”.

Nazri also suggested that Lingam breached no laws as he might “have just acted to fix the appointment of judges as if he was brokering the appointment of senior judges to impress people”.

“I am not denying that it was Lingam in the tape. But I am also saying that there are a lot of conmen in this world. Who knows he might have just acted when he was calling the so-called judges to impress,” said Nazri in his ministerial winding-up speech on the 2010 Budget debate.

Nazri argued that from the legal perspective Lingam could have merely made a suggestion as to who should be appointed to senior posts in the judiciary.

"I am here to stress that there is nothing to stop the prime minister from receiving suggestions from any parties. Should anyone act to advise the prime minister on the appointment of judges, this act itself cannot be taken as an offence.

"Unless it's clear that the action (by Lingam) was clearly aimed at conspiring to subvert the judiciary or made to get favours... (but) the findings of the commission found none of this," said the minister.

Opposition MPs had during the debate session demanded answers as to why the Attorney-General had decided to take “no further action” towards Lingam despite the findings of a royal commission set up to probe the infamous “correct, correct, correct” video recording that allegedly saw the senior lawyer brokering the appointment of judges.

The royal commission had proposed that action be taken against Lingam and several others purportedly involved in the recording including former Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, a close friend of former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Nazri revealed that investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the figures named also found no conclusive evidence that there was any form of power abuse by any of them.

His remarks invited scathing criticism from the opposition benches.

Shah Alam PAS MP Khalid Samad blasted Nazri's reply as ridiculous, calling it clear proof that the government was half-hearted in its efforts to reform the judiciary.

Khalid's assault, however, was deflected cynically by Nazri who merely called the Shah Alam MP "deaf".

"I told you not to put the receiver close to your ears when you use your mobile phone, you become deaf," he said, claiming Khalid had missed his earlier statement that the government had taken action to reform the judiciary.

"But it will take time before results can be seen," he added.

Bukit Gelugor DAP MP Karpal Singh said what had transpired in the recording was tantamount to sedition as it had brought the country's judiciary into disrepute and Lingam, he suggested, could be charged under the Sedition Act.

The minister, in his reply, said the commission had also suggested the same and that he welcomed the proposal made by Karpal but did not state if the government planned to adopt the proposal.

Nazri's remarks today have added to the confusion surrounding the Lingam controversy.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had said on Oct 29 that the case was still under investigation by MACC.

“The investigation in relation to V.K. Lingam’s video case is still under investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police are no longer handling the case,” he said in a written reply to Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong.

But Nazri had, in a written reply to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng a week before Hishammuddin's statement, said that no action would be taken against Lingam.

He had said Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail had found “no case” against the senior lawyer.

Nazri had explained that he never said that the case was closed and blamed the media for misinterpreting his words.

MI
09/11/09

1Malaysia: Najib's populist initiatives has vague call and ridiculed approach which will lead to self destruction

It may be saying too much to claim that Malaysia’s major political parties are self-destructing. But they are certainly not in the best of health.

The recently-ended National Delegates Congress of Parti Gerakan Rakyat was a lacklustre show where a well-timed, sassy challenge to resign issued to Gerakan president Koh Tsu Khoon by an Umno backbencher, Mr Mohamad Aziz, had to be brushed aside.

The main news from the congress was the proposal — quickly rejected — raised at the Gerakan Youth meeting to discuss the party’s withdrawal from the Barisan Nasional coalition.

This came several weeks after Penang Gerakan and Penang Umno agreed to patch up over insults thrown by the latter at Koh, which included the public tearing of his portrait. That burying of the hatchet is not expected to do Gerakan’s reputation any good.

Gerakan’s problems are a great pity, given how it had started life in 1967 as a strong voice advocating multiracialism, and how it had tried to remain the paradoxical “opposition within the system”.

The new discourse in the air is exactly that of multiracialism, and yet Gerakan finds itself on the wrong side of the fence.

Backbencher Mohamad’s cheek was also aimed at the embattled president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, Ong Tee Keat, who recently lost a vote of confidence but who has refused to resign. The party is now caught up in a leadership crisis that it will not able to resolve for some time yet.

The fourth party in the BN, the Malaysian Indian Congress, is just as badly mired in an inability to renew itself, whether in leadership change or ideological rejuvenation. The appearance of new parties to compete for votes from the Indian community is not helping matters.

This same dilemma is suffered by BN’s Big Brother, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), as well. As Razaleigh Hamzah — nowadays the major internal opposition within that party — has been stating every chance he gets, Umno reforms are not going far enough to remedy the ills it suffers from.

Tellingly, the measures on reform that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has announced thus far avoids changes within the police, the anti-corruption agency or the judiciary.

In fact, he recently extended the employment term of the unpopular Inspector-General of Police, Musa Hassan, by another year. According to analysts, it was disillusionment with these institutions, along with anger over BN arrogance in general, that led voters to move to an unprecedented extent against the coalition.

At the moment, reforming Umno is PM Najib’s easiest chore. This was evident at the party’s recent general meeting, which was the least rowdy in many years. His hold on the party is undeniably strong at the moment, and delegates seemed to be happily obeying signals from above. So, by most accounts, he has achieved 1Umno.

The concept of 1Malaysia — his vague call for national unity — has been endlessly ridiculed, except in the mainstream media.

With rumours now circulating that general elections will be called much earlier than constitutionally required, Najib’s greatest advantage is that two of his three opponents in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition are showing cracks.

Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) remains torn by disagreements about the role of religion in policy making, while Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is suffering internal dissent in its top ranks. The Democratic Action Party is the only major party without serious internal issues.

The problems PAS and PKR are now facing could have been predicted, and probably were, even by those involved. But should they remain unsolved over the coming six months or so, a snap election would put the PR in a jam.

Recent populist initiatives by Najib, such as declaring Malaysia Day a public holiday, suggests that such a turn of events is not impossible.

The decisive factor in the end may be about which coalition has the least disunited members, BN or PR?

For Najib, keeping his allies outwardly unified is one thing, but convincing voters that governance has improved is something else altogether.

PR’s strategy will be to remind voters that not much has changed within BN parties since the last general election, and the reform of key institutions remains a dream.

MI
08/11/09

PAS should form a ' Dream Team' comprising 'Nik Aziz, Nizar, Dr Asri' as the leaders

'A team comprising of Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Nizar Jamaluddin and Dr Asri would be formidable indeed. That is the ideal PAS Dream Team to lead Pakatan into the next general elections.'

There is something very wrong in the last PAS party election as the results do not jive with the ground sentiment, which are pro-Edrogan. Hadi and his so-called "problematic leaders" are clearly aware of the direction PAS should take and yet keep harping on the idea of "unity government".

Many people see these problematic leaders as moles planted by Umno, and the image is still there till now. They have to work hard to convince they are not Umno's moles in order to survive next general election.

The wisdom of Nik Aziz by suggesting EGM to rid of this problem is in fact, drawing a line in the sand between PAS and Hadi's group, and this bodes well for Pakatan Rakyat.

Individuals who knows about religion will not bring up race issue and it seems you have not learn after your fiasco in Terengganu. Wake up man, and be a Malaysian rather than a Malay.

PAS has much to contribute towards making Pakatan a much stronger coalition. Its commitment and discipline are excellent examples for the other parties in Pakatan to emulate. But PAS must play as part of the team.

It must focus on the values it shares with DAP and PKR and not make statements that are seen to violate non-Muslims' way of life. It is on the platform of these shared values that there was such a big swing in votes in Pakatan's favour in the March 2008 GE. Many non-muslims were voting for PAS candidates for the first time.

PAS, remember, as long as you do not make statements that infringe on the way of life of non-muslims, you will have their votes. It is not unreasonable to speculate that PAS lost in Bagan Pinang so miserably because of the sale of beer issues and the Beyonce concert issue in Selangor.

The professionals or the Erdogans and Tok Guru should lead the team because they have more wisdom in leading Pakatan. They also understand that in order to gain respect, you need to respect others. The other faction is too extreme for comfort.

MK
08/11/09

Agama bukan hak eksklusif ulama — Dr Asri Zainul Abidin

Sehari sebelum ditahan Jais, Dr mengeluarkan kenyataan mengenai memorandum PGSM membantah pelantikan Dr sebagai Yang Dipertua Yadim. Dr didakwa ada agenda tersendiri kerana turut mendakwa Perdana Menteri yang mahu membuat pelantikan itu.

Dr Asri: Kalau ada agenda, ertinya saya juga mengerah berpuluh-puluh polis dan pegawai Jais menangkap saya. Dakwaan itu cuma teori kerana di luar kemampuan saya berbuat demikian. Siapa saya untuk membuat agenda membabitkan pihak keselamatan dan seumpamanya, tetapi saya melihat dari sudut lain, ada hikmah untuk saya dan untuk Malaysia; mengenai kebebasan bersuara, hak untuk bercakap.

BH: Dr ditahan kerana disyaki mengajar agama tanpa tauliah. Perlukah Jais mengeluarkan tauliah, terutama kepada pengajar berkelayakan mengajar agama?

Dr Asri: Tidak perlu kerana pertama, ia sedikit sebanyak menjejaskan hak bersuara, itu asasnya. Kedua, dari segi Islam, Nabi Muhammad mengajar “sampaikan daripada aku walaupun satu ayat.” Ertinya rakyat Selangor tidak boleh mempraktikkan hadis ini kecuali ada tauliah. Kalau dengar kuliah agama, hendak cerita kepada kawan di rumah apa yang diajar ustaz tak boleh kerana kena dapatkan tauliah dulu.

BH: Apakah maksud pengajaran agama?

Dr Asri: Perkataan agama amat umum. Sekarang pengajaran agama ialah kalau kita lihat pensyarah universiti mengajar agama di Selangor dan negeri lain. Cikgu nasihatkan anak murid dalam kelas supaya jaga solat, itu pun pengajaran agama... kena tauliah? Jemaah tabligh yang pergi dari masjid ke masjid, ada minta tauliah? Kadangkala orang jual ubat di tepi jalan pesan baca Bismillah sebelum makan ubat, ada unsur ajaran agama. Apa dimaksudkan dengan pengajaran agama? Itu yang Jais kena takrifkan.

BH: Mengapa pula (perlu tauliah) seseorang yang ada ijazah pertama, sarjana bahkan PhD (doktor falsafah) dalam pengajian Islam sepatutnya sudah layak. Sebahagian besar yang ada PhD ialah pensyarah universiti, mengajar orang yang akan keluar dapat sijil (ijazah), bahkan untuk PhD dan sarjana, tiba-tiba kena dapatkan tauliah, bukan saja untuk mengajar di masjid dan surau tetapi di seluruh Selangor.

BH: Tanpa merujuk kepada Dr, ada pihak membidas sikap ahli agama yang menganggap kebal dan tidak perlu tauliah. Mereka menyifatkan itu takbur?

Dr Asri: Saya tidak kata kerana orang sudah kenal saya, saya tidak perlu tauliah. Saya kata saya dikenali, boleh tengok laman web. Itu maksudnya orang sudah tahu saya, jadi tak payahlah takut ada ajaran lain. Saya bukan manusia yang baru muncul untuk kita selidik, itu maksud saya. Saya kata tak perlu (tauliah untuk orang berkelayakan) kerana saya tak bersetuju dengan dasar ini daripada asasnya lagi. Kalau seseorang tiada latar
belakang agama, mungkin patut (tauliah). Saya katakan ini untuk semua. Pensyarah universiti ada PhD tak payah disuruh ambil tauliah, cukuplah pengiktirafan universiti yang lebih besar. Yang langsung tiada latar belakang agama, boleh disuruh ambil tauliah.

BH: Dr mendakwa ada tangan ghaib di sebalik kes ditahan Jais. Apa maksudnya dan adakah ia juga berkaitan dengan Yadim. Dr juga dapat publisiti percuma?

Dr Asri: Ini (kes tangkapan) bukan perkara kecil kerana cara mereka jalankan operasi membabitkan berpuluh-puluh polis dan pegawai Jais, mungkin mereka nak gari saya kalau tidak dengan perundingan. Saya tidak tahu (puncanya). Sudahlah ditangkap begitu, pergi ke balai polis, siasatan tak buat, esoknya seluruh negara tunggu, tiba-tiba kata belum ada siasatan dan tuduhan. Bayangkan kalau belum ada siasatan dan tuduhan, takkan ada operasi sebesar itu.
Mengenai publisiti percuma, saya tak promosi diri, tak berani cakap lebih, tetapi al-Quran ingatkan kita, kadang-kadang orang rancang tak elok tetapi Allah rancang lain dan Allah sebaik-baik perancang. Kadang-kadang ada orang rancang nak aniaya orang, tetapi berlaku sebaliknya. Saya harap Allah tolong saya.

BH: Adakah Dr rasa ini usaha untuk menyekat fahaman Wahabi yang dikaitkan dengan Dr?

Dr Asri: Saya rasa mungkin mereka cuba kaitkan saya dengan Wahabi. Cuma saya nak
tanya apa itu Wahabi? Saya kata berulang kali dalam pelbagai media, saya bukan manusia ghaib. Penulisan saya dalam akhbar secara mingguan, ada blog, ceramah dalam televisyen dan ada siaran tetap, saya ada laman web YouTube dalam internet. Boleh ambil dan senaraikan (penulisan dan ceramah) yang dianggap menyanggah prinsip ajaran Islam, jangan buat tuduhan.
Wahabi bukan saja dituduh kepada saya, tetapi juga tokoh pembaharuan sebelum ini. Za’aba pernah dituduh, Prof Hamka juga dituduh dan dalam buku Ayahku, Hamka menceritakan hal ini. Dalam Teguran Suci dan Jujur Terhadap Mufti Johor, Hamka ceritakan tuduhan seperti ini dan menjawab kes suka menuduh orang Wahabi kerana berbeza beberapa amalan.

BH: Berbicara mengenai Wahabi, Dr didakwa menggalakkan jangan baca qunut serta talkin?

Dr Asri: Jika tak mahu baca qunut ketika solat Subuh, adakah dia sesat? Bagaimana orang yang bersembahyang di Masjidil Haram, Masjid Nabi. Bagaimana kawan India Muslim kita yang sembahyang di Masjid India, juga tak baca qunut. Melainkan jika (imam) baca qunut, ada orang lain yang mengikut suruh berhenti, menyebut Subhanallah di belakang, tetapi itu tidak ada, itu (baca qunut) satu hak. Jika nak dijadikan perkara besar, lebih baik besarkan isu mereka yang langsung tak sembahyang Subuh.
Jika saya tengok imam baca qunut, saya akan qunut bersama imam. Jika saya bersolat dalam majoriti makmumnya berqunut, saya berqunut. Saya akui ketika di Perlis tidak ada qunut dalam solat Subuh. Apa yang saya buat menunjukkan keluasan sikap. Adakah Jais nak halang rakyat Selangor sembahyang di Masjidil Haram dan Masjid Nabi?

Talkin pun satu hal. Apa masalah talkin? Macam mana orang yang mati di Madinah dan Makkah yang tak ditalkin. Adakah pernah (di negara kita) orang bertalkin, orang lain pergi ketuk kepala dia, pergi tarik dia, tak ada. Ini satu penyakit kronik sesetengah golongan agama yang pantang ada orang berikan pendapat berbeza, kerakusan membolot bidang kuasa. “Saya ustaz, saya tidak boleh dicabar, jangan tanya masalah dalil saya, penghujahan saya, cukuplah tahu saya ustaz, siapa yang banyak bertanya lemahlah imannya”. Begitulah sikapnya, itu tidak betul.

BH: Apakah yang dikatakan itu jadi ikutan kerana ‘fatwa’ dikeluarkan seorang mufti?

Dr Asri: Jika saya tak cakap pun, generasi moden sekarang dengan beberapa klik saja mereka boleh masuk internet, boleh baca beribu fatwa, siapa nak halang? Adakah Jais, jabatan agama atau mufti mahu kerajaan buat tapisan internet supaya jangan dibaca melainkan kandungan yang mendapat restu mereka. Dalam dunia teknologi maklumat ini orang boleh menilai, boleh baca, biarlah. Ada orang tidak pandai dalam bidang guaman tetapi kerana banyak membaca di internet, dia pandai. Macam mana kita tiba-tiba nak kata, “awak bukan mufti, bukan ustaz... awak tidak akan faham agama, kami saja faham”. Agama tidak eksklusif seperti itu.
Di manakah tempat saya larang orang baca qunut di Selangor? Pada pandangan saya, pendapat lebih kuat ialah Subuh tidak (perlu) qunut, tetapi jika anda ikut imam yang baca qunut, hendaklah qunut. Jika imam tidak qunut, jangan qunut kerana hormati imam. Sebab itu orang kita pergi Makkah kena hormat imam (tidak baca qunut). Ini yang saya kata penyakit kronik, membolot “apa saja yang kami buat tak boleh langsung dipertikaikan”.
Apabila mereka (penguat kuasa agama) tahan orang kerana dituduh khalwat padahal suami isteri dan dibawa ke balai polis, bahkan dikurung dalam lokap kerana tak bawa surat nikah, esoknya dibawa surat nikah dan ditunjukkan, mereka dibebaskan begitu saja. Tidak pula minta maaf, sebabnya “saya ustaz, saya tak boleh minta maaf, awak kena hormat saya.”

BH: Mengenai PGSM mendakwa Dr memperbesarkan cerita memorandum itu kerana apa yang berlaku cuma kesilapan teknikal?

Dr Asri: Apakah kesilapan teknikal jika letak dalam laman web tuduh saya cerca Imam Nawawi, cerca sembahyang hajat menyebabkan kegelisahan seluruh negara. Saya tak tahu sejauh mana saya sebabkan kegelisahan itu kerana apabila ke seluruh negara, Alhamdulillah! Kalau tidak ribuan, ratusan rakyat sambut saya. Jadi, saya tidak tahu kegelisahan apa? Ini semua tuduhan besar dan bukan petisyen yang disimpan di bawah bantal, ia dihantar kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Kemudian (PGSM) kata ini benda kecil, inikah mentality peguam syarie? Saya tahu bukan semua peguam syarie begitu, ramai juga telefon saya menyatakan bantahan terhadap tindakan kurang bertamadun itu.

BH: Dalam hal membabitkan Dr, adakah kerana pertembungan ulama tradisional dan muda?

Dr Asri: Saya menyatakan supaya golongan muda menghormati ulama, tetapi pada masa sama jangan gugurkan hak anda untuk bertanya, minta penjelasan, ulasan dan penghujahan. Ulama juga perlu ada perasaan kasih sayang kepada orang awam, jangan jadikan agama hak mutlak sehingga mereka tidak boleh dipersoal dan ditanya alasan atas apa yang mereka kata dan buat. Agama berdasarkan al-Quran dan sunnah, bukan berdasarkan apa orang kata.
Kalau ulama Pas kata lain, ulama Umno kata lain, ulama PKR kata lain, kita nak pakai yang mana, ulama Perlis kata lain, Perak kata lain.
Walaupun kadang-kadang mereka kata semua sama tetapi banyak benda juga mereka berbeza pandangan. Bukan semua tradisionalis setuju dengan fatwa Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim (Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri) mengenai kes wanita melacur umpamanya.

BH: Apakah pertembungan ulama muda yang lebih terbuka pemikirannya dengan ulama tradisional boleh memecah-belahkan umat Islam?

Dr Asri: Kena takrifkan apa maksud memecah-belah? Pernahkah orang muda pergi tumbuk ulama, adakah ulama muda kacau orang baca kitab? Tidak ada. Pertembungan dalam politik lebih serius dan ramai ulama tradisional ada dalam politik. Saya tidak nampak ada pertembungan. Ia istilah yang selalu dikeluarkan apabila ada orang berbeza pandangan dengan mereka kerana menganggap mereka di pihak atas. Begitu juga dengan tindakan sebahagian pemimpin kerajaan apabila rakyat berbeza pendapat, dikatakan rakyat menderhaka, sedangkan pandangan mereka sebenarnya minoriti, pandangan rakyat adalah majoriti.

Dalam kes saya, saya rasa mereka tidak boleh berkata pandangan pembaharuan ini mewakili minoriti kerana ia kelihatan kalau tidak majoriti pun, suaranya agak sama kuat. Majoriti senyap belum tentu menyokong ulama tradisional, mereka juga mahu perubahan dan mungkin mereka tak bercakap sebelum ini. Saya rasa ramai wanita sokong apabila saya kata tak boleh tangguhkan kes cerai di mahkamah sehingga bertahun-tahun, ia menzalimi mereka. Kakitangan pejabat agama kena hormat apabila pergi sana (mahkamah), tak boleh berkasar walaupun (wanita dalam kes cerai) tak pakai tudung, hormati dia, hormati hak dia menuntut keadilan, jangan lihat pemakaiannya.

Berita Harian
08/11/09

PAS wants to replace Umno, not unite with them.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — It used to be easy to differentiate between PAS and Umno but the Islamist party seminar yesterday showed its members are now concerned over a blurring of lines and its future direction in the Pakatan Rakyat.

Some 1,000 PAS delegates at the special seminar to strengthen the party and affirm its place in the Pakatan Rakyat concluded that the party must stick to its Islamic line even at the expense of the federal opposition pact.

But they were uninamously adamant to also keep clear of political rivals Umno. “We want PAS to replace Umno, not unite with them,” party vice-president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said succinctly.

That was the last nail in the coffin of unity talks with Umno, which has persistently used that point to drive a wedge among PAS leaders.

Party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had once talked up the idea but yesterday conceded PAS’s future lies with Pakatan Rakyat due to the political reality of wooing both Muslim and non-Muslim voters.

He also showed that he could take and dish out criticisms, referring to UIA law professor Dr Abdul Aziz Bari who had castigated the party leadership from straying from its principles to hold unity talks with Umno.

Although a handful were hurt by Abdul Aziz’s criticism of the leadership, most took it in their stride unlike the stage-managed support shown in Umno conventions.

An unrepentant Abdul Aziz stirred up the seminar when he wondered why some still wanted to flirt with Umno despite overwhelming support for PAS to remain in Pakatan Rakyat and strike its own path to power.

But the delegates remained wary of Pakatan Rakyat despite spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat’s endorsement for the pact, saying they were suspicious what role Islam can play with allies DAP and PKR.

They wanted the party to stick to its Islamic line, which has been blurred by Umno’s active Islamic campaigns that have included enacting laws such as caning for alcohol consumption and even the latest clerical row between the Selangor Islamic authorities using a Barisan Nasional-era rule to stop popular ex-Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin from preaching.

PAS has been actively courting the maverick cleric to join them, with Umno just as enthusiastic that the man popular with the young and non-Muslims can help swing votes their way.

For PAS, getting the young is now a priority for the next general elections and they were gratified to learn Nik Aziz was more popular among the youths in Election 2008 than president Abdul Hadi, the fiery cleric who has now grown into a placid politician hankering for Malay unity in the mold of political rival, former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

However, to their consternation, the delegates also learnt only three other PAS leaders had any brand-name recognition, ousted Perak mentri besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin, the popular Mohamed Sabu and Kedah mentri besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak.

They blamed it on poor coverage and support by the media, including their own Harakah newspaper, and noted the role of new media to shape perceptions about their leaders and the party.

But they know its a rocky road ahead to the next general elections and their work has just begun, especially in clarifying the PAS brand with their rule over two states, Kelantan and Kedah.

UM professor Dr Abu Hassan Hasbullah made that point clear for them, saying that the trend to support the opposition could change in the next general elections.

“The days of ABU, Anything But Umno, is over,” he said bluntly.

And that is something PAS and its allies DAP and PKR will have to think deeply going into their second year running four states.

MI
08/11/09

Malaysian court is not concerned with justice and their judgments are farcical

Is justice all about technicalities? – P. Ramakrishnan

It appears that the Opposition can win in court, but only in Round One!

Whether it is the Kampung Buah Pala case, or Nizar’s case involving the Perak crisis or Anwar’s case with regard to getting the vital evidence for his defence - that seems to be the case.

In all these instances, the High Court had shown a lot of wisdom, had taken the pain to understand the issues concerning these cases and had delivered well-reasoned judgments that were impressive and well received by the people at large.

But when it comes to Round Two, it is zero! Disappointingly, at this level justice doesn’t seem to be the primary concern of the judges. All they appear to be interested in is finding loop-holes in the law or they resort to technicalities to dismiss the cases.

The perception of the public is that court verdicts are predictable, based on the panel of judges empanelled to hear cases.

This is a tragic situation because it gives the impression that judgments are farcical and on the whole totally unacceptable. When people lose their faith in the judiciary, then the courts no longer stand a as a bastion for justice.

In the case of Kampung Buah Pala there were triable issues that were very apparent to the High Court but this was not a compelling factor in Round 2 or 3. They lost out simply because the judges failed to address their plea based on the principles of justice.

In Nizar’s case, the constitutional provision, which supported his position and was recognised by the High Court as a matter grounded in justice and in the rule of law, was completely overlooked in Round 2.

In Anwar’s case, the High Court in respecting natural justice and recognising the amendment to Section 51A, ordered the prosecution “to allow Anwar’s lawyers to inspect CCTV recordings of the alleged crime scene, along with witness statement of the alleged victim, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan and that of other witnesses as well as doctors’ notes.”

The High Court also ordered the “medical reports on Mohd Saiful from two hospitals – Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Pusrawi Hospital – and other evidence favourable to the defence to be handed over to Anwar.”

This is a very fair judgment considering the fact that this information sought would eventually be made available to the defence during the trial.

If that is the case, and when the amendment to Section 51A allows this, what is the justification in disallowing this vital information to the defence at this stage?

When a person is charged and his freedom is at stake, he deserves to be given every opportunity to prove his innocence.

However, the Court of Appeal had overlooked this very important principle, giving the impression that the court is not concerned with justice and hardly looks at the substantive issues which deserve their critical attention.

* P. Ramakrishnan is the president of Aliran

MI
07/11/09

Governmental corruption at the highest levels will bled country bone dry

India has just increased it gold reserves by a massive US$6.7 billion thus increasing their already massive gold reserves by 51 percent. China and Russia are likely to follow suit by taking advantage of IMF's gold sale to raise funds to help poorer nations.

Meanwhile, we are here trying to cover up a massive fraud called the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal that could cost the country more then the price India has paid for the gold to beef up its reserves.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers report has recommended that the Port Klang Authority (PKA) to restructure the loan or the total cost of the project could balloon to RM12.453 billion.

Think what could have happened to our ringgit reserves if we had invested that amount buying IMF’s gold. Our government, however, is on the other hand busy with individuals scheming on ways to make money. The rewards to be the head of Umno, MIC, MCA and Gerakan are so plentiful that the leaders will go to all lengths to secure the presidencies.

They just can't let it go. The rewards are so high so they play for high stakes and that is usually done at the expense of selling out their own race and that is the price of racial politics.

If you notice the way the MCA is going now, I am sure you are aware it is not the first time the party has gone a similar road. There was a time when Lee Siok Yew was involved and then there was the Dr Neo Yee Pan era. Then, of course, a famous MCA chief was even jailed by the Singapore government. All of them fought tooth-and-nail to remian in power and why not? They all become millionaires if not billionaires.

One MCA chief once told the public that his son - who was in his mid-twenties had become a millionaire because ‘he worked very hard’. If you did not feel insulted with what he said then I think we Malaysians need to be treated such by our politicians. That son bought a public-listed company and it has gone down under I still own one lot of shares there.

It is time we take stock of what we want from our government or be prepared to go the way the Philippines and Burma have gone. Many of you are so young and you do not understand or have seen the consequences of such governmental schemes, decisions, and projects.

The Philippines was once way ahead of Malaysia nd Singapore but take a look at them now. Burma used to be as rich as Malaysia, look what has happened.

In both cases, governmental corruption at the highest levels bled those countries bone dry. The proud Burmese have to come here to seek manual labour to survive while the Filipino ladies whom we used to envy and hoped to make brides of are now maids. What a contrast, what a pity.

Very soon, if we do not check ourselves, our children will end up with the same fate. Imagine your daughter going to an Arab country to work as a maid. This could soon become a reality and in fact it is already beginning.

There are Malaysians now working for Arab airlines and Arab hospitals. There is Malaysian labour in Arab countries in case you do not know and this is the beginning of our subjugation. Very soon the situation will deteriorate further, very soon. And who do we thank for that?

MK
07/11/09

Malaysian Police must stop all barbaric behaviour

It is becoming loud and clear that the Malaysian police have become extremely unruly and disrespectful to their fellow citizens. It is more like watching the old cowboy movies of yesteryears.

Let us start with the Perak assembly session on Oct 28. I have watched recordings of the police actions at the assembly and I am shocked and sick to know if this is what our Malaysian police have degenerated into. They intimidated our elected representatives with their guns and uniform as if they were out to physically cause harm to our elected representatives.

Firstly, they have no locus standi in the assembly It is strictly beyond their jurisdiction. Why were they there in the first place? Who authorised them entry into the assembly building? Was it one political party against another? I saw one policeman dressed in most probably an officer’s uniform charging in between the state assembly representatives while they were all making their way into the building.

This man was disorderly, abusive and disrespectful to the ‘Yang Berhormat-s’ like as if he had a hidden agenda to show his might to intimidate the YBs. The YBs had to shout and scream at him to move away yet he persisted with his thuggish behavior like a gangster in uniform. He had his revolver and it appeared he had no fears as he thought he could shoot at any one entering the assembly building.

Who gave him orders and instructions to behave in such unruly manner? Why the need to have 200 policemen at the assembly building while depriving the citizens outside of their police protection? Something is seriously wrong. Who has taken responsibility for this irresponsible actions by the Perak police ? Nobody till today.

Not the IGP, nor the home affairs minister not even the prime minister. What would have happened if, in the midst of the police anger and emotional outbursts, one of them had taken one of their revolvers out and killed one of the elected representatives? This could have happened knowing unpredictable human behaviour. There would be another enquiry, another court case and another ‘insufficient evidence verdict’ - or probably death caused in the course of duty to the nation.

We, and that includes our government and our leaders, must begin to take proactive steps to curb the unruly behaviour of our policemen before they go beyond reprieve. If left unchecked, they could one day do the same thing to our parliamentarians. Well, there is nothing to stop them from stopping our prime minister from even entering his own office. They could even confront our Yang Di Pertuan Agong from conducting his official functions and take him away.

Act now before it is too late. Anything can happen in today’s world. If they can do this to one VIP, then they could be capable of doing the same to any VIP including VVIPs in the country. It is turning out to be the land of the cowboys here in Malaysia. What has happened to respect? Has it become non-existent altogether? Frankly, it is becoming frightening.

How am I supposed to show respect to policemen at this rate? I see our residents associations inviting our police officers from our neighbourhood police stations for talks and social gatherings. At this rate, I am going to stay away from any meeting if police officers are invited.

The other incident that I viewed on the internet was how the OCPD of Brickfields trespassed onto a function organised by Pantai Dalam MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and while Batu MP Tian Chua was addressing the guests. This was a dinner function, I understand. He marched in and snatched away the microphone from the hand of Tian and started shouting and screaming to the dismay of the guests. It looked like it was he who was itching to give a speech and cause distress to the guests.

I found this disgusting and disrespectful. Where was his courtesy and self-respect and the respect to the guests of the occasion? Apparently, this man is a very badly brought up child and he had to be absorbed into our Royal Malaysian Police Force whose salaries are being paid by the taxpayers.

By right, the government should have sprung into immediate action. But no. I could only see absolute silence as if they are in acceptance of his unruly behaviour. It is an absolute must and a law that a policeman must be apolitical, non-racial, be humble and respectful of seniors, be morally and spiritually upright, be law-abiding, and of course, be mentally and emotionally sound and balanced.

I would even suggest that all policemen be sent on a regular basis for motivational courses where all the above are indoctrinated. These courses could be conducted by a multi-racial mix of lecturers and not just from one race. They could also bring in some of the top-rated motivational speakers from developed nations.

Police officers should also be sent for regular counseling services by psychologists with a written clearance by the same that he is found mentally and emotionally fit. This should also apply to the rank and file. New laws should be passed by Parliament enacting the above mandatory rules.

MK
07/11/09

1Malaysia: 1 U-turn, 1 more U-turn and yet 1 more U-turn!

The ‘1Malaysia: People first, performance now’ slogan has now made 1 u-turn, 1 more u-turn and yet 1 more u-turn! It looks like we are going through an era of u-turns to please some people or the other. ‘This is the best of times, this is the worst of times...’ wrote Charles Dickens in his opening remarks for his book, ‘A Tale of Two cities’ referring to London and Paris . Will we also see the best of times and suddenly see the worst of times in our blessed nation?

Let us trace events in the recent past to see the u-turns in operation. We shall see the ‘driver’ using reverse gears very often.

‘1 u-turn’: The education policy on the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English which was advocated by the ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad before he left office took a u-turn when the present Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak took over from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Note that the education of children suffered a big blow 30-odd years ago when the medium of instruction was switched from English-medium to BM-medium. Why do I say so? Look at the statistics - thousands of university graduates are churned out every year and they cannot find suitable employment in the private sector.

Why? The short and simple answer is that these graduates talk and write English in BM. They should realise that they play havoc with a language when they use literal translation and when they switch one language to another. The problem is further compounded when they can hardly construct a simple decent sentence. To make it more unintelligible, they can hardly spell the words correctly, since the words are romanised!

Now with this confusion arising, the government has launched a re-training programme, spending millions of taxpayers' ringgit to do so. Why go through so much hassle and spend so much money because some education minister in the past got up on the wrong side of the bed and made a mess of the education system?

If a mistake has been made, it should be rectified at the earliest opportunity. But no. The students were allowed to sink deeper and deeper into the hole; and this also made a big hole in the taxpayers' pocket to boot. So, after a long period of slumber, the ex-PM Mahathir woke up and realised that the mistake made decades ago should make a u-turn. Thus he made English as a medium of instruction for just Mathematics and Science.

In fact, if I am not mistaken, he wanted to make a complete overhaul of the engine and have English medium for all subjects. But owing to vehement protests, he accepted the change only for two subjects, Mathematics and Science. So the car went on its journey for some years.

This year, with a newly-minted PM and an equally newly minted education minister, the driver decided to make another u-turn: reverse gear and back to BM as the medium of instruction in Mathematics and Science.

Of course, to placate the ex-PM , the education minister gave him a briefing but not to get a feedback from him about the change. Compare our education policy with that of Singapore, dubbed the Red Dot. This neighbour has consistently followed the English medium since Day 1 in spite of the separation in 1965. Mind you, she has a huge majority of Chinese and yet it has not taken the Chinese-medium path.

Its leaders are pragmatic and clear-headed and do not mix the future welfare of their children with politics. But here we play politics to the hilt to the detriment of the future of our children. Is this u-turn going to benefit the children? Is it 'people first' or is it 'my position first '? You can bet your last ringgit that our children will be handicapped for generations to come and the taxpayers will be continually taxed heavily to finance the re-retraining programmes of unemployable graduates.

Again look at our universities standing in the world. Only recently our premier university – Universiti Malaya – was ranked under 200, a big jump undoubtedly but still far below par. Please do not mention the other 16 public universities and bring tears to our eyes. They are nowhere in sight.

While 2009 is not over yet; there is still time to make a good u-turn and make the children for generations well-geared to challenge the world in knowledge and technology; and perhaps produce a Nobel prize winner in one of the vital subjects.

1 more u-turn: When Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became PM, he made corruption one of the important issues to tackle, apart from the efficiency of the civil service. He called for a royal commission of inquiry for the police force to make it efficient and to ensure that corruption was minimised. The royal commission diligently went about its and finally it came up with the IPCMC. But the police force objected to the passing of the IPCMC bill.

The PM buckled under pressure and made a u-turn and watered it down. If the bill is good for the whole police force and for the nation as well, why abandon it just because there were some objections? As a leader you do what is right and not bend to the voices of dissent because you want to please them. Do the right thing. Full stop.

If you read the book ‘Lee Kuan Yew: The man and his ideas’ by Han Fook Kwang, Warren Fernandes and Sumiko Tan, you will learn the wisdom and greatness Lee Kuan Yew. He said: ‘I'm very determined. If I decide that something is worth doing, then I'll put my heart and soul to it. The whole ground can be against me, but if I know it is right, I'll do it. That is the business of a leader.’

Malaysia has all the natural resources – rubber and tin earlier, later oil palm and now petroleum – whilst Singapore has none of them. Where has all the money gone to? Corruption and over- runs in projects and auditor-general’s annual reports have revealed discrepancies year after year and after year.

1 more u-turn: It has been agreed that oil royalties are given to the four states – Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu, Kelantan – for oil from their oil fields. When Terengganu fell to PAS, the oil royalty stopped flowing. Instead the smart idea of 'wang ehsan' came up. Simple logic dictates that what is due to each state should be duly given, no questions asked. And no delay please.

The same applies to State allocations. Give to each what is due to each. No delaying tactics. This is a test of integrity.

1 more u-turn: The Registrar of Societies earlier said that the MCA problem was not its business. MCA should tackle the deputy president's position concerning Dr Chua Soi Lek by itself. A few days later, probably through the prompting by Umno leaders, the ROS suddenly made a u-turn and announced that Chua is the rightful deputy president of MCA! Where does the ROS stand in the eyes of the public? Make a firm answer. No u-turn, please.

1 more u-turn; When the demonstrators took a cow's head and protested against the relocation of a Hindu temple in Shah Alam, the police, who are supposedly to be impartial enforcers of the law, stood rooted to the ground. They must have beeen so stunned that they were literally unable to move against the protestors. And the home minister got into the act and visited the people and said it was normal for people to protest in modern times.

The next day, he made the fastest u-turn and announced that the guilty ones should be punished. Simple logic says that all people should respect other people's religions. If we wish to promote harmony we should treat all religions with due respect. No double-standards please.

A great leader must not make too many u-turns: they make the people giddy and groggy and they will not know where they are heading. A rudderless and directionless ship will smash into the rocks. All workers 'cari makan’ and seek fairness and justice; not u-turns to please some and displease others. No hitting below the belt.

MK
07/11/09

Apakah susahnya untuk Mahathir mengakui bahawa dirinya berdarah India ? Apakah Mahathir bimbang dirinya dinafikan komuniti Melayu

Malaysia adalah negara yang mendefinisikan segala-galanya mengikut warna kulit. Sejak tahun 1957, pemimpin UMNO cuba mencipta persepsi "Melayu lemah", seolah-olah "kemiskinan itu mengenal warna kulit", sengaja menimpa pada etnik tertentu.

Selepas tahun 1970-an, media arus perdana yang ditunjangi Utusan Malaysia cuba menyamakan kedudukan Melayu dengan orang kulit hitam di Amerika Syarikat dan orang asli di Australia, tanpa melihat kompleksiti yang wujud dalam realiti masyarakat kita. Tujuannya sekadar untuk mengukuhkan persepsi "kelemahan Melayu boleh menandingi keadaan orang asli" yang salah.

Oleh itu, apabila bukan Melayu mengemukakan tuntutan "perkongsian kuasa secara sama rata", media UMNO akan menyusul dengan persoalan, "Apakah Malaysia tidak adil? Apakah orang putih akan memilih orang kulit hitam sebagai Presiden di Amerika Syarikat?"

Lebih dahsyat, amaran diberikan bahawa seandainya orang Melayu hilang kuasa politik, maka malapetaka akan menimpa negara ini.

Kemenangan Barack Obama

Tetapi, retorik perkauman UMNO telah menerima tamparan apabila Barack Obama (gambar kanan) terpilih sebagai Presiden Amerika Syarikat setahun yang lalu. Oleh kerana mengibaratkan diri sebagai orang kulit hitam di Amerika Syarikat, maka lidah UMNO bersikap optimis terhadap Presiden kulit hitam dari Parti Demokratik ini pada mulanya, melihat kemenangannya sebagai lambang kejayaan kaum minoriti.

Namun, apabila bukan Melayu mula mengajukan soalan "mengapa bukan Melayu tidak boleh menjadi PM Malaysia", maka mereka mula melakukan "corner baring" dalam wacana mereka. Malah, Awang Selamat yang sentiasa prihatin terhadap "agama, bangsa dan negara" menulis, "Kajilah sejarah dan budaya politik Amerika yang sudah merdeka lebih 232 tahun berbanding Malaysia yang baru 50 tahun... Fahamilah juga Perlembagaan kita... Obama adalah seorang Kristian iaitu agama teras AS. Antara faktor beliau 'diterima' ialah ibunya juga, seorang kulit putih warga asal AS."

Pendek kata, jangan samakan diri dengan AS yang realitinya jauh berbeza.

Jangan pula dianggap hanya spin doctor Utusan Malaysia yang berfahaman sempit sebegini. Doktor Melayu, Bakri Musa yang bermastautin di AS untuk bertahun-tahun, melihat dirinya terbuka dan berpandangan global juga tidak setuju dengan tuntutan politik kaum bukan Melayu di negara ini, malah berkata, "Malaysia telah memiliki Obamanya tersendiri sejak awal lagi, iaitu Mahathir!"

Saya nyaris tercekik dengan air kopi dalam mulut ketika membacanya.

Tunggulah 200 tahun

Maksud Bakri Musa berbunyi, unsur toleransi yang terkandung dalam budaya Melayu, membenarkan Mahathir yang berdarah campuran untuk menerajui pucuk pimpinan negara. Hujah ini mengandaikan "Obama di Malaysia perlu meresapkan dirinya dalam budaya dominan, fasih untuk bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu, dan bukannya bahasa nenek-moyangnya, sebagaimana Obama juga gagal bertutur dalam bahasa Swahili."

Nyata, dari media cetak yang konservatif hinggalah penganalisis politik yang "nampak" terbuka, kurang selesa dengan fenomena politik yang terjana oleh Obama, khusunya anjakan paradima yang dilambangi. Selain mengukuhkan retorik "ketuanan Melayu" oleh UMNO, hujah "Mahathir ialah Obama" adalah reaksi kepada pertikaian bukan Melayu terhadap struktur politik perkauman yang sedia ada.

Oleh itu, saya tidak terperanjat dengan hujah sedemikian apabila terbelit pada lidah parti UMNO. Apa yang mengejut, malah membuatkan saya menjadi muak adalah hujah ini diulangi oleh Dominic Lau Hoe Seng (gambar kiri), Setiausaha Agung Pemuda Gerakan dalam satu forum pada minggu lalu. 【Baca: Apa yang BARU dengan UMNO?
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"Demokrasi AS perlu dilihat dari perspektif yang berlainan. Dah 200 tahun lebih mereka lalui, kita hanya 50 tahun... Seandainya anda melihat begini, saya menganggap Malaysia juga memiliki seorang Obama. Lihat kepada Mahathir. Ibunya Melayu, seperti ibu Obama yang merupakan orang putih. Betul tak? Bapanya,... tak usahlah saya sebut..."

"Perspektif yang berlainan" yang dianjurkan oleh Dominic untuk merenungi fenomena Obama, seirama dengan kenyataan "politik wang bukannya rasuah" yang didendang oleh Isa Samad, bekas Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan. Biar hujah Dominic ini diteliti...

Pertama, apakah demokrasi semestinya memerlukan ratusan tahun untuk dikecapi? Pernah Leung Kwok-hung, ahli dewan perundangan Hong Kong berkata, Malaysia tidak memerlukan satu abab untuk berkembang dari kereta lembu ke motokar. Jika kita perlu menunggu untuk segala-galanya, mengapa tidak kekal dalam kereta lembu buat seratus tahun?

Mahathir ialah Obama?

Kecanggihan teknologi yang mengubah cara hidup manusia, bukan sekadar pada "trend" seperti yang dikatakan Dominic. Juga, sistem demokrasi yang sempurna memerlukan check and balance, demi kepentingan masyarakat untuk jangka panjang, lebih penting berbanding kecanggihan teknologi.

Walaupun AS mencapai kemerdekaannya lebih daripada 200 tahun, namun intipati demokrasi itu didalami dan diperluaskan khususnya dalam setengah abab yang lalu. Obama tidak wujud jikalau tidak berlaku gerakan hak sivil yang menjurus kepada kehancuran rasisme. Rasisme sememangnya tidak terhapus sehabis-habisnya, namun berjaya dikekang. Inilah kemajuan yang dicapai AS.

Sebaliknya, di bawah pemerintahan UMNO, apakah intipati demokrasi kita melangkah ke depan atau ke belakang jika dibanding dengan tahun 1960-an? Apakah hubungan antara kaum semakin erat atau renggang?

Biarpun dibandingkan dengan Korea dan Taiwan yang lebih lambat mengorak langkah dalam dunia politik demokrasi, Malaysia tetap malu untuk mendabik dada.

Lebih-lebih lagi, "Mahathir ialah Obama" sekadar bunyi yang dikeluarkan burung nuri. Sama ada Dominic benar mempercayai bahawa Mahathir itu Obama, atau gagal memahami bahawa hujah sedemikian dibelit lidah komponen parti BN untuk menutup mulut orang lain agar tidak terus dengan soalan "apakah bukan Melayu boleh menjadi PM?"

Persoalannya, kemenangan Obama disebabkan warna kulitnya, atau idea politiknya? Apakah Parti Demokratik yang diwakili Obama itu memainkan politik perkauman seperti BN?

Sebaliknya, sekali imbas sejarah Mahathir berkecimpung dalam dunia politik, isu perkauman dan agama sering dimainkan pada saat-saat genting untuk mencapai matlamatnya. Mahathir ialah penganut politik perkauman yang menjejaskan hubungan antara kaum. Bukankah terlalu jahil untuk bandingkan Mahathir dengan Obama?

Yang paling penting, Obama berani untuk mengakui bahawa bapa kandungnya orang kulit hitam dari Kenya, dan ibunya orang putih AS. Mahathir yang jelas berdarah campuran Melayu-India, tetap enggan berdepan dengan latar belakang dirinya, apabila diasak oleh juruacara Al Jazeera, Ritz Khan, mengulangi dirinya sebagai "Melayu menurut Perlembagaan Persekutuan".

Keluar dari politik perkauman

Dari apa yang dikatakan Mahathir, jelas beliau menganggap dirinya "Melayu" kerana intrumentalist considerations. Seandainya perlembagaan tidak memperuntukkan kedudukan istimewa kepada Melayu, dan UMNO tidak memonopoli politik dan sumber ekonomi negara, jangan terperanjat seandainya beliau memilih untuk tidak menjadi Melayu.

Apakah susahnya untuk mengakui bahawa dirinya berdarah India ? Apakah Mahathir bimbang dirinya dinafikan komuniti Melayu, atau beliau memandang rendah kepada kaum India?

Dominic Lau hanya berani untuk menyebut ibu Mahathir (gambar kiri) berketurunan Melayu, tetapi tidak berani menyatakan secara terbuka bahawa bekas PM ini mewarisi darah keturunan India, apakah ini menunjukkan ketakutannya terhadap kuasa Mahathir/UMNO, atau beliau sebenarnya sama seperti Mahathir, memandang rendah terhadap keturunan India?

Sesungguhnya, saya perlu mengaku bahawa diri saya juga terperangkap dengan rasisme kerana membazir masa untuk menyanggah hujah "Mahathir ialah Obama". Mempersoalkan sama ada "sampai bilakah wujudnya seorang PM Malaysia bukan Melayu", juga merupakan manifestasi minda perkauman. Namun, seandainya tidak membongkarkan pembohongan UMNO dan parti rakannya, maka kita gagal memperbetulkan keadaan.

Keduanya, warga Malaysia perlu bertanya sampai bilakah kita memilih pemimpin berdasarkan kebolehan dan kebijaksanaan seseorang, tanpa mengira keturunan etnik, jantina, agama dan kelas? Biarpun masa depan politik Malaysia ditunjangi Melayu sebagai arus perdana, kita harus memikirkan bagaimana untuk check and balance seseorang pemimpin melalui sistem politik yang ada.

Orang seperti Mahathir yang bergelut dalam dendam dan pemikiran perkaumannya, menjadi lambang "masa lalu"; orang seperti Koh Tsu Koon dan Liow Tiong Lai, satu berselindung di bawah sarung Najib ketika dibidas, seorang lagi mengecut walaupun ingin mencabar Presidennya. Orang-orang sebegini bukanlah masa depan kita.

MR
06/11/09

Asri slams Jais for stopping non-Muslims entering mosques

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — Controversial former Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin continued his campaign against his persecutors, the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais), by calling the agency extremists for not allowing non-Muslims to enter mosques in the state.

He had previously said that Jais should do away with "authorisation" letters for preachers as it goes against the freedom of expression, even within Islam.

This time he picked on Jais director Datuk Mohamed Khusrin Munawi who told Utusan Malaysia that non-Muslims cannot enter mosques as "they are like women with menstruation" after an alleged ceramah by Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jeyakumar in a Klang mosque.

Muslim women who are menstruating usually do not go to mosques to pray.

"This is a shallow and narrow view. This is the kind of statement that repels and alienates non-Muslims from Islam. It gives a wrong and false impression of the religion," Asri told The Malaysian Insider today.

He added that even during the time of Prophet Muhammad, non-Muslims were allowed to enter mosques as this would be the best way for them to experience the religion first hand.

"It will give non-Muslims the opportunity to get to know Islam better and Muslims too can engage them in the spirit of constructive dialogue. Isn't this good for Islam?" commented Asri.

The university lecturer also said that he is certain that Jais will not take his views well and in anticipation of that warned them against labelling him a "Wahabbi" or a follower of a purist sect in Islam not recognised by the country's religious elite.

"Don't call me a Wahabbi simply because I have different views. As I said, even at the time of the great Prophet Muhammad, non-Muslims were allowed to enter mosques," he said.

Asri and Jais have been engaging each other in an ongoing war of words. The progressive views of the former Perlis mufti do not gel with the views of the conservatives which make up the majority of the country's religious elite.

He claimed his views and his rise to prominence have been viewed as a threat to their authority, saying the “war” between them culminated in his arrest last Sunday while he was giving a private talk in Ampang. He was freed on bail and is awaiting charges for lecturing without a “tauliah” or permit.

Jais denied that Asri's arrest was politically motivated.

MI
06/11/09

Kuala Dipang bridge was illegal

IPOH, Nov 6 – The collapsed suspension bridge in Kuala Dipang that caused the deaths of three schoolchildren recently had been an illegal structure, Pakatan Rakyat’s ad hoc task force revealed today.

Task force member Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang told a press conference this afternoon that no application had ever been sent to the Kampar district council to seek approval before the bridge was built.

The bridge, he added, was worth about RM40,000 and had been constructed by a private company based in Kuala Lumpur as a contribution to the district education office.

“We have interviewed several people, including the Kampar district officer and the chief assistant district officer, but they revealed that the council was never informed of such a structure,” he said.

Chang said that before such a bridge could be built, an application would first have to be made with the council since the land was within the council’s jurisdiction.

“They will have to submit a ‘Borang A’ to the council and then, the council’s one-stop centre will send out the application to four different government agencies for further approval – the Health Department, Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) and the Department of Environment,” he said.

Only if the structure satisfied all requirements, and all four departments gave the green light, would the council issue an approval.

“Once the structure is completed, a consultant engineer must issue a Certificate of Compliance and Completion,” he said.

In the case of the Kuala Dipang bridge, said Chang, none of the requirements had been met.

“In fact, we are not even sure if the company had employed any consultant engineer at all in the first place.

“Furthermore, according to DID guidelines, a construction like the bridge needs to have special measurements taken for the prevention of soil erosion.

“From our observation after we visited the site on Tuesday, no such measurements were taken. There were no retaining walls to hold up the structure and its base was built too close to the river,” said Chang.

Meanwhile, the task force’s chairman, Tronoh assemblyman V. Sivakumar said that, based on interviews with some of the children who witnessed the tragedy on Oct 27, there had been no teacher-supervisors watching over the children at the time of the incident.

“From what we were told, not more than five teachers were tasked to look out for the children during the time of the incident. The remaining group of teachers were apparently having a briefing session in the school building,” he said.

Apparently, during the time the group of schoolchildren were crossing the bridge, not a single teacher was keeping watch over them, he added.

“Before that, the students were told that they were only allowed to cross the bridge six at a time and before the incident, the teachers were careful to make sure of that.

“But later that night, no one supervised. That was why there were actually 22 students crossing the bridge at the same time,” said Sivakumar.

He added that as children, the group would naturally get playful and begin playing around with the handrails and jumping on the frail structure.

“That was when the bridge collapsed. And from what we were told, only three teachers had helped to rescue the children – two men and one woman. The others were busy in the meeting,” he said.

The incident, which occurred about 10.30pm that night, caused the deaths of N. Dina Deve and M. Devatharshini, both 11, and 12-year-old V. Divyashree.

The three had been participants in the Education Ministry’s 1 Malaysia unity camp which involved a total of 298 students from 60 schools in the Kinta Selatan district.

Furthermore, Sivakumar said that despite the large number of participants, only 30 teachers were employed to look after the children.

“Meaning, one teacher has to look after 10 children. To make matters worse, during that night, most of them chose to go for a briefing.

“Why do they need to have a briefing at the time when they should be taking care of the children?” he said.

Sivakumar added that the parents of the three deceased had also not been aware of where the camp would be taking their children and that there would be physical activities involved.

“As for the two 11-year-olds, they were not even supposed to be a part of the camp because it was actually meant for Standard 6 students.

“They were only told that there were not enough students on the very day itself,” he said.

He added that before their children were allowed to go for the camp, the parents of the students were made to sign disclaimer forms which absolved the authorities of all responsibility should any incident happen.

“But how can this be fair when the location of the camp itself was not safe and the parents are not even made aware of this?” said Sivakumar.

The PR ad hoc task force will set out to interview the district education department and the DID next as well as get a consultant engineer to study the structural defects of the bridge at the site.

They are also pushing for a public inquiry to be held on the incident.

The Education Ministry is also probing the incident and their investigations are estimated to be completed by the end of next week.

MI
06/11/09

Anwar was only entitled to certain documents before trial to prepare his defence.

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 6 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today failed in his bid to get extra evidence from the prosecution before his Sodomy II trial.

The Court of Appeal panel of judges, made up of Datuk Hasan Lah, Datuk Wira Abu Samah Nordin and Datuk Sulaiman Daud, unanimously ruled in favour of the prosecution and struck out Anwar’s cross-appeal.

Hasan, who led the Bench, overruled the prosecution’s argument that the High Court judge in Anwar’s trial had made a mistake in interpreting the law when the latter ordered the prosecution to supply certain evidence to the defence team.

But at the same time, the judges decided that Anwar was only entitled to certain documents before trial to prepare his defence.

The written grounds of judgment will be given out at a later date.

The prosecution team, led by Solicitor General II, Datuk Zainal Abiden, later told reporters that the documents Anwar was entitled to had already been handed over to his defence team.

“The status quo remains,” said one of the deputy public prosecutors.

Anwar’s lawyers however, insist that an amended part of the Criminal Procedure Code, which was passed by Parliament in March 2006, entitles the grandfather to more documents before trial.

Among the laundry list of demands from the defence are: the chemist’ notes on DNA samples taken of Anwar and his accuser; the Pusrawi Hospital medical report where Anwar’s alleged victim had first visited after being supposedly sodomised; and certain closed circuit television (CCTV) footage from the condominium in upmarket Damansara Heights where the act is said to have happened.

“All these we are going to get during trial anyway. So why can’t we get them now?” Anwar’s lawyer, R. Sivarasa, said.

He added that if the defence got hold of the document, it would avoid unnecessary delays in the trial later.

“It’s to prevent trial by ambush,” said another of Anwar’s lawyers, Sankara Nair.

His team of lawyers, led by DAP chairman, Karpal Singh, announced they would file an appeal at the Federal Court on Monday.

The former deputy prime minister who returned to Parliament after winning the Permatang Pauh seat in a by-election last year is charged with performing sex against the order of nature for the second time in his career under strikingly similar circumstances to the one he went through a decade ago.

Anwar, 62, claims the charge is politically-motivated to effectively prevent him from taking over Putrajaya.

He faces a jail term of up to 20 years if found guilty.He has also separately filed several other suits against the prosecution.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court will hear Anwar’s bid to strike out the sodomy charge against him on Nov 23.

It will also decide when to start trial the same day.

MI
06/11/09

ANWAR IBRAHIM INTERVIEW: Malaysia a failed state

Let’s start by talking about the current situation in Malaysia. In a recent interview you described it as being almost a failed state, particularly in the context of its neighbours. What makes you say that and what in your opinion has caused that situation?

The issue of governance and in terms of failing to deal with the issue of endemic corruption, the judiciary is still questionable, so their decisions and independence and the absence of control; the media is so pervasive. For example, in the latest campaign there is a resurgence of the communist party. These are signs, you know, that [Malaysia] is becoming so authoritarian and so repressive. Why is there a need now to have a massive campaign in the government-controlled media – which is entirely, fully controlled by them – to suggest that there is a resurgence of communism?

There has also been a great deal of talk in Australia in particular about this being the Asia-Pacific Century. Do you agree with that? How do you see Malaysia benefiting from any possible shift in global economic and political power?

Well, I don’t have an issue against that, in terms of there’s a need to fortify and even strengthen the economic cooperation within the region. I think we should be all-encompassing in the region. So I think that now there has been eagerness, particularly in the light of the latest financial and economic crisis. But we have to move on first by putting our own house in order. Yes the impact is felt by all countries and the countries have to take measures with these stimulus packages, but the way it is being done is questionable. It must be transparent. And [in Malaysia] we have to look at how it’s being done in Malaysia compared to China. China focussed 40 per cent [of its stimulus] on infrastructure in the earthquake-affected areas; another 30 per cent on rural infrastructure…

I am no great friend of China, but still there are issues that I think we have to look [at] and study. Now compare this to Malaysia. Out of the $70 billion so-called package, the funds allocated for infrastructure per-say is only $15bn. But I charge there are embellishments to push the figure upwards: $10bn for the stockmarket; another $15-20bn for bank guarantees in case there are problems. So you are not talking about a proper stimulus package; we do not know where it is spent or how it is going. Even at a time of crisis, I would use this creative destruction because you can use this to improve and build anew, not to fortify and strengthen the auxiliary and corrupt practices.

So is there a real danger in your eyes of Malaysia slipping behind its neighbours, particularly in light of the current global financial crisis?

In terms of the fundamentals, I must admit that Malaysia is on a much stronger footing, partly because of better infrastructure and the financial services. In light of the last crisis of 1997-98, I think some of the measures have been adopted to strengthen the position of the financial institutions, including the banking sector. That I concede, and I think is something positive that will help us. Similarly there are a lot of reserves, which are quite strong, although, I think, slipping really fast.

Our concern is more with the issue of governance. If you fail to improve the institution of governance, including the casting of an economic policy and preparedness to move so that Malaysia becomes more competitive, then we will certainly lose out. In some sectors we have lost out even to Indonesia and Thailand, to China, of course, and even Vietnam now. So I think that we have to depart from the obsolete economic policies. Now I think some positives measures have been implemented – in the services sector, for example. But liberalising and bringing in foreign investors [counts for nothing when you] fail to deal with the more substantive issues, like the need for affirmative action. Then these policies can never be fully endorsed by the general public.

I am for the market economy and for liberalisation, but we cannot ignore the grinding poverty and we cannot ignore the importance for affirmative action based on need, not on race. And more important still, the need to strengthen the system of government; the judiciary must be independent. The media must be free. How do you then evaluate and assess the success of policies if the statistics are all questionable. The government says ‘Our growth is two per cent, inflation is 2.5 per cent.’ [But those figures are] generally not well accepted. The people still have doubts and questions and are cynical, and this is dangerous in a modern government.

So is a fundamental overhaul needed in Malaysia? Not just a change of political party being in power, but in terms of overhauling the judiciary, overhauling the bureaucracy in order to eliminate an endemic culture of nepotism and corruption and cronyism?

Yes. But what has this result been instead? Racism – the problem of the Chinese and the Hindus. And then there is this new threat, including communism. Some rural sectors remember what it was like to suffer under militant communist activities in the ’50s and ’60s.

Last year you set a number of deadlines for the transfer of power. That was when Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi was there. Now that there is a new, or relatively new, prime minister in Najib Razak, are you still confident that transfer will happen in the next year or two?

We have to hope it will happen. We have won every single by-election [since the general election], despite the fact that we have to struggle without any exposure in the media. In the mainstream media in this country – TV, newspapers – you cannot see any photograph of myself or my wife or my daughter at all. To win under those trying circumstances, with questionable conduct of the election commission and the judiciary is extraordinary. So I’m still optimistic that given the chance, we would prove ourselves.

Quite clearly your opponents aren’t going to give in without a fight. You’re currently facing renewed allegations – similar allegations to the ones that were eventually dismissed after you spent six years in solitary confinement. It must take an enormous personal, physical and emotional stress on you and your family.

Yes, this isn’t an easy thing, particularly when it becomes so vicious and scurrilous a personal attack and dealing with exactly the same players. It is tough, but I am confident enough that it will be a very good fight inside and outside the court. But I’m not too optimistic about the issue of the conduct and independence of the court based on the previous decision and the influence the executive has on the courts.

What is of course is disconcerting to us and other opposition leaders is that the personal attacks on me and others have increased, using all agencies. The media has always been controlled, but the manner is different. We thought things might change with the new prime minister and his pronouncements of change and the separation of powers, but the media has become a sort of propaganda tool for the ruling party.

You’ve clearly got the ruling party and the prime minister rattled at the minute, because as you say, you’re winning by-election after by-election and clearly the general sense in the country is of the desire for change from all the people; from the native Malays, and also the Chinese, Indian elements of the population as well. Which must give you confidence and a degree of strength as you’re going through this?

Yes, it does. But it’s also becoming a joke – all this time and resources being spent to deflect from the central issue of poor governance. It’s strengthening our opposition forces.

If your worst-case scenario eventuates and you’re found guilty and sent to prison, what will that mean for those opposition forces? Will they be able to survive, to progress, without your unifying presence?

I have been told by very reliable sources that close to the ruling clique that one way out for that clique is to send me back to prison. I don’t know whether that involves Najib himself; I just hope that sanity prevails. But the fact that they proceed with charges so frivolous is shocking to say the least. But, of course, they’ve done it before. This is clearly a politically machination by a desperate group, so I have to be very prepared to fight.

But assuming the worst does happen – and I don’t believe it will happen because now I am even better prepared [with medical reports from government doctors] – we have made preparations to ensure the opposition coalition survives.

Diplomat
06/11/09

DBKL’s low cost PPR, PA flats published only in Utusan Malaysia, not in Tamil newspapers, Tamil Radio 6 and TV news

It is a known fact that after 52 years of being excluded from the national mainstream development of Malaysia, the working class Indians in particular suffer a distant worst in terms being squatters, homeless and landless among which are as follows:-

1) To start off with the 44,146 Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) and Perumahan Awam (PA) was also never published and/or advertised in the three Tamil daily newspapers, Tamil Radio 6 and in the RTM and Bernama daily Tamil news bulletins. But it was only covered in Utusan Malaysia on 5/11/2009 at page 27) and the other Malay dailies.

2) The few who had gone to DBKL to apply for these flats are either rejected at even the counter level or given the run around so much so they give up and/or tore up their forms. (Refer Star Metro 5/11/2009 at page M3). We hope that it was never intended by your goodselves for this to be this way.

We hereby call upon your goodselves to:-

1) Extend the deadline for the application of these PPR and PA low cost flats to at least 31/12/2009.

2) Also sell or rent these PPR and PA low cost flats to the poor, homeless, landless and working class Indians on a needs basis as opposed to being race and/or religious based.

3) Aggressively advertise the said 44, 146 units of low cost flats also in the three tamil press, Tamil Radio 6 and on their hourly news on a daily basis and also daily on RTM and Bernama Tamil news bulletins until our proposed extended dateline of 31/12/2009.

4) An Anti Race and Religious Discrimination Commission by an Act of Parliament be set up to give effect to Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which provides for equality before the law (and by extension equal opportunities before the law).

5) In the interim a counter and also a hot line is opened at the Prime Minister’s office for the general public to report and/or complain of racism and religious extremism and with the view to take the appropriate action against all such counter level staff, implementing staff and officers and any civil servant practicing and/or implementing racist and religious extremist policies.

All the above would definitely put into practice your goodselves One Malaysia slogan.

Kindly revert to us accordingly.

Thank you.

Your faithfully,

_______________________

P.Uthayakumar
Secretary General (pro-tem).
HRP

Single Stream School System & Malaysian Government Hypocrisy

Dr Mahathir is not wrong to suggest that a single stream school system can help to promote unity and racial integration.

He said that Malaysia is unique because it had multiple school streams but other countries had only one.

The ex-premier should be reminded too that Malaysia is also unique because it had so many race based political parties but other countries such as US, Canada and Australia would not even tolerate race identification and discrimination.

Dr Mahathir should blame his own policy and his party for discriminating and amplifying racism in the country.

The outcome: Two bright students Daniel Ibau and Marina Undau were denied places in the matriculation programme just because they were not Bumiputera enough. Many more had suffered the same fate.

Dr M should not just preach but he should walk his talk by telling his party leadership to turn multiracial because it will be good for unity and racial integration too.

Otherwise, it is better for him to realise that we are growing really tired of his hypocrisy.

ST
04/11/09

mi1: The fact is, more non malay parents are sending their children to Chinese or Tamil school as they have lost trust in national schools. The teachers performance is very poor and the govt has not initiated any rules or regulations to upbring the national schools. First the govt should impose KPI's on teachers, in order to get rid of "cari makan" teachers.

Gov't will use DNA bill to neutralise Anwar

Nov 6 is Anwar Ibrahim's date in court for the second sodomy case. The government of Najib Razak/Umno/BN intends to swiftly convict and jail Anwar. The plan of the government is as follows:

Clause 24 of the DNA Bill prevents contesting DNA evidence in court, however it does not prevent contesting DNA evidence before a case is tried in court. Because of that, the prosecution is withholding the evidence, including DNA evidence, from Anwar's defence team.

Anwar's defence team will see the DNA evidence only in court, when it's already too late to challenge the evidence. Clause 24 also states the DNA evidence is to be considered conclusive. In the context of a trial, what does ‘conclusive’ mean?

It means the DNA evidence has priority and if there is any other evidence that is contrary to the DNA evidence, the contrary evidence is ignored and the accused is convicted solely on the DNA evidence.

In Anwar’s sodomy trial, it means the medical examination that shows Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan (Anwar’s accuser) was not sodomised will be ignored by the court. Doctors learn psychology in medical school and are trained to observe a patient’s behaviour. Doctors can detect when someone is stressed and upset after being sexually assaulted.

A doctor observing Saiful after the alleged forced sodomy noted that Saiful did not behave as someone who had been sexually assaulted. The court will ignore that observation by the doctor. The trial will be before a judge, not a jury, because the government knows that a jury would never ‘sokong’ such a sham trial.

The role of the police will to be to ensure the entire charade goes smoothly, including by suppressing protests against the government's shameful sham trial of Anwar.

The government pretends to be not worried about Anwar, when actually it is terrified of Anwar. That is why the government and others, such as Ezam Mohd Noor, have of late made many disparaging comments about Anwar.

The government hopes the rakyat will believe those comments and not support Anwar. The government fears convicting Anwar as he has a lot of support amongst the rakyat and the government fears the possibility of a ‘people’s power’ revolt such as the one that ended the Marcos regime.

Now you know what the government's plan is. From it’s inception, the DNA Bill has been intended to eliminate Anwar as a politician. What Najib may not be aware of is the DNA Bill has the potential to be used against Najib.

The DNA of Najib can one day be compared with DNA from the bones of Altantuya and if at all there is a match, it is conclusive, uncontestable evidence that Najib is the father of the baby that was inside Altantuya when she was murdered.

When a woman is pregnant, some cells of her baby travel through her bloodstream and go everywhere in her body. That is a medical fact. Now, Najib, do you still love the DNA Bill so much?

MK
04/11/09

Remove all constitutional doubts – Convene 11-man coram

NOV 4 — The legitimately elected but illegally ousted Perak mentri besar, Datuk Seri Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, had applied for a full quorum of 11 Federal Court judges to hear his appeal tomorrow.

The majority of Malaysians would support this appeal not only in the interest of justice but also because they want to see the return of confidence in the judiciary. They want the judiciary to be rescued from the doldrums and regain its former glory as a beacon of justice for all Malaysians.

The judiciary is in a shambles. Some judges have contributed to that. The Executive is not without blame either. It had appointed and elevated judges who did not measure up to their oath of office to deliver justice without fear or favour. Lingam’s tape has completely tarnished the judiciary — according to some — beyond repair.

The Perak crisis has further damaged its tarnished reputation, as can be seen in the following instances.

On May 11 High Court judge Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim, in a well reasoned decision, declared Nizar as the rightful mentri besar of Perak.

But shockingly, in less than 24 hours the Court of Appeal granted a stay via Justice Ramli Ali, who was just elevated in April – the previous month.

Then in what must be considered as super-speed — 11 days later — on 22 May the appellate court over-turned the sound High Court decision for no apparent reason and incredibly ruled Datuk Seri Zambry Kadir as the legitimate MB.

In this instance, Justice Md Raus Sharif led a three-member Court of Appeal. Justice Md Raus Sharif was subsequently elevated to the Federal Court, which raised many eyebrows.

The way Nizar’s case proceeded had created doubts that are disturbing and damaging to the judiciary.

Malaysians are still wondering why a justice newly-elevated to the Court of Appeal should have heard the stay application by Zambry. No compelling reasons or justifications were disclosed for this bewildering decision. The stay order was simply granted — just like that.

This was followed by the over-turning of the High Court decision acknowledging Nizar as the legitimate MB by a three-member Court of Appeal panel headed by Justice Md Raus Sharif.

There was nothing wrong with this decision even though a written judgment was not made available. But surprisingly, Justice Md Raus Sharif was soon afterwards elevated to the Federal Court and tongues began to wag, insinuating all kinds of things running down the judiciary.

Since Nizar’s case has cast the judiciary in such a poor light, prompting the public to perceive that there was biasness in these cases, it is all the more important that a 11-member Federal Court should hear this case.

There is also the constitutional issue in the Perak crisis that had not been properly addressed and seriously considered thus far. The supreme law deserves to be treated with due respect and given the utmost attention by the apex court and its members.

The issues at stake are crying out for a judicial remedy involving the constitution, the rule of law, the people’s mandate, democracy and justice itself.

The Chief Justice will be doing the judiciary a great duty in the interest of justice and public expectations if he were to appoint a full bench to hear this very important case tomorrow. If he fails to do this, then we can with confidence conclude there is no hope for the judiciary.

In such an eventuality, Malaysians must decide once and for all at the 13th General Elections whether they want this rotten system to continue or vote for a complete change. — Aliran

* P Ramakrishnan is president of Aliran.

MI
04/11/09

Kit Siang calls for Attorney-General’s resignation

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang wants Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail to resign for failing to take action against former Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy for criminal breach of trust.

Lim also called for a royal commission of inquiry to further investigate the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) findings as well as to investigate why the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Attorney-General and other key institutions had failed address the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

The PAC has recommended that former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy and former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka O.C. Phang be investigated for criminal breach of trust in the PKFZ scandal.

It also recommended investigations into the role of other government officials serving in PKA when the project was being developed.

The report also confirmed that RM645.87 million would have been saved if the PKFZ land had been acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1960, for then it would have cost only RM442.13 million and not RM1.088 billion before interest.

Based on the verbatim report of the PAC, the MACC Director of Investigations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull acknowledged that MACC already knew of the three letters of support.

Lim questioned the purpose of PAC recommending that MACC further investigate Chan when the commission had already investigated and cleared the former transport minister from committing a breach of trust in unlawfully issuing the three letters of support.

“The Attorney-General in his submission before the PAC reiterated that as far the Attorney-General's Chambers was concerned the letters of support are implicit guarantees committing the government. The question is not that the facts have been revealed the first time, the facts have been here all along.

"So what is the purpose of PAC making a recommendation to MACC when they have investigated and have made no arrests?” he explained at a press conference in Parliament.

Lim wanted to know why Gani had failed to take any action against Chan when he had appeared before the PAC to reiterate that Chan had unlawfully given an implicit government guarantee in the three letters of support which he had no power to give as transport minister.

He also urged action be taken by the government and requested that the Parliament should have a special debate on the PAC report on the PKFZ scandal.

MI
04/11/09

1Malaysia, Najib is talking through his ass

Najib Razak contradicted himself in his speech last Thursday at the Umno General Assembly. He spoke of the all-embracing 1Malaysia concept on one hand and of the need to retain the New Economic Policy (NEP) on the other. The Native Americans in old cowboy movies might have said that he spoke with a forked tongue.

How can you have the NEP and at the same time say that we are all 1Malaysia? The NEP is exclusive to a particular group of people, and such exclusivity sets them apart. There is no 1Malaysia; there are 2Malaysias.

Does Najib not see that or is his 1Malaysia idea merely PR spin or marketing hype?

This central contradiction is what makes many non-Malays sceptical of what he is touting. The only non-Malays who will buy it are those who are not discerning enough or who are easily bought. I'm almost tempted to include the Bagan Pinang voters in this category but their decision to support so strongly a politician with a corruption record in that recent by-election could be due to other concerns.

Why continue to have an affirmative action programme that is still based on race? Haven't we moved on since March 8, 2008? How much different is Najib's defense of the need for the NEP from that of his cousin Hishammuddin Hussein's pre-March 8 keris-wielding pledge to defend it against adversaries? It's merely less militant, that's all.

Najib slammed the Malays who say they no longer need “crutches” and called them arrogant. He asked, “What about the Malays who still require help? Is it fair if the group who still need crutches are denied help?”

Why hasn't he thought of providing help to people of all races who need “crutches”? Wouldn't that be more in line with 1Malaysia? All he needs to do is look at the Malaysian Economic Agenda proposed by Pakatan Rakyat. Go back to basics – have an affirmative action programme based on need. Isn't that the original intent of the NEP?

It looks like Najib was invoking the NEP at the assembly expressly to play to the Malay gallery, to ensure that his regular customers will remain faithful. Meanwhile, the non-Malay customers can wait. He will find some other occasion in the future to throw them small gifts and lure them to buy his merchandise.

That's the kind of ploy we've been used to through the decades, but hasn't it exceeded its sell-by date? Shouldn't we reject it instead of fall for its trickery? Leaders of race-based parties like Najib must resolve their central dilemma – pander to their own race or be truly multi-racial. They can't have it both ways.

This time around, Najib has chosen to stick with tradition. We must hold leaders accountable for their doublespeak. Similarly, we have to insist that Ong Tee Keat stick to his promise of resigning as MCA president now that a no-confidence vote has been taken against him.

If Umno is not racist...

At the Umno assembly, Najib also said that the Malays are not racist. He is absolutely right; they are not. But what about Umno? He said it is not racist too.

If Umno is not racist, why did it organise forums after March 8 in which Malays were warned that Malay power was being eroded and that Malay land had fallen into non-Malay hands?

If Umno is not racist, why does it maintain an indoctrination agency like the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) which inculcates in young Malay minds the idea of Ketuanan Melayu and wariness of the other races? (For more on the BTN, read Dr Azly Rahman's chapter 'On the Problem of Ketuanan Melayu and the Work of the Biro Tata Negara' in the book Multiethnic Malaysia.)

If Umno is not racist, why does it allow the newspapers it owns, particularly in the Malay language, to run stories and commentaries that could easily be deemed seditious? Don't tell me that it's because Umno believes in the independence of the media and therefore does not intervene. I've been in journalism for more than 30 years and I know that's a lie.

Najib also pointed out that the true meaning of racism lay in the apartheid policy that once held sway in South Africa. Well, he was not quite the pot calling the kettle black because it is true that Malaysia does not practise apartheid like the National Party of South Africa did. But why do non-Malay parents have to work so much harder to send their children for tertiary education? Why do they have to outsource such education overseas?

Why is there a restrictive quota for the intake of non-Malay students into our public universities? Why are there educational institutions that are strictly for Malays? And why was there so much hue and cry against Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim's suggestion for Universiti Teknologi Mara to offer 10 percent of its places to non-Malay students?

Why is only a small percentage of government scholarships granted to non-Malays? Why do some non-Malay students who top their classes not get such scholarships? Do the non-Malays not pay taxes?

Why is the Malaysian Civil Service so understaffed by non-Malays? And of which race are the overwhelming numbers of high officials in the civil service, universities, police force, army and so on?

Is it not just a subtler form of apartheid that Malaysia practices? And is it not a fact that ours is one of only a few countries in the world that institutionalises racial discrimination? So, what is Najib talking about? Whom is he trying to fool? What nonsense is this 1Malaysia?

MK
03/11/09

I'll be a second-class citizen any day...

If you give me a choice between being a second-class citizen and the so-called Malay privileges, I would certainly be proud to be placed under category of ‘second class citizen’.

In a beautiful country like Malaysia , being a second-class citizen is an honour, a class of its own and is normally associated with big luxury cars, owning/controlling all kind of businesses and conglomerates right from retail, wholesale up to the manufacturing activities and import and export.

If you happen to be a second-class citizen, you should be proud of it. Second-class citizens in other countries envy us for what we can possess or achieve in terms of economic power and the wealth of the country where one can own up to almost everything under the sun in Malaysia.

There is no one in Malaysia to compete with you what more the so-called ‘first-class citizens’ who practically have zero economic power. To you second-class citizens, the sky is the limit.

You have got with you economic power and you also have a growing influences on the country’s political power.

One should ponder as to who owns and builds all the high-rise apartments and condominiums in this country for example?

Who owns and operates the manufacturing businesses, the hotels, the shopping complexes, the supermarkets, the distribution of goods and services and so many others?

The list is too long to mention here, you can see for yourself. So ponder all Malaysians before making up your minds on issues without first realising where we are.

03/11/09

Is there 1 Policy under the 1Malaysia concept - Mr Prime Minister?

In April this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib has said that no Malaysian should consider himself a second-class citizen nor feel sidelined or left behind in the nation’s progress.He said under his “1Malaysia” concept, every member of the public who was eligible, in need of help and aid, would be rendered assistance.

Last Sunday Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin reiterated that there is no such thing as a first or second-class citizen in the country and that all citizens have equal rights. He stressed that the government would continue to ensure fairness and equality for all as stated in the Federal Constitution and uphold all the principles of the Rukun Negara.

"No Malaysian should feel neglected as every individual, regardless of race or religion and whether he lives in town or the outskirts, enjoys the same rights and privileges. There is no segregation of race or status here and there is certainly no such thing as a first or second-class citizen," he said at the national-level Deepavali open house at Ladang Siliau near Port Dickson.

Najib and Muhyiddin have uttered very nice words about all citizens being equal in this country. Undoubtedly they will continue to repeat such nice words and assurances on many more occasions.

But the first question that they both should ask themselves is why after Malaysia having achieved our Independence from Britain since 1957, the government leaders still have to make such assurances?

The fact that they still have to make such rhetoric’s simply proves that BN government policies have failed to make all Malaysians feel that they have an equal place under the Malaysian sun.

Surely Najib and Muhyiddin cannot say that they are not aware that many Chinese and Indians do feel that they are like second class citizens in this country because of the discriminatory government policies.

Surely they both know it is such feeling of not being given equal place and opportunities under the Malaysian sun that was a major factor why a political tsunami had taken place in last year's general election, resulting in BN's unprecedented electoral debacle.

Hence, if Najib and Muhyiddin wish to convince all Malaysians they have an equal place under the Malaysia sun, they should not just rely on political rhetoric’s or mere words.

BN government must assure the people with policies and actions. Najib should declare that under his 1 Malaysia concept, there is only 1 Policy where all citizens will be given equal rights, privileges and treatment.

The question is - is there such a 1 Policy under Najib's 1 Malaysia concept?

KS
03/11/09

“WE ARE THE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS, NOT YOU!”

“We are being victimised. We have no freedom! We can’t drink in public for fear of being arrested! Our girls get fined for dressing sexily. We can’t even hold hands as we are liable to be jailed or fined or both for indecent behaviour as well! You guys can drink, romance, and
expose yourself anywhere and get away with it. It’s unfair!” he said.

“So there! Hah!” I chipped in, pulling up my flimsy top and looking accusingly at the others, whose jaws were in various stages of dropping. The other races in Malaysia have always thought (not that many would dare express it openly) they are secondclass citizens, as there are certain government policies that give a little more priority to the Malays.

I still do not have the faintest idea what the privileges of the Malays are, as from personal experience I never had them. I also do not understand what some of my non-Malay friends are raging about, as most of them are better off than me. Do you think I am stupid or what? I am definitely missing out here.

But this is a lovely new angle, coming from the mouth of a prince who feels he is a second class citizen. I love it. We Malaysians must always find something to bitch about (and feel sorry for ourselves), otherwise life is not worth living.

In the last few months, there were a number of raids carried out in various clubs and pubs in Kuala Lumpur, where the Malays were separated from the other races and taken to the police station. They were herded and crammed into police pickups and lugged unceremoniously away. Some Malays escaped, as they didn’t look Malay. Don’t ask me how a typical Malay looks anymore, especially those in the city.

The younger generation of Malaysians look like a mixed breed, what with intermarriages, coloured contact lenses, hair dyes, and make up. And they all dress the same. But the ones who did the raid just knew a Malay from a non-Malay. The purpose of such raids is to protect the Malays (Muslims) from indulging in sinful activities. You see, they don’t want us to go to hell, so they feel we should be punished so we could repent. They fine us for various offences such as consumption of alcohol, indecent behaviour, or indecent dressing, to salvage our souls.

One of the raids recently turned rather nasty when some of the girls were treated badly. The driver of the pickup took great pleasure in swerving the pickup unnecessarily so the girls would topple all over each other.

At the police station, one girl even peed in her pants because the police wouldn’t allow her to go to the loo. Some members of the religious group that did the raid also made nasty, belittling remarks to the girls about various parts of their anatomy.

The Malaysian public and some ministers went wild over the incident. The charges were dropped, but I doubt if the raids will be. Otherwise what would these people do for overtime?
“So you should consider yourself lucky that you are not a Malay,” continued the prince triumphantly. I heard from a reliable source that some of those at the club that night were royalties, but they were allowed to go.

Those who were from well-connected families were also let off. Which leaves only people like me to be arrested - the common Malay. That’s not fair! The prince will get away while I, the pauper, would be locked up. So who is the second-class citizen?

EP

03/11/09

Second-class citizens deprived of opportunities

The effect of ethnocratic administration in Malaysia is the subordination of the interests of other ethnic groups.

The 50-year dominance of Umno as supreme power in Malaysia has seen it pursue policies aimed at empowering the Malays and creating an ethnocracy where Malay interests are prime.

This has, by definition meant that the interests of other ethnic groups in the country have had to be subordinated. This is manifested in an almost infinite variety of forms – politically, economically, culturally, and socially, some of which are detailed in other areas of this paper.

Even at national level, Umno’s dominance has relegated other ruling coalition parties representing minority interests to insignificance, fuelling discontent over ethnic, religious and economic marginalisation. Here we need only examine the recent Hindraf events to see how this subordination is manifested.

The Indian community in Malaysia constitutes perhaps 8 percent of the population and has long been associated with some of the most menial economic positions in the country — plantation workers, labourers and street-sweepers.

The changes in the plantation industry have seen some of these persons forced into urban slums where they are precluded from decent housing, education or opportunity. Their interests are supposedly represented at national level by the Malaysian Indian Congress, a component party of the Barisan, but it is more than apparent that the national MIC has been less than competent in representing the interests of Indians of the lower socioeconomic strata. As powerless squatters, they are often easy prey for those who wish to oppress or exploit them.

The situation came to boiling point in 2007, when the Hindu Rights Action Force, a coalition of 30 Hindu non-governmental organizations committed to the preservation of Hindu community rights and heritage, began to protest about the tearing down of Hindu temples by local government agents.

On 25 November 2007, Hindraf organised a rally to present a petition to the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. In one of the largest protests against ethnocracy seen in the country, more than 10,000 people participated in the protests which were subject to tear gas and water cannons.

According to the Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS), Indians have the lowest life expectancy amongst the major ethnic groups; according to Hindraf, Indians have the highest suicide rate amongst the major ethnic groups; while according to government statistics, Indians make up 40% of convicted criminals.

But this community is excluded from the many advantages available to those the government claims are the marginalized Malays.

Religious Autocracy
Establishing Islam as the ‘official religion’ of the state and ensuring that the government departments and agencies are run by Muslims has had major social repercussions throughout the country. These range from complaints from followers of other religions that they are unable to obtain permission or land to erect houses of worship, to the targeting and destruction of temples.

From 2002-2007, 15 Hindu temples were demolished in the Klang Valley by state contractors or agents, and 31 others have been threatened with demolition. The construction of a 36 metre-high Chinese ‘Goddess of the Sea’ statue has also been suspended by the state government in Sabah.

At the level of the individual, persons have been precluded from having the religion of their choice noted on their identification cards (the Lina Joy case), and non-Malay parents have complained about powerful Islamization trends within the schools their children attend.

Educational Woes
The policies which have been implemented in the educational realm over the last 20 years have produced much anger both over the discrimination practised against non-Malay students and the huge declines in educational quality at both secondary and tertiary levels as a result of staffing schools and universities with essentially members of only one ethnic group.

Regardless of the quality of school examinations results, non-Malays will be generally ranked behind Malays in terms of being provided with university access.

Non-Malays are often precluded from scholarship allocation.
Non-Malays are virtually precluded from teaching positions at the tertiary level. On the University of Malaya’s ‘Expert Page’ which details the researchers and thereby essentially the academic staff of the University,1 of 1,240 persons listed, only 20 Chinese names are included, 8 of whom also have Islamic names, as well as 46 Indian names (both Tamil and Northern), and 30 names which are obviously foreign or otherwise cannot be classified. Thus, of the 1,240 UM academic researchers listed on the university’s website, less than 100 are, under the ethnic divisions as used in Malaysia, ‘non-Malay’.

There can be no political activity on university campuses. Section 15 of Malaysia's Universities and University Colleges Act states that no student shall be a member of or in any manner associate with any society, political party, trade union or any other organisation, body or group of people whatsoever, be it in or outside Malaysia, unless it is approved in advance and in writing by the vice-chancellor. This precludes any organized resistance to the policies of exclusion.

Non-Malay parents are frequently cited in the Malaysian press suggesting that schools are run with Islamic religious aspects throughout (assuming Islam as the norm, imposing food restrictions, fixing apparel expectations, and demanding subordination to these impositions) giving parents the feeling that non-Muslim children do not exist or do not matter.

The cavalier attitude to education demonstrated through such schemes and policies has resulted in very marked reductions in the quality of Malaysian education. The United Kingdon's General Medical Council withdrew full recognition of University of Malaya medical degrees in 1989 because of the decline in the standards of medical education at the university.2 The European Union has not recognised Universiti Malaya's medical degree programme (MBBS) since its medical student intake of 1990.

There has also been a freefall in the gradings of Malaysian universities in the international assessment exercises for tertiary institutions. The University of Malaya fell from 89th in 2004 to 192nd in 2006 and now has fallen out of the top 200 list.

Judicial Problems
There has been a gradual process of replacement over the last 50 years of the ethnically diverse judiciary with a majority of Malays. Today, the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, the President of the Court of Appeal, and the Chief Judge of the High Court are all Malay. The Chief Judge for Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum is a KadazanDusun from Sabah. Five of the six judges of the Federal Court are Malay.

When the incumbents of any position — public or private are appointed from a restricted pool, quality will by definition suffer.

Police
The ethnic unification of the police force has resulted in enormous attitudinal changes to the force among the population, and particularly among non-Malays.

From the obvious increase in payments to police officers to avoid prosecution, to faked witness statements, and from increased deaths in police custody to assault on the former deputy prime minister [Anwar Ibrahim] by the commissioner of police, there has been a widespread lack of confidence in the police. Most non-Malays will today not approach a police officer or a police station unless under duress.

Again, having only one ethnic group comprise the police force provides a greater platform for corruption and abuse than would be the case with a multi-ethnic force.

Corruption
The corruption and nepotism which marked the latter years of the Mahathir reign appear to have established new levels for these activities.

When Finance Minister Daim [Zainuddin] persuaded Mahathir to give the Economic Planning Unit and Treasury full power in implementing the privatisation policy, it became no longer necessary to call for tenders for government projects. Instead, the projects were awarded directly to favoured companies. Thus were opened many doors for potential corruption.

But this was true at every level of a society where economic interests were being restructured, where licenses were being awarded, where commissions became par for the course, and where ethnicity was itself a valuable asset.

Migration and Citizenship Issues
Migration and citizenship issues have been at the heart of Malay ethnocracy for 50 years. Under the 1948 Federation of Malaya Constitution, sultans were given control over migration and issues of citizenship engaged all the non-Malay inhabitants of the peninsula.

Today, as Malay ethnocracy is pursued, the ratio of non-Malay peoples in the population continues to fall. The Chinese percentage of the population has declined from 45% in 1957 to 26% today. How is this being achieved?

Firstly, by making life difficult and opportunities few for the non-Malays. This is a great inducement to migration for those who have the financial capacity. According to Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, the home ministry's parliamentary secretary, some 14,316 Chinese surrendered their citizenship on migration between 2000 and 2006, compared to 1,098 Malays, 822 Indians, and 238 others.

Secondly, by encouraging in-migration of Muslims from Indonesia and the southern Philippines. These persons can often become ‘bumiputra’ and enjoy the benefits of such status in Malaysia.3 Statistics on such in-migration are not made public. Ethnic statistics are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Malaysian statistical firmament, and outsiders have no idea of (or access to) how the statistics are compiled or adjusted.

Measures used to maintain Malay ethnocracy
Given the often specious claims made to validate the aspirations to special status, indigeneity and other aspects of the Malay Agenda, how has Umno gone about maintaining the claims and avoiding or quashing opposition to them?

Legislation
One of the key methods of quashing those who wish to question or argue against the special privileges enjoyed under Malay ethnocracy is to legislate. Article 10.4 of the Constitution allows Parliament to prohibit the questioning of any “matter, right, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative”, including of course Article 153 of the Constitution.

[The other pieces of legislation are the ISA, Sedition Act, UUCA, and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.]

Failure to Ratify UN Conventions
Malaysia has failed to ratify a range of international covenants and conventions, which have been signed by the majority of UN members. These include:

the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), which is monitored by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), which is monitored by the Human Rights Committee;

the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which is monitored by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;

the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which is monitored by the Committee against Torture;

the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (MWC).4

The signing of these conventions would mean that Malaysia’s domestic social and particularly ethnic policies would be subject to much greater attention and supervision from around the globe. Various of the policies of ethnic discrimination as practiced in Malaysia would be illegal under the CERD.

Electoral Control
Parliamentary democracy is premised on elections and if Umno is to continue to win elections and maintain its ethnocracy, there is a need to have methods by which to, if not ensure, at least encourage, this outcome. The most effective weapon in the arsenal is control of the Election Commission (EC).

The EC is seen as one of the primary instruments through which the BN has manipulated the election process for its own political gain . The Government appoints all members of the EC, and all recommendations made by the EC must pass through the Government in order to take effect.

The EC is also the main vector through another key weapon – the gerrymander – is implemented. This can be observed in Malaysian electorates where generally rural voters (predominantly Malay) have a higher vote value. The average number of voters per seat in the Malay dominant state of Perlis is about 40,000, while in Chinese-dominated Selangor it is 71,000,5 giving the Perlis voters almost twice the value for their vote.

Control of Media
Umno controls Bernama, the state news agency, six state-owned radio stations and two television stations under national broadcaster RTM, the Utusan Group and is also closely allied to media conglomerate Media Prima Bhd.

The MCA, through its investment arm Huaren, owns Star Publications, which owns the English newspaper, ‘The Star’, various magazines, and radio stations FM 988 and Red FM. It now holds a 20 percent stake in Nanyang Press, which publishes Chinese newspapers ‘Nanyang Siang Pau’ and ‘China Press’.

The ruling Indian party, MIC, has close affiliations with owners of major Tamil newspapers ‘Tamil Nesan’ and ‘Malaysian Nanban’.

Thus, rather than having to shut down newspapers as Dr Mahathir did in 1987, the newspapers now do not need to be shut down as they print no stories which reflect poorly on the government.

History Writing
When trying to ensure that the populace is sympathetic to a particular point of view, starting inculcation young is a useful tactic. In various ways, Umno is using school history textbooks to push its view of Malayan and Malaysian history. There has been a gradual process of ethnic cleansing in Malaysian history books over the last 25 years.

A anonymous textbook entitled Sejarah Menengah Malaysia, (Tingkatan Tiga), published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) in under the Ministry of Education in 1971 had much space devoted to the British role in Malayan history, and included a chapter on the Chinese in the peninsula until 1874.

By 1998, a textbook entitled Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menegah Sejarah Tingkatan 1, also published by DBP and compiled by Dato’ Dr Abdul Shukor bin Abdullah and his 17 Malay collaborators, depicts a peninsula whose history begins with the Melaka Sultanate, when it appears that the population of Malaya was entirely Malay, and continues on into the Johor period of Malayan history. The cultural aspects are entirely Malay and it is as if half the country has disappeared.

A 2003 textbook entitled Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah Sejarah Tingkatan 5, published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and compiled by Ramlah bte Adam and her 7 Malay collaborators, concentrates on finding Malay national heroes, almost one for each state.

It portrays immigration as something which only happened in the 19th century and only involved people from India and China. The 1930s is written of only through vignettes of Malay figures, while the Malayan Union and Federation depicted as though only Malays and the British existed.

The state/Umno-endorsed and sponsored textbooks are increasingly depicting the history of Malaya’s past as almost solely a Malay history and are gradually excising the roles of Chinese and Indian figures from national history.

And when legislation, distorted history and electoral and media controls fail to convince others of the necessity and validity of Malay ethnocracy, there are always threats of violence available.

Malaysia and Israel
Can one then pursue a democracy where citizens are supposedly equal in their rights, and yet at the same time constitutionally mandate the special position of a certain group within that country? In this respect, the Malaysian state as created by Umno shares a problem with Israel.

Israel wants to develop a modern democratic state, one which gives a specially-mandated place to Jewish people, but at the same time, treats all citizens fairly as equals. As the Malaysian ethnocracy demonstrates, the contradictions of such an arrangement will always ensure friction.

A religion or ethnicity which is detailed in a basic legal document as an essential element of the state necessarily makes believers in other religions, or persons of other ethnic groups, second-rate citizens, and precludes an equality of citizenship.

The ethnocracy which has been slowly developed in Malaysia particularly since 1957 has excluded from full participation in the country the non-Malay peoples of the land. Through economic and social policies, non-Malay people have been deprived of education, employment, political and other opportunities as a cost of the development and consolidation of Malay supremacy and the economic aspects of the NEP.

In any major re-examination or reconsideration of the various privileging policies and ethnocratic structures which have been created in Malaysia, an essential element needs to be a recognition that these structures have as their root the British-Umno alliance of 1946-57, which pursued the interests of these two groups, and excluded from fair participation in the political process the non-elite and non-Malay members of society.

Written by Dr Geoff Wade

Geoff Wade is currently a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

03/11/09

Leaving Malaysia once and for all - for better and for good

KUALA LUMPUR – One of the nation’s political icons, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, said the country should face up to the fact that many Malaysians are losing faith in their future here despite the material gains made.

The Gua Musang MP and veteran Umno man said those Malaysians who can stay away and settle overseas “do so with the encouragement of their parents.”

“Their parents tell them to remain where they are. There is nothing for them here.

“The illusion of nostalgia does not explain why parents fight to send their children to private and international schools rather than the national schools they themselves went to,” the former Finance Minister told the British Graduates’ Association at their dinner here on Sunday night.

“The very same politicians who recite nationalist slogans about our national schools and turn the curriculum into an ideological hammer send their own children to international schools here or in Australia and Britain.

The politicians know better

“They know better than anyone else the shape our schools are in. It is no illusion that people do not have the faith in our judiciary and police that they once had,” said Tengku Razaleigh.

He added that the country inherited, at the time of independence, a functional country with independent institutions.

Among these are the Westminster model of Parliamentary democracy, civil law grounded in a Constitution, a capable and independent civil service that include an excellent teaching service, armed forces, police, good schools, sophisticated trade practices and markets.

He said the challenges of nation building were serious, but the country faced them with an independent judiciary, a professional civil service and a well-defined set of relationships between a Federal government and our individually sovereign states.”

We had a good start

“Indeed, we were able to face these challenges because these institutions functioned well.

“Institutionally, we had a good start as a nation,” Tengku Razaleigh said.

“Why is it important to recall this?” he asked.

“For one, it makes sense of the feeling among many Malaysians and international friends who had observed Malaysia over a longer period that Malaysia has seen better days.

“There is a feeling of wasted promise, of having lost our way, or declined beyond the point of no return.”

He said that such a feeling was too pervasive to be put down to the nostalgia of always finding the good old days best.

The Kelantan prince said the country has much infrastructure; lots of malls and highways especially, toll highways.

“It is not for want of physical infrastructure, dubious as some of it is, that we feel we languish.

“It is a sense that we are losing the institutional infrastructure of civilised society.”

Erosion of institutional infrastructure

He said that if Malaysians felt a sense of loss, or tell their children not to come home from overseas, or are making plans to emigrate, it was not because they did not love the country, or were ungrateful for tarred roads and bridges.

“It is because they feel the erosion of the institutional infrastructure of our society. Institutional intangibles such as the rule of law, accountability and transparency are the basis of a people’s confidence in their society.”

He said it was time to shed the “crude nationalism” which refuses to acknowledge things “not invented here”.

He pointed out that Malaysia had a good start because it had inherited from the British a system of laws, rights and conventions that had been refined over several hundred years.

Re-connect withe the English world

Malaysia, he said, also inherited the English language, and with that a strong set of links to the English-speaking world.

“There should be a rethinking of our attitude to the English language. By now it is also a Malaysian language. It would be sheer hypocrisy to deny its value and centrality to us as Malaysians.

“Do we continue to deny in political rhetoric what we practice in reality, or do we grasp the situation and come up with better policies for the teaching and adoption of the language?”

He urged Malaysians to reconnect with Britain as it is today instead of recycling stale colonial era stereotypes.

MM
03/11/09

Pathetic police play politics in Perak

Bolehland continues to boast of the world’s one and only State with two Chief Ministers (Menteris Besar), two Speakers, two State Governments and two State Assemblies conducted simultaneously under one roof.

The Prime Minister’s slogan of 1 Malaysia is beginning to bear much fruit as the Government, Police, Judiciary and Election Commission bond and blend together as one to bury any political dissent and opposition.

The doctrine of the separation of powers is blighted by the usurpation of power by the PM and those willing to do his bidding. There are no longer any boundaries or checks and balances – only cheques waiting for those who bow in subservience to the political elite.

The only “boundaries” left are those separating the government from the people – barricades, blockades, barriers and barbed wires like those put up by the police at the Perak State Assembly building recently. Be prepared for more barbaric times.

It has become standard police practice to brandish a blanket court injunction a day or two before every Perak state legislative assembly sitting, thereby barring the people from their very own public arena or forum so that the police can do what the PM and Umno likes.

Beholden & Blind

On the black day of May 7 this year, the police had barged into the Perak State Assembly, forcibly dragged out the Speaker, and detained him for about 90 minutes.

Even a Umno leader, disgusted by what he saw, described the brutal act as “high-handedness at its foulest”.

Never before had Bolehland seen such a blatant aggressive invasion and intrusion by the police into the august chambers of a State Assembly – the highest and most sacred institution in a democracy, one which is out of bounds to even the police!

The footage of the Perak Speaker being manhandled and bundled off and the arrests of 60 opposition MPs and state representatives outside the State Assembly badly blunted the image of the Government. They were banned from being aired on all TV stations and even at a DAP dinner!.

Through the new media however, footage of the police’s public notoriety was beamed across the globe. But the police were not at all bothered by the rakyat’s perception! They were back again with their brute force before the state budget assembly sitting on Oct 28.

The Police blindly and zealously enforced the “Emergency Rule(s)” of the fraudulent BN Speaker. Obviously beholden to the powers that be, they treated the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) assemblymen like a bunch of criminals or enemies of the State.

The state assembly building bristled with about 400 men in blue armed with the latest gear, guns and gadgets. It looked like a battlefield. The headline of a Malaysiakini article so rightly read: “BN Perak took counter-terrorism-like measures”.

Bullies in Blue

The PR assemblymen later related how they were harassed, huddled, hindered, hampered and some even hammered by the bullies in blue as they “hurdled” through three barriers and two checkpoints (!), whilst a helicopter hovered above!

As though that was not bad enough, the Police, bent on humiliating the PR lawmakers, subjected them to a body search and a metal scan and forcibly removed their hand phones, lap-tops, cameras, video equipment, etc., before they entered the hall.

Once again Speaker Sivakumar had to bear the brunt of the police brutality. According to him, the police, in order to keep the media out of sight and to strip the official speaker's robe off him, had planned to trap him in the basement parking lot of the State Secretariat (Malaysiakini).

(One day before the assembly sitting, the Malaysian Insider sighted notices tacked on all notice boards in the state secretariat informing the staff to keep the basement parking lot empty “to ensure the assembly proceedings ran smoothly”!)

As the PR assemblymen entered the parking lot, a horde of policemen pounced on the Speaker. He was jostled roughly, pulled in all directions, strangled with an arm lock to a point that he could not breathe and had his robe ripped off him (Malaysian Insider). Those who went to his aid were also roughed up.

Simpang Pulai assemblyman Chan Ming Kai said he was pushed to the ground and dragged by his hands on the cement floor when he tried to save Sivakumar. In his attempt to recover the Speaker’s robe he was grabbed and slammed onto the bonnet of a car (Malaysia Insider).

There were even installed video cameras transmitting live the activities of PR assemblymen to the state police headquarters and the national headquarters at Bukit Aman! (Malaysiakini) Will Bukit Aman also spy and intrude into the affairs of Parliament one day? Is it already happening?

Bull & Buffoons

In sharp contrast to the drastic and extreme measures that the PR assemblymen were subjected to, the BN assemblymen breezed through to the assembly hall. At least one of the BN assemblymen was seen using his laptop. The bogus (BN) Speaker Ganesan was protected by a wall of 22 new sergeants-at-arms! Indeed, Umno’s interests were well-protected!

The BN-installed MB Zambry brushed aside the accusations of police assault and harassment by Sivakumar and some of the PR assemblymen. He branded them “drama queens” and claimed that they “just want to dramatise everything, to create a big show …”

Perak Chief Police Officer Zulkifli Abdullah bellowed almost the same lines. No extreme force was used on Sivakumar and other PR assemblymen at the parking lot. There was no conspiracy to attack the Speaker and representatives away from media scrutiny.

When asked why the police had not attempted to confiscate the robe from the beginning, when the PR representatives were outside of the secretariat building and the media were still present, Zulkifli blarred and bulled:

“That is our job. When we choose to do things, and when we decide to do, it cannot be questioned. We cannot reveal our practice. You should know better. I cannot reveal when and how we want to do things.”

Zulkifli added that those PR assemblymen claiming they were attacked wrongfully could lodge reports at the police station: “If reports are lodged, we will conduct the necessary investigations” (Malaysian Insider). The Police will investigate the Police?

Little did Zambry and Zulkifli know that someone had zoomed in on the “inappropriate police action”. Pictures of what they had earlier denied were splashed in the Chinese newspapers. Malaysiakini produced online a video clip showing “Pakatan Aduns, blocked, pushed and shoved ...”!

Is it any surprise that “Dr Zambry was unflappable and his team behaved with utmost decorum” (Joceline Tan, Star) in the State Assembly hall? Outside, their lapdogs in blue had done the dirty and disgraceful job of harassing and humiliating the PR Aduns.

Zambry had accused PR of creating “a big show”. Surely no one can beat Umno’s drama of “1 Malaysia, 2 Peraks and 3 Kataks! What about Zambry’s big show of police power and brute force? Was it really necessary?

The Malaysian Insider provides a brilliant and related answer: “Only those who take power illegally would go to such lengths to shore up their legitimacy to rule a state. The last time this was done was when the British locked down Northern Ireland while fighting off the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Yes, Ipoh now shares something in common with Belfast. Doesn't make it right, though.”

The bare truth that remains is that what happened to Speaker Sivakumar and the PR assemblymen on Oct 28 is yet another example of the Police’s increasing use of the name of public order and security to protect the political security of Umno and to carry out its orders.

What the public saw on Oct 28 was in reality a bulldozed budget, the continued blatant betrayal of the wishes of the majority of the people of Perak, the most bizarre protection given to a bogus Speaker, the bloated ego of a fraudulent MB and the blind and biased subservience of the police to its political masters.

There was, of course, the people’s MB and Speaker and their colleagues who were bold enough to continue to stand up and refuse to buckle under to Umno’s shameless display of belligerence, brazen high-handedness and unbridled arrogance of power.

MI
03/11/09

How UMNO become a racist party

NOV 2 — In the past week, newspapers in Sarawak have been covering a story of an Iban-Chinese girl who was denied a place in the matriculation programme because she was deemed a “non-Bumiputera”. This is what the Borneo Post (Oct 29) reported:

“KUCHING: Getting her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) result was the best — and the worst — thing that could happen to Marina Undau.The 18-year-old science stream student of SMK Simanggang scored 9As and 1B in the SPM examination last year. She thought she was on her way to university, especially being a Bumiputera and all, but that was not to be. Born to an Iban father and a Chinese mother, Marina’s life was turned upside down when her application to undergo a university matriculation programme was rejected by the Ministry of Education. The ministry determined that she is not a ‘Bumiputera’...

“Seated between her parents, Undau Liap and Wong Pick Sing, the disappointment in the teenager was obvious. Speaking in Iban, she said: ‘Aku amai enda puas ati nadai olih nyambung sekula ngagai universiti (I’m very sad that I can’t pursue my university education).’ With no chance of entering a university for now, Marina has started Form 6 in her old school.

“Asked what she thought of everything that was happening, she replied: ‘What worries me is that will this happen again when I pass my STPM next year? If I get good results, what’s next?’

“In Sarawak, under the federal constitution, both parents must be ‘native’ in order for the offspring to be classified as a ‘Bumiputera’.”

In case you are curious how they play the blood game, this is the official definition used by the Student Intake Management Division, Higher Learning Department and Higher Education Ministry:

You are a Bumiputera if

• Semenanjung — “Jika salah seorang ibu atau bapa calon adalah seorang Melayu yang beragama Islam/Orang Asli seperti mana yang ditakrifkan dalam Perkara 160(2) Perlembagaan Persekutuan; maka anaknya adalah dianggap seorang Bumiputera.” (If either parent of a candidate is a Malay who is a Muslim/Orang Asli as defined in Article 160 (2) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a Bumiputera.)

• Sabah — “Jika bapa calon adalah seorang Melayu yang beragama Islam/Peribumi Sabah seperti yang ditakrifkan dalam Perkara 161A(6)(a) Perlembagaan Persekutuan; maka anaknya adalah dianggap seorang Bumiputera.” (If the father of the candidate is a Malay who is a Muslim/native of Sabah as defined by Article 161A(6)(a) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a Bumiputera.)

• Sarawak — “Jika bapa dan ibu adalah seorang Peribumi Sarawak seperti mana yang ditakrifkan dalam Perkara 161A(6)(b) Perlembagaan persekutuan; maka anaknya adalah dianggap seorang Bumiputera.” (If the father and mother is a native of Sarawak as defined under Article 161A(6)(b) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a Bumiputera.)

Since this story broke, many others from mixed, i.e. native-Chinese background, have come forward to tell their appalling stories about not being able to enter matriculation classes and a direct route to a public university.

Just in case you do not know, to enter a public university in Malaysia, you can either do the one-year matriculation programme or the two-year STPM. But there is a catch. The matriculation is only available to Bumiputeras so all the non-Bumiputeras must take the STPM route. It is also common knowledge that matriculation is much easier than STPM and once you get in, you are almost certain to get a university place. Hence, the desperate rush to get into matriculation (see quoted story above).

Oh, before you get any ideas in your head, according to the government, we practice “meritocracy” in the intake of university students! But don’t ask hard questions like why matriculation is restricted or that there is a separate university for Bumiputeras only.

What really bothers me is not the individual sad stories about how children from native-Chinese marriages are denied their Bumiputera rights, but how the media is only reporting from one side. All the stories tell of how their future is damaged since they cannot get into the matriculation programme, and how they are “forced” to go to STPM or Sixth Form.

It is truly shocking that none of the newspaper dare to write the real angle of the story — how about the thousands of poor Chinese students who are denied a place in university because they are completely shut off from the matriculation programme. Are you telling me that there are no poor Chinese or Indians in Sarawak, or that all poor non-Bumiputeras in Sarawak, or for that matter in the whole of Malaysia, happily go into the two-year, tougher STPM and “try their luck” with university admission?

Why do the newspapers only focus on the children of mixed marriages?

Isn’t this exactly why normal people become racist when they see this sort of shenanigans happening right in front of them? How do you explain to your child that she cannot enter university because she was born of the “wrong” race? Education is one of the most basic human rights and here we using higher education to turn an ordinary human being into a racist — all because someone is obsessed with the definition of race. No wonder Sarawak is the model for 1 Malaysia!

MI
02/11/09

Malaysia has lost its way due to fanatic race and religion

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has urged the country to shed “crude nationalism” and come to terms with the reality that many Malaysians are losing faith in their future despite the evidence of material progress.

The veteran Umno man told the British Graduates Association at a dinner here last night that it was a fact that those Malaysians who “can stay away and settle overseas do so with the encouragement of their parents”.

“Their parents tell them to remain where they are, there is nothing for them here. The illusion of nostalgia does not explain why parents fight to send their children to private and international schools rather than the national schools they themselves went to.

“The very same politicians who recite nationalist slogans about our national schools and turn the curriculum into an ideological hammer send their own children to international schools here or in Australia and Britain.

“They know better than anyone else the shape our schools are in. It is no illusion that people do not have the faith in our judiciary and police that they once had,” said Tengku Razaleigh.

The former Finance Minister pointed out that the country inherited at independence a functional country with independent institutions.

These included “the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy, civil law grounded in a Constitution, a capable and independent civil service, including an excellent teaching service, armed forces and police, good schools, sophisticated trade practices and markets, financial markets”.

While he pointed out that the challenges of nation building were serious, but the country “faced them with an independent judiciary, a professional civil service and a well-defined set of relationships between a federal government and our individually sovereign states.”

Indeed we were able to face these challenges because these institutions functioned well.

“Institutionally, we had a good start as a nation. Why is it important to recall this?

“For one it makes sense of the feeling among many Malaysians and international friends who have observed Malaysia over a longer period that Malaysia has seen better days. There is a feeling of wasted promise, of having lost our way, or declined beyond the point of no return.”

He said that such a feeling was too pervasive to be put down to the nostalgia of always finding the good old days best.

Malaysians, Tengku Razaleigh contends, are losing faith in their future despite the evidence of material progress.

“We have lots of infrastructure. Lots of malls and highways. Especially toll highways. It is not for want of physical infrastructure, dubious as some of it is, that we feel we languish. It is a sense that we are losing the institutional infrastructure of civilised society.”

He said that if Malaysians felt a sense of loss, or tell their children not to come home from overseas, or are making plans to emigrate, it was not because they did not love the country, or were ungrateful for tarred roads and bridges.

“It is because they feel the erosion of the institutional infrastructure of our society. Institutional intangibles such as the rule of law, accountability and transparency are the basis of a people’s confidence in their society.”

He said it was time to shed the “crude nationalism” which refuses to acknowledge things “not invented here”.

He pointed out that Malaysia had a good start because it had inherited from the British a system of laws, rights and conventions that had been refined over several hundred years.

Malaysia, he said, also inherited the English language, and with that a strong set of links to the English-speaking world.

“There should be a rethinking of our attitude to the English language. By now it is also a Malaysian language. It would be sheer hypocrisy to deny its value and centrality to us as Malaysians.

“Do we continue to deny in political rhetoric what we practice in reality, or do we grasp the situation and come up with better policies for the teaching and adoption of the language?”

He urged Malaysians to reconnect with Britain as it is today instead of recycling stale colonial era stereotypes.

Mi
02/11/09

Apartheid in the Malaysian context

Apartheid was officially defined in South Africa as 'separate development'. But apartheid is really an elite regime with concentration of power in the hands of a few.

Apartheid involves the complete domination of one race over the other – economically, politically and socially.

South Africa is still struggling with the socio-economic sequels of apartheid itself. I do not think one should be obsessed with the physical aspect of apartheid [segregation] but rather be more concerned about its longstanding socio-economic deprivation and mental humiliation of not only being labelled according to skin colour but more factually to your native status.

Many have mistaken apartheid as a form of racial discrimination based on white superiority. It has been well-documented that it is actually a preferential treatment for white Afrikaners (South Africans of Dutch descent) following victimisation by the British colonists during the Boer War where thousands of Boer Trekkers died in wartime.

Umno's Ketuanan Melayu is race-based dominance in a multiracial country and is the exact ideology employed by the single-race National Party which imposed apartheid rule in South Africa. The National Party portrayed themselves as the champions of 'Afrikaner Sovereignty' and 'white supremacy'.

Similarly, Umno's ideological basis for its political struggle has been Malay nationalism and bumiputeraism. Like the National Party, Umno has also imposed a heavily state-guided capitalist economic system.

Parallel argument to claim native status

White Afrikaners's native status was based on the familiar argument that they set up the 'first civilised government' in their motherland of South Africa.

The African aborigines such as the Khoisan and Xhosa people did not set up any 'civilised government' and the others were later immigrants. And hence they were never considered as 'natives' for special treatment by the state.

The exact argument has been deployed by Umno and its Barisan Nasional counterparts to justify bumiputeraism in that the Malays set up the 'first definitive government' in Tanah Melayu - (Dr Mahatir Mohamad: The Malay Dilemma). Thus they are considered as bumiputera despite the historical fact that Orang Asli are the first settlers of this land.

Later immigrants are not considered as bumiputera for special treatment by the state.

False justification for apartheid

As I pointed out earlier, historians have documented that white Afrikaners had been deprived during and after the Boer War.

Apartheid was started out to help 'the poor white natives', meaning to help the white Afrikaners to compete in the job market with the influx of the much cheaper black labour from other parts of Africa.

In Malaysia just after independence, the situation was that while a few Chinese were able to own businesses, the majority of the Chinese and Indians were manual and estates workers.

Statistics even show that the Malays' literacy rate was much higher than Chinese and Indians' at the time of Independence. It was not a question of who was richer than whom.

It was a fact that we were all impoverished, but one ethnic group may have been relatively more impoverished than the others. Nonetheless, this is not a moral ground to justify immoral means such as racial degradation of non-native status.

Historians conclude that under South Africa's apartheid rule, 'race is class, class is race' meaning the ruling elite class was predominantly white notwithstanding the fact that there were collaborators of other races working hand in hand with it to sustain their benefits. Similarly, the BN ruling elite class is composed mainly of Umno leaders notwithstanding their collaborators from MIC, MCA and others.

Affirmative action must be carried out with individualisation and transparency. Affirmative action should be allowed to be challenged in court. Do we have that in Malaysia? On the contrary, the NEP and the NDP have so far been carried out under the umbrella of draconian laws such as the ISA, OSA and the like.

I would confidently say Malaysia's NEP and NDP are more akin to apartheid than affirmative action not only in their morality but also in the way they have been implemented.

One may argue that Malaysia's economy has grown with the implementation of the NEP and NDP for almost a 30-year period. So did South Africa's economy grow for almost two decades without fail under apartheid rule. In both countries, an elite class of all races emerged under preferential treatment but that does not justify the immorality of Umno's and Barisan Nasional's political hegemony.

01/11/09

Anwar Ibrahim: Please show more traits of a firm and consistent Malaysian leader fully committed to the Malaysian cause

Leaders must exert leadership qualities. Good leaders must exert fair and firm leadership for the benefit of all. In recent times, Anwar Ibrahim is perceived to be a fumbling opposition leader.
There are many contradictory signals over his unusual silence over issues of public interest. Perhaps, his deafening silence could even be attributed by many on his inability to reconcile with his old UMNO ways and inherent fear of diluting the power of Ketuanan Melayu through the process of Islamization of the country and his fervent quest to be PM, a post that previously eluded him, from the opposition bench.

At the rate things are going, PR as a loose coalition apparently led by Anwar, is sure to slip down the political ladder, eventually swallowed up by UMNO’s evil propaganda and powerful machinery and quickly go the way of a lost-cause political group much in the same vein of those UMNO’s slave dogs ala MCA, MIC and PBS.

In addition to this, whether one likes it or not, PR’s political slide downhill since 308 and the Perak Debacle could even be further quickened by Najib’s current inclusive-leadership style though many will be also be quick to acknowledge his methods are still very much through UMNO’s traditional deceptive ways.

Anwar Ibrahim must walk out clearly from his own shadow, still greyish to many, and show the opposition forces and good people of Malaysia that he is indeed committed to a true Malaysian cause devoid of doubts but with only a clear mind and heart, a clear conscience. Practised with firmness and consistency, only then can Anwar convince the people he can hold the PR’s flag high up and fight a good fight to successfully dislodge the ever corrupt and arrogant UMNO from further ruling the country. Sporadic rhetoric won’t do.

Malaysians cannot afford to have another PM, especially if it should come from the opposition bench, who is inclined towards exhibiting some signs of UMNO’s screwed-up mentality and hegemonic ways of achieving personal and sectarian interest always against the larger well-being of all Malaysians.

Dear Saudara Anwar, continue to lead PR if you must but please show more traits of a firm and consistent Malaysian leader fully committed to the Malaysian cause. Wonderful things and miracles do happen if one stays firmly positive with a clear conscience and persist with one’s own noble national pursuits. More so..if there are constant prayers and unwavering support from the public. Hope you will concur with this opinion but more importantly, it is to deliver.

M2day
01/11/09

1Malaysia: From Marina to Daniel, you are also no bumi and not eligible to enter matriculation college

We are only equal during election and stupid Sarwakians support BN and Najib has stated that Sarawak is a Fixed Deposit for BN during elections.

KUCHING – Another family in the same boat as Marina Undau has spoken up about the plight of mixed parentage students.

Ding Juh said his son - Daniel Ibau - was a Science stream student and had scored 10As and 1B in the SPM examination last year.

But he failed to get into the Labuan Matriculation College despite being “one of the top students of SMK Wira Penrissen in Kota Samarahan.”

“Out of nine applications from the school, only my son’s was rejected,” said Ding Juh of his Kayan-Chinese child.

Ding Juh, 49, said he had appealed to the Education Ministry in the hope it would reconsider its decision.

Plea for all in same boat

The father of three said he was worried for the future of his offspring who are facing big hurdles in gaining access to higher education as a result of being “locked out” of bumiputra membership.

“We are not rich and can’t afford to send our children to private colleges," said Ding Juh who works for a logistics company. His spouse Diane Sim, 48, is a housewife.

“My plea is not just for my son, but also for the others who are in the same situation as he is. We are Malaysians. How can the government talk about achieving unity when we have to go through obstacles to provide education for our kids?"

Ding Juh and his son spoke to Malaysian Mirror on Friday after Marina’s case was highlighted in the news portal. The story originally appeared in The Borneo Post.

Point of reference
Earlier this week, schoolgirl Marina Undau who has an Iban father and a Chinese mother was informed by the education department that she could not be admitted to a matriculation course because she was not a bumiputra.

Both Marina and Daniel are struggling against the full weight of the Federal Constitution, which spells out the state of affairs for Sarawakians: “If the father and mother is a native of Sarawak as defined under Article 161A(6)(b) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a bumiputra.”

In other words, both parents must be natives to qualify.

Daniel understands the Constitution’s viewpoint.

But he wonders why he could still continue to buy the Amanah Saham Bumiputra if he was not a bumiputra.

Could it be that a Kayan is a bumiputra in one set of circumstances but a non-bumiputra in another? Mr Spock of Star Trek fame would see this as “illogical.”

Such hazy interpretation and execution of the laws has naturally led to a section of the citizenry feeling shortchanged and harbouring a gnawing sense that the authorities are toying with their future.

Sorry, no go
Daniel’s application to UiTM to pursue a civil engineering diploma course is still up in the air as the institution has yet to reply.

Like Marina, Daniel sees his only recourse now to minimise costs is to proceed with Form Six and eventually hit the university trail two years later.

“As the eldest, I feel it is my responsibility to pave the way and set a good example for my siblings,” said the SMK Tapang Sixth-Former.

“I will do my best in any way I can and wherever I might get the chance to pursue my studies in the near future.”

Daniel said it had been an ordeal for his family in trying to get him recognised as a bumiputra so that he could reap the benefits from it.

The effort has so far been in vain.

“We have tried everything from lengthy e-mails, facsimiles and calling the ministry repeatedly but to no avail. After a month, the only answer we got was ‘Sorry, your application is not approved.’”

MM

01/11/09

1Malaysia: Marina, you’re no bumi. you are rejected to enter matriculation college, only reserved for Boomiputerans

Malaysia: What an immoral,disgusting and wasteful country

KUCHING - For 17 years, Marina Undau lived a life of a child growing into a young adult.

School, her family and friends were a central part of her existence. She dreamt of doing her parents proud by furthering her education in a university and eventually getting a good job.

SPM came and went, and the 18-year-old science stream student of SMK Simanggang did well, scoring 9As and 1B last year.

But then she had a rude shock.

Not eligible
The education system said she was not eligible to enroll in a matriculation course, a prelude to varsity and a degree. The reason? She was, it seemed, not a bumiputra.

Born to an Iban father and a Chinese mother, Marina’s hope for a smooth climb up academia was dashed. With it went a part of her identity and the drive that made her a top scorer.

In an interview with The Borneo Post at her house in Sri Aman on Wednesday, Marina expressed her feelings in Iban: “Aku amai enda puas ati nadai olih nyambung sekula ngagai universiti (I’m very sad that I can’t pursue my university education).”

Meantime, she has started Form Six in her old school as a workaround solution.

Upset and bewildered
Seated between her parents, Undau Liap and Wong Pick Sing, the disappointment in the teenager was plain to see.

Her elder sister never had a problem getting into a university. Her identity was never questioned and she is at present in her second year at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang.

Marina is worried that a similar obstacle she faced after SPM awaits once she completes her STPM.

“If I get good results, what’s next?”

Marina’s father, Undau, would not take no for an answer.

When her application to enter matriculation was rejected, Undau, a civil servant, contacted the Education Ministry’s Matriculation Department in Putrajaya on June 23 and was told that her daughter was not a bumiputra.

Pressing on
Dissatisfied, the father wrote to the ministry on July 1. The reply he received shocked him, and it is bound to challenge the identity of many Sarawakians who are of mixed-parentage.

The ministry said in a reply on July 14 that Undau’s appeal was turned down because “the candidate is categorised as non-bumiputra (father is Iban and mother is Chinese)” based on a definition used by the Student Intake Management Division, Higher Learning Department and Higher Education Ministry.

Their definition is as follows:
• If either parent of a candidate is a Malay who is a Muslim/Orang Asli as defined in Article 160 (2) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a bumiputra.

• Sabah – If the father of the candidate is a Malay who is a Muslim/native of Sabah as defined by Article 161A(6)(a) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a bumiputra.

• Sarawak – If the father and mother is a native of Sarawak as defined under Article 161A(6)(b) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a bumiputra.

Despite the explanation, Undau is still dissatisfied and urged the government to clear up education issues that differentiate bumiputras from non-bumiputras.

He said the 1Malaysia concept would be rather hollow if education today continues to be polarised along such lines

“Why all the differences in the intake of students for higher learning? I am not questioning the Constitution, but what is the meaning of 1Malaysia if things like this happen?”

NRD and Native Court weigh in
The National Registration Department (NRD) headquarters here said it has received a flurry of enquiries about the bumiputra status of late.

An NRD spokesman said that in Sarawak, a person’s race is registered based only on the race of the father.

On whether such a person is automatically accorded bumiputra rights, the spokesman said: “We don’t actually handle that. We look at the race of the father. If the father is Iban, the child is Iban. If the father is Chinese, the child is Chinese. The bumiputra status comes under the Native Court.”

Native Court registrar Ronnie Edward said the bumiputra status was a “birthright” and the Native Court only hear cases where a person who was to be declared a bumiputra although his father was not a native.

He said Marina was not alone in facing this problem.

Edward believes the only way to clear the air is to amend the Federal Constitution.

“Article 161(A) of the Constitution has to be amended. The article says that in Sarawak, both parents have to be ‘exclusively’ a native,” he said.

MM

01/11/09

Nik aziz rejects the practice of corruption and money politics in UMNO @ BN

Nik Aziz renews support for stronger PR alliance

Nik Aziz maintains PAS should stay with Pakatan Rakyat.

IPOH, Nov 1 — PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat has maintained that the Islamist party should remain with Pakatan Rakyat (PR), while renewing his disdain for Umno over the Perak imbroglio.

The frail but fiery leader also gave his blessings on the 10 resolutions passed during yesterday’s inaugural PR convention, held here at the Syuen Hotel.

He told a congregation of some 600 delegates from the loose coalition’s three parties — PAS, DAP and PKR — to accept and adopt the resolutions, which mainly stressed on strengthening the newborn alliance.

He rejected the practice of corruption and money politics amongst the Barisan Nasional parties — singling out Umno in particular — and indicated that the PR, with its resounding pledge to weed out corruption, was the better alternative.

“We should sanction these resolutions and we will receive our reward. We are not on this earth to receive money but ‘pahala’ (reward) because money is materialism,” he said.

He added that in death, only the physical body of a person dies while the soul remains.

“As Muslims, whether we are Malay Muslims or Chinese Muslims or any other, we must protect our souls. We feed our bodies rice but it must be ‘halal’ — the rice is for the body while the ‘halal’ is for the soul,” he said, adding that anything bought with “haram” money would make the item “haram” as well.

Nik Aziz took a swipe at Umno’s practice of money politics.

Nik Aziz also explained that in the world belonging to Allah, no two people were the same, whether in physique or beliefs and values.

“I have 10 children and 52 grandchildren, and none of them are the same. After all, if all women and men looked the same, then we would never be able to tell which ones are our wives,” he joked.

As such, Nik Aziz said the differences of opinions and misunderstandings within the PR alliance was normal, for each party and each individual had their own uniqueness.

He called Umno stupid for getting angry with PAS and DAP over the issue of non-Muslims quoting verses from the Quran.

“The verses in the sacred Quran contain the basics of creating unity amongst mankind. Umno is stupid for getting angry just because a non-Muslim is trying to understand the Quran,” he said.

He said the birth of the PR alliance, and programmes like yesterday’s convention, were methods of creating such unity amongst mankind.

“In life, there is a method for everything. When we cook certain dishes, the method lies in the recipe — we cannot use the same ingredient for every dish,” he said.

At a ceramah in Chemor near here later last night, the Kelantan mentri besar continued to lambast Umno for its practices.

He said the Malay-centric party rejected true Islam and instead, practiced a “cacat” or handicapped version of the religion.

“When Islam is ‘cacat’, then Allah is made ‘cacat’, too,” he said to the crowd of over a thousand, who had gathered despite the endless drizzle to listen in rapt attention to the soft-spoken PAS leader.

The Perak imbroglio continues to rile PAS’ spiritual advisor. — file pic
Nik Aziz also chastised Umno for its illegal power grab in Perak, and shook his head at how they had stolen away what was not rightfully given to them.

“They can go as far as to enter the state legislative assembly to drag the Speaker from his seat and then later take his robe too,” he said.

He said the post of mentri besar was one that was given to an individual by the people, which was made possible through the choices given to mankind by Allah Himself.

“How smart, this Umno, to simply steal away the people of Perak as their own,” he said, in sarcasm.

The three parties are to formalise the alliance next month in a national convention under a Common Policy Framework (CPF) being undertaken by a team led by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

All three parties had a similar coalition in the 1999 general elections called the Barisan Alternatif but it broke down two years later when PAS insisted on its Islamic state idea, leading DAP to break away from the partnership.

MI
01/11/09