Malaysian Dream Phase 2 – Call on Malaysians, regardless of political party, race, religion, region, gender or age to unite and stand up as patriots and  moderates of Malaysia to practise the politics of inclusion to save the country from extremism, intolerance and bigotry

When I contested Gelang Patah in May last year in the 13th General Elections, it was in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream which envisions Malaysia as a plural society where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic and regional differences as the common grounds binding them as one citizenship exceeds the differences that divide them because of their ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural and regional divisions.

Nineteen months after the 13th General Elections, the Malaysian Dream is more relevant and even more important than ever.

The UMNO General Assembly in the last week of November is the classic example of the divisive and deleterious politics of exclusion in Malaysia, which emphasises and deepens the differences among Malaysians especially over race and religion, which will even condemn Malaysia to the fate of a failed state if these trends are not checked and arrested, with worsening disunity and greater racial and religious polarisation as happened in the past 19 months since the 13GE.

In the UMNO General Assembly, as well as at the various conferences running up to it, Malaysians saw the worst examples of the politics of fear, hate and lies, creating imaginary fears and fighting imaginary enemies – that the Malays and Islam are under threat, that the Chinese are out to grab the political power of the Malays, that ”if UMNO loses, Malays may never rule again”, that the Malays have become slaves in their own land, that the Malays could suffer a fate similar to Red Indians in the United States and the “mother of all lies”, that the Chinese in Kedah burnt the Quran “page by page during a prayer ritual”.

But when I challenged the three remaining UMNO Prime Ministers, Tun Mahathir who was the longest fourth PM of Malaysia for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, Tun Abdullah who was the fifth Prime Minister for five years five months and Datuk Seri Najib Razak who has been Prime Minister for five years eight months to explain how Malays and Islam in Malaysia could be under threat and faced a life-and-death struggle after 57 years of UMNO government and six UMNO Prime Ministers, and specifically, after 33 years of Mahathir, Abdullah and Najib as Prime Minister, there was total and absolute silence!

If after 57 years of UMNO government under six UMNO Prime Ministers, Malays and Islam in Malaysia could be under siege and facing unprecedented life-and-death struggle, is UMNO and its propagandists implying that the 57-year UMNO government with six UMNO PMs had been  total and abject failures?

If they are not implying that 57 years of UMNO government under six UMNO Prime Ministers were complete failures, then it is downright reckless, irresponsible and even anti-national to try to incite fear and hate among Malays and Muslims by trying to make them believe  and fear that Malays and Islam are under siege in Malaysia today!

This is a question not just Malays but all Malaysians should be asking, demanding answers from the UMNO/BN Ministers, leaders and representatives whether Malays and Islam are under attack, if so, who are the “enemies” attacking Malays and Islam; and if not, why are UMNO/BN political parties and leaders so reckless, irresponsible and anti-national as to try to create such imaginary fears among the people or condone such dirty and despicable political tactics?

All non-Malays and non-Muslims felt that they were at the receiving end of the extremist, immoderate and intolerant fulminations, based on race and religion, at the UMNO General Assembly.

In fact, the politics of exclusion in the recent UMNO General Assembly not only proved that UMNO has ceased to be a party for all Malaysians, it is not a party for all Malays but only the UMNO leaders and their cronies who have political and financial axes to grind.

The real issues of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, political party, region, gender or age – the issues of good governance, accountability, transparency; democracy and human rights; their standards and cost of living; zero-tolerance for corruption as the basis of an anti-corruption campaign; the growing disparity of income and wealth between the haves and have-nots; a competitive economic system; or reforms to ensure world-class education system whether at primary, secondary or university level – were not addressed

Malaysia needs a new politics – the politics of inclusion to unite and inspire all Malaysians, regardless of party politics, race, religion, region, gender or age united in a common Malaysian dream which is not regarded or perceived as anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan, anti-Iban or  anti-Muslim, anti-Buddhist, anti-Christian, anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh or anti-woman or anti-youth as it must be totally and unconditionally pro-Malaysian.

This is particularly challenging today as extremist, immoderate and intolerant voices and forces have reared their ugly heads and stolen a march against the moderates – which have undermined the decades of racial and religious harmony, understanding and goodwill in the country.

The Open Letter two days ago by 25 prominent Malays whom I would describe as Towering Malay/Malaysians comprising retired senior civil servants including former Secretaries-General, Directors-General, ambassadors and prominent Malay individuals who have contributed much to Malaysian society is a major milestone in the history of Malaysian nation-building.

The Prime Minister, Najib Razak has been travelling the world in the past four years  to call for a coalition of moderates from all religions “to reclaim their religion and pursue the path to peace” to isolate the extremists of all religions; but his five-year premiership at home has been characterised by his political failure and cowardice to rally to the side of the moderates in Malaysia to isolate and defeat the fringe extremists who have become increasingly aggressive in their extremism, immoderation and intolerance as illustrated by the recent UMNO General Assembly, which had been hijacked and converted into a showpiece for the divisive and deleterious Politics of Exclusion in Malaysia.

The concern of the 25 prominent Malay personalities of the “impact of such vitriolic rhetoric on race relations and political stability of this country” reflects the increasing concerns of the overwhelming majority of Malaysians – the Silent Majority of moderates in Malaysia.

The time has come for the Silent Majority of moderate Malaysians to speak up and to support the Politics of Inclusion to reject the Politics of Exclusion perpetrated by the fringe extremists of race and religion.

For this reason, I want to use the Gelang Patah DAP dinner tonight to announce the second phase of the Malaysian Dream spearheaded by the Battle of Gelang Patah in the 13th General Elections – and to call for a coalition of Malaysian moderates, regardless of political party, race, religion, region, gender or age to unite and stand up as patriots and  moderates of Malaysia to practise  the politics of inclusion and  save the country from extremism, intolerance and bigotry of the practitioners of the Politics of Exclusion.

There is no reason why the ordinary members of Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional, including from UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak BN parties, cannot unite with the ordinary members of DAP, PKR and PAS  as a coalition of Malaysian moderates to isolate and defeat the voices and forces of extremism, intolerance and bigotry to save Malaysia so that we can be  a model to the world of the Politics of Inclusion in a plural society.

[
Speech by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Gelang Patah Lim Kit Siang at the Gelang Patah DAP Anniversary Dinner held in Skudai, Gelang Patah on Tuesday, 9th December 2014 at 10 pm
]

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 10 December 2014, 12:57 pm and is filed under
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Prosecution of “tigers” and “crocodiles” are common in anti-corruption campaigns  in China and Indonesia, but why not a single “shark” successfully prosecuted for corruption in Malaysia  in over three  decades?

When UMNO General Assembly was being held in the last week of November, the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research was carrying out a 10-day opinion survey from November 26 to December 5, 2014 and it  found that public perception towards corruption in Malaysia remains unchanged since 2005 with at least 77% of Malaysian voters this year agreeing that corruption in the country is serious.

The survey done jointly with BFM Radio for World Anti-Corruption Day yesterday showed this perception appeared unchanged compared to similar polls conducted in August 2005 and June 2012 which found 76% and 78%, respectively, saying that corruption was seriously prevalent.

The survey found that 49% of Malaysians reported that corruption had increased, 20% felt it had remained unchanged while 21% felt it had decreased compared to one year ago.

The same survey also saw a majority, or 56%, of Malaysians perceiving the government’s fight against corruption left much to be desired despite recent successes by the anti-corruption commission.

These views were more apparent among younger voters and those with Internet access.

Could the Merdeka Center opinion survey  on corruption perceptions be reliable or credible, – that it was unchanged since 2005 with seven out of 10 Malaysian voters still think Malaysia corrupt as well as the finding that  49% of Malaysians report that corruption had increased, 20% felt it had remained unchanged while 21% felt it had decreased compared to one year ago.

This is because these survey results fly in the face of the euphoria in the past few days,  generated by  government propagandists led by none other than the Prime Minister himself, that the country had achieved a major breakthrough in the fight against corruption resulting in Malaysia moving up to 50th spot among 175 countries in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2014 ranking up from 53 last year.

Joining in the celebrations, Najib said: “Although an encouraging achievement, we must not rest on our laurels.”

What is this “encouraging achievement” and what “laurels” have we achieved in the fight against corruption, when the Merdeka Survey has found that there has been no change in the past 10 years with seven out of 10 Malaysian voters still think Malaysia corrupt?

The UMNO mouthpiece, the New Straits Times, even claimed that Malaysia’s ranking in the TI CPI 2014 is “the country’s best in 10 years” which is of course utter bunkum and balderdash.

The TI CPI 2014 is the country’s best in six years under Najib’s premiership, but the worst compared to Tun Abdullah’s premiership with TI CPI from 2004 to 2008 ranging from 39th to 47th ranking and even worse in the nine years of Mahathir’s premiership from 1995 – 2003, ranking from 23rd placing in 1995 to No. 37th placing in 2003.

With such poor results both in TI CPI rankings and public perceptions down the years, confirmed by the most recent Merdeka Center survey, how could Najib and his platoon of anti-corruption publicists, claim credit for “laurels” achieved in the field of anti-corruption, when corruption under Najib was even worse than both Mahathir and Abdullah?

The annual TI CPI series in now 20 years old.

Studying the TI CPI 2014 ranking and score for the 175 countries and the 20-year series of TI CPI from 1995-2014, there is no reason or ground for anyone to believe that the target of Malaysia being ranked in the top 30 of TI CPI in 2020 is a realistic or achievable one.

In fact, come 2020, Malaysia faces the risk of being overtaken by China and even Indonesia in both in  TI CPI ranking and score, when in the first TI CPI in 1995, Malaysia was ranked No. 23 out of 41 countries with a score of 5.28 out of 10, while China and Indonesia were ranked as the last two bottom countries with CPI score of 2.16 and 1.94 out of 10 respectively (i.e. hovering in the lowest 90 percentile of the CPI score).

If Malaysia is to occupy the top 30 percentile of the CPI index in 2020, we must achieve at least the top 35 percentile of the CPI score and not just 52/100, as the score of  Bhutan, ranked No. 30 in the TI CPI 2014 index,  has a score of 65.

However, in the last 20 years, Malaysia achieved the dubious distinction as one of the few countries which had been downgraded both in TI CPI ranking and score, and losing  out to countries which had lower CPI ranking and score in 1995 as well as  now at risk of being overtaken by countries including China and Indonesia which had been at the bottom of TI CPI in 1995.

For instance, Malaysia ranked No. 23 with CPI score of 5.28/10 in 1995, was ahead of Taiwan (Rank 25 Score 5.08), Spain (R 26 Sc 4.35), South Korea (R 27 Sc 4.29) Hungary (R 28 Sc 4.12)  but in the 2014 TI CPI have lost out to Taiwan (R 35 Sc 61), Spain (R 37 Sc 60), South Korea (R 43 Sc 55) and Hungary (R 47 Sc 54).

Unlike Malaysia, which has achieved a lower percentile score in the past 20 years, i.e. 5.28/10 in 1995 to 52/100 in 2014, all other countries in Asia have improved on their percentile score in the past 20 years from 1995 to 2014, eg. Thailand from 2.79/10 to 38/100; India from 2.78/10 to 38/100; Philippines from 2.77/10 to 38/100; Pakistan from 2.25/10 to 29/100; China from 2.16/10 to 36/100 (dropping from 40/100 last year) and Indonesia from 1.94/10 to 34/100.

What should concern all Malaysians is that from these trends, Malaysia runs the risk of being overtaken by both Indonesia and China before 2020 in the annual TI CPI both in ranking and score unless Malaysia quickly buck up and show its seriousness on the anti-corruption front.

In Indonesia, the new  President Joko Widodo is personally leading the campaign against corruption while in China, though it had dropped four points in the TI CPI score last year, its corruption campaign against “tigers and flies” have seen a tremendous improvement in China’s  i TI CPI score in the past  two decades.

Corruption arrests and prosecutions against tigers and  crocodiles, whether ministerial rank or equivalents, are now a common scene in the anti-corruption campaigns in Indonesia and China, but there had not been a single “shark” successfully prosecuted for corruption in Malaysia in over three decades.

How are Malaysians going to hold their heads high when in the coming decade, the world perceive Malaysia as being even more corrupt than Indonesia and China?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 10 December 2014, 7:29 pm and is filed under
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Fear of Malaysia turning into another Afghanistan prompted open letter

by Eileen Ng

The Malaysian Insider

11 December 2014

A deep fear that her country would become another Pakistan and Afghanistan, where religious extremism is on the rise, prompted Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin to seek other like-minded Malays to sign an open letter asking for a rational dialogue on the position of Islam in Malaysia.

But she is also hopeful that the positive response the letter has garnered will be the start of “something big” to help restore moderation and rationality in Malaysia.

In an interview to explain her reasons for signing and disseminating the letter, the former ambassador said she was worried that groups politicising Islam would lead Malaysia down the path of violence if left unchecked.

“I do not want to see what happened in Pakistan and Afghanistan happen to us, where professionals and talented people are so scared of their own future and their families’ future because extremist religion is on the rise and they leave the country taking their money and skills with them.

“If this happens in Malaysia, it is going to affect adversely our economy and we will be left with non-talented people who will lead the country to ruins,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

Noor Farida also said she was heartened by the positive response since the letter was published in various media outlets, adding that she had hopes for the 25 signatories to organise themselves into something more formal.

She said she wanted to “keep the momentum going” as the signatories shared a common desire to promote tolerance and respect among the races.

They were still a loose grouping, she said and, as yet, had no fixed plans on their next move, but they would meet soon to discuss concrete steps.

What she knows, for certain, is that it will be strictly a non-political group.

“This is the start of something big, we have received a lot of goodwill and we have started something positive for the country so we want to keep the momentum going.

“It is not going to end here, this is a genesis of a movement of moderate Muslims,” said the former Malaysian ambassador to the Netherlands.

The letter, published two days ago, decried the “lack of clarity and understanding” on the place of Islam within Malaysia’s constitutional democracy, as well as a “serious breakdown of federal-state division of powers, both in the areas of civil and criminal jurisdictions”.

It also expressed concern at how religious authorities were “asserting authority beyond their jurisdiction”, and that fatwa issued had violated the Federal Constitution as well as the consultative process.

Besides Noor Farida, other signatories of the 19-paragraph letter comprised of former high-ranking civil servants, including directors-general, secretaries-general, ambassadors and prominent individuals, all of whom are Malays.

Noor Farida said she was especially disappointed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had made “beautiful speeches abroad” about moderation and yet did nothing at home against Malay supremacist groups who made inflammatory speeches.

In singling out Malay rights groups Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) which claimed that Malay rights were being threatened, Noor Farida said conversely, it was the rights of the non-Malays that had been trampled.

“Malay rights are entrenched in the constitution and every government agency is seen to promote Malay rights, from education to job opportunities, so why do they perceive that there are still threats to the rights of the Malays?

“It is all in their imagination,” she said.

She said no good would come out of a situation where moderate Muslims and non-Muslims, spooked by rising religious extremism, decided to leave the country.

“Whether we like it or not, we sink and swim together. Isn’t it better to foster good race relations, promote peace and live peacefully? To what purpose do we want to instigate violence?” she said.

This was why all extremist rhetoric had to stop, she said, as such organisations did not speak for the silent majority.

Describing the Malaysia that she grew up in as a country that celebrated differences and where people of all races and religious beliefs mixed together, she questioned why Malaysia of late had descended into such vitriol, and to what purpose.

“All the recent events are showing a face of Islam which is totally contrary to Islamic teachings. Islam is a religion of peace and the way these people are behaving is as though they are trying to instigate another May 13,” she said, referring to the race riots of 1969.

“Islam has got such a bad image abroad and what the extremists are doing is causing so much confusion and giving Islam such a bad name. Why should we allow these rat pack gangs to force us out of our own homes and country?” – December 11, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 11 December 2014, 7:36 am and is filed under
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Malaysian government has a very funny way of celebrating Human Rights Day in 2014 – by summoning the US envoy for expressing support for human rights in Malaysia!

The Malaysian Government has a very funny way of celebration the Human Rights Day yesterday on 10th December 2014 – by summoning the United States Ambassador Joseph Yun to expressing support for human rights in Malaysia!

What was Yun’s offence?

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Yun said that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s decision to retain the Sedition Act raised human rights concerns.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman disagrees, claiming that the Sedition Act 1948 does not hinder a vibrant democracy and a “preventive measure to ensure that no parties would incite religious and racial tension that could jeopardize peace and stability in the country”.

Anifah may even believe that Yun’s remarks were unwarranted and disappointing, but  is this justification for him to flex his muscles and  call up the US Ambassador for a “dressing”?

Why don’t Anifah go the whole hog and demand that the United States President Barack Obama recall Yun and replace him with a more amenable Ambassador – as Anifah will only joining the lengthening list of Cabinet Ministers who are making a fool of themselves in both the national and international arena?

The United Nations resident co-ordinator for Malaysia, Michelle Gyles-Mcdonnough has said that the United Nations is keeping “careful watch” on Putrajaya’s decision to retain the Sedition Act 1948, after the Prime Minister  did an about-turn on earlier pledges to repeal the controversial law.

Is Anifah also going to summon the UN resident co-ordinator and haul her on the carpet over her statement at a public forum in conjunction with World Human Rights Day 2014 that “the UN has made very clear publicly our position on the Sedition Act…we do believe it restricts freedom of expression” as unwarranted and disappointing?

In fact, a group of United Nations rights experts, including David Kaye, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Maina Kiai, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Gabriela Knaul, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; and Michel Forst, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders have made a joint call to the Malaysian government to stop criminalizing dissent which threatens free expression, declaring:

 “The Sedition Act is reportedly used in a way that prevents Malaysians from expressing and debating, freely and openly, a diverse range of political opinions and ideas.

“It is time for Malaysia to adjust its legislation, including the 1948 Sedition Act, to be in line with international human rights standards, and take firm steps towards the effective enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression.”

Is Anifah going to reprimand the UN resident co-ordinator, declare the the group of UN Special Rapporteurs related to human rights as “persona non grata” in Malaysia and warn the UN to stop interfering in Malaysia’s business or to close down the UN office and related UN agencies Malaysia?

This is not only a most extraordinary manner for the Malaysian government to celebrate the Human Rights Day in 2014, but to marks its membership in the United Nations Security Council as well as ASEAN Chair for the new year.

Anifah should be reminded that the United Nations Charter makes clear a member of the UN Security Council should contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security and support the other purposes of the UN, including promoting universal respect for human rights.

Or is Malaysia going to prove the “doubting Thomas” in international society right that Malaysia’s membership in the UN Security Council, together with Angola and Venezuela, would be a “problematic” era for human rights issues?

Anifah should heed the words of Gyles-Mcdonnough that although the UN does not have the power to compel Malaysia – or any country for that matter – to repeal any questionable legislation, this does not mean Malaysia is spared public and international scrutiny, especially since the country has yet to ratify core conventions on human rights prescribed by the UN.

Anifah should take heed of SUARAM’s Human Rights Report in Malaysia 2014, which said that human rights in Malaysia under Najib’s administration have hit a new low.

The report said freedom of expression “took a heavy toll” this year, with 44 people being investigated, charged or convicted under the Sedition Act 1948.

The 44 include opposition politicians, activists, lawyers, academics, Muslim preachers as well as students.

The United States Ambassador to Malaysia had told Malaysiakini that  the United States is “puzzled” with Najib’s decision to backtrack and retain the Sedition Act.

The answer is very simple – Najib’s U-turn on the Sedition Act was to court instant popularity at the UMNO General Assembly and had nothing to do with any professional security assessment of the country’s laws.

This was why the former Information Minister, Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, blogged a day after Najib’s U-turn on the Sedition Act in his presidential speech at the UMNO General Assembly on Nov. 27:

“If Datuk Seri Najib is a smart politician, he would be able to understand that the thunderous applause of the delegates, who welcomed his announcement to maintain the Sedition Act, was actually Umno’s rejection of his leadership that is liberal and weak.

“If he hadn’t made that announcement, all the Umno members would have buried him, and his future in Umno would have been destroyed.”

Anifah’s claim  that the Sedition Act 1948 does not hinder a vibrant democracy and Malaysia needs a “preventive measure to ensure that no parties would incite religious and racial tension that could jeopardize peace and stability in the country” is not only dishonest and untrue, but very self-serving.

This is because the tensions caused by the rhetoric and politics of hate, bigotry and extremism emanate from UMNO/BN side or their out-sourced NGOs, and not from the Pakatan Rakyat but it is the PR leaders, activists and intellectuals who are victimized by  selective and malicious investigation and prosecution under the Sedition Act.

Anwar Ibrahim and I have been investigated by the police under the Sedition Act and it is a probably a matter of time before we are hauled to court and charged under the Sedition Act.  Is this to promote democracy and being fair to the opposition?

The Sedition Act is a draconian and repressive law, especially as it is abused in Malaysia where the real extremists are allowed to go scotfree  while the moderates are charged for sedition; where the law is used not based on the activities or offenses but based on the political inclination of the accused.

A good case in point is the former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Kedah Wanita UMNO delegate, Datuk Dr. Mashitah Ibrahim who tried to incite racial and religious conflict, hatred and tensions with the completely baseless and false allegation that the Chinese community in Kedah had burnt the Quran page by page at a prayer ritual.

Police recorded a statement from Mashitah on Sunday, 12 days after she had made that inflammatory and irresponsible allegation and 10 days after two DAP MPs, Teo Nie Ching (Kulai) and Kasthuri Patto (Batu Kawan), my political secretary Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud and DAP activist Syefura Othman had lodged a police report against Mashitah for her hate speech?

Why did the police treat with Mashitan with kid-gloves when Pakatan Rakyat leaders would have ended up in the lock-up immediately if they had made the same type of reckless incendiary hate speech like that of Mashitah?

Was the police unable to get evidence of Mashitah’s inflammatory hate speech making false allegation that the Chinese community in Kedah had burnt the Quran page by page at a prayer ritual – when the video of Mashitah’s speech had been on You Tube all this time?

Furthermore, how is Anifah to explain for the police investigation of PKR Taman Medan Assemblywoman in Selangor, Taniza Talha under the Sedition Act for an article criticising budget allocations to the prime minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor’s Permata project?

This is a very clear-cut case of the Sedition Act becoming an oppressive instrument to suppress democracy and stifle the opposition, where the Sedition Act is used not based on the activities or offences, but the person involved as to whether from Pakatan Rakyat or not; and whether he or she had criticised an UMNO personality who cannot be questioned or criticised – like Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 11 December 2014, 9:20 am and is filed under
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Pakatan Rakyat leaders must be responsible to the 52% of the voters who had supported the PR in the 13 GE and should not continue to leave PR in a limbo

I welcome the proposal by the PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar that the Pakatan Rakyat parties resume discussions and deliberation among its top leaders.

Pakaan Rakyat parties must be responsible to the 52% of the voters who had supported the PR in the 13GE rendering the UMNO/BN Federal Government the first minority government in the nation’s history, and PR leaders should not leave PR in a limbo.

The resumption of deliberations among the top PR leaders is an urgent agenda after a lapse of over six months, and the first task of the PR top leadership is to assure the 52% of the electorate who had put their hope and trust in the PR that the PR is intact, and to reaffirm the PR common policy framework which had brought the DAP, PKR and PAS together to form a coalition in the 13GE remains the core policy framework for PR and that the consensus principle which had been the fundamental operational principle of of PR decision-making process will be fully respected and adhered to.

I personally hope that the new year 2014 would not end without a meeting of the PR leadership council to set the PR in a new direction for the new year, putting all the past aches and pains of PR firmly behind it.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 11 December 2014, 12:50 pm and is filed under
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Support for call for open debate, discourse on Islamic law

– Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG)

The Malaysian Insider

10 December 2014

Earlier this week, a group of Malaysians wrote a letter calling for “open debate and discourse on Islamic law”.

It was penned by 25 distinguished Malaysians – retired civil servants, judges, ambassadors, among others – including Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, founding member and trustee of Women’s Aid Organisation.

Their message was clear, and the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) fully supports it.

Among the many issues raised, the letter criticised Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom for his “inflammatory statement” against action he had unfairly called a “new wave of assault on Islam.” This includes the action taken by Sisters in Islam to seek legal redress against a fatwa issued against it.

JAG stands with Sisters in Islam in full support of its rights to seek legal redress, and its right to freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

We further echo the call for moderation with regard to respecting the rights of the transgender community to seek legal redress against the discrimination they face from religious officials because of their gender identity.

The letter laments that “religious bodies seem to be asserting authority beyond their jurisdiction”. We’ve seen how such overreach can cause unnecessary pain and suffering to families, including non-converting spouses and their children, such as in the cases of Indira Gandhi and S. Deepa.

The letter’s message echoes Malaysia’s international obligations.

When the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) reviewed Malaysia in 2006, it urged the Malaysian government to “undertake a process of law reform to remove inconsistencies between civil law and Shariah law, including by ensuring that any conflict of law with regard to women’s rights to equality and non-discrimination is resolved in full compliance with the constitution.”

The letter condemns “the use of the Sedition Act… as a constant threat to silence anyone with a contrary opinion.”

As endorsing organisations of Gerakan Hapuskan Akta Hasutan (GHAH), we fully agree.

Perhaps most importantly, the letter asks the prime minister to take “personal leadership (to) champion open and coherent debate and discourse on the administration of Islamic laws in this country.”

We hope the prime minister and other government leaders heed this call, and stop appeasing extremist and supremacist voices.

We laud these 25 brave and civic-minded Malaysians for voicing their concern about the direction this country seems to be heading. And we urge all Malaysians who value democracy, the rule of law, and human rights to do the same. – December 10, 2014.

* The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) comprises of 10 organisations.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 11 December 2014, 7:21 am and is filed under
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Ex-envoy urges moderate Malays to take stand

By Zakiah Koya

Malaysiakini

8:36AM Dec 12, 2014

Former Wisma Putra head honcho Ahmad Kamil Jaafar has vowed that the ‘Eminent Malays statement’ signed by him and 24 others will not be a flash in the pan.

“We will continue to speak up and this (statement) will not be the end of us,” Ahmad Kamil told Malaysiakini.

He said he signed the statement, despite having served in the civil service for many decades, as he felt something must be done to get moderate Malays to stand up to the extremists who are destroying the country’s multiethnic and multireligious make-up.

Ahmad Kamil, 77, was a diplomat for 34 years before his retirement as secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Until recently, he was special envoy to the prime minister.

“All the issues (mentioned in the statement) have been welling up in the society and I was feeling concerned…

“Some of them (in the government) are going overboard and they are talking of arresting the lot (those who questioned the extremists).

“We (the 25 of us) talked to one another and we wanted to take some kind of action that may influence other moderate Malays… I also want to see everyone come back to the country,” Ahmad Kamil said.

He was referring to many of his peers who have left Malaysia due to growing intolerance to racial and religious diversity in the county.

The former top diplomat said the ‘25 Eminent Malays’ statement was meant to jolt the government and Malay leaders ruling the country into taking action.

Last Monday, the group of 25 prominent Malays, in a rare action, called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his government to show leadership in the face of dogmatic voices, such as those of right-wing groups Isma and Perkasa, which have been growing in vituperation over the past few years.

The group included former civil servants, judges, ambassadors and scholars. Among those who inked the statement are former Health Ministry director-general Dr Ismail Merican, former Court of Appeal judge Shaik Daud Md Ismail and former ambassador Noor Farida Ariffin.

Ahmad Kamil said there were many more prominent Malays who wanted to sign the statement but the group decided that the statement should appear as soon as possible.

He said everything happened within weeks – from composing the statement to publicising it.

A ‘Talibanised’ Malaysia

When asked why the statement focused mostly on Malays and Islam, Ahmad Kamil cited the case of the transgenders who challenged the Islamic authorities for illegal arrests and won.

Last month, the Court of Appeal in a landmark ruling declared invalid Negeri Sembilan’s Syariah Criminal (Negeri Sembilan) Enactment 1992, which criminalises Muslim transgenders for cross-dressing.

Ahmad Kamil asked why the government insisted on appealing against that acquittal.

“Transgenders are also God’s creation, and we have to protect God’s creation in whatever form,” he said.

Although many of the younger generation of Malaysians may not know the 25 signatories, despite most of them once being top civil servants, Ahmad Kamil said they were doing it for their grandchildren.

“I do not want my grandchildren to live in a Talibanised country.

“I come from a background of people of different races and we (back then) never questioned who you are. Today, there are so many discordant and divisive issues.

“It is time all of us got up from sitting on our backsides,” said Ahmad Kamil, who rubbished claims by some quarters that the 25 signatories were playing partisan politics.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 12 December 2014, 6:14 pm and is filed under
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I don’t know if Umno is capable of reforming itself, says Ku Li

The Malaysian Insider

12 December 2014

Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Malaysia’s longest-serving Member of Parliament, is decidedly despondent about his country.

“I cannot recall an experience when Malaysia, after independence, was trapped in a situation similar to that we face now,” he said in a wide-ranging interview with The Edge Review.

Malaysia’s troubled political landscape, where the sensitive issues of race and religion are dominating headlines and public discourse, is being weighed down by the serious deterioration in the country’s economic performance where mounting debt in the public sector and households is leaving the country very vulnerable to external shocks.

“We have never been in this spot before,” says the urbane 77-year-old politician, who is fondly known as Ku Li.

Tengku Razaleigh, a prince from the northeastern Kelantan state, ought to know.

Since the mid-1960s, Tengku Razaleigh has played key roles in several of the country’s ambitious economic initiatives and held crucial ministerial positions to emerge as a strong contender for the premiership of Malaysia.

In 1965, he became the first executive director of state-owned Bank Bumiputra, which today, after several transformations, is the regional financial powerhouse CIMB Group.

In 1974, he was appointed as the chairman and chief executive of the newly minted national oil corporation Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas, a position that the premier at the time, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, described as “equivalent of a Cabinet Minister”.

During this meteoric rise, Tengku Razaleigh was also making waves in the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) party that dominates the ruling National Front (Barisan Nasional) coalition government.

In 1971, he was elected to the powerful policy-making Umno Supreme Council and, two years later, to the prestigious position of party treasurer.

Cabinet appointments followed quickly. He was Finance Minister between 1976 and 1984, and Minister of International Trade and Industry from 1984 to 1987.

His departure from the government followed a bruising battle for the Umno presidency, and the Malaysian premiership that traditionally comes with it, with Tun (at the time Datuk Seri) Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Tengku Razaleigh narrowly lost and was dropped from government, together with his supporters.

Since then, he has been sidelined from mainstream politics within Umno and the government. But for many Malaysians, he remains a voice of reason.

Here are excepts from the recent interview:

Q: Public discourse on politics has turned decidedly shrill and the prospects of the economy are turning more bearish. As one of the country’s most senior politicians and its longest-serving Member of Parliament, can you recall the last time Malaysia was trapped in such hostile territory? Or are we in a crisis not seen before?

Tengku Razaleigh: I cannot recall an experience when Malaysia, after independence, was trapped in a situation similar to that we face now. Maybe you could draw some parallel with the nightmarish experience of the May 13 riots although it is not exactly what we have today.

Before independence, there was Hartal in 1948 and 1962 when it was difficult to get the basic necessities, particularly food, because shops were closed.

Then there was the experience of the Communist Emergency between 1948 and 1960, and the Confrontation in 1963.

In terms of the economy, we weathered the four past recessions quite successfully, beginning with the 1974 inflationary threat followed by the commodity recession of 1985, the 1997-78 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 recession caused by the subprime debacle in the US and sovereign debt problem in the Eurozone.

Each time we made a rapid recovery through both pragmatic policy adjustments and some fortuitous circumstances. Things are not so accommodative right now. I am concerned about the continued rising cost of living, falling oil and commodity prices, high government and household debt levels, which leave the government with little room to manoeuvre and the middle class, pensioners and the poor exposed and highly vulnerable to economic emergencies.

Some of these economic problems and difficulties have tended to have racial overtones. On top of that, structural issues persist, such as federal-state relations, especially the opposition states, and with Sabah and Sarawak, and of course corruption. Some people have described the situation as like moving towards a perfect storm, God forbid.

Q: The list of our political woes grows by the day. What do you think needs to be tackled urgently?

TR: People’s welfare comes first. The basic necessities, at reasonable price, should be readily available. The government and its agencies, with the help of NGOs, must monitor the prices of goods and services.

This must be conducted with great  tact. As I said in my letter to MPs on the 2015 Budget, tackling the rising cost of living is the highest priority.

No question about it; the ordinary folks are going to be hit the hardest in the event of a sudden downturn, with the falling ringgit, the higher cost of government borrowing to continue to support BR1M (government cash aid), and the subsequent inflation making worse the already rising cost of living. Poor homeless people in the Kuala Lumpur city centre patronising the soup kitchens in large numbers is highly disturbing.

The Anti-Corruption Commission must go into full swing to minimise corruption in both the public and private sectors. Those who held or hold executive positions must, together with their nominees or trustees, make available declarations of their assets and liabilities.

If the information given does not tally or evidence shows that they could not provide satisfactory answers to queries, then all their accounts should be frozen. Upon conviction, depending on the severity of the case, they should be imprisoned for life.

There shouldn’t be any more lip service on the matter of corruption.

All enforcement agencies should be policed to weed out the bad from the good if they are to regain the trust of the public. All are equal under the law and subject to the same rules.

The question of security is uppermost in the minds of the people. They want to know that they and their families are safe wherever they are.

The question of sovereignty is a very important one. God alone knows how many non-citizens carry blue identity cards, masquerading as Malaysians for jobs and benefits. Yet, many of our young people, including graduates, are either underemployed or unemployed.

Q: Is the current leadership capable of pulling Malaysia out of this quagmire?

TR: As I said earlier, the political leadership has come through before. With that experience, and if the Prime Minister can take on board the good advice being given, beyond listening to his immediate circle of advisers, even taking the more urgent measures and implementing them quickly, the current leadership should be able to come through again this time. But will they?

Q: Rising government and household debt, leakages in public finance and spikes in the cost of living are among our main economic problems. They also leave Malaysia very vulnerable to external shocks. As a former finance minister, what would be your recipe to deal with these problems?

TR: With the prospect of decreased revenues from Petronas dividends by as much as 37%, coupled with the prospect of a current account deficit looming over the horizon and the threat of a depreciating ringgit leading to higher inflation numbers, I think the government will have no choice but to reduce spending next year.

It may be by as much as 10% if the crude oil price drops to US$60 per barrel for example, and more if it dips lower than that.

To ease the burden on the people, especially the lower income group, the government may have to consider postponing the implementation of the GST, as I have already proposed.

Q: What are the other concerns the country’s economic managers need to focus on?

TR: The government has to rein in the monopolies and concessions, including the disproportionate subsidies to industry. Maybe also, like South Korea has recently done, the government should tax cash outstanding in corporate accounts at home and abroad.

Malaysians, I am told, have a lot of funds held overseas, so why not impose some limitation on their tendency to keep their wealth, especially cash, outside the country?

I also think the government should be more forthcoming in explaining things like the actual government debt position, the worries about 1MDB and the huge debts incurred by some of the oligarchs and so on.

We cannot let the general perception deteriorate to the level of Greece or Ireland as that can quickly turn into a general panic. It will then be too late for the government to impose austerity measures and we may end up having to beg for loans from the IMF and foreign governments.

The government shouldn’t leave things till it is too late. It has be more proactive in these threatening times. Now is also the time for the government to put into motion measures to cut food imports as this has caused a massive drain on our foreign exchange.

The federal government and its agencies, with the cooperation of the state governments and their agencies, must encourage food production by giving incentives so that idle land can be utilised to grow food for the people. Hence the importance of having a good Food Security Policy and System. The government and its agencies must ensure that profiteering is minimised.

Q:  The Umno-led government is becoming increasingly tone-deaf to advice from former leaders, such as former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Daim Zainuddin, your successor in the finance ministry, and yourself. How do you see your role if advice isn’t considered?

TR: The government should be more open and ready to accept good advice and adopt the necessary measures needed to solve the problems highlighted. Even if they don’t accept my views, I will continue to say what I have to say as a concerned citizen and an MP for the sake of the people.

The government must be seen to be listening to the people, especially those in the lower income group, and the young who have placed their future in the government’s hands.

Q: Umno’s appeal among the Malays and Malaysians in general has been slipping. Is the party and the coalition it leads living on borrowed time?

TR: Yes and no. There is such a thing as being in power too long and there are those who say that the BN government may be approaching the end of its shelf life, just like what happened with the LDP in Japan, and the Congress Party in India, or with Winston Churchill the war hero, whose party was rejected by the British people who chose to have more capable managers handle the post-war reconstruction.

So, indeed, as you say, the ruling coalition is living on borrowed time unless the party and the government undertake the necessary reforms and adapt to the changing circumstances, as Umno and BN were able to do all those years before.

But I do not know whether the present leaders are listening to the people, particularly the young. At this moment I am not optimistic that Umno and BN are capable of reforming in order to make a difference. We will have to wait and see. I hope it is not too late.

Q: Will you consider leaving the party if it doesn’t embark on a serious reform agenda?

TR: For the moment I have a platform and am guided by the people who voted for me. As I have said, I do not know whether the party is capable of reforming itself. The issue is whether the leadership is listening and prepared to act accordingly.

I am not sure whether the leadership of the party outside the ruling group is capable of putting their house in order and put their acts together in order to chart a new future for the country.

It appears that the alternative is not that attractive either. We have to be serious about what we are doing, and cannot just bury our collective heads in the sand. I do hope there are enough cool heads to steer things around.

Q: Your thoughts on Petronas and the government’s over-reliance on the national oil company to finance its budget.

TR: This is a long-term concern. That’s why we implemented plans to move away, through industrial diversification, towards non-oil sources. But we are a rich primary producing country and suffer from what economists call the Dutch Disease.

That tends to delay our full industrialisation and get out from this middle-income trap that we are now caught in. We have no choice but to move to a knowledge-based economy, seek a higher value-added industrialisation based on increasing productivity and higher wages, if we are to achieve developed nation status and a fairer society.

Q: As a founding member of the national oil company, was it ever envisaged that oil-producing states would be penalised of their royalties in the event they fell to opposition hands?

TR: Certainly not. Petronas is not a political party but a creature (company) of law. The Petroleum Development Act of 1974 was enacted in order to control the oil and gas resources of the country for the benefit of all Malaysians.

Towards this end, the state of Sarawak spearheaded the move in line with the PDA provisions to vest all its oil and gas rights in Petronas. The other states and the federal government followed suit to vest the oil rights in perpetuity for 5% cash payment.

The agreements were not signed by the state authority with the federal government but with Petronas. Whether the state government is controlled by the opposition or not, is not a matter for consideration by Petronas because these resources belong to the people and the states whether they are oil producing or not.

It is a coincidence that the oil resources are found in the offshore areas of the states which are relatively less developed. This is why a cash payment is paid to the state governments concerned since no oil is found onshore.

The federal government and all the states which vest their oil rights in Petronas are aware of this fact. Otherwise why should a state which has oil onshore expect only 5% payment when they could have all the oil revenue to themselves?

When the concessionaires relinquished the whole of the concession area after 1974, they were given the opportunity to enter into a Production Sharing Agreement. They could work the areas agreed but any area left untouched would have to be relinquished to Petronas for other contractors.

With the enactment of the PDA, it was never the policy to give out chunks of areas to anyone that could enable them to hawk it around for rent. Everyone must be actively involved in the production of oil in areas obtained through open bidding in order to benefit the people of the land. The surplus funds obtained from exploration and sale of oil should help create a sovereign fund for the future generations.

Petronas cannot and should not be treated as a “piggy bank” at any time. It is time that the Petroleum Advisory Council under the Petroleum Development Act be incepted to advise the prime minister on the way forward for Petronas and related energy policy. Proper representation and the right people should be appointed to advise on Petroleum and Energy Policy of the country.

Q: The Malaysian government’s penchant for using draconian laws, such as the Sedition Act, to silence its critics mirrors a theme that is recurring in much of Southeast Asia, where democratisation is either stalling of going into reverse. Could you comment on this?

TR: Democracy has its advantages as well as its limitations. Being developing states, many Southeast Asian countries are under pressure to achieve greater economic progress for their people. Different governments have adopted different approaches to the question of proper governance. Some, depending on internal circumstances and their history, have adopted models of liberal democracy or transparent use of state power, while others take a different route.

The aim, however, is to achieve political participation with accountability. Some are able to undertake political reforms while others are moving somewhat slower towards effective governance through the rule of law and democratic institutions.

Asean, as a whole, once it achieves greater levels of economic integration and prosperity together in the years ahead, and once its people have their basic needs, should push for some convergence for greater openness and democratic practices. – December 12, 2014.

* The Edge Review is Southeast Asia’s only weekly digital news magazine covering regional politics and business. To receive a free three-month trial subscription and to read this story and other news in this issue click here.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 12 December 2014, 9:29 am and is filed under
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‘I no longer care about my political position,’ says Pulai MP

by Michael Murty

The Rakyat Post

Dec 12, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12, 2014:

“I no longer care about my political position”.

This was the reply by Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed when asked about his attendance at the “Freedom of Expression Under Threat?” forum held by the Bar Council here yesterday.

According to Sinar Online, Nur Jazlan said he wanted to use the opportunity while he still had it, to voice his opinion.

“The question about my political career is no longer on my mind. I do not care about my position within the party (Umno) as I have reached an age where I no longer am chasing positions within the party.

“But I do want to use the platform that I have to do consensual politicking, rather than bickering all the time,” he told the news portal.

Also present were student activist Adam Adli and Human Rights Organisation (Hakam) president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Nur Jazlan said his actions to face his opponents or the people that did not agree to government policies, was the type of change he tried to create for his party.

“I will not join the Opposition because I do not believe in what they do but I try to make changes in my own party anyway.

“If there was anyone brave in my own party to change its ways, I want to be the first one.”

He said he would accept if that caused the end of his political career.

“If that is the sacrifice I have to pay, it is okay. How many dare to take such high risks? I am willing to, that is why I do it.”

He stressed that politics in the country had to change because the people are more mature with their thoughts.

“They want a government that hears everyone’s opinions.

“If we stick to just fighting with the Opposition, it will only be detrimental to the country,” he said.

It was also reported that Nur Jazlan threw down the gauntlet to his party president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be aggressive in bringing change to the party.

He even praised Adam Adli for having the guts to be different and articulate, which was reminiscent of Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim back when he was a student leader.

In November, The Star Online reported Nur Jazlan of saying similar things, when he said “Umno don’t like me anymore, I lost when I contested for a seat in the supreme council. They see me as someone who doesn’t want to preserve the old ways”.

He said he wanted the government to improve their accountability, accounting practices and financial discipline by establishing a system of institutional memory, audit trail and a fear of being audited.

He also hit out at the party for not being accommodating to its young leaders or appealing to the young, saying things like the “Umno general assembly is becoming boring every year, because they talk about the same things”.

He urged the party to change, comparing the party to DAP who had many young leaders — singling out Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming who is 32 and Dyana Sofya, 24, as good examples.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 12 December 2014, 6:29 pm and is filed under
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Over 5,000 pages are missing from the RCI Report on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah released by the government on Dec 3 – call on Najib to immediately release the missing pages

Firslty, let me thank the packed capacity for attending this forum organised at very short notice for taking part in a straw vote by show of hands that not a single person in this hall support the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) Report released in Kota Kinabalu on Dec. 3, and the unanimous show of hands showing disappointment or rejection of the RCIIIS Report.

This is confirmation of the deep and widespread disbelief, dismay and disquiet by the people of Kota Kinabalu and Sabah over the RCIIIS Report, which has been  such a great letdown after the high hopes and expectations of the people that finally, there would be a solution to the four-decades-old problem of  illegal immigrants  which has changed the political demography in Sabah as well as the social, economic and security circumstances and  landscape for Sabahans.

In fact, I had said – and I find confirmation tonight – that if the RCIIIS Report had been released before the 13GE in May last year, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would not be the Prime Minister today, and that if a Sabah state general elections is held now, the RCIIIS Report will be one issue which will be cause of the downfall of the UMNO/BN State Government in Sabah.

Let me say three things, No. 1 – that the RCIIIS Report, as released on Dec. 3 in Kota Kinabalu, is completely unsatisfactory.

Over 5,000 pages are missing from the RCIIIS Report when it was released on Dec 3.

I  call on Najib to immediately release the missing pages.

The RCIIIS Report should be thickest and most voluminous of all RCI reports in the nation’s history but it is only 368 pages.

The Report Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Videotape Scandal comprise four volumes: Vol 1 – 191 pages; Vol 2 Notes of Evidence 1,187 pages; Vol 3 Statutory Declarations 513 pages and Volume 4 Exhibits – 474 pages. A total of 2,365 pages!

The RCIIIS received 361 memorandum and  177 exhibits, held public hearings from January 14 until September 2013 where   211 witnesses appeared before it.

Where are the memorandum,  notes of evidence, the statutory declarations and exhibits which were submitted to the RCIIS which, I understand, exceed 5,000 pages – which are essential parts of the RCIIIS Report.

Why has the government released less than 10 per cent of the actual Report of the RCIIIS, when the Lingam VideoTape Scandal RCI could present a Report of over 2,300 pages producing all the notes of evidence, statutory declarations and exhibits?

The first thing Sabahans and Malaysians must demand from Najib  is the release of the full Report of the RCIIIS as it is in the public interest that all the over 5,000 pages of memorandum, notes of evidence, statutory declarations and exhibits should be made public.

In fact, this should the first task of the Joseph Pairin RCIIIS working committee. Is Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin prepared to take a stand that the full report of over 5,000 pages of the RCIIIS Report should be immediately made public?

Secondly, why had the “royal” status of the RCIIIS been stripped off, as the front page of the RCIIIS Report states “REPORT Commission of Enquiry on Immigrants in Sabah”. I have here a copy of the 2005 Report of the Police Royal Commission headed by former Chief Justice Tun Dzaiddin which was appointed by the then Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Clearly printed on the cover are the words “Report of Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police”.

Why has the Federal Government suddenly stripped the RCIIIS on its “royal” status, not printing clearly on the cover of the Report that it is Royal Commission of Inquiry into illegal immigrants in Sabah?

Furthermore, why are there no signatures of the Commissioners on the Report, not even a preface by the Chairman of the RCIIIS, Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong when there was a foreword by Chairman of the Police Royal Commission of Inquiry, Dzaiddin in the :Police RCI Report!

Thirdly, The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should have been in Kota Kinabalu to personally launch the RCIIIS Report to show that he  gives serious weight both to the RCIIIS and the solution to the forty-year problem for Sabahans.

Unfortunately, Najib played the role of an “absentee Prime Minister” and delegated the launching of the RCIIIS Report to the Chief Secretary, Tan Sri Hamsa Ali and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail – and both further  clouded the occasion by either distorting the report or gave completely untrue and misleading accounts of the illegal immigrant problem.

Hamsa, for instance, claimed that politicians have been cleared of being implicated in “Project IC” which the RCIIIS Report had not done.

Gani on his part claimed that illegal immigrants had been “purged” from the electoral rolls which are therefore completely “clean” as far as illegal immigrants in Sabah are concerned – which is also baseless and untrue.

One RCIIIS Commissioner  said “No smoking gun on Project IC”, but going through the RCIIIS Report, I find many “smoking guns”.

It is most shocking that the Commissioners cannot see these “smoking guns” and have gravely failed Sabahans.  This is why Sabahans find the RCIII Report completely unsatisfactory.

The Sabah State Government and  State Assembly have also failed the people of Sabah, as they should be in the very forefront not only to show concern but to resolve the 40-year nightmare of the illegal immigrants problem in Sabah.

Why hasn’t the Sabah State Assembly been convened in emergency session to debate the RCIIIS Report if the Sabah State Government is serious in wanting an end to the 40-year illegal immigrant nightmare in Sabah?

With the RCIIIS Report a great failure and letdown of the hopes and trust of the people of Sabah and Malaysia, there should be a Report on the RCIIIS Report to show where RCIIIS had failed the people, state and nation.

However, as a first step, the Prime Minister should release the missing 5,000 pages of the RCIIIS Report without any delay.

Will the BN Sabah Ministers, MPs, State Assemblymen and leaders also take up this call?

(Speech at the Sabah DAP forum on the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS)  – “HOPES for Sabah or CRIES of Sabah” at Palace Hotel Ballroom, Kota Kinabalu  on Thursday, 11th December 2014 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 12 December 2014, 5:52 pm and is filed under
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Rise of the moderate Malays

By Stephen Ng

Malaysiakini

Dec 11, 2014

COMMENT
The open letter by 25 top former civil servants urging Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to show leadership in handling the intolerant right wing groups is a clear sign that the moderate Malays are finally speaking up.

It marks the rise of the voice of moderation – something that we have been waiting for in the past six years, or longer. These 25 eminent retirees have broken their silence and spoken up for the sake of preserving our decaying social fabrics.

They are like salt to decaying meat. Without such salt, the meat will continue to decay until it is no longer safe for consumption. We certainly do not want this nation to get to the extent of becoming another South Africa during the apartheid era.

As a Chinese growing up in multi-racial Malaysia, I remember the younger days when we used to sing Negaraku in high spirits.

I am reminded of this again recently, when one of the six-year-old children I was tutoring sidetracked and started singing the national anthem that he had learnt from his kindergarten. He was of course also the flag bearer, proudly carrying the national flag, during the school concert. This six-year-old is my own son.

I found myself following along, and the other child who was in the same tuition class also sang along. It was an unusual moment for all three of us for the brief two or three minutes.

Patriotism is in all of us

Most of us have grown up loving our country, but it was later in my adulthood, while studying in Australia, I heard the then-prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saying: “Those who disagree with the way we run the country, they can migrate overseas.”

Since then, this has been parroted over and over again by what one of the 25 eminent Malay civil servants, Noor Farida Ariffin calls “groups (which) clearly have low standards, poorly educated, intellectually challenged, incapable of seeing their own racism, intolerant, blindly obedient, and are destroying the fabric of our country’s society.”

This, coming from a Malay woman, is a good medicine for the two groups – Perkasa and Isma. The open rebuke is timely.

Had it come from a Chinese man, both Ibrahim Ali and Abdullah Zaik would have ignored it, but now that the scathing criticisms come from fellow Malays, they have nothing more to say. Certainly, they will have to take the pills.

In the same manner that they had described Dr Mahathir’s rebuke labelling Malays as being lazy, I am sure Ibrahim and Abdullah Zaik would have to accept the criticisms in humility, because Farida meant well.

To say anything more, they will risk having all these 25 eminent Malays and many more voting for anything but Umno and Barisan Nasional.

Now, back to my spirit of patriotism. When I reflect back, I think the sultan of Selangor should be grateful that it was Pakatan, under the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim, who restored my patriotism after all these years.

At some of the demonstrations that I dragged myself to attend, I found the Malaysian flags being held in high honour. People adorned themselves with the Malaysian flags. There was such pride in the way they displayed their patriotism towards the country they call “Our Home”.

Malaysians from all walks of life were walking together on the streets during public demonstrations under the banner of the Malaysian flag. It was for the sake of the country that we love that I felt these fellow Malaysians were willing to sacrifice their Saturday afternoons going down to the streets.

For me, 57 years of administration under Barisan Nasional (BN) has been far too long. BN has overstayed the hospitality of Malaysians. The component parties cannot continue to harp on race, religion, language and royalty in order to continue to stay in power. It is time for them to concede defeat, if they wish to remain relevant to Malaysians in years to come.

It was also Anwar’s daughter, Nurul Izzah, whose words caused tears to well in my eyes, when she was being interviewed by well-known radio broadcaster Patrick Teoh. “After over 50 years of Independence, why are we still fighting over the races? Why are we talking about Indians, Malays or Chinese?” she asked.

I had to leave the room quietly because I could not control my tears, hearing this from a young Malay woman, who understands that race is only skin deep.

My spirit of patriotism is also boosted by people like Ambiga Sreenevasan, who represents Negaraku, and others like Saifuddin Abdullah, who is chief executive officer of the Global Movement of Moderates.

Naturally, when the national anthem was sung, tears started rolling down my cheeks, thinking about these two young children and their future, if we continue to allow the right wing lobbyists to make noise without being countered the way Farida has done.

The country is sadly destroyed by one man whose intents of heart are clearly evil and selfish, thinking only for his family and personal wealth, while the country is helmed by one who chooses to do nothing about the state of the country.

Tunku’s voice of moderation

How I wish Tunku Abdul Rahman (Bapa Malaysia, right) was still alive! He is no longer with us, but may his spirit of patriotism permeate through all Malaysians. Let us continue to speak his voice of moderation.

What Farida and the others have done has brought back some hope that some day, Malaysia will rise again above the current political climate.

The rise of the Malay moderates is a sign of Umno’s imminent defeat in the coming general election. To me, I would rather vote for PAS than Umno, and this is what I did in the last general election.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 12 December 2014, 6:37 am and is filed under
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25 Moderate Malays: A One Hit Wonder or The Tip of the Iceberg?

Koon Yew Yin

13th December 2014

Just before UMNO held its recent general assembly, I had written the following lines:

But I, and many other Malaysians, have not lost hope entirely. There must be individuals and groups in the party that know of the cancer and culture of corruption, authoritarianism, greed, self enrichment and opportunism within the party which many of the top leaders are bent on spreading to the rest of the country.

	Surely, in a party with millions of members, there must be many of integrity, decency and sensibility who know that the party – in its present condition – is the Malay community’s worst enemy. Surely realistic platforms for real reform and change can be put up for discussion instead of the bashing of vernacular schools and self concocted enemies of Islam, royalty and the Malays. .

	The main aim of this UMNO meeting should be to formulate policies to make Malaysia a developed nation; and to make the Malays a respected community that can stand on its own feet and without the need for crutches, keris-wielding or name-calling.

	This group of moderate and honorable members must change the policies that have not worked. They must push out the leaders who have not performed and replace them with new blood that does not seek to make the non-Bumiputra the scapegoat for everything wrong or bad that happens in the Malay community.

Answer to my plea

As if in answer to my plea, a group of 25 prominent Malays has now issued a public statement on developments regarding race relations, Islam and extremist behaviour in Malaysia.  Describing themselves as “deeply concerned about the state of the debate on many issues of conflict on the position and application of Islamic laws in Malaysia”, the signatories wrote that “[i]t is high time moderate Malays and Muslims speak out.” In their statement, they noted that “extremist, immoderate and intolerant voices as represented by Perkasa and Isma do not speak in our name” and called for an informed and rational dialogue on the ways Islam is used as a source of public law and policy in Malaysia.

Since the statement appeared, there has been an outpouring of support and encouragement for the group. But the reality is that they number only 25. Although the signatories include good and respected top ranking civil servants and prominent personalities, the group can be considered to be a drop in the Malay ocean.

All patriotic Malaysians hope and pray that this group of 25 will multiply quickly and is the tip of the iceberg of Malay and Muslim moderation.

But frankly, can the group of 25 leave its mark? Yes, but only if the group is not satisfied with being what some critics would describe as “a one hit wonder”.

Plea to Group of 25 Moderates

I am not so immodest as to think that my earlier commentary was the catalyst for the statement by the group of 25. I am sure that the group has been in the making for a long time and that the close timing of my commentary and their open letter was entirely coincidental.

But I hope that this new plea can reach the group and can be considered by them in their struggle to right the course of Malay political development.

For the group to be really effective in its mission, I would like to propose the following:

Use your considerable intellectual and financial resources to place advertisements/commentaries carrying your viewpoints in the Malay media

Have members of your group and younger members especially appear over radio and television to explain your mission

Organize a mass movement of moderates to combat the Perkasa/Isma/right wing and supremacist organizations

In your statement earlier, you had argued that you were counting on the Prime Minister to exercise  his leadership and political will to establish an inclusive consultative committee to find solutions to the intractable problems that have been allowed to fester for too long.

I beg to disagree with this approach. Too many consultative committees and councils have already been established to look into this and that reform. The truth is that the Prime Minister is a politician, first and last. Please do not expect a tiger to change its stripes.

If you are really committed to leaving a better Malaysia for your children and grand children, you

yourselves must lead in changing Malay and Islamic society by deeds and action, not simply words.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 13 December 2014, 9:50 am and is filed under
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Bagaimana kerajaan mendaulatkan Bahasa Malaysia sedangkan terjemahan Laporan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja Pendatang Asing di Sabah pun menggunakan bahasa yang bermutu rendah, cincai dan nampak malas.

Gesaan Kerajaan Negeri Melaka supaya sekolah-sekolah menggunakan papan tanda dengan tulisan Jawi dengan alasan mendaulatkan Bahasa Kebangsaan boleh ditempelak dengan sekadar menunjukkan kepada mereka mutu terjemahan laporan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja Pendatang Asing di Sabah (RCIIIS) yang dikemukakan kerajaan pada 3 Disember lalu.

Barangkali kerana begitu tergesa-gesa mahu menyiapkan laporan terbabit, pihak yang bertanggungjawab menyediakan naskhah rasmi dalam Bahasa Kebangsaan akhirnya menggunakan khidmat penterjemahan Google sahaja, dan menghasilkan terjemahan yang begitu rendah mutunya bagi sebuah laporan bertaraf ‘Diraja’.

Lebih 200 muka surat awal Laporan RCIIIS nampaknya seakan-akan tiada masalah, dan menggunakan bahasa yang begitu ringkas. Namun jika dicermati betul-betul kita akan mendapati bahawa terjemahan yang diberikan adalah dibuat secara langsung (direct translation) daripada teks asal dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan kedengaran seperti ditulis oleh murid sekolah rendah sahaja.

Terdapat juga kejanggalan pada cara Laporan RCIIIS merujuk saksi-saksi. Kadang kala ia merujuk saksi sebagai ‘beliau’, dan ada kalanya pula menggunakan perkataan ‘dia’. Seolah-olah wujud perbezaan kasta dalam kalangan saksi-saksi yang memberi keterangan kepada Suruhanjaya tersebut.

Sekali imbas, kita boleh melihat bahawa ringkasan terhadap keterangan-keterangan yang diberikan oleh saksi-saksi ditulis semula secara sangat ringkas dan bermutu rendah. Tidak hairanlah kenapa laporan RCIIIS ini kehilangan 5,000 muka surat selebihnya yang sepatutnya memuatkan nota-nota keterangan saksi-saksi.

Terjemahan ini mula kedengaran lucu pada halaman 261, apabila laporan tersebut menyebut:

‘Kami mula, kerana adalah perlu bagi kami dalam menetapkan asas yang sepatutnya, dengan meneliti secara ringkas perpspektif sejarah berhubung dengan penghijrahan awal orang dari Filipina ke Sabah termasuk penghijrahan yang berikut selepas itu. Penghijrahan ini adalah tersendiri, ditentukan pada dasarnya dan dengan berkesan oleh masa, hal keadaan dan peristiwa. Terdapat 3 peringkat yang terlibat.’

Jika dibaca oleh golongan yang bagus berbahasa Malaysia, perenggan ini kedengaran pelik dan janggal sekali. Barangkali kerana ketergesaan menterjemahnya daripada teks asal berbahasa Inggeris telah menghasilkan kerja yang cincai dan tidak membawa makna. Sukar juga untuk kita fahami perenggan ini dan apa sebenarnya yang ingin disampaikan.

Begitu juga dengan suatu perenggan di mukasurat 266, yang berbunyi:

‘Mengenai isu tentang bentuk demografi yang melibatkan penduduk asal Sabah, Profesor Dr Ramlah (W1) merujuk kami kepada dua teori utama sebagai faktor penyumbang.’

Perenggan ini pastinya boleh ditulis dengan lebih baik. Contohnya, ‘Berkenaan isu rupabentuk demografi yang melibatkan penduduk asal Sabah, Profesor Dr Ramlah menarik perhatian kami kepada dua teori faktor penyumbang.’ Kejanggalan dalam penterjemahan ini adalah disebabkan penterjemahan terus secara cuai dan malas daripada teks asal berbahasa Inggeris.

Penulisan laporan ini yang menggunakan gaya penulisan alasan penghakiman pastinya lebih baik mutunya sekiranya tidak dibuat secara sambil lewa. Gaya penulisan alasan penghakiman ini boleh dilihat pada mukasurat 292 laporan RCIIIS:

‘Sekarang kami akan meneliti “faktor menolak” dan “faktor menarik” yang dikatakan dalam konteks pendatang tanpa izin dari Filipina dan Indonesia. Kami bermula daripada konteks umumnya.’

Ayat-ayat ini dan ayat seterusnya mempunyai mutu terjemahan yang buruk sekali. Apa itu ‘konteks umumnya’? Apa makna frasa ini? Apa bendanya pula ‘faktor menolak’; kenapa tidak digunakan ‘faktor pendorong’?

Banyak lagi contoh-contoh yang boleh kita dapati dalam laporan ini yang akan membuat pengamal bahasa merasa jelik.

Seandainya inilah mutu penterjemahan dokumen rasmi kerajaan yang sedari awalnya tidak pun ditulis dalam Bahasa Kebangsaan, bagaimanakah kerajaan boleh membuktikan bahawa ia benar-benar mendaulatkan Bahasa Malaysia sebagai Bahasa Kebangsaan, dan bagaimana pula gesaan menggunakan papan tanda dengan tulisan Jawi boleh membantu kakitangan kerajaan untuk menggunakan Bahasa Kebangsaan dengan lebih baik dan bukan secara cincai.

Bukan sahaja RCIIIS kehilangan sebahagian besar kandungan laporan yang sepatutnya didedahkan kepada orang ramai, naskhah yang tidak sampai 10% daripada keseluruhan teks laporan juga ditulis dan diterjemah secara sambil lewa. Tidak hairanlah kenapa Perdana Menteri Najib Razak pun menjauhkan diri daripada pelancaran laporan ini dan hanya menyerahkannya kepada Ketua Setiausaha Negara Tan Sri Ali Hamsa dan Peguam Negara Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, dengan tidak seorang pun menteri kabinet Persekutuan hadir.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 13 December 2014, 8:59 am and is filed under
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Four twitter carpet-bombing of my twitter site by some 100 UMNO Twitter Bomber multiple accounts in nine days – two on the RCIIIS report and two on Mashitah Ibrahim

Yesterday morning, the Minister for Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government and Sabah Barisan Nasional secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan issued a statement on the mounting and widespread disappointment and disaffection  among Sabahans to the 368-page Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS), and the Barisan Nasional government’s lack of sincerity and political will to resolve the 40-year nightmare and problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah.

Rahman said: “My job and that of my colleagues is not to convince the likes of Jeffrey Kitingan and Lim Kit Siang. Our job is to convince the people because that is what matters most.”

This statement formed the basis of the latest  series of attacks by UMNO Twitter Bombers on my twitter site by multiple  accounts, with 30 spam attacks on my site at 10.50 am.

The UMNO Twittter Bombers, human and robotic,  first showed their hands in their targeting of my twitter site during the launching of the RCIIIS Report in Kota Kinabalu on Dec. 3 at 4 pm, when some 100 tweet accounts, both human but most robotic, launched a “carpet-bombing”  of my tweet site, lasting some 90 minutes from 3.54 pm to 5.32 pm, with the most intensive attack registered at 4.11 pm with 46 spam attacks.

There were 49 same tweet attacks in five minutes, delivered in three waves – 17 tweets at 3.54 pm; 4 tweets at 3.58 pm and 28 tweets at 3.59 pm.

We have compiled a list of the tweet attacks and these UMNO Twitter Bomber accounts.

Before yesterday’s attacks, there were two other series of UMNO Tweet-Bomber  attacks, on the 6th and 7th December, on both occasions in defence of the former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr. Mashitah Ibrahim who acted most recklessly and irresponsibility when she fabricated the lie in her hate speech at the UMNO Wanita General Assembly on 26th November 2014 that the Chinese community in Kedah had burnt the Quran “page by page at a prayer ritual”, which proved to be a lie and concoction from my visit to the Taman Anggerik Market in  Alor Star last Thursday, 6th December.

Two weeks ago, DAP MPs Teo Nie Ching (Kulai) and Kasthuri Patto (Batu Kawan), my political secretary Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud and DAP activist Syefura Othman had lodged a police report against Mashitah for her hate speech calculated to incite inter-racial and inter-religious fear, tension and conflict with her lies.

The UMNO Tweet-Bomber attack on Dec. 6 from 8 p.m. to 8.50 p.m. (when I was already in Perlis to form an all-Thai DAP Branch) was to censure me, with the theme: “Kini @LimKitSiang Buat U-Turn, Mahu Akta Hasutan Diguna Terhadap Dato Dr. Mashitah Ibrahim Pula” but when I pressed on demanding the Home Minister and Police to explain double standards in treating Mashitah with kid-gloves, it resulted in  the UMNO Twitter-Bomber attack for some 40 minutes on Dec. 7 from 6.27 pm  to 7.07 pm, with variations on the theme of “Dato Dr. Mashitah beri keterangan pada @PDRMsia, Apa Lagi @LimKitSiang Mahu?”

Yesterday’s UMNO Twitter-Bomber attack, returning to UMNO’s pre-occupation with the RCIIIS Report which had become such a political disaster in Sabah is the fourth “carpet bombing” attack on my twitter site by the UMNO Twitter-Bombers in nine days.

I have the necessary particulars but very little confidence in the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to deal effectively with the UMNO Twitter Bombers for two reasons.

Firstly, I do not believe the Minister for Communications and Multimedia is unaware of the transgressions and breaches of the law by these UMNO Twitter-Bombers and Cybertroopers.

Secondly, Shabery Cheek is UMNO functionary first and Malaysian Minister second.

Recently, Najib  in his winding-up speech at the UMNO General Assembly slammed UMNO bloggers as “bangang” for not realizing who paid them, when they engaged in “friendly fire which is not friendly” in their criticisms of UMNO.

Instead of acting as Minister for Communications and Multi-Media to launch a full-scale inquiry into bloggers funded by UMNO not just to criticize UMNO but to purvey lies, falsehoods and hatred on the Internet, (or another serious matter, whether these UMNO bloggers are actually funded from the public funds?) Shabery Cheek chose to act as an obedient UMNO functionary by claiming that he did not hear what Najib said and did not know anything about it!

In this case of the UMNO Twitter-Bombers and their carpet-bombing of my tweet site whether on the RCIIIS Report or the case of Mashitah, Shabery is more likely to defend the UMNO transgressions than doing what is right and upholding the law and justice.

However, I am prepared to co-operate with the MCMC and furnish them with the particulars of the Twitter-Bombings and the some 100 human and robotic multiple accounts responsible for these twitter “carpet bombings” if the MCMC is prepared to prove its independence, integrity and professionalism.

Was the twitter-carpet bombing by UMNO Twitter Bombers necessary to distract attention from the disastrous RCIIIS Report, which had caused disbelief, dismay and disquiet among Sabahans in failing to provide the roadmap for the final solution of the 40-year nightmare  of unchecked influx of illegal immigrants into Sabah, altering the political demography and the social, economic and security landscape of  Sabah?

Is this one UMNO stratagem to distract attention from the outrageous failure to publish the full report of the RCIIIS Report, as over 5,000 pages of the notes of evidence, memorandum, exhibits  presented to the RCI,  are missing.

Let the RCIIIS Chairman, Tan Sri Steve Shim, the Commissioners Tan Sri Herman Luping, Datuk Seri Prof. Kamaruzaman Ampon, Datuk Henry Chin and Datuk K.Y. Mustapha speak up  as to whether they had presented the 5,000 pages of notes of evidence, memorandum, statutory declarations and exhibits to the Yang di Pertuan Agong on May 14?

If these 5,000 pages of notes of evidence, memorandum, statutory declarations and exhibits had been submitted to the Yang di Pertuan Agong as an integral part of the RCIIIS Report, why have they not been made public, as was the case with the Report of the RCI into the Lingam VideoTapes Scandal – all 2,365 pages in four volumes!

Will Rahman and the army of UMNO Twitter Bombers carry out carpet bombing of the Prime Minister’s twitter site to demand the immediate release of the 5,000 missing pages of the RCIIIS Report?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 13 December 2014, 1:11 pm and is filed under
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India-based Twitter account hailing Islamic State jihadists shut down

Chris Johnston

The Guardian

11 December 2014

Owner of the ShamiWitness account, with almost 18,000 followers, was an executive at a company in Bangalore

A Twitter account followed by supporters of Islamic State (Isis) has been shut down after a reporter exposed the Indian man who had sent thousands of tweets about the jihadist group.

Channel 4 News revealed on Thursday night that the owner of the ShamiWitness account was an executive at a company in Bangalore called Medhi. It did not reveal his full name because he said his life would be in danger if he was identified.

However, after being tracked down he agreed to shut down the account, which hailed foreign Isis fighters who were killed as martyrs.

ShamiWitness had almost 18,000 followers and the tweets were seen an estimated 2 million times a month. They were mostly sent from his smartphone.

Mehdi said he would have joined Isis, but that he could not leave his family: “If I had a chance to leave everything and join them I might have … my family needs me here.”

He used the ShamiWitness account to tweet five times the video of US aid worker Peter Kassig being executed minutes after it went online, as well as the killings of dozens of Syrian soldiers.

“May Allah guide, protect, strengthen and expand the Islamic State … Islamic State brought peace, autonomy, zero corruption, low crime-rate,” Medhi wrote on Twitter last month.

In an earlier tweet to British fighter Mehdi Hassan, 19, who later died in Kobani, he said: “May Allah give you brothers decisive victory there.” To another British fighter he said: “May Allah reward you.”

A recent report by Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institute thinktank, found social media to be one of the key organisational strengths of Isis. It used outlets such as Twitter “to spread and legitimise Islamic State’s ideology, activities, and objectives, and to recruit and acquire international support”.

Twitter closed dozens of accounts linked to Isis jihadists earlier this year. They had been used to boast of victories in Syria and Iraq and threaten US forces and post grisly images of executed hostages.

The service does not monitor content posted by users, but will take action when alerted of accounts that violate its rules. While tweeting support for Isis is permitted, publishing graphic content is not.

After facing a clampdown on Twitter, Isis supporters experimented with other social networks such as Diaspora, which was used in August to distribute video of US journalist James Foley being killed.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 13 December 2014, 5:52 am and is filed under
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Inside the battle for Ask.fm, the site where Islamic State recruited three American teens

By Caitlin Dewey

Washington Post

December 12, 2014

When three teenage girls from Denver left their homes for an Islamic State camp in Syria two months ago, their parents — and the FBI — were quick to search social media for clues to their escape. And in the weeks since the girls were intercepted in Frankfurt and returned home, it’s become pretty clear that they were indeed radicalized and recruited online.

But while accounts of similar Western recruits have fingered major social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, or popular messaging platforms like Kik, a report out from NPR claims another social network, Ask.fm, was actually the major force at play.

Which means Ask.fm — late of several recent cyberbullying and teen suicide scandals — may now officially qualify as the worst-reputed social network on earth. But don’t tell that to the site’s new owner, the blue-chip Internet company IAC: Ask.fm’s new owners are confident they can save the site, trolls and terrorists be damned.

“I absolutely believe rehabilitation is possible if you do the right thing,” said Doug Leeds, the site’s CEO. “There is that perception that [Ask.fm] is a parent’s worst nightmare … but safety is our first priority.”

Unfortunately for Leeds, that reputation has dogged Ask.fm since its beginning. The anonymous question-and-answer site — both a pioneer and an early warning, in the anonymous networking space — was founded in Latvia in 2010, and quickly grew to more than 100 million users in 150 countries. Its premise, both simple and mind-numbingly self-involved, is perfect for the teenage set: Essentially, when you log into Ask.fm, you’re greeted by a series of personal questions other users have left for you, with no indication of who wrote them or how they know you in real life.

You, in turn, get to pontificate to the anonymous masses on topics like “what do you do to fall asleep?” and “what’s the most delicious fruit?” — as well as, naturally, ask anonymous questions, yourself.

The problem, of course, is when users tire of mundane topics like sleeping and fruit and start to post other, darker questions. Like “why are you so ugly?” Or “why haven’t you died yet?” Or “do you know how I can join ISIS?” Tellingly, the first time Ask.fm ever appeared in the English media was in relation to the 2012 suicide of 15-year-old Ciara Pugsley.

“Last year we had never heard about Ask.fm,” an anti-bullying activist told Ireland’s Daily Mirror at the time, “but this year is is popping up everywhere … Now every school we visit mentions this website.”

Polk County Sheriff personnel investigate the death of a 12-year-old girl, Rebecca Ann Sedwick, at an old cement plant in Lakeland, Fla. Officials say she committed suicide after being bullied online for nearly a year. (Photo by Ernst Peters/AP)

In the year following Pugley’s death, no fewer than nine teenage suicides were linked to the site, including two in the U.S. In December 2012, 16-year-old Jessica Laney hanged herself after receiving a series of cruel messages and insults about her personal life. Less than a year later, 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick jumped from an abandoned cement silo in Lakeland, Fla., after receiving anonymous messages like “nobody cares about u” and “you seriously deserve to die.”

Ask.fm’s founders were originally pretty casual, even callous, about this kind of tragedy: blame your children, not the tool, is basically how Mark Terebin put it during the rash of suicides in early 2013. When the site was bought by blue chip Internet giant IAC last August, Terebin and his brother Ilya were unceremoniously pushed out. In their wake, the new Ask.fm doubled the size of its human moderation team, hired two senior safety officers — including Catherine Teitelbaum, the former head of global safety for Yahoo — and rolled out a range of new automated moderation tools that could flag questionable content even before users reported it.

“We looked at Ask.fm a long time” before buying it, Leeds said. “We were concerned, but we were also intrigued … The safety issues with Ask.fm are well-documented. So safety was our first priority.”

Ask.fm inked agreements with the Attorney Generals’ Offices of New York and Maryland, vowing to to crack down on abuse and underage users; earlier this month, the company announced it would move its headquarters from Latvia to Ireland, changing its privacy policy, terms of use and enforcement jurisdiction in the process. Ask.fm’s first rule of content now prohibits any posts meant “to harass, scare or upset anyone;” the second bans provocative or antagonistic content, “especially trolling.”

And yet, while Ask.fm may have rid itself of trolls, it now seems to face an even more dangerous predator. The Middle East Media Research Institute, a non-profit that monitors and translates Middle Eastern press, included Ask.fm in its recent list of social media companies “instrumental in spreading al-Qaeda’s ideologogy to the younger generation,” especially teenagers in the West. There are “hundreds, if not thousands” of jihadist accounts on Ask.fm, the report claims, which answer questions from people interested in joining their cause.

In Ask.fm’s defense, it’s by no means alone here: MEMRI’s report also singles out half a dozen other social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. But since half of Ask.fm’s users are under 18, it offers up a particularly vulnerable demographic to extremist recruiters in the Middle East.

“Hi Abu — how important is social media to ISIS?” One user asked an alleged British jihadist, going under the username Abu Abdullah.

“I think u know how important it is,” Abu Abdullah wrote back. “Its a valuable tool for recruitment if anyone wna join and to show the real ISIS.”

As if to prove Abu Abdullah’s claims, the three would-be teen jihadists from Denver apparently made extensive contact with Islamic State recruiters on Ask.fm, NPR reports. In fact, of all the social networks the girls used, it’s Ask.fm where their radicalization played out most clearly, says a report by SITE Intelligence Group, a company that tracks jihadists’ online activity.

At one point, SITE observed, an anonymous user asked one of the Denver girls how much she listened to music, and she said three hours a day. Months later, an anonymous user asked her favorite song to dance to — and she did a 180, saying “music is haram” (meaning sinful or forbidden). It was nothing that would have come up in a keyword filter — but concerning, all the same.

“It’s a really tough issue,” said Teitelbaum, the newly hired Chief of Trust & Safety. “The language itself is benign — the tone of the conversations is actually very casual. There’s very little reference to violence. It’s not like other areas of abuse.”

So Ask.fm has had to find different ways to confront it: the site very recently added an “extremism” category to its reporting tool, and it’s working more closely with law enforcement to identify and monitor potentially dangerous accounts. But still, despite all these efforts, it seems extremely difficult for Ask.fm to turn its image around. Nine teen suicides and three would-be terrorists? If that’s not a parent’s worst nightmare, I don’t know what is.

“This provides a social utility,” Leeds assures me. “This is an important part of people expressing themselves.”

But he really only needs to convince parents and politicians; clearly, with 180 million monthly users, he already has us kids.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 13 December 2014, 9:21 am and is filed under
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