As he pinned the distinctive five-pointed medal on her sari, France’s ambassador to Malaysia, Marc Barety, said the award was to recognise Ambiga’s dedication to human rights and to boost the rule of law in Malaysia.
Ambiga joins an exclusive club of some 20 to 25 Malaysians conferred the French award. Among them were the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, airline maverick Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Ipoh-born Hollywood actress Datuk Michelle Yeoh, Barety said.Yeoh was recognised in 2007 for her contribution to film and the media.
Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Aziz was another recipient this year, but was unable to attend the award ceremony, Barety said.
“Ambiga is the right person to get it,” Barety told reporters, adding the latest announcements on political transformation by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak after the Bersih 2.0 street rally on July 9 demanding free and fair elections proved the merit of her fight.He noted the leadership of the then president of the Malaysian Bar in a 2008 forum on Orang Asli issues, jointly organised by the French embassy and the European Union, as having contributed strongly to the nomination of Ambiga.
The order of the Legion of Honour is a merit-based award and there are only 55,000 recipients worldwide at any one time.“I think it reflects well on Malaysia’s civil society,” Ambiga said in her acceptance speech, with a nod to Najib’s latest pledge to repeal the Internal Security Act and other security laws that allowed for preventive detention.
“It really shows how important civil society is; they are the eyes and ears of the rakyat,” Ambiga said, vowing to continue her charge to improve the rule of law.
5 comments:
This is our Lady of Liberty
I would like to commend Mr.Bernard Dompok. Mr.Bernard Dompok is President of UPKO, a Sabah based political party. Mr.Bernard Dompok, a Christian, had clearly stated that UPKO is not afraid of being branded an opposition party even though UPKO is currently a component party of the Barisan Nasional coalition. My understanding is that UPKO is willing to oppose UMNO on certain issues if it is for the benefit of the Sabahans. I’m not Sabahan or Sarawakian and therefore it is not for me to struggle on behalf of Sabah and Sarawak. Sabahans and Sarawakians must fight for themselves. The non-Muslims of Sabah and Sarawak have to protect their own interests. It may be possible that the demographics of Sabah has been changed by the KL government to benefit Muslims. May be. I do not know. It is for Sabahans and Sarawakians to ponder and decide what their future would be.
Incidentally, the indigenous/aboriginal population of Malaya are the Orang Asli, not the Malays.
As far as I am concerned, the non-Muslims of Malaya have their own government in George Town, Penang. Non-Muslims of Malaya should become increasingly Penang oriented.
Global geo-politics is changing and with every passing day, China and India are rising social, political, and economic powers. Amidst all these changes, Penang has to find its niche. With every passing day, both China and India are growing stronger socially, politically, and economically. Both China and India are non-Muslim nations. We have to keep Penang as a non-Muslim majority state. Both the Nanyang Chinese and the Indians in Malaya should, if they can, relocate closer to Penang/North West Malaya. With good cooperation between China and India, the Indians and Nanyang Chinese in Malaya can benefit. Penang should be the spot where the Chinese and Indian communities co-exist; and using Penang's co-existence model, both China and India can also co-exist. When the YING and the YANG coexist, there is harmony; and similarly, when China and India co-exist there will be harmony. The co-existence of China and India is the co-existence of two predominantly dharmic nations which will bring harmony.
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Some people from Kelantan want to turn Kelantan into a hudud law saturated state. I could live with a welfare state or mixed economy. A welfare state or a mixed economy is not too bad but public assistance should be based on need, not race or religion. Watch out, but hudud laws will encourage politics of separatism from non-Muslims in Malaya; and once it starts, it would be hard to stop politics of separatism. In short, emphasis on an Islamic state will promote the politics of separatism among non-Muslims. If some Muslims like a hudud law state, then let’s divide them into Muslims and non-Muslims. After dividing them into Muslims and non-Muslims, I will recommend that the non-Muslims move away from Kelantan. Even Muslims who do not favor the hudud laws can move away from Kelantan. A hudud law saturated Kelantan will slowly become de-populated. Once a state de-populates, then it will be entitled to fewer and fewer electoral constituencies. A state that manages to attract Malayans to itself will be entitled to more and more electoral constituencies; and a state that fails to attract citizens to itself will be entitled to fewer electoral constituencies. For non-Muslims I recommend that they become more Penang oriented because we do have a non-Muslim government in Penang.
Furthermore, Islam does allow people to leave Islam. Changing faith is an inviolable human right and Islam as a faith does not prevent Muslims from leaving Islam. An increase in political Islam will almost drive the non-Muslim Malayans into politics of separatism; and you cannot really blame non-Muslims for that.
I went to the Post Office to register to vote; and upon checking my identity card, the Post officer asked which religion I belonged to. Why? I do not know. Therefore, we must reform the Department of Religion in Malaysia. Right now, only Islam is recognized as the sole and only religion in the Department of Religion in Malaysia. What do you mean by that? You mean that there is only one religion in Malaysia. The ground reality is that there are several religions in Malaya. Therefore we need reforms. We need to divide the Department of Religion into two branches: one branch to deal with Muslim Affairs, and another branch to deal with non-Muslim Affairs. Both branches must be separate but equal.
Another alternative is to persuade the Malays to separate Penang Island from Peninsular Malaya. It may be that non-Muslims are the majority in Penang. More and more non-Muslims from Peninsular Malaysia should be encouraged to relocate to Penang. Once Penang becomes a non-Muslim majority state, then the Penangites can ask for greater autonomy from KL. Penang should be allowed to make its own laws for itself. I think the Malays should be happy if more non-Malays relocate closer to Penang/North West Malaya. An increase in non-Malays in Penang will result in a decrease in non-Malays in Peninsular Malaya; and therefore Malays should be happy. Malays should encourage non-Muslims to relocate to Penang/North West Malaya. Since Singapore is a non-Muslim majority nation, Penang should also become a non-Muslim majority state. The non-Muslim citizens need a hub and space of their own; and the hub and space would be Penang/North West Malaya. Those non-Muslim citizens who are unwilling to accept a second class citizen status inside Peninsular Malaya should relocate to Penang Island/North West Malaya.
If you are non-Muslim Malayan citizen and do feel socially, politically, or economically shortchanged, then stop complaining and fretting. Do something. Instead of fretting and complaining, please make arrangements to relocate to Penang/North West Malaya. If you have non-Muslim friends who fret and complain, then immediately persuade them to relocate to Penang/North West Malaya.
If you are non-Muslim Malayan and do feel socially, politically, or economically shortchanged, then stop complaining and fretting. If non-Muslim taxpayers feel shortchanged, then stop the sweating, brooding, complaining, and having nightmares. There is a solution to the nightmares and depression. Do something. Please relocate to Penang/North West Malaya.
If non-Muslims feel that Muslim Malayan, as taxpayers, are having a parasitical relations with non-Muslim Malayans, then the non-Muslims must do something. What should non-Muslims do to thwart the parasitical relations with Muslim Malayans? If you are non-Muslim, please relocate to Penang Island. The solution is relocating to Penang Island; and the Muslim Malayans also should encourage non-Muslim Malayans to relocate to Penang/North West Malaya.
If the non-Muslims are opposed to the "ketuanan Melayu" ideology, then they should relocate to Penang/North West Malaya.
Firstly, I have utmost respect for the many Malays who are so kind. However, there are some Malays who feel that the Malay forefathers made a big mistake about 100 to 150 years ago by allowing Chinese and Indian immigrants into Malaya in large numbers. What happened about 100 to 150 years ago is irreversible. That's the Malay perspective. Well, there are Malayan citizens of Chinese and Indian ancestry who feel that their forefathers also made a big mistake relocating to Malaya. What happened about 100 to 150 years ago is irreversible. Now, just as the Malays have to tolerate non-Malays, the non-Malays have to tolerate the Malays too. There is a solution. The non-Muslims in Peninsular Malaya should relocate to Penang/North West Malaya. The Muslims should encourage non-Muslims to relocate to Penang. It's a win-win.
Firstly, I have utmost respect for the many Malays who are so kind. However, there are some Malays who feel that the Malay forefathers made a big mistake about 100 to 150 years ago by allowing Chinese and Indian immigrants into Malaya in large numbers. What happened about 100 to 150 years ago is irreversible. That's the Malay perspective. Well, there are Malayan citizens of Chinese and Indian ancestry who feel that their forefathers also made a big mistake relocating to Malaya. What happened about 100 to 150 years ago is irreversible. Now, just as the Malays have to tolerate non-Malays, the non-Malays have to tolerate the Malays too. There is a solution. The non-Muslims in Peninsular Malaya should relocate to Penang/North West Malaya. The Muslims should encourage non-Muslims to relocate to Penang. It's a win-win.
Nanyang means South Seas, a reference to the South East Asian region. The Nanyang Chinese are those Chinese who relocated from China to South East Asia about 100 to 150 years ago. The contribution of the Nanyang Chinese is well documented. In parts of South East Asia the Nanyang Chinese founded many, if not most, of the towns and urban centers. The Nanyang Chinese have served South East Asia for about 100 to 150 years and are entitled to a hub and space of their own which will be Penang. (We also have the Straits Chinese). The Chinese from Peninsular Malaya, if they can, should relocate closer to Penang so that Penang will always be a Chinese majority state. The Penang Chinese should seek greater autonomy for Penang. Global geo-politics is changing and with every passing day China is a rising social, political, and economic power. Amidst all these changes, Penang has to find its niche. We have to keep Penang as a Chinese majority state.
The Indians, as non-Muslims, in Malaya too have contributed to the growth and development of Malaya for 100 to 150 years. Global geo-politics is changing and with every passing day, China and India are rising social, political, and economic powers. Amidst all these changes, Penang has to find its niche. With every passing day, both China and India are growing stronger socially, politically, and economically. We have to keep Penang as a non-Muslim majority state. Both the Nanyang Chinese and the Indians in Malaya should, if they can, relocate closer to Penang/North West Malaya. With good cooperation between China and India, the Indians and Nanyang Chinese in Malaya can benefit. Penang should be the spot where the Chinese and Indian communities co-exist; and using Penang's co-existence model, both China and India can also co-exist. When the YING and the YANG coexist, there is harmony; and similarly, when China and India co-exist there will be harmony. The co-existence of China and India is the co-existence of two predominantly dharmic nations which will bring harmony.
We can say that the forefathers of the present Muslims in Malaya made a big mistake allowing Chinese and Indians to settle in Malaya more than 100 years ago. We can also say that Muslims benefitted enormously from the Chinese and Indian communities in Malaya. It is all about other people's money or OPM. OPM means other people's money. Over the last few decades the Muslims have benefitted by using OPM, namely taxes collected mostly from non-Muslim Malaysians. OPM has given the Muslims a free ride. Using OPM, Muslims have lived the good life in Malaya. Therefore, it is time for the non-Muslim Malayans to be increasingly Penang oriented. We do have a predominantly non-Muslim government in Penang; and therefore the Chinese and Indians in Malaya should become increasingly Penang oriented. The Muslims have their own government in KL; and the non-Muslims have their own government in Penang. States, districts and municipalities that have non-Muslim majority should demand greater autonomy.
We can say that the forefathers of the present Muslims in Malaya made a big mistake allowing Chinese and Indians to settle in Malaya more than 100 years ago. We can also say that Muslims benefitted enormously from the Chinese and Indian communities in Malaya. It is all about other people's money or OPM. OPM means other people's money. Over the last few decades the Muslims have benefitted by using OPM, namely taxes collected mostly from non-Muslim Malaysians. OPM has given the Muslims a free ride in Malaya. Using OPM, Muslims have lived the good life in Malaya. Therefore, it is time for the non-Muslim Malayans to be increasingly Penang oriented. We do have a predominantly non-Muslim government in Penang; and therefore the Chinese and Indians in Malaya should become increasingly Penang oriented. States, districts and municipalities that have non-Muslim majority should demand greater autonomy.
Where did the Malays come from? If you ask me, I’d venture to say that Malays come from Hindu/Buddhist influence. It all depends on how far back in history we want to go back to. If you care to go further back in history, then there is strong evidence that all 6.5 billion of us come from Africa. It is not too good to look back too much, anyway. We have to move forward. There are many new things we have to learn in this competitive world of ours; and there is no end to the learning process for non-Muslims. In any case, I have nothing against the Malays who are kind; and I assure you that many Malays are kind. (Incidentally, the indigenous/aboriginal population of Malaya are the Orang Asli, not the Malays.)
Historically, the Non-Alignment Movement(NAM) has always been hijacked by Muslims to fulfill their own personal agenda. It would be downright stupid of India and China to allow Muslims to use the new gained strength of China and India to fulfill the Muslim agenda. There is no NAM; the coexistence of China and India is the non-Muslim NAM. NAM and non-Muslim NAM are not the same. Will China and India be stupid enough to allow Muslims to use them again? We will wait and see. Time will tell.
Historically, the Muslims invaded and ruled India, Europe, and parts of Africa for a few hundred years. Muslims have a history of attacking Westerners and India. There is Muslim terrorism in China. Now, with the new gained strength of China and India, the Muslims want to befriend China and India to attack the Westerners. Would China and India be stupid enough to be used by Muslims? We will wait and see.
There is a need to understand that Straits Settlements, Federated Malay States, and Unfederated Malay States were slightly different from each other. Penang is part of the Straits Settlements and deserves greater autonomy. The goal of Penangites should be GREATER AUTONOMY. Malays should encourage non-Muslims to relocate closer to Penang/North West Malaya because an increase in non-Muslims in Penang/North West Malaya results in a decrease in non-Muslims in other parts of Malaya. It’s a win-win.
We have KL on the one hand, and George Town Penang on the other hand; and we will wait and see who can get more support from most non-Muslims, George Town or KL. We will wait and see.
Please make sure you go to the nearest Post Office to register to vote. Please exercise your right to vote.
If you do agree with me, please copy and remail it to whom it may concern. Those who receive it must in turn copy and remail it to whom it may concern. Let’s get the word around to as many people as possible. Let’s see what happens.
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