Are the majority of UMNO Ministers, MPs and leaders like Noh Omar,  not prepared publicly to endorse Najib’s Global Movement of Moderates initiative  and yet deny being an  extremist?

The “ruckus”  by the Selangor UMNO/Barisan Nasional chief, Datuk Noh Omar, the UMNO/BN MP for Tanjung Karang  in Parliament yesterday has thrown up  a teaser – are the majority of UMNO Ministers, MPs and leaders like Noh Omar,  not prepared publicly to endorse Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) initiative and yet deny being an extremist.

It would be interesting for a such a vote to be taken.

That this question has to be asked four years after Najib has launched his GMM campaign with very uncertain  answers is a sad reflection of the failure of another signature policy of the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Najib’s first signature policy failure was the infamous case in early 2010 when his Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in response to my challenge, declared that he was “Malay first, Malaysian second” in a unqualified repudiation of the Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia Policy!

Yesterday, when Noh Omar tried to be a hero during my speech on the Prime Minister’s Department during the committee stage of the 2015  Budget, I challenged Noh Omar to declare his stand whether he is a “moderate or extremist” in the context of Najib’s promotion of   the  GMM initiative, where in his third speech  at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 26, 2014,  he said:

“The fight against extremism is not about Christians versus Muslims, or Muslims versus Jews, but moderates versus extremists of all religions. We therefore need to rally a coalition of moderates; those willing to reclaim their religion, and pursue the path to peace.”

Despite being repeatedly challenged, Noh Omar refused to declare that he is  a “moderate” as defined by Najib’s GMM campaign, and instead sought refuge in a meaningless statement: “I want to declare in this House, as an MP and a Malaysian, that I obey the law of the Constitution and Rukunegara”.

Noh Omar is unable to state where in the Constitution or Runkunegara is there justification or authority for Perkasa President, Ibrahim Ali, to threaten to burn the Bible without having to face the wrath and sanctions of the law.

It was therefore  no surprise that Noh Omar refused to respond when  I pointedly asked him whether he would agree to a zero-tolerance policy for any threat to burn the holy book of any religion in Malaysia.

I had earlier said that just as there should be a zero tolerance for corruption, there should be a zero tolerance for any threat to turn the holy books of any religion in multi-religious Malaysia – whether Quran for Islam, Bible for Christianity, Tripitaka for Buddhism, Vedas for Hinduism, Torah for Judaism, Guru Granth Sahib for Sikhism and Tao Te Ching for Taoism?

Noh Omar had never agreed to any policy of zero tolerance for corruption (which is why Malaysia’s corruption problem is so grave and rampant)  and it is asking him to do the impossible to agree to a policy of zero tolerance for any threat to burn the holy books of any religion in multi-religious Malaysia.

But if so, how can Noh Omar qualify to be a “moderate” in the context of the contest between “moderates and extremists” in the fight against extremism?

But what is most educative and informative is that the Nor Omar “ruckus” in Parliament has also  thrown out the teaser – whether the majority of UMNO Ministers, MPs and leaders are like Noh Omar  not prepared publicly to endorse Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) initiative and yet deny being an extremist!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 November 2014, 3:47 pm and is filed under
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Negara-Ku starts roadshow to reclaim Malaysia from extremism

by Jennifer Gomez

The Malaysian Insider

12 November 2014

New people’s movement Negara-Ku is set to carry out its “reclaim Malaysia” agenda nationwide with a roadshow beginning in Malacca tonight to return rationality, open and civil discussion, moderation and harmony to Malaysia.

“Kembalikan Negaraku” or “Return My Country” aims to take back Malaysia from racism and extremism, and provide a platform for safe debates, even on controversial issues such as the court’s recent decision on Negri Sembilan’s Islamic enactments on transgenders.

More than just focusing on issues themselves, the movement’s founder and chairperson Zaid Kamaruddin said they wanted to promote a climate where Malaysians could discuss matters without getting emotional.

Their aim was to also put forward the fact that all differences could be discussed with the Federal Constitution as a reference.

Zaid also said the roadshow was not just about promoting the movement but to draw all other civil society groups that wanted to promote healthy relationships among communities. Years before Negara-Ku, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched his 1Malaysia concept when he took office in 2009 but the slogan has since petered out.

“We  support all other efforts that promote the coming together of Malaysians, to be able to express what they want,” he added.

Zaid said this was “absolutely necessary” because of continued extremist rhetoric over race, religion and social issues, which Negara-Ku felt it had to counter by advocating moderation, peace and harmony.

Using the recent court decision on the Negri Sembilan transgender case as an example, Zaid said that there was concern over the way people perceived the decision.

“When discussing an issue like this, we should look at what the constitution says and be able to take the differences in opinion in a civilised manner without getting overly emotional,” he added.

The Court of Appeal had on November 7 declared unconstitutional a provision in the Negri Sembilan Islamic religious enactment which made it an offence for Muslim males to dress and behave as women.

The three appellants in the case are transgender women who have experience humiliating treatment and arrest several times for violating Section 66 of the state’s Shariah Criminal Enactment.

Reactions to the court case have bordered on instigation to violence, the group Lawyers for Liberty had warned in a statement yesterday.

PAS politician Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa will be among the speakers at the Negara-Ku roadshow. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 12, 2014.PAS politician Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa will be among the speakers at the Negara-Ku roadshow. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 12, 2014.Some of these reactions included calling transgenders “a cancer” to society, as persons who had “challenged God’s law”, as well as calling for “jihad” to be waged against them. Some of those who made such statements included prominent and influential religious figures, groups and the Ulama Council of political party, PAS.

Negara-Ku’s roadshow will cover seven states, and will kick off in Malacca tonight at the Heng Ann Association.

Speakers include PAS politician Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, who is also the chair of Gerakan Anti-Perkauman; Al-Mustaqeem M. Radui, coordinator of Lingkaran Islam Tradisional; and also Zaid.

Mujahid has been a prominent figure in interfaith dialogues, participating in forums with speakers representing other religions, visiting churches and speaking up for other faiths.

After Malacca, the roadshow will make stops in Perak, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.

Zaid also said that the roadshow was aimed at bringing back the essence of Malaysia as a country formed on equality, secularism, guaranteed fundamental rights and a prosperous state where everyone feels at home.

These attributes appear to be under threat these days, he said, adding that if nothing is done, Malaysians may no longer be able to recognise their country in time to come.

“If we keep idle while insensitive quarters continue propagating racism and intolerance amongst us, it is an indication that hate speech and extremism are acceptable.

“It is certainly not and that message must be clearly sent,” Zaid said.

Next year, there are plans for the roadshow to head for east coast states.

Negara-Ku was launched four months ago, with the aim of bringing Malaysians from all backgrounds together to counter negative developments threatening the social fabric of the country.

Negara-Ku aims to bring Malaysians back to the country’s basics in the Federal Constitution, Malaysia Agreement and the Rukunegara.

Endorsed by over 60 civil society groups, the movement’s patrons are former Bersih co-chair and prominent lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, national laureate Datuk A.Samad Said and former vice-chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) Tan Sri Simon Sipaun.

Ambiga had said that Negara-Ku was an initiative by concerned citizens unable to remain on the sidelines while leaders did nothing to stop certain quarters from destroying the nation’s harmony.

She had also previously said the movement sought to provide information and education for people to face challenges in Malaysian society.

This would be done through videos, social media and forums and talks “to get people to listen, to question and to think,” she had said. – November 12, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 November 2014, 10:12 am and is filed under
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Who can count more than two Ministers in the Najib Cabinet who are committed moderates in the great battle between moderation and extremism – the raison d’etre for the foundation of Najib’s Global Movement of Moderates?

I said yesterday that the  “ruckus” in Parliament on Monday created by the Selangor UMNO/Barisan Nasional chief, Datuk Noh Omar, the UMNO/BN MP for Tanjung Karang  had thrown up  a teaser – whether the majority of UMNO Ministers, MPs and leaders are like Noh Omar, who are not prepared publicly to endorse Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) initiative and yet deny being an extremist.

Actually, the “ruckus” had done more,  as it also raised the fundamental question how Najib’s GMM initiative could have any chance of success when it is impossible to identify more than a handful of committed moderates in Cabinet and UMNO/BN leadership!

For instance, how many Ministers and UMNO/BN leaders are fully committed moderates dedicated to the moderate agenda of the GMM campaign, as repeatedly spelt out by Najib in various international forums in the past four years, as follows:

“The fight against extremism is not about Christians versus Muslims, or Muslims versus Jews, but moderates versus extremists of all religions. We therefore need to rally a coalition of moderates; those willing to reclaim their religion, and pursue the path to peace.”

I cannot count more than two fully committed moderates in the Cabinet who are willing  to take up the cudgel of moderation against extremism and rally behind a coalition of moderates to reclaim their religion and pursue the path to peace.

Are there more than two Ministers in the Najib Cabinet who are prepared to publicly declare themselves as “moderates” in the great battle between moderation and extremism which was the raison d’etre for the existence of the GMM!

Will Cabinet Ministers who regard themselves as committed moderates in the great battle between moderation and extremism please stand up and identify themselves?

This goes for the UMNO/BN political leaders as well!

Apart from the two “moderate” Ministers in the Cabinet, the rest seems to be  either extremists or  “nominal moderates” – or Malaysia would not have been  plunged into the worst racial and religious polarisation in more than four decades of nation-building, with hate speech and incitement of racial and religious tensions and conflict without having the face the wrath and sanctions of the law becoming quite commonplace.

The MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sarawak and Sabah Ministers may claim to be moderates, but they are at most “nominal’ or token moderates, who dare not take a stand against the extremists who preach intolerance and hatred against other faiths – demanding for instance that the Perkasa President, Ibrahim Ali should be prosecuted for his threat to burn the Bible as well as demanding that there should be zero tolerance for any threat to burn any holy books of any religion in multi-religious Malaysia.

The first three Prime Ministers  of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein, would be most dismayed if they are alive today to see the sad state of racial and religious relations in the country where, instead of celebrating the country’s ethnic, religious and cultural diversity, reckless individuals and groups are seeking with immunity and impunity to denigrate and diminish this diversity.

Will this height of denigration and demonization of the ethnic, religious and cultural diversity reach a new climax at Umno General Assemblies at the end of the month?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 November 2014, 4:12 pm and is filed under
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‘Tis the season of forgetfulness over financial scandals

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

12 November 2014

So much has happened over the years that one is forgiven for forgetfulness about what went wrong or right in Malaysia.

Malaysians have seen a series of financial scandals, each that seem bigger than the previous one.

Right now, the focus is on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Everyone is concerned about its debts and the government’s liability if it fails. That includes Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Daim Zainuddin, and rightly so, as the two men navigated Malaysia through tough economic times in the past.

But what about the huge gaping hole called Perwaja, not to mention Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and PKFZ during Dr Mahathir’s long 22 years in power. Or Maminco or Bank Negara’s forex scandal if that ever strikes one’s minds.

Weren’t they scandals that hogged the headlines in the past, only to be quickly dismissed by the government of the day and either government guarantees or public funds poured in to bail them out?

And then Daim talks about widening income gap, blah blah blah… that is blighting the nation. Didn’t that also happen in the past few decades and not just a recent phenomenon?

The thing is, the Malaysian economy did not become dysfunctional overnight. The excesses, subsidy mentality were also features in both of Daim’s terms in office during the Mahathir years.

Malaysia went through several cycles of economic slowdowns where there was much pump-priming. That playbook has hardly changed in recent years although prime ministers have changed.

See, the only saving grace for all the missteps and mismanagement and gross incompetency or corruption over the decades is that Malaysians are a forgiving lot.

We have not pushed anyone out office for losing billions of ringgit over the years. Financial scandals have not lost anyone public office in Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir and Daim have a right to be concerned as much as other Malaysians about the country’s economy and the rising public debt but they have to remind themselves the same happened during their time in office.

There is little difference between them and the current government in thinking that they know best for the country’s economy – no matter the criticisms and concern of the ordinary people who have to tighten their belts because the government is not doing exactly that.

They can forget the past financial scandals but Malaysians should not, and not let them get away without accounting for their deeds in public office. – November 12, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 13 November 2014, 8:59 am and is filed under
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GMM: Can democrat Islamists curb extremism?

Free Malaysia Today

November 14, 2014

Global Movement of Moderates hold roundtable discussion on the moderate approach of democracy versus war.

KUALA LUMPUR: Democrat Islamists can be a solution to curb extremism worldwide as they provide a moderate approach in today’s global world through the ballot box, said academicians and politicians.

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) lecturer Dr Maszlee Malik said Democrat Islamists, made famous after the Arab Spring, allowed Muslims to control their fate through the ballot box rather than war or in the hands of leaders who were dictators, thus ending any grievances they might have had.

“The idea of democrat Islamists has existed for a long time. Radical groups emerge because they found there was no hope for Muslims to enjoy justice, human rights and good governance,” he said at a roundtable discussion on Democrat Islamists organised by the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) together with IIUM’s Fiqh Department.

Chairman of London-based Al-Hiwar TV channel Dr Azzam Tamimi, said that the success of the Arab Spring was a promising event that allowed for democracy in the Middle East and at the same time made the militant group Al Qaeda into an irrelevant movement.

“The success of the Arab Spring as we saw in Tunisia and Egypt was very promising, showing that this is the way forward. Some of the leaders of Al Qaeda were actually stressing fear that this model was succeeding, because it was proving them wrong,” he said.

Dr Azzam also stressed that Democrat Islamist’s definition still varies, depending on how people come into contact with the ideology and that the struggle for Democrat Islamists in the Middle East was still an ongoing process.

The GMM on its website stated that “Democrat Islamist” is a special term which refers to the new actors who seek to apply the Islamic principles to public policy within a democratic framework, including those in Morocco and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, PAS Research Centre Executive Director Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad noted that although Westerners were a little cautious of the ideology, Democrat Islamists like that of PAS were successful and have managed to exist for 60 years in Malaysia.

But he noted that Democrat Islamists had problems of balancing between being democratic and upholding the true values of Islam in order to be relevant in a diverse country like Malaysia.

“The Democrat Islamist party needs to come up with universal proposals that can persuade the people, both Muslims and Non-Muslims. Thus it must engage with the public, allow for forum of differences and be less judgemental,” he said.

Morroco’s Party of Justice and Development (PJD) Member of the International Relations Committee, Dr Driss Bouanou, highlighted the success of Democrat Islamists in Morocco as the country had been practising democracy since its establishment.

He said that since Morocco was a democratic country, it was not affected by the Arab Spring.

“We have managed to work well with the monarchy and our political rival to maintain a prosperous Morocco.

“For what we have achieved in Morocco, nobody can say that the Democrat Islamists do not exist,” he said referrng to PJD, the ruling party of Morocco.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Prosperous Justice Party President Dr Anis Matta said although Western countries seemed cynical towards the existence of Democrat Islamists, they were actually more concerned if it will jeopardise their interest in the Muslim countries.

“For example, although Saudi Arabia is not a democratic country, Western powers are not bothered about this as long as their interests are not jeopardised. The West actually do not care what the ideology of a particular country is,” he said.

The rountable discussion is aimed at exploring the role and contribution of Democrat Islamists in promoting moderation and combating extremism in the Muslim world.

GMM chief executive officer Saifuddin Abdullah said the roundtable discussion was a preparation for an international conference to be held by the GMM Foundation in the first quarter of next year.

“We are also planning for another roundtable on another issue to promote moderation in December this year and January 2015,” he said at a press conference.

Saifuddin said the international conference next year will discuss issues such as democracy and good governance and is expected to be officiated by Prime Minister Najib Razak who is also GMM patron.

– BERNAMA

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 November 2014, 9:08 am and is filed under
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Isis and al-Qa’ida ‘agree to end fighting and join against their opponents’

Kashmira Gander

Independent

13 November 2014

Al-Qa’ida has been fighting with Isis since the latter separated from it as an offshoot

Militant leaders from the Isis and al-Qa’ida terrorist groups have agreed to stop fighting each other in order to join against their opponents.

Isis, which calls itself the Islamic State (IS), and al-Qa’ida’s Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, have been engaged in bitter fighting for more than a year in an attempt to dominate the bloody rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The accord set between the extremists groups in northern Syria last week could spell problems for the US-led coalition in its fight against Isis, as it complements its air strikes by arming “moderate” rebel factions to fight on the ground.

Now, if the two terrorist groups fulfil their agreement and unite as one force, this would further weaken US-backed rebels – who are viewed as relatively disorganised.

The agreement follows signs that the two groups had cooled their feud with informal truces, the Associated Press reported. A high-level Syrian opposition and a rebel commander have since told the news agency that the accord would see them halt fighting and to open up against Kurdish fighters in a couple of new areas of northern Syria.

The meeting between seven top militant leaders took place on 2 November in the town of Atareb, west of Aleppo, according to a Syrian opposition official speaking in Turkey. He added that the meeting was closely followed by members of his movement, and he is certain IS and al-Qa’ida reached an agreement.

The Khorasan Group, a small but tough band of al-Qaida veterans from Afghanistan and Pakistan, were also reportedly present at the meeting, as was Jund al-Aqsa, a hard-line faction that has sworn allegiance to IS; and Ahrar al-Sham, a conservative Muslim rebel group.

However, experts believe any pact could easily be broken, and US intelligence officials monitoring the terrorist organisations have said that they did not expect a merger to happen soon, if ever.

Speaking on a condition of anonymity, a US official with access to intelligence on Syria said the American intelligence community has not seen any indications of a shift in the two groups’ strategy, but added that he could not rule out tactical deals on the ground.

Nusra has gained a reputation as one of the most battle-hardened factions attempting to overthrow Assad in the civil war which has killed more than 200,000 people since it began as part of the Arab Spring 2011.

And in 2012, IS branched out from al-Qaida in Iraq, and over the course of this year, the group has seized nearly a third of Syria and Iraq with a campaign of brutality and beheadings.

Al-Qaida initially rejected IS’s claims to any role in Syria, and Nusra and other factions entered a war-within-a-war against it. But the Islamic State group swelled in power and became flush with weapons and cash after overrunning much of northern and western Iraq over the summer.

Tom Joscelyn, an American analyst who tracks terror groups for the website Long War Journal, said no messages have emerged to confirm that the two groups have formally joined forces on the battlefield. But he said there has been information emerging before the reported 2 November meeting “that would seem to fit in with that being what they were driving at. There has been a big push on the al-Qaida side to get this (alliance) through.”

“If there is less blood being spilled against each other and they don’t have to worry about that, that’s going to make it easier for the jihadis to go after Assad or any Western-backed forces,” he added.

Additional reporting by AP

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 November 2014, 8:35 am and is filed under
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Islamic State leader urges attacks in Saudi Arabia

Reuters/Daily Times Pakistan

November 14, 2014

BEIRUT: Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called for attacks against the rulers of Saudi Arabia in a speech purported to be in his name on Thursday, saying his self-declared caliphate was expanding there and in four other Arab countries.

Baghdadi also said a US.-led military campaign against his group in Syria and Iraq was failing and he called for “volcanoes of jihad” the world over.

Reuters could not independently confirm the authenticity of the speech – an audio recording carried on Islamic State-run social media. The voice sounded similar to a previous speech delivered by Baghdadi in July in a mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul in July, the last time he spoke in public.

It followed contradictory accounts out of Iraq after US. air strikes last Friday about whether he was wounded in a raid. The United States said on Tuesday it could not confirm whether he was killed or wounded in Iraq following a strike near the city of Falluja.

Baghdadi urged supporters in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, to take the fight to the rulers of the kingdom, which has joined the US.-led coalition in mounting air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria.

“O sons of al-Haramayn…the serpent’s head and the stronghold of the disease are there…draw your swords and divorce life, because there should be no security for the Saloul,” Baghdadi said, using a derogatory term to refer to the leadership of Saudi Arabia.

Haramayn is a reference to the two holiest places in Islam — both of them in Saudi Arabia.

The speech was not dated but carried a reference to a Nov. 7 US. announcement that President Barack Obama had approved sending up to 1,500 more US. troops to Iraq.

Islamic State has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq and declared a caliphate over territory it controls in June. Baghdadi said he had accepted oaths of allegiance from supporters in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Algeria.

“We announce to you the expansion of the Islamic State to new countries, to the countries of the Haramayn, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Algeria,” he said in the speech, in which he spoke at length on his group’s expansion.

“We announce the acceptance of the pledges of allegiance of the brothers who swore loyalty to us in these countries… and the appointment governors.”

Although supporters have pledged allegiance to Islamic State in countries including Lebanon, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Baghdadi singled out only those five states, picking countries where sympathisers have a strong base and could mount attacks.

He added, however: “Oh soldiers of the Islamic State…erupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere. Light the earth with fire against all dictators.”

Referring to U.S.-led military action against his group, he said: “Despite this Crusade campaign being the most fierce and severe of all, it is the greatest failure.”

“We see America and its allies stumbling in fear, weakness, impotence and failure.” The speech was transcribed in Arabic and translated into English.

Obama has said the United States aims to degrade and eventually destroy Islamic State, which has reshaped the Middle East by seizing large areas of Iraq and Syria and is imposing its radical interpretation of Sunni Islam.

Since Islamic State launched an offensive in Iraq in June, Riyadh has sent thousands of troops to the border area.

In June, King Abdullah pledged to take “all measures” to protect Saudi Arabia from Islamic State, which it has labelled a terrorist organisation.

At least 1,000 army soldiers, 1,000 national guardsmen and three helicopter units have arrived to reinforce the border area near the town of Arar since Islamic State’s advance in June, the commander of Saudi border guards in the area said in July.

Referring to Yemen, where Shia Houthis captured the capital Sanaa in September, forcing the government to resign, he said: “Oh soldiers of Yemen…be harsh against the Houthis, they are infidels and apostates. Fight them and win against them.”

Baghdadi also congratulated supporters in Egypt’s Sinai for starting jihad against what he called the “dictators of Egypt”.

He also urged supporters in Libya, Algeria and Morocco to prevent secular groups from ruling.

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Let the amicable resolution to the Selangor issue of the seizure of Malay language Bibles and Malaysia’s assumption of ASEAN Chair usher in a virtuous cycle of moderation and establish Malaysia as a regional and international model of moderation

Congratulations are in order to the Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali in resolving the nearly year-long Selangor controversy over the seizure of the Malay language  Bible with the return of the seized copies of the Bible to the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM).

The amicable resolution to the issue of the seizure of Malay language Bibles and Malaysia’s assumption of the annual rotating ASEAN Chairmanship for 2015 are two welcome developments which should be the basis to usher in a virtuous cycle of moderation and establish Malaysia as a regional and international model of moderation.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in the handing-over ceremony of the annual rotating ASEAN Chair in Naypyitaw, Myanmar yesterday that Malaysia, as chairman of ASEAN, would promote moderation as a shared value in order to address conflict and find solutions to issues concerning regional peace and security.

He also called on ASEAN to avoid narrow nationalism which could go against the spirit of an ASEAN community.

Similarly, there is urgent need for Malaysians to avoid narrow communalism which could go against the spirit of a Malaysian community, in fact Najib’s 1Malaysia signature policy and to give national substance and relevance to his Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) initiative.

It is time for Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or politics, to take pro-active steps to arrest the serious polarization both of race and religion which had beset the country and created serious national divisions and discord in the country.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 November 2014, 1:14 pm and is filed under
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PKR, PAS support cut by Selangor MB saga, DAP intact, survey shows

by Zulkifli Sulong

Features and Analysis Editor

The Malaysian Insider

14 November 2014

PKR and PAS’s image took the heaviest beatings over the Selangor menteri besar (MB) imbroglio, compared to the DAP which was largely unaffected, a survey by Universiti Malaya’s Centre for Democracy and Elections (UMcedel) has found.

The findings were released by UMcedel director Dr Amir Saifude Ghazali for the survey that was conducted after Mohamed Azmin Ali was sworn in as menteri besar in September.

Across the major ethnic groups in Malaysia’s wealthiest and industrialised state, most people surveyed agreed that PKR and PAS suffered the most drop in support, with figures for PKR higher than for the Islamist party.

The UMcedel survey showed 52% of Malays in Selangor agreeing that the MB saga had reduced support for PKR, the lead party in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, while 25% Malay respondents disagreed.

Chinese and Indian perceptions of PKR due to the impasse was also substantial, with 46% of Chinese and 45% of Indians agreeing that the multi-racial party was the most affected by the crisis.

PAS came a close second, with 42% of Malays surveyed agreeing the Islamist party’s support was affected by the imbroglio, while 33% said there was no impact.

Among the Chinese, 43% said support for PAS was affected, while 41% of Indians surveyed also believed that the party’s support had been eroded.

DAP, however, came out the most unscathed, despite its role in backing PKR for a change of menteri besar.

Only 34% of Malays believed DAP had been affected by the issue, while 32% said otherwise.

Chinese voters shared the same view, with only 28% saying it was affected compared to 38% saying it had not.

The majority of Indian voters (38%) polled also said DAP was not affected, while 26% said the party had been affected.

The survey was conducted after Azmin replaced Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who lost support from his party and the DAP despite being popular among the people.

Overall, however, UMcedel’s survey found that Selangor voters still preferred PR over Umno, despite the blow to PKR and PAS’s image.

Support for PR in Selangor had increased to 43% after the crisis finally ended, an improvement over UMcedel’s survey in May which saw support for the coalition in the state plunge to 35%, largely due to infighting.

PKR had triggered the MB crisis in January, when it engineered the Kajang Move to replace Khalid with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Support for BN had reduced by 5% from 25% last May, according to the survey.

“Although the people still support PR, they should not feel comfortable with their current position,” Amir said during the briefing.

Khalid, with the backing of PAS, had refused to step down for several months, and sacked all DAP and PKR executive council members from the government on August 13, two days after he was sacked from his own party.

The Port Klang assemblyman finally stepped down as MB after the PR presidential council decided on August 17 to endorse PKR President Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for the top post in the state.

But the MB impasse dragged on after PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang overruled his party’s decision and said he did not agree with Dr Wan Azizah’s candidacy. Breaking ranks with allies, he submitted three different names to the Sultan.

Throughout the crisis, DAP had stood by PKR’s decision to replace Khalid with Dr Wan Azizah, and was attacked by several PAS leaders over its role in the issue.

The crisis was finally resolved when the Selangor Sultan consented to Azmin’s appointment, and the PKR deputy president was sworn in as MB on September 23.

However, PAS’s infighting continued, although it is believed that the conflict is abating after several factions from within the party convened for a retreat last weekend in Kuala Selangor where it was decided that PAS would remain in PR. – November 14, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 November 2014, 8:49 am and is filed under
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Building schools for all Malaysians?

By Azly Rahman

Malaysiakini

Nov 14, 2014

I am hoping that either the Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat will take up the idea of this new brand of schooling to propel to country into a new era of educational reform as we approach 2015.

The initiative should be started by the Selangor government run by Pakatan to showcase what the BN regime has not been able to do in meeting the schooling and human capital needs of the 21st century, as well as for national unity. I have been writing about this model for years and have even proposed to educational leaders from both governmental camps. I call this initiative Akademie Renaissance (AR) Schools and would like to see it come to fruition in my lifetime.

This initiative will propel the state of Selangor into a major phase of educational reform, partnering in its effort to showcase the nation and other countries a model of a truly global school that harmonises technology, culture, and total human development from the level of kindergarten to graduate school.

It will have its mission in preparing children to become global citizens and experts in the fields of study they will choose as a career, through a systematic process of schooling of the highest standards, from kindergarten to high/secondary schools.

The educational objective is to create ‘academies’ that will become ‘feeder schools of choice’ (specialised) to prepare students for entry into top Asian, American, British, and other world universities of high standing in which English is the medium of instruction. The initial project will be the building of secondary/high schools.

They will be modeled after the most innovative of educational philosophies whose vision is to create thinkers, innovators, and life-long learners who will be successful at all phases of learning and will contribute to the betterment of society and to Malaysia in general.

They will be based on a curriculum that is distinct from the governmental school, focusing on English Language as a lingua franca as the medium of instruction so that the students will be prepared for entry into the world’s top ranking colleges/universities whose language if instruction is English. A high level of proficiency in this language is therefore necessary as skills mastery.

Faculty members will consist of those from diverse local and international backgrounds, skilled in the art and science of teaching and committed to the principles of highest academic excellence and global education, and student emotional and cultural growth.

They will be the premier college preparation schools which will give admission priority to the best and the brightest of children of the poor of all races in Malaysia. The aim is to provide the best quality education to children who come from families who are in the worst economic conditions and to give them all the opportunity they will need to be successful enough to give back to their families and community.

A criteria is also to give priority admission to those whose parents have never had a college/university education and to orphans of all ethnic background.

Alleviation of poverty regardless of race

The vision of this new genre of schools is to have a population that reflects the true composition of multi-ethnic Malaysia who will further demonstrate that they will still continue to succeed against all odds and be leaders with a conscience clear enough to contribute to one of Independent Malaysia’s two noble goals of development – the alleviation of poverty regardless of race.

The schools will not only be internationally-linked as ‘university-college-lab-schools of global-experiential learning’ in which the curriculum is based on cutting edge 21st century informational-society driven paradigm of learning and teaching and expected outcomes, but also will be architecturally innovative; one that will harmonise not only the elements of living much needed in the 21st century but also be culturally-intellectually responsive.

In other words, these schools in all states in Malaysia will have a unique design that will harmonise tradition and modernity.

These experimental schools will also be an educational facility for community education and entrepreneurial activities linking local production of cottage-industrial artifacts to the global market, utilising advanced digital, cybernetic, and virtual communication technologies for students to help the local community to participate in the global business.

In the area of community education, it will also house specialised galleries showcasing historical artifacts of from local-historical materials collected and curated by students, with the help of faculty.

They will essentially be ‘research-driven college prep schools’ in which at every level of learning, students will be employing primarily scientific thinking as a means to acquire and produce knowledge and to further create artifacts useful both for the advancement of theoretical knowledge as well as those practically useful for society.

In essence, Akademie Renaissance (AR) will be 21st century schools showcasing best practices in global education and will have the state as a first campus.

I hope there will be an interest in experimenting with this radical-humanistic change. I hope it will come from the Selangor government if it wishes to show commitment to meaningful reform.

DR AZLY RAHMAN, born in Singapore and grew up in Johor Baru, holds a Columbia University (New York City) doctorate in International Education Development and Masters degrees in four areas: Education, International Affairs, Peace Studies and Communication. He has taught more than 40 courses in six different departments and has written more than 350 analyses on Malaysia. His teaching experience in Malaysia and the United States spans over a wide range of subjects, from elementary to graduate education. He has edited and authored six books; Multiethnic Malaysia: Past, Present, Future (2009), Thesis on Cyberjaya: Hegemony and Utopianism in a Southeast Asian State (2012), The Allah Controversy and Other Essays on Malaysian Hypermodernity (2013), a first Malay publication Kalimah Allah Milik Siapa?: Renungan dan Nukilan Tentang Malaysia di Era Pancaroba (2014), and Controlled Chaos: Essays on Mahathirism, Multimedia Super Corridor and Malaysia’s ‘New Politics’ (forthcoming 2014). He currently resides in the United States where he teaches courses in Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Political Science, and American Studies.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 15 November 2014, 8:31 am and is filed under
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Feted abroad, but Ambiga gets banned from Sabah

by Anisah Shukry

The Malaysian Insider

15 November 2014

Just a day after receiving an international award in Hong Kong, prominent lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has been banned from entering Sabah ahead of her planned visit to Malaysia’s eastern-most state.

A letter informing the former Bar Council president of the ban was waiting for her when she returned to Malaysia yesterday, after she was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the fourth Euromoney Legal Media Group Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2014 ceremony in Hong Kong on Thursday.

The letter, from the Sabah Immigration Department, was in response to Ambiga’s own letter to them on Tuesday, informing them of her intention to visit Sabah on November 25 for a programme with the new people’s movement, Negara-Ku.

“I had written to them because I don’t want to fly all the way there just to be told I’m not allowed in. It was just a formality, to confirm there was no restriction.

“But then they wrote back and said they had rejected my application – even though I wasn’t even applying for their permission to enter Sabah,” the Negara-Ku patron told The Malaysian Insider.

The visit to Sabah is part of Negara-Ku’s nationwide roadshow to “reclaim Malaysia” and return rationality, open and civil discussion, moderation and harmony to the country.

The roadshow began on Wednesday night in Malacca, and will cover six other states: Perak, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.

Endorsed by over 60 civil society groups, the movement’s patrons are Ambiga, national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said and former vice-chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), Tan Sri Simon Sipaun.

Ambiga and Samad had both co-chaired electoral reforms group Bersih 2.0.

In her November 11 letter to Sabah Immigration Department director Noor Alam Khan A. Wahid Khad, Ambiga said she planned to travel to Sabah on November 25 (Tuesday) to speak at a forum on national unity, which will also feature Tan Sri Simon Sipaun and Datuk Dr Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan.

“Under Section 67 of the Immigration Act, 1959/63 [Act 155], I am entitled as of right to enter Sabah as my visit is for the sole purpose of engaging in a legitimate, non-partisan community activity.

“As I wish to finalise my plans, I would appreciate your urgent confirmation that there is no restriction of my entry into Sabah on that day,” she wrote.

But Noor Alam in his reply yesterday said her “application” had been forwarded to the state authorities, and that “it is with great regret that the application to enter Sabah has been rejected”.

Noor Alam did not provide any reason for barring Ambiga from the state.

Ambiga said this was the first time she was not allowed entry into Sabah, adding that the last time she had visited the state was before the general election when she had not faced any problems.

“I’m not going to appeal (to the department). I’m just going to take it straight to court. I will certainly be fighting. This is my country, I have my rights,” she stressed.

“I know the state has certain powers (to prevent people from entering), but in my view they have no reason to stop me. They can’t just stop people without good grounds.”

With this new ban, Ambiga’s movement is now restricted to the peninsular states; in 2011, the Sarawak Immigration director barred her from entering Sarawak and her bid to challenge the notice was denied by the Federal Court in 2012.

She said she did not know if the ban against her in Sarawak had been lifted yet, as she had not tried entering the state.

Asked about the award she received on Thursday, Ambiga played down the matter, saying it was a “small, private event.”

The Euromoney Legal Media Group Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2014 was aimed at celebrating the achievements of women in the legal profession throughout the region.

Legal Media Group is part of the London-based Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, a leading international business-to-business media group focused primarily on the international finance sector.

The award ceremony on Thursday was held at the JW Marriott hotel in Hong Kong, and Ambiga, as the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award, had given a speech to the guests there. – November 15, 2014.

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Is another ferocious bout of “Chinese-bashing” in the works at the Umno General Assemblies at the end of month

It gives me great pleasure to launch Nurul Izzah Anwar’s book “Masa Depan, Masa Kita” in Chinese.

Second-term Member of Parliament, Nurul Izzah, who has the distinguished record of sending two UMNO Ministers packing, represents the hopes and dreams of a better Malaysia for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, age or gender.

The launching of her book in Chinese today is significant for it underlines one essential  quality of a Malaysian leader or icon – he or she must not be an exclusive leader for one race, religion or region but must be an inclusive leader who can reach out to all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

This is particularly significant as recent years have witnessed an unprecedented upsurge of the rhetoric and politics of hatred, intolerance and extremism causing the worst racial and religious polarization for over four decades.

This was why I had expressed the hope yesterday that the amicable resolution to the nearly year-long Selangor controversy over the seizure of the Malay and Iban Bibles, together with Malaysia’s assumption of the ASEAN Chair for 2015 with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak promising to promote moderation in ASEAN,  would usher in a virtuous cycle of moderation and establish Malaysia as a regional and international model of moderation.

But this is not to be, for these hopes – that  Malaysians would  avoid narrow communalism just as ASEAN should avoid narrow nationalism  – were dashed yesterday itself firstly by the hysterical paper by the former Univeristi Teknologi Mara (UiTM) at the Johor Umno convention that “If Umno loses, Malays may never rule again” and secondly, the new twisted, irresponsible, dangerous and wicked  theory of “shades of racism” by an UMNO Minister,  insinuating that the Malays were not welcomed in Pakatan Rakyat-run Penang.

These were variations of a constant theme of the rhetorics and politics of hatred, intolerance and extremism that had haunted Malaysia – that Malays and Islam are  under siege, that the end of UMNO rule would mean the end of Malay political power, that the Chinese are out to grab the political power of the Malays and make the Malays the “refugees” in their own land, that the country would be turned into a Christian Malaysia  – which are not only wild,  baseless, far-fetched but downright mischievous, malicious, vile and seditious as calculated to cause maximum unrest and havoc in the country.

When UMNO vice president and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein announced on Tuesday that the relevance of maintaining the Chinese school system will be one of the “hotly-debated topics” during the Umno annual general assembly this month, the question many are asking is whether another ferocious bout of “Chinese-bashing” is in the works – just like the orgy of Chinese-bashing immediately after the 13th General Elections in May last year with the UMNO organ, Utusan Malaysia leading the  attack  with the  front-page headline and question “Apa lagi orang Cina mahu?” (What else do the Chinese want?), ignoring the fact that the 13GE was not a Chinese tsunami but a Malaysian urban tsunami.

We must take heart that the voices of hatred, extremism and intolerance come from a raucous minority and we must keep faith with the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, from all races, religions and regions, who believe in moderation and the middle path of unity, harmony, tolerance, justice and fair play for all Malaysians.

Malaysia’s future as a nation is assured so long as the overwhelming majority of Malaysians promote a Malaysian Dream transcending a Malay Dream, Chinese Dream, Indian Dream, Kadazan Dream or Iban Dream.

We want a Malaysia where there is no Chinese-bashing, Malay-bashing, Indian-bashing, Kadazan-bashing or Iban-bashing but a common commitment how best to achieve the Malaysian Dream where all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, could realize their maximum potential and worth.

The headline which Malaysiakini gave yesterday for the report about the UMNO Minister’s twisted, irresponsible, dangerous and  wicked theory of “shades of racism” was “Minister: Land where Malays not welcomed”.

This is not the Malaysia of the Malaysian Dream as we want a Malaysia where there is no part of the country where Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans feel unwelcomed.

During and even after the 13GE, I have been depicted as anti-Malay, anti-Islam and even responsible for provoking the May 13 riots in 1969 for allegedly shouting anti-Malay slogans in street processions in Kuala Lumpur from May 11 to 13,1969 although I was never in Kuala Lumpur in that period as I was in Malacca on May 12 and Kota Kinabalu on May 13, 1969.

Apart from missing one parliamentary term from 1999-2004, I have been MP for ten terms from 1969, i.e. for a period of 40 years.

I issued a challenge in Parliament in June last year to anyone to quote a single speech that I have made in Parliament in the past four decades which is anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

In fact, there should be an independent commission of inquiry to identify those responsible for all the incendiary, inflammatory, seditious and racist speeches, statements and articles before, during and after the 13GE resulting in serious racial and religious polarisation in the country – whether made in Parliament or outside.

I have said in Parliament that anyone in Malaysia who hate Malays, or any racial or religious group in the country, whether Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, or  Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs or Taoists, cannot be true and patriotic Malaysians.

In my 47 years in politics, I have always regarded myself as a Malaysian first and last. I have never regarded myself purely as a Chinese, but as a Malaysian of Chinese ethnic descent whose loyalty is unswervingly to the Malaysian nation, having common cause with all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region to build a better Malaysia for all Malaysians.

Before what turned out to be an eight-day Federal Court appeal hearings from Oct. 28 to Nov. 8, Anwar Ibrahim said from London that he dismissed any prospect of going into exile, despite the possibility of being jailed.

I can understand Anwar’s feelings, why he said “no” despite the tribulations he might have to endure and how difficult it would be for him, his family and friends if he has to serve another jail sentence.

This was because I had gone through it myself.

When May 13 riots broke out in Kuala Lumpur in 1969, I was in Kota Kinabalu for a public rally to campaign for the independent candidate.

When I was expelled from Sabah and left Kota Kinabalu on May 15, 1969, I was advised by my party comrades and family members to stay abroad as I was on the blacklist for the Internal Security Act crackdown, but I felt that I had to be back with the people of Malaysia, whatever the risk to my personal life and freedom.  I had just been elected Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka and my place was with the people of Malaysia and not to go into exile abroad.

Hence started my first Internal Security Act sojourn, which lasted for 17 months  from 1969 – 70.

Whatever our political views and differences with those in power, we are all Malaysian patriots, Anwar, Nurul, and all of you who share a common Malaysian Dream.

This book spells out Nurul Izzah’s vision of a Malaysian Dream.

My Malaysian Dream envisions a plural society where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic differences as the common grounds binding them as one citizenship exceed the differences that divide them because of their ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural divisions .

In this Malaysian Dream, we all owe undivided loyalty to the country, we share in one motherland and we come together as one people to develop the greatness of the country deriving from the best from the diverse races, religions and cultures which have made a home in Malaysia so that Malaysia can become one of the leading nations of the world in all fields of human endeavour.

Nurul Izzah’s book-launch today is an important step towards the realization of the Malaysian Dream.

(Speech when launching PKR MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar’s book “Masa Depan, Masa Kita” in Chinese  at the Memorial Lim Lian Geok, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday,15th November 2014 at 2 pm)

“

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ISIS uses beheadings, other violent acts to crush civilians, UN report says

by Zachary R. Dowdy

Newsday

November 14, 2014

UNITED NATIONS — Beheadings, stonings and mutilation are common weapons of terror employed by the Islamic State in its campaign to subdue civilian populations that have come under its control in Syria, according to a UN monitoring group.

“ISIS has perpetrated murder and other inhumane acts, enslavement, rape, sexual slavery and violence, forcible displacement, enforced disappearance and torture,” according to a 15-page report released Friday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. “These acts have been committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population in Aleppo, Ar-Raqqah, Al-Hasakah and Dayr Az-Zawr governorates.”

It documents the group’s violation of international humanitarian law and commission of both war crimes and crimes against humanity as defined by the Geneva Convention.

The report is among the most extensive to document the savagery attributed to the Sunni Islamic group whose origins, the report said, stem from the evolution of an Al Qaida offshoot, Al Qaida in Iraq, which established itself in 2004 and rebranded itself as Islamic State in Iraq in 2006.

That group crossed the Iraq-Syria border after Syria’s civil war broke out in March 2011 and joined other rebel forces aiming to overthrow the Shia-dominated government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. It emerged as one of the most fearsome of the hundreds of groups aligned against Assad and withdrew into northern Syria and relaunched attacks against the Shia-dominated government forces in Iraq earlier this year, marching toward Baghdad and gaining money, oil fields and materiel as it captured cities.

It all but erased the border between Iraq and Syria and called the new area under its control a caliphate, with Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi claiming to be its caliph, wielding absolute control.

The report said that while the group has within its ranks thousands of Syrians, it is composed primarily of foreign fighters.

Civilian populations trapped under the Islamic State’s control have borne the brunt of horrific levels of violence imposed under the group’s interpretation of Sharia law, said the report, which is based on 300 interviews with witnesses. The group employs a kind of “morality police” that conducts constant surveillance of the population, reports violations and metes out punishment.

Suspected adulterers were stoned. In one videotaped case, women accused of the offense were bound at their hands and forced to stand in a shallow grave with veils on as men hurled huge rocks at their heads until they collapsed and died. Enemy fighters or people perceived as traitors were systematically killed by being shot in the head or having their throats cut.

The methods of control, the report said, appear to be systematic and designed to inflict psychological terror on the population to exert maximum control.

WorldSources: IS, al-Qaida reach accord in Syria

Children were forced to watch videos of torture and execution, and to participate in the killings of captured soldiers. Women over the age of 10 must be fully covered when outdoors. Ghastly executions are public and members of ISIS regularly force civilians to attend them. The bodies of the dead are often left on display in public squares for days.

“Witnesses saw scenes of still-bleeding bodies hanging from crosses and of heads placed on spikes along park railings,” the report said.

“The brutal nature and overall scale of abuses is intended to reinforce the group’s absolute monopoly on political and social life to enforce compliance and conformity among communities under their control,” the report said. “Imposition of severe measures disguised as religious edicts has formed part of the attack against the civilian population, in addition to the perpetration of armed violence against civilians, mistreatment of persons taking no active part in hostilities, and violence against identified communities.”

The Commission of Inquiry has also issued reports of abuses committed by the Syrian government’s forces, including torture and mass executions.

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Pak Samad: After five-decade rule, how are Malays under threat?

The Malay Mail Online

November 15, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — National laureate Datuk A. Samad Said rubbished claims today that the Malays are under threat, pointing out that Malaysia has been under the community’s rule for more than five decades now.

The renowned Malay poet and activist told Malaysiakini in an interview that he finds it odd that some from the community are obsessing over the loss of power to the country’s other minority groups, especially when Malaysia is still being governed by the Malays.

“I hope the Malay community is not too obsessed about claims that Malays are under threat,” Samad, or Pak Samad as he is fondly known as, was quoted saying by the news portal.

“How are Malays under threat? How can religion (Islam) and Malays be threatened when those in power have been Malay for over five decades?

“What have they (Malay leaders) been doing for five decades (if Malays can be under threat)?” he reportedly said.

The news portal then quoted him saying that if the current Malay leadership cannot put these fears to rest, then it should hand over the reins of the government to others.

“Let other Malays (rule). They (Umno) have been there for five decades, not one decade,” he was quoted saying.

According to a report by the news portal yesterday, Umno supreme council member Tan Sri Ibrahim Abu Shah claimed during the Johor Umno convention that if Barisan Nasional (BN) loses the next election, the Malays may never rule again.

The former Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) vice-chancellor was reported labelling this a “dark day” for the Malays and the country.

Earlier today, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang cited Ibrahim’s remarks as an example of Umno’s race-based political attacks against its opponents in the opposition.

The senior opposition politician also cited remarks by Umno minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek as yet another example, noting that the latter was reported in Malaysiakini as explaining a “twisted, irresponsible, dangerous and wicked” theory of “shades of racism” to insinuate that the Malays are not welcome in DAP-run Penang.

According to the news portal, Ahmad Shabery recently said that certain policies in a state run by “a particular party” would eventually lead to the Malays never being able to afford homes or enjoy developments.

Lim, in criticising these comments, said that they were similar to other remarks issued in the past by other Malay politicians and right-wing Malay groups, which included claims that the Chinese are out to usurp Malay power and the Christians want to turn Malaysia into a Christian country.

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As its traditional market shrinks, can Umno capture the new one?

by Sheridan Mahavera

The Malaysian Insider

16 November 2014

The math is against Umno. If the party does not change its ways and focuses only on pandering to its traditional vote base of kampung folk, it is unlikely to survive beyond the next election.

This prognosis comes not from a political analyst or a Pakatan Rakyat leader, but from its own leaders in Umno Youth.

The term mathematics is what Umno Youth exco member Shahril Hamdan used to describe the changing face of the Malaysian voting public, which is becoming more urbanised and younger.

Shahril was echoing what his boss Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said at the movement’s town hall meeting yesterday – Umno’s support base of rural voters, its fixed deposit, is a “shrinking market”.

The emerging market is the millions of youth who are moving to urban areas in their respective states to make a living, Khairy said.

By his estimates, up to 70% of the five million new voters who will cast their ballots in the next general election will be youths.

The respected pollster Merdeka Center had said in an August 13, 2013, report that more than 64% of new voters in future elections would be Malay.

Using the government’s own statistics, Umno Youth’s Young Professionals Bureau also estimates that by 2016, 75% of the population will live in urban centres.

The bureau argues that the trend coincides with the loss of support Barisan Nasional is seeing in urban seats.

The bureau estimates that another factor behind that trend is the growth of young professionals from 450,000 in 1970 to 2.3 million in 2010.

TUmno Youth exco member Shahril Hamdan says it is hoped that solutions-based politics will capture the hearts and minds of young voters. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 16, 2014.Umno Youth exco member Shahril Hamdan says it is hoped that solutions-based politics will capture the hearts and minds of young voters. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 16, 2014.he bureau itself was set up because the movement realised what a crucial voting bloc young wage earners have become and will continue to be.

“They may register to vote in (rural areas like) Pokok Sena, Rembau or Setiu but they live and work in places like Seputeh,” Khairy said of the Kuala Lumpur constituency which has been pro-DAP for more than a decade.

“So we cannot just say forget about Seputeh.” He was referring to the fact that what these youth went through where they worked and lived is often brought back with them to the kampung where they vote.

The bureau is part of Umno Youth’s solutions-based politics that it hopes will capture the hearts and minds of 20 and 30-somethings.

“We can’t just use rhetoric or overt politics in tackling these people,” Shahril, who heads the bureau, said when met on the sidelines of the town hall meeting.

The bureau tailors its programmes to fit the critical, facts-and-figures-based attitudes of professionals and their challenges of having to survive the urban rat race.

It holds soft-skills courses such as on how to communicate effectively in English and Bahasa Malaysia, job interview training and resume “clinics” to help participants prepare better resumes.

“The point is to offer products that can help them in their lives,” said Shahril, a 29-year-old professional in the oil and gas sector.

“Once they see that we can make a difference in their lives, they will change their minds about us.”

Another characteristic that Umno Youth discovered about young urbanites when it did a study a few years ago was that this demographic group wanted leaders who could debate and defend their positions against opponents.

Shahril said part of his job was to also respond with their own facts and figures to criticism from the opposition or the public.

This includes taking PR youth leaders head-on in independent forums.

Shahril himself has shared the stage with the likes of Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming, Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh and PKR deputy youth chief Fahmi Fadzil at various forums.

“When we give out facts and figures, such as on the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP), they will have an even hand to compare,” said Shahril.

“So at least people who were totally against us will probably change their minds a bit and be open to us. That’s better than them being totally opposed to us.”

Another Umno Youth exco Ibdillah Ishak claimed that the solutions-based, progressive approach that Khairy pioneered has helped get back support from urban Malay youths.

“After the 13th general election we have seen urban Malays return to us.

“If you look at the opposition’s programmes, like Anwar Ibrahim at Universiti Malaya, it was not attended by that many people, unlike in 1998,” said Ibdillah, who heads the social media bureau.

But even more critical than these bureaus or Khairy’s brand of progressive politics is whether Umno as a whole adopts this new way of thinking and whether it sees the changing voting landscape.

Khairy admitted this in the town hall meeting.

At the end of the day, voters may respond positively to Umno Youth. But when an election comes around, it’s the whole party that it is being judged.

“If voters look at the party as a whole and it’s the same old story and it’s the same old party, then what are we to do?” – November 16, 2014.

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Call for  three-day extension of Parliament for a full debate on “Are Malays and Islam under threat?” as this  concerns not just Malays and Muslims, but all Malaysians who want a successful Malaysia

With the approach of the UMNO General Assemblies 2014 from Nov. 25 to 29, there is a build-up of the rhetoric and hysteria  that “Malays and Islam are under threat”.

National laureate A. Samad Said made a most pertinent point when he pointed out that despite claims of a growing threat against the Malay community, the country’s leadership has remained in the hands of Malays and is still led by a party which claims to represent the Malay community.

I agree with Pak Samad that it is most peculiar that allegations of Malays under threat are constantly being played up, which is why he advised the Malay community not to be too obsessed about claims that Malays are under threat.

Pak Samad had asked the most relevant question:

“How are Malays under threat? How can religion (Islam) and Malays be threatened when those in power have been Malay for over five decades?

“What have they (Malay leaders) been doing for five decades (if Malays can be under threat)?”

What Pak Samad prescribed is most apt, and I don’t think it could be gainsaid by anyone, that if the country’s more than five-decade-old UMNO Malay leadership cannot put the Malay community at ease, then it should surrender power to let other Malays rule.

Why should the country’s race relations be held to ransom every time UMNO hold its annual General Assemblies for UMNO leaders to hype the imaginary spectre of Malays and Islam under siege, when what could be under threat is only the continued political rule and survival of UMNO leaders – like the disgraceful paper by the former Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) vice chancellor, Ibrahim Abu Shah warning that “If Umno loses, Malays may never rule again” with the threat that the future of Malays would be “dark and unfortunate” or the insidious and pernicious racialism of the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Ahmad Shabery Cheek, irresponsibly alleging that Malays were not welcomed in Pakatan Rakyat-run Penang.

All the six Prime Ministers from the nation’s independence in 1957 were Malays – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir, Tun Abdullah and currently Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Have they all, or some  or one of them, betrayed the Malays as Prime Minister to cause the Malays and Islam to be  still under siege 57 years after Merdeka?

Of the six Prime Ministers, Tun Mahathir had been Prime Minister for the longest period – 22 years 3 months, compared to Tunku’s 13 years; Razak’s 5 yrs 4 months; Hussein’s 5 years 6 months ; Abdullah’s 5 years 5 months ; and Najib’s more than 5 years 7 months.

Will Mahathir bear the biggest responsibility for Malays and Islam to be under siege in 2014 because of his longest premiership in the past 57 years?

Will UMNO delegates and the country be provided with a checklist as to how each of the six Malay Prime Ministers in the past 57 years had failed to uplift the Malays and Islam as to cause them to be under threat at present?

If Malays and Islam are under threat, it is not just the concern of Malays and Muslims, but the concern of all Malaysians regardless of  ethnicity and faith, because we are all one people who want a successful Malaysia to rise from our diverse races and religions.

Patriotic Malaysians do not want Malays and Islam under threat, just as we do not want non-Malays in Malaysia, whether Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, Orang Asli or  Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism,  Taoism to be under threat.

If  Malays and Islam are under threat, they  should be the concern of all non-Malays and non-Muslims, just as any problem of Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, Orang Asli or Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Taoism under threat in Malaysia should be the concern of all Malays and Muslims in Malaysia!

I would in fact call for  three-day extension of Parliament for a full debate on “Are Malays and Islam under threat?” for we must build a Malaysia where the Malays and Islam are not under threat – just as the non-Malays and non-Muslim religions are not under threat.

Otherwise, Malaysia would have failed in our constitutional compact to create a an independent and sovereign democratic State founded upon liberty and justice, where “Islam is the religion of the Federation but other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony”, ever seeking to defend and uphold peace and harmony among its people and to perpetuate peace among nations.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 16 November 2014, 4:18 pm and is filed under
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MCA and Gerakan Ministers should explain why they have not raised any objection at Friday’s Cabinet meeting to the unconstitutional proposal to set up a Syariah Federal Court with the same powers as the civil Federal Court

MCA and Gerakan Ministers should explain why they have not raised any objection at Friday’s Cabinet meeting to the unconstitutional proposal to set up a Syariah Federal Court with the same powers as the civil Federal Court.

This unconstitutional move  by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom to have a parallel court system at the federal level

was reported on Thursday’s Berita Harian, and MCA and Gerakan Ministers – as well as other Cabinet members – were remiss in their constitutional oath and political responsibilities in failing to object to such a proposal at Friday’s Cabinet meeting and to demand that all Federal Government involvement in such an unconstitutional development  be halted immediately.

Instead, the MCA and Gerakan Ministers  have chosen to ask their lowly representatives who are neither in Parliament or any State Assembly to raise objections, knowing that such voices would be ignored completely –  when the right and proper  place for such objections to be raised is the Cabinet on Friday.

The establishment of a Syariah Federal Court with equivalent powers of the civil Federal Court goes against the very structure and foundation of the Merdeka Constitution of 1957 and Malaysia Constitution of 1963, stipulating that the Constitution is supreme and that any law, whether federal or state, primary or secondary, enacted before or after Merdeka, which infringes the Constitution is void.

Furthermore, it is the civil courts which have the power to review all legislation on the touchstone of constitutionality.

Although Article 3(1) provides that “Islam is the religion of the federation”, Article 3(4) says “Nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of this Constitution” – which means that Article 3(1) does not override any other provisions of the Constitution, including the many fundamental rights in Articles 5 – 13.

It is the Constitution and not the syariah that  is the litmus test of constitutionality.

State Assemblies have the power to legislate on 21 permitted areas of Islamic personal law and to create and punish offences against the precepts of Islam but subject to the  limitations that they cannot try non-Muslims and state power over Islamic crimes does not cover matters in the federal list or dealt with by federal law. State power to punish Islamic crimes is regulated by a federal law on penalties: maximum six lashes, RM5,000 fine and three years jail.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 16 November 2014, 1:01 pm and is filed under
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Release Sabah RCI report now, not next month, Pakatan MPs tell PM

Ida Lim

Malay Mail Online

November 16, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16  — Instead of next month, Putrajaya should release the long-awaited report on Sabah’s illegal immigrants issue immediately, in time for the document to be tabled in Parliament before it ends in two weeks, several Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs said.

The lawmakers said they want the report, which contains crucial findings by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the influx of immigrants into the east Malaysian state, to be dissected, debated and passed by federal lawmakers in the legislative house.

DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, a veteran politician who has been fighting the issue for a good part of his career, even called it “completely unsatisfactory” that the federal government had chosen to sit so long on the RCI’s report, when it was already completed in May this year.

He pointed out that the issue has haunted Sabah for decades now, and has caused the state “grave” security, social and economic problems.

“It is not a signal that the government is serious and sincere in resolving the longstanding issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah, which has completely changed the political demography in the state,” he told Malay Mail Online when asked to comment on Putrajaya’s decision yesterday to make the report public early next month.

“And it would appear that the whole thing – the release – was timed to be made after Parliament and Sabah state assembly meeting,” the Gelang Patah MP pointed out.

At a function in Sabah’s capital of Kota Kinabalu yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said after taking into consideration the seriousness of Sabah’s illegal immigrants issue, his Cabinet had agreed to making the RCI report public.

But, he said, the report will only be released early December, despite previous reports that the document would be tabled in the current parliamentary session.

The current and final session in Parliament this year ends on November 27, while the Sabah state assembly’s final session of the year ended last week.

“So i think it’s most irresponsible as to why the report which has been presented for more than six months is still not ready for release,” Lim remarked.

He was referring to the submission of the RCI’s report to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and prime minister in May.

Lim said that a “good practice” of a transparent and accountable government would be to release it on the same day.

PKR MP Darell Leiking also urged the prime minister to bring forward the release date of the RCI’s report, saying it is a “serious” issue that requires debate in the ongoing Parliament session.

“I think the first thing that the PM should do is before Parliament ends, table the report in Parliament since public funds were used in the RCI,” the Penampang MP told Malay Mail Online, adding that the public should be allowed to debate the report in Parliament through their elected representatives.

“No need to delay next month, next year…We have two more weeks of Parliament, table it and release it simultaneously to the public,” the PKR vice-president added.

In such a Parliament debate, the prime minister would be able to explain the problem in Sabah, while MPs would be able to seek answers from him and provide recommendations, he said.

He said the report should also be tabled in the Sabah state assembly by the Sabah Chief Minister, despite noting that the illegal immigrants problem has now become a national issue.

Even states in the peninsula appear to be faced with the problem of illegals, he said, as some of the foreigners who obtained their citizenship in Sabah are now residing outside the state.

PAS MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar said he was puzzled why the government had to wait until the end of this year’s parliamentary session to make the report public, and even suggested a special debate like what was done for the MH17 air tragedy.

“If want to table next month, should call a special sitting to debate this issue because this issue is no longer a Sabah issue, but it has become a national issue,” the Pokok Sena MP told Malay Mail Online, later adding that the necessity of setting up a parliamentary select committee could be decided in the sitting.

Mahfuz said the government could alternatively file a special motion in Parliament to extend the sitting that ends on November 27, adding that at least two days should be set aside to debate the RCI report.

The PAS information chief said this issue has gone beyond partisan concerns, explaining that it was of national status as the RCI was set up at the federal level and federal funds were used to conduct the inquiry.

During the RCI’s proceedings, which started in January last year, testimonies from Filipinos and other immigrants revealed how they received their blue identification cards or the MyKad — which is proof of citizenship — in just a few years after arriving in Sabah and how they had also voted in elections.

The Commission headed by Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong, who is also former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, was set up on September 21, 2012.

It had called 211 witnesses including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim before closing the case on Sept 20 last year.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 16 November 2014, 7:56 am and is filed under
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Pairin special committee on Report of RCI on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) the latest chapter of the 40-year Great Betrayal of Sabahans as it is proof of continued lack of  political will with solution of long-standing problem completely out of sight

On Saturday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak finally announced that the Cabinet at its Friday meeting on November 14, 2014 decided that  the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into illegal immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) will be made public by the beginning of next month and that a special committee headed by the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan would be formed to look into the findings and compile recommendations.

Although Najib’s announcement was hailed by Barisan Nasional leaders in Sabah, the formation of the Pairin special committee on RCIIIS is only the latest chapter in the 40-year Great Betrayal of Sabahans as it is proof of the continued lack of political will to resolve the long-stand problem with the solution of a problem which had spanned over two generations completely out of sight!

At the opening of the 29th PBS congress in Kota Kinabalu yesterday, Joseph Pairin Kitingan said the people have high hopes for the Federal Government to put to rest the long-standing issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah and many were looking forward to learn about the findings by the RCIIIS and the solutions to the issue.

He said: “Effective implementation is needed, including stern enforcement. It also requires a strong political will.  We need to eradicate the perception among illegals that they have the right to encroach on Sabah.”

Fat hopes indeed, as such political will are  completely absent, or it would not have taken some seven months before publication of the Report of the RCIIIS.

Dare Pairin state when he expects the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah to be resolved? In 2015, 2016, 2017,  before or after the 14th General Elections, 2018, 2019 or even 2020?

The Report of the RCIIIS was submitted to the Federal Government on May 14, and the Cabinet decided exactly six months later on Nov. 14 to make public the Report the following month.

Can the Prime Minister explain what the Cabinet or the Federal Government did in the six months from May 14 to Nov. 14 with regard to the Report of the RCIIIS?

Did the Cabinet or Federal Government just sit on the Report doing nothing, hoping that everybody would forget about it, but  when they found that the people of Sabah, in particular Pakatan Rakyat State Assembly representatives and MPs, both from Sabah and Malaysia, continue to demand publication of the Report of the RCIIIS, they have no choice after a six-month procrastination but  to promise to make it public?

Will the Pairin special Committee on the Report of the RCIIIS take some more months and years before submitting its recommendations, which will take some more months and years before they are made public, to be followed by new combinations and permutations of the  art of procrastination – dragging a 40-year Great Betrayal of Sabah into a 50-year Great Betrayal of Sabah?

Pairin said his party had called for the formation of the RCI since it was established in 1985.

The very fact that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government is not prepared to immediately make public the Report of the RCIIIS when it was received on May 14, and to announce acceptance of its recommendations with the formation of an implementation committee, is the most potent proof that the Barisan Nasional, whether at the Federal or Sabah state level, continues to be afflicted by a total absence of political will to resolve the long-standing issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah which have made true Sabahans aliens in the Land Below the Wind.

It is sad but true that the end game to the 40-year Great Betrayal of Sabah is not yet in sight.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 17 November 2014, 3:12 pm and is filed under
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Call on Cabinet on Friday to appoint Joseph Pairin as Chairman of RCIIIS  Implementation Committee and not RCIIIS Review Committee to demonstrate that BN has the political will to resolve the 40-year old illegal immigrants problem in Sabah

The Cabinet, as its weekly meeting on Friday, should appoint Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan as Chairman of the Implementation Committee for the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) and not just a Review Committee into the findings of the RCIIIS to indulge in another bout of merry-go-rounds purportedly  to compile recommendations on what actions should be taken by the Federal Government on the RCIIIS Report.

The  Pairin RCIIIS Implementation Committee should be given all necessary Federal and Sabah State government powers to immediately implement the recommendations of the RCIIIS, and all the relevant Federal and State Ministries and departments should come under its purview and direction.

The Pairin RCIIS Implementaiton Committee should be given  two months to  present a report to Parliament on the RCIIIS recommendations which it could not implement, state the reasons and seek parliamentary authority for the steps and measures which should be taken to deal with these aspects of the RCIIIS Report.

This is the only way to demonstrate that the Barisan Nasional has the political will to once and for all resolve the 40-year long-standing illegal immigrant problem in Sabah.

The Pairin RCIIIS Implementation Committee should have the highest Federal government participation and representation to resolve the long-standing Sabah illegal immigrants problem, with the Minister of Home Affairs as a member of the Implementation Committee or  the Pairin Committee will start off as a “dead duck” condemned to failure.

It may sound very anomalous with a four-decade-old problem, but time must be of the essence to resolve it – but there is no sense of urgency on the part of the Federal Government or the Sabah state government, only the continued mindset of procrastination and merry-go-round proposals which not only resolve nothing but end with an even bigger problem!

This is why the Cabinet and the Federal did nothing in the six months between May 14 and Nov 14 despite the presentation of the RCIIIS Report to Putrajaya.

The very fact that up to now, there are no details about the so-called Pairin RCIIIS Review Committee, who are its members, its terms of reference and time frame, is another indictment of the lack of seriousness and absence of political will by the Barisan Nasional problem to resolve the problem which it had created for four decades.

Furthermore, the Cabinet on Friday should direct that the Report of the RCIIIS should be tabled in Parliament on Monday or anytime next week before the current parliamentary meeting ends on Nov. 27 as it should not evade parliamentary responsibility and accountability by deliberately withholding its public release until next month.

There are three Cabinet Ministers from Sabah. Why do they agree to such Cabinet sleight-of-hand to evade parliamentary responsibility, which is also a great disservice to the people and state of Sabah?

In response to  Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Saturday announcement of the appointment of the Pairin RCIIIS Review Committee, Pairin said the people have high hopes for the Federal Government to put to rest the long-standing issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah.

Pairin said his party had called for the formation of the RCI since it was established in 1985.

Would Pairin agree that the establishment of a RCIIIS Review Committee instead of a RCIIIS Implementation Committee is only the latest ruse in the 40-year  merry-go-rounds over the problem of illegal problems, which will end up with the problem becoming worse instead of being resolved.

I remember when I visited Sabah in 1978, I had warned that Sabah faced three grave problems – the illegal immigrant problem which I had cited had reached 140,000, the crime situation and grave problem of corruption.

All these three problems have gone from bad to worse in the past four decades, with the illegal immigrant problem mushrooming to 1.5 million to 1.9 million making native Sabahans foreigners in their own land, while crime and corruption have worsened by leaps and bounds.

Would the Sabah illegal immigrant problem exceed 2 million  before the Pairin RCIIIS Review Committee submits its report and gallop to higher figures before any action is decided on how to implement the RCIIIS Report?

For this reason, I am against any more delay or procrastination to the 40-year problem and I call for a united and concerted effort by all political parties and political leaders, whether in Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, whether in Sabah or in Malaysia, to jointly demand (i) tabling of the RCIIIS Report in Parliament on Monday or next week; and (ii) establishment of a Pairin RCIIIS Implementation Committee and not a Pairin RCIIIS Review Committee.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 November 2014, 8:40 am and is filed under
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Let all the 33 Cabinet Ministers reveal whether their children and grandchildren had been educated under the national education system or whether they are products of private and international schools, at home or abroad

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir has warned that the social-economic disparity in Malaysia will grow bigger with rich parents sending their children to study English in international schools and abroad while the poor are left behind in national and vernacular schools here.

The former Prime Minister was not revealing any secret when he said that Ministers send their children to private schools and international schools which use largely English as the teaching medium, whether at home or abroad, as this phenomenon started not now but during his  22-year premiership from 1981-2003.

Surely Mahathir was not unaware that his own Ministers were sending their children to private and international schools, whether locally or abroad, demonstrating their lack of confidence in the national education policy and system?

Although the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had boasted that Malaysian youngsters are receiving better education than children in the United States, Britain and Germany, even UMNO leaders and delegates do not believe him – which is why he would not dare to ask the Umno General Assembly to endorse his claim as he would be in for a shocker!

It is true  is that the problem of lack of confidence in the BN national education system and policy is now even more serious than in the past, and undoubtedly, there are more UMNO/BN Ministers and leaders who are sending their children to private and international schools, locally or abroad, at present than during Mahathir’s time.

Let all the 33 Cabinet Ministers reveal whether their children and grandchildren had been educated under the national education system or whether they are products of private and international schools, at home or abroad.

Education is one important reason for the crisis of confidence in the Umno/BN government and leadership and why the majority of the national electorate had voted against UMNO/BN in the 13th General Elections resulting in the formation of a minority government and Prime Minister for the first time in Malaysian history.

Recently, former  finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah lamented that Malaysia isn’t getting what it paid for despite pouring billions into the country’s education system.

He said  Malaysia spent double than other Asean countries on education in terms of ratio to gross domestic product, more than Japan and South Korea in 2011, but “the heavy spending on education in terms of gross domestic product ratio is not worth it, or at least it does not give the desired return in terms of quality and increased productivity”.

Malaysia may have achieved the notoriety of having spent most on education in terms of ratio to gross domestic product but yet having the least confidence in the national education system among the country’s government and political leadership,  including Ministers and Deputy Ministers, whose children opt out of the national education system.

These are the real issues which the UMNO General Assembly should focus on, why Malaysia is stuck in the bottom third of the countries surveyed in international assessments and not making any significant moves towards the upper tier of the top one-third of the countries; why 15-year-olds in Shanghai, Singapore and South Korea are performing in international assessments as though they had four or even five more years of schooling than 15-years-olds in Malaysia in mathematics, science and reading, instead of resorting to the histrionics and hysterics of racist politics as calling for the closure of Chinese primary schools.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 November 2014, 4:02 pm and is filed under
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