In the face of denials by the Election Commission and the National Registration Department on irregularities in voter registrations and the issuing of citizenship to illegals, one has to wonder; what would have happened if no-one had taken the time to check on the registration listings and the status of citizenship of certain people?
Would the irregularities have gone unnoticed? And if they have been irregular practices - how long have they been in place?
Does this not smell of the infamous Project IC of the 1990s?
Again, it began with UMNO
Project IC is the name used to describe the allegation of systematic granting of citizenship to immigrants (whether illegal or legal immigrants) by giving them identity documents known as IC (identity card), and subsequently, MyKad.
The project is a complex matter involving certain political parties as well as various government agencies including the Election Commission of Malaysia, the National Registration Department and the Immigration Department, which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The suspicions and allegations on the existence of Project IC began around the mid-1990s.
The project, in its widespread and intensive form, is suspected to have begun in the early 1990s after the entry of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) into Sabah politics.
Throughout the 1990s, several government officers were arrested under the Internal Security Act for their involvement in Project IC. A Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity was set up to hear testimonies of some of the detainees in February 2007. The committee was chaired by Sabah Member of Parliament Bernard Dompok. On May 16, 2007, Dompok quit as chairman of the committee over disagreements on the function and scope of the committee, in particular, over the refusal of the National Registration Department to appear before the committee. Later on, the findings of the committee was never made public.
Has a rehashed Project IC been reborn and using the latest technology to aid it?
Some wait a lifetime, others need only 4 hours
In the case of the individual called Mismah, who had her PR status upgraded to Full Citizenship in the space of four hours, Election Commission head Abdul Aziz Yusof attributed the problem to technical negligence.
Elaborating on the issue, he said he had contacted the NRD and was told that its online database had not been updated alongside the Agency Link-Up System (ALIS).
"(It was only) when I called (them) that they realised they have not updated the names online," Abdul Aziz added.
The NRD online database - used by the public to verify their status and details - is different from ALIS, which is the reference point for the EC in registering voters, he said.
If the NRD only knew that their online databases were not updated when the EC chairman called them, what were their ICT staff doing the whole time before the phone call?
And the EC explanation does not explain how Mismah could have her status changes within the same day during a four hour span. The changes to Mismah status were made before the call by the EC chairman to NRD. Thus, the ICT team was updating its record before the call. Does this mean that the main database had already had the changes made, and thus, this database has different information as compared to the online databases?
How many more are there?
And how many more Mismahs do we have? The records held by the NRD are now a point of contention? How sure are we that the information contained within the NRD databases are credible and true?
And with the impending use of the biometric system by the EC, one still wonders; how sure are we that the biometric information is coming from the correct database and how correct will the data be?
The legalisation of immigrants also uses biometrics as a means of registration, and this database of immigrants may be far more complete than the NRD or EC databases. Yet, even this to is looked upon suspiciously. How sure are we that the records from the Immigration Department’s databases will not make its way into the NRD databases?
Farce
Bear in mind, the EC still has to collect finger-print information of current and existing voters. The easiest method is to tap into the NRD database but not all those registered in the NRD database are registered voters.
Citizens still have to register to vote and a vetting process still has to be complied with. Thus, there will be a lot of activity to update and keep current the databases under the control of the EC, how sure are we that during this period of activity, manipulated information does not makes its way in?
The EC assertion that everything is transparent and clean is a farce. The EC must now convince the public that their right, as citizens of Malaysia, is not tainted nor super-ceded by the needs of a ruling government desperate to stay in power and willing to do anything to accomplish the task - even to the point of selling citizenships to illegals in order to buy votes. - Malaysia Chronicle
the face of denials by the Election Commission and the National
Registration Department on irregularities in voter registrations and the
issuing of citizenship to illegals, one has to wonder; what would have
happened if no-one had taken the time to check on the registration
listings and the status of citizenship of certain people?
Would the irregularities have gone unnoticed? And if they have been irregular practices - how long have they been in place?
Does this not smell of the infamous Project IC of the 1990s?
Project
IC is the name used to describe the allegation of systematic granting
of citizenship to immigrants (whether illegal or legal immigrants) by
giving them identity documents known as IC (identity card), and subsequently,MyKad.
The
project is a complex matter involving certain political parties as well
as various government agencies including the Election Commission of
Malaysia, the National Registration Department and the Immigration
Department, which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Home
Affairs. The suspicions and allegations on the existence of Project IC
started in around the mid-1990s.
The
project, in its widespread and intensive form, is suspected to have
begun in the early 1990s after the entry of United Malays National
Organisation (UMNO) into Sabah politics.
Throughout
the 1990s, several government officers were arrested under the Internal
Security Act for their involvements in Project IC. A Parliamentary
Select Committee on Integrity was set up to hear testimonies of some of
the detainees in February 2007. The committee was chaired by Sabah
Member of Parliament Bernard Dompok. On May 16, 2007, Dompok quit as
chairman of the committee over disagreements on the function and scope
of the committee, in particular, over the refusal of the National
Registration Department to appear before the committee. Later on, the
findings of the committee was never made public.
Has a rehashed Project IC been reborn and using technology to aid it?
In
the case of the individual called Mismah, who had her PR status
upgraded to Full Citizenship in the space of four hours, EC head Abdul Aziz Yusof attributed the problem to technical negligence.
Elaborating
on the issue, he said he had contacted the NRD and was told that its
online database had not been updated alongside the Agency Link-Up System
(Alis).
"(It was only) when I called (them) that they realised they have not updated the names online," Abdul Aziz added.
The
NRD online database - used by the public to verify their status and
details - is different from Alis, which is the reference point for the
EC in registering voters, he said.
The
NRD only knew that their online databases were not updated when the EC
chairman called them, what were the NRD ICT staff doing the whole time
before the phone call?
And
the EC explanation does not explain how Mismah could have her status
changes within the same day during a four hour span. The changes to
Mismah status were made before the call by the EC chairman to NRD. Thus,
the ICT team were updating their records before the call. Does this
mean that the main database had already had the changes made and thus,
this database has different information as compared to the online
databases?
And
how many more Mismah’s do we have? The records held by the NRD are now a
point of contention? How sure are we that the information contained
within the NRD databases are credible and true?
And
with the impending use of the biometric system by the EC, one still
wonders; how sure are we that the biometric information is coming from
the correct database and how correct will the data be?
The
legalisation of immigrants also uses biometrics as a means of
registration, and this database of immigrants may be far more complete
than the NRD or EC databases. Yet, even this to is looked upon
suspiciously. How sure are we that the records from the Immigration
Department’s databases will not make its way into the NRD databases?
Bear
in mind, the EC still has to collect finger-print information of
current and existing voters. The easiest method is to tap into the NRD
database but not all those registered in the NRD database are registered
voters. Citizens still have to register to vote and a vetting process
still have to be complied to. Thus, there will be a lot of activity to
update and keep current the databases under the control of the EC, how
sure are we that during this period of activity, manipulated information
does not makes its way in?
The
EC assertion that everything is transparent and clean is a farce. The
EC must now convince the public that their right, as citizens of
Malaysia, is not tainted nor super-ceded by the need of a ruling
government desperate to stay in power and willing to do anything to
accomplish the task - even to the point of selling citizenship to
illegals in order to guy votes.
1 comment:
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. Right now, only Islam is recognised as the religion in the Department of Religion. 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.
Another alternative is to persuade the Malays to separate Penang Island from Peninsular Malaysia. 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 to Penang. An increase in non-Malays in Penang will result in a decrease in non-Malays in Peninsular Malaysia; and therefore Malays should be happy. Malays should encourage non-Muslims to relocate to Penang. 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. Those non-Muslim citizens who are unwilling to accept a second class citizen status inside Peninsular Malaysia should relocate to Penang Island.
If you are non-Muslim Malaysian 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. If you have non-Muslim friends who fret and complain, then immediately persuade them to relocate to Penang.
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.
Post a Comment