The Arrogance of Power

By
Hussein Hamid

When you are in power for over fifty years, every now and then there is that temptation to bend the rules and sometimes even the truth to suit the political needs of the moment. You can be forgiven if this inclination does come up once in a blue moon – though the colour of the moon can be said to be blue every month if you are powerful enough to want it to be so. So here lies the problem. When this inclination becomes the norm where does that put good governance?

Almost daily now we are subject to the painful and most uncomfortable sensation of having our leaders take us for fools. They boldly stand in front of us through the medium of their Television Stations, their Media or even at times in person and proceed to tell us what they want us to know – not what we should know. Is there nobody amongst them that can tell them that what they are doing is like peeing into the wind?

Have the educated, intelligent and rational generation of Malays all left UMNO leaving our nation without some of its best people in government even when we need them most? Najib is in a world of his own. He lacks the ability to make sense of what is happening around the country. Surviving day to day is hard enough for him. UMNO has sworn blood oaths that they will defend themselves from PAS, from DAP from Keadilan from everybody – no matter what. In desperation they have ventured into territory where they violate all democratic conventions  almost on a daily basis. When we question the legality of their actions their answer is that ‘might is right’.

When the court initially finds in favor of the opposition as in Perak – they appeal its decision confident that the Judiciary is ultimately theirs to instruct and manage. When a death in custody happens the usual suspects are paraded. A commission, an inquiry, no stones unturned….and then slowly but surely nothing will come of it. They play the Judiciary as if it was their own – and why not when the Chief Justice is indeed their own. Whenever a situation arise that will give problems to them they no longer even have the decency to pay lip service to placate the Rakyat – now days it is deny, deny deny.

Deny there was ever any intention to humilate the Hindus in the cow-head incident. Deny that there was any reason to not renew the IGP again and again. Deny that there was anything wrong in the caning sentence of Kartika but nevertheless no less a person then the Prime Minister himself has asked her to appeal for a reduction in her sentence.

Arrest 16 people for carrying yellow candles and red and white roses who were seeking freedom of religion in this country and yet deny that Muslims stepping on the sacred head of a cow is doing anything to incite another race. They invoke the name of ALLAH at their whims and fancies and see no sin in promoting the very sins that Islam frowns upon. For surely corruption and greed is also corruption and greed whether in Mecca or Malaysia? That all this has become the norm for UMNO frightens me. This is the arrogance of power that I am talking about. Perhaps the most outrageous example of this arrogance is their inability to understand that there are another points of view to be considered other then their own. To them any deviations from their point of view is a conspiracy to undermine their ability to hold on to power – no matter what. I try to do this. By my writing if I can turn one person against UMNO – just one – then we are one person ahead towards our ‘brand new beginning’. Do as I do. Go talk to one person and bring him or her into our fold – then one by one we will slowly but surely build up our strength and strike down UMNO and Barisan. Go do it now!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 7 September 2009, 2:01 pm and is filed under
Hussein Hamid
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Can Tsu Koon do what Tee Keat has failed – getting Cabinet approval for a RCI into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

I welcome the support given by the Gerakan President and Minister for KPI, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the
“mother” of all scandals – RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

This is the first time since the long sorry saga of the PKFZ scandal, which ballooned from a RM1.08 billion scandal in 2002 under Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik as Transport Minister to a RM4.6 billion scandal in 2006 under Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy as Transport Minister and is now set to mushroom to become a RM12.5 billion scandal under Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat as Transport Minister that a Federal Minister has acknowledged its gravity as to support the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Can Tsu Koon do what Tee Keat has failed – getting Cabinet approval for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal to ensure that it will not go down in history as Barisan Nasional and the nation’s most “heinous crime without criminals”?

Or is Tsu Koon taking the easy way out from the mounting public pressure for “the whole truth and nothing but the truth” about the PKFZ scandal to be told, by publicly giving lip-service support to the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry, without doing his utmost as KPI Minister to get the Cabinet to make the crucial decision to set it up?

At present, the PKFZ scandal has become a political football in the Ong Tee Keat-Chua Soi Lek MCA power struggle but neither Ong nor Chua has evinced any full commitment to support the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to go far beyond the present limited inquiries which are restricted to the Port Klang Authority (PKA) and PKFZ levels instead  of a no-holds-barred investigation going as high as necessary, even Ministerial and Cabinet levels.

Not only the former Transport Ministers Liong Sik and Kong Choy and former MCA PKA chairmen should be summoned as witnesses in the public inquiry, even former Prime Ministers Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah should be sub-poenaed too.

The Singapore Straits Times reported today that a confidential report by the government task force on the PKFZ scandal which had been handed over to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and will be on the agenda of the Cabinet tomorrow, had identified serious breaches on the part of several government officials, including former Transport Minister, Tan Sri Chong Kong Choy.

This has made a Cabinet decision tomorrow to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry even more imperative or the present Cabinet would be guilty of the biggest cover-up of the biggest financial scandal in the nation’s history.

Tsu Koon, Tee Keat and all the other Ministers of the Najib Cabinet are facing their first and greatest test of integrity since April – whether they are prepared to send out a clear and unmistakable message that there will be no more cover-up of financial scandals in the country, particularly one which is five times bigger than the first big financial scandal of the Mahathir administration – the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance Scandal!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 8 September 2009, 11:31 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
PKFZ
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


From cow-headed to level-headed education

By
Azly Rahman

How must we re-educate those who protested in such a style against the relocation of a Hindu temple? What gross deficiencies in our educational system contributed to the creation of beings that displayed such hatred?

What then must we do to reverse the evolution of hate groups sponsored by those who wish to sustain the dying ideology of ethnic politics?

These are the difficult questions Malaysian children will inherit. In the cow-head protest there were children involved; those tender young minds who will hopefully understand what respect for race, ethnicity, and religion means. Hopefully they will be strong enough to release themselves from the shackles of hatred, after 52 years of Malaysia’s independence.

We must blame the continuing survival of communal politics for the creation of hate-based groups. Because our Independence is an illusion and Malaysia is an imagined community that is thriving on rhetoric and slogans, we have a fragile system of in-breeding of hyper-modernised politics of hate.

Because the insatiable urge for wealth and power necessitates the maintenance of ‘politics of divide-and conquer and rule through racial annihilations’, we are heading towards a brink of destruction. We will see more ‘cow-head’ antics orchestrated form time to time in order for organized chaos to reign.

We must blame the contradictions and the hypocrisy in the translation of our national educational philosophy for the display of the cow-head politics we are witnessing.

Though the philosophy, mission, and vision of our educational system is elegantly worded and loudly trumpeted, we have hidden hands orchestrating the game of divide and rule and segregation. Underneath the canopy of the elegance of the rhetoric lie structural violence; a base and superstructure of politics of race that has come to a breaking point.

The way Malaysians school their children – from pre-kindergarten to post-graduate levels – is characterised by the insistence that race-politics must be propagated by all means necessary. Narratives on what Malaysia is – drawn from kampong folks to retired professors – oftentimes reflect the same theme: maintain race-politics and let this or that race dominates.

We must blame the mainstream media as agents of race-based and racist socialisation for shaping race and class consciousness in a Malaysia badly in need of a way out of racial intolerance; a path charted wrongly for the sake of glorifying greed over virtue, wants over needs, and indoctrination over education guised in the name of blind patriotism.

The media as an extension of the state now has life of its own profiting from the manufacture of chaos and the production of conflict. In time of economic troubles when the masses are suffering while the elite are still conspicuously consuming, the media will have a ball of a time translating repressed emotion into a reason to project mass anger against this or that race.

The British colonials did a wonderful job in perception management – divide and conquer the natives and create perceptions of this or that superiority amongst them so that they will not see the bigger picture. Hitler did a good job at this too. Stir up emotions during that time of economic depression, tell repeated lies, and create an enemy of the state, and next get those millions of young Germans to join the Nazi party.

‘Indoctrinated nation’

We must also blame ourselves for not educating our children enough in matters of racial and religious tolerance. We have failed to tell our children that the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sikh, Kadazan, Iban, and hybridised groups they see in their classrooms and in the neighborhood are fellow-Malaysians and part of what our country has evolved into.

How could our children be taught to hate this or that group when their teachers – the managers and transmitters of virtue – are of this or that race?

The cow-head politics we saw in Selangor last week is a grim picture of how our educational institution is failing to create a citizenry that celebrates diversity and willing to learn about each other’s religious belief. In essence, we have become an ‘indoctrinated’ rather than an educated nation, a furious 52-year- old rather than a forgiving one ready to meet its Maker.

As a nation we are drowning in dangerous waters; from a flash flood we created. Bahtera Merdeka is sinking. How do we save ourselves? How do we evolve out of this cow-head politics we are witnessing.

Again, we must turn to education and the radical restructuring of it. Education as a gentle profession and a powerful enterprise for social and personal progress must be restructured. Its philosophy must be recaptured.

But what philosophical orientation must we embrace? Social reconstructionism and education for spiritual capitalism perhaps. For too long we have been trumpeting ‘human capital’, ‘educational for national development’, ‘education for nation-building’ and all those fancy words we blindly borrow from the pages of work of modernisation theorists and post-industrialist theorists.

These have become meaningless. We are living with the contradictions of the manifestations of these words that have been translated into policies.

What we need is not a better educational philosophy that will make our children more sophisticated racist and aspiring robber barons. We have a generation of these already. What we need is a philosophy sound enough to create a powerful generation that will care for fellow human beings and ones that understands that the Earth’s resources are enough for one’s need and not for one’s greed, as Gandhi said.

Ah, we have made a wrong turn in history. But education is still about hope and love. Evolve we must – from cow headed to level-headed education.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 8 September 2009, 12:30 pm and is filed under
Azly Rahman
,
nation building
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Another RM2 billion loss?

By Hussein Hamid

Tell me who would be stupid enough to go and buy a bank in Indonesia? You tell me who would do that? Then if that was not enough you go and take a running jump into Pakistan and buy another bank there. But wait there is more! While they are doing that why not pick up a bank in Vietnam. In all they spent an incredible RM10.8 billion to acquire these three banks. Who would be stupid enough to do this when Maybank has been advise AGAINST making the purchase? Maybank belongs to the Government and so they will take instructions from the Government. Taking instructions from a Government run by idiots who thinks that Maybank is also Maybank. So in essence it is the Barisan Government that is stupid enough to go and buy three Banks in Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam for RM10.8 billion.

Now Malayan Banking has confirmed that it lost RM2 billion in this escapade. Now which UMNO guy made a few hundred million in commission from these purchases? Who are the usual suspects? Najib as the Minister of Finance has to be suspect number one – but if MACC does the questioning they will say that he is just ‘helping with inquires’. But Najib must beware that even helping with inquiries can be dangerous if Muhyiddin has anything to do about it.

Najib must have been advised by that Nor Mohamed Yaacob because he had experience of losing more billion when he was with Bank Negara – around RM30 billion in fact.

This latest escapades would have been hysterically funny if it had happened in one of those tin pot African country where you would need half the money in the Banks just to buy a loaf of bread. And of course as far as Najib is concern this is a ‘victimless crime’ because it does no physical harm to any person or property, or to which was in fact consented, and is currently illegal if based on statutory laws. As victimless as PKFZ and all those plundering of the nation resources. Well Najib I got news for you. The Rakyat now knows that in the end they pay !! That  RM37.23 million Aidilfitri bonus for Felda – we all pay. That RN500 million for Razak Baginda – we pay. Soon you will be paying for this that you are now making the Rakyat pay…and then it will be Good Night for you.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 9 September 2009, 3:05 pm and is filed under
Financial Scandals
,
Good Governance
,
Hussein Hamid
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Mysterious Witness took stand at TBH inquest

02:46 PM

Inquest adjourns 4tmr  Malik asking 4date 4thai pathologist pontip 2testify

02:43 PM

After that complained 2 deputy minister murugiah n public complaints bureau as far as he knows only bpa investigated

02:39 PM

He made 1st complaint 2Suaram then made police report n 3rd complaint 2suhakam

02:37 PM

Was treated 4injuries on head kidney private part n bloodclots He went 2studio 2have pictures of injuries taken Siva produced torn underwear

02:33 PM

Ashraf hit him on private part with cane He was asked 2wear back same underwear which was torn becos of torture

02:11 PM

in plastic bag inside his underwear at his private parts The second round of torture started at abt midnite the second day The same torture

02:08 PM

Dy dir asked officer 2continue investigation n that he be stripped again He fainted after abt 20 mins When he woke up there was ice

02:04 PM

Asraf asked 4cane n cuffs 4his legs Asraf used cane agst his private parts  Was dressed up when deputy director came in

02:00 PM

with the metal wrapped in newspaper He was handcuffed all the time Asraf came in used racist slurs 2taunt him He became aggressive at slurs

01:56 PM

He was asked 2sign document but he refused Officers said he was stubborn n asked him 2strip down 2underwear Officers beat him all over body

01:53 PM

The door was marked w green arrow n the entrance was dark Saw a tall guy with specs wrapped a metal with newspaper He was slapped 5 6 times

01:50 PM

10 to 15 officers brought him back 2house on way back he was brought in using different entrance at plaza masalam

01:47 PM

3 officers came w letters of arrest n investigation He refused 2sign becos he was brought there 2help investigation was handcuffed till 11pm

01:41 PM

He was brought 2plaza masalam 14th floor MACC officers registered n threatened him  if he does not say the truth the place will be hell 4him

12:45 PM

He said 3  macc officers without uniform  came 2his house 4 sept 2008 identified one of them as Ashraf

12:39 PM

Coroner finally allows mysterious witness Sivanesan Tanggavelu 22 take stand n oath

12:28 PM

Macc counsel asks 4ct recess 2allow him 2make appln 4review

12:26 PM

Gobind said macc is afraid of witness

12:25 PM

Macc lawyers said appln 2high ct 2review ruling @2pm Malik charged this as backdoor macc attempt 2derail inquest

12:22 PM

Heated arguments by lawyers after recess Coroner decided 2proceed with yesterday ruling 2call mysterious witness

Inquest adjourns 4coroner 2view yesterday video n decide whether 2revisit his ruling on calling of witness

about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry

Gobind argues no prejudicial issue n that witness was hospitalised 4 days becos of assault injuries

about 5 hours ago from TwitterBerry

Coroner seeks lawyers advice whether he can revisit his decision on calling witness

about 5 hours ago from TwitterBerry

Malik submits MACC lawyer abusing court process as latter objects 2witness 10mths old case n await outcome of police macc investigations

about 5 hours ago from TwitterBerry

Gobind asked why no MACC officers at inquest 2rebut serious allegations he raised last week

about 5 hours ago from TwitterBerry

TeohBengHock inquest resumes with MACC counsel objecting 2calling of mysterious witness Lawyers both sides arguing over issue

about 5 hours ago from TwitterBerry

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 9 September 2009, 3:19 pm and is filed under
Crime
,
Human Rights
,
Teoh Beng Hock
,
Twitter
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Injecting Reason Back Into Indonesia-Malaysia Relations

By Farish A. Noor

It would appear as if Reason and Rationality have gone on holiday in Southeast Asia recently: In Malaysia a group of angry residents who wished to protest against the construction of a Hindu temple in their neighborhood decided to demonstrate their anger by marching to the government offices in Selangor with a severed cow’s head, a gesture that was guaranteed to offend the sensibility of pious Hindus who regard the cow as a sacred animal. In Indonesia a misunderstanding over a tourism ad commissioned from a non-Malaysian company has angered scores of Indonesians, simply because it mistakenly featured a scene from a Balinese pendet dance which the Indonesians regard as being exclusively theirs: The net result being a new round of anti-Malaysian protests leading to local vigilante groups harrassing tourists in Jakarta and going out into the streets to ‘sweep’ the country of Malaysians.

In both Malaysia and Indonesia, tempers seem to be rising out of control and for all the wrong reasons. Making matters worse is the fact that in both countries these mob actions are neither accidental nor unavoidable. Mobs do not form themselves and move into the streets for no reason; vigilante groups do not miraculously form themselves out of this air without funding and political support.

And so we need to ask the question: How and why is it that in the year 2009, more than half a century after the independence of both countries, is the state of politics and society in both Malaysia and Indonesia still rooted in primordial essentialisms and sentiments that are based on intuition and emotionalism, rather than reason?

To be sure, mob actions such as what we have seen in Malaysia and Indonesia today are not new to Southeast Asia. We often forget that Southeast Asia has historically been one of the most violent parts of the world and that since the 1950s there have been a succession of orchestrated and engineered campaigns of mob violence. In Indonesia the anti-Communist campaign of the mid-1960s led to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands, and the campaign against Malaysia (then Malaya) known as the Konfrontasi was likewise a bloody affair. Malaysia too has experienced campaigns of demonisation and violence, including the sustained campaign to demonise the so-called ‘Communist threat’ in the 1960s to the racial violence of May 1969.

In all these cases we can see that mob violence and public anger are never accidental or arbitrary. There were, and are, clearly defined and identifiable actors and agents involved, including politicians, political parties, NGOs, lobby groups and the media. Also in many of these cases we see the unhealthy and dangerous collusion between right-wing ethno-nationalist forces and the instruments of the state, leading to a marriage of convenience made in hell which results in pogroms, mass killings and victimisation on a horrific scale.

What was missing in all these instances was Reason and rational debate: Ethnic and religious conflicts can only be resolved when communities respectfully engage with each other; and in instances where there can be no resolution, then take the rational path of accepting that they simply have to learn to live with differences. Likewise misunderstandings over issues like cultural appropriation and misappropriation can only be resolved when we take a rational approach to culture and history, and to reasonably accept that all cultures are composite complex entities that cannot be monopolised and copyrighted by any community. For Indonesians to claim batik as being exclusively Indonesian, for instance, is both historically and logically wrong – for batik was produced all over Southeast Asia and up to China, India, Africa and even Europe. To claim that one country has the right to patent something as universal as batik is as absurd as to claim that the United States of America has the right to patent all cars since they were the first to mass-produce them!

But reason and rational discourse can only be re-injected back into the current Malaysian-Indonesian debate if we allow it to. This entails some degree of responsibility on the part of Malaysian and Indonesian politicians, who are morally and politically obliged to restore order in their own societies. The Malaysian authorities should never have allowed the protesters against the Hindu temple to march with a cow’s head in the first place; and the Malaysian authorities likewise have an obligation to ensure that Indonesian workers – like all foreign workers – are protected while working in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government likewise has an obligation to stop the spread and escalation of the anti-Malaysian demonstrations that seem to be led by mainly right-wing hoodlums and thugs who hide behind the mask of patriotism and nationalism, while in reality are no different from the preman gangs who have terrorised the Indonesian public for decades.

Reason and rational debate only work in softer climes where the voices of reason can be heard. Thus far, neither the Malaysian nor Indonesian governments have done anything effective to restore some degree of sanity to the debate. Standing idly by and passively allowing things to get out of hand means that both governments are negatively responsible for what might follow. And if this latest round of Malaysian-Indonesian misunderstanding escalates further to hysteria and violence, both governments will have to be held into account, like firemen who stood by and did nothing while the building before them was burnt down to ashes.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 10 September 2009, 6:34 pm and is filed under
Farish Noor
,
Foreign
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


MACC applied to expunge torture testimony from TBH Inquest at PJ High Court

@limkitsiang

01:16 PM

Stay of execution not granted parties instructed 2proceed

01:14 PM

Lawyers argue whether lawful 4stay of execution in revisionary applns gobind objects n says Thai pathologist Porntip testifying Monday

01:11 PM

High ct judge upheld Coroner’s ruling as there is nothing erroneus. MACC lawyer applied 4stay of decision

12:53 PM

Gobind-My client TBH is dead He is not here 2give me instructions We want 2produce testimony 2submit that MACC witnesses cannot be believed

12:45 PM

in any physical assault of persons in MACCHqrs 14th floor

12:43 PM

Gobind’s reply – on relevance. Reason 2believe MACC officer Ashraf had assaulted TeohBengHock n lying when denying he had been involved

12:37 PM

MACC counsel asks 4testimony (n fotos of injuries suffered) of Sivanesan physically assaulted in MACC at inquest yesterday 2be expunged

12:31 PM

Testimony just 2besmirch MACC reputation n not material 2TeohBengHock’s death

12:28 PM

High ct rejects Karpal’s preliminary objection MACC counsel submits coroner ruling erroneous n witness called just 2smear n tarnish MACC

12:12 PM

Gobind said AG’s chamber n MACC guilty of abuse of process in making review application

12:10 PM

Malik (4sel govt) asks why AG’s chambers is appearing in review thru MACC counsel when at inquest AG is represented by TanHockChuan by fiat

12:01 PM

Karpal Singh (w Gobind) objecting 2review appln as wrong in procedure

Ask 4ruling on his preliminary objection

11:58 AM

High Ct sitting in Petaling Jaya 2hear review application by MACC lawyer Razak on coroner’s ruling in TBH inquest allowing witness Sivanesan

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 10 September 2009, 2:41 pm and is filed under
Court
,
Teoh Beng Hock
,
Twitter
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Umno has failed!

By Hussein Hamid

I am an individual.

The state of affairs now seen on our country leaves us with no other conclusion then that UMNO has failed. It has failed in its effort to justify their demand that we Malaysian should allow them to continue for another fifty years with their tinkering of our democratic values and principals as a trade off to the ongoing development of our country and the yet to be achieved uplifting of the Malay race to be a developed ethnic community. Two remarkable and truly laudable goals — economic development and the rise and rise of the Malays – but arguments that are fundamentally flawed.

The Government insists that the particularity of Malaysian Politics, its multi ethnic divides and its religious enclaves make a need for the ISA to be enforced arbitrarily over its people. It continues to dominate over its people who live defenseless under its shadows. And in all this there is no political accountability in what they do.

I say that the Politics of Barisan Nasional is no longer appropriate for our people, for our country. I say that a multi ethnic, multi party democracy is what we need. We no longer want a trade-off between democracy and development. Between freedoms to demonstrate responsibly as against what the Government perceives as our inability to do so without causing riot and chaos in the streets.

We no longer tolerate domination of the affairs of our country by UMNO. We reject that premise. We say that the failure of the Malays to advance their cause can be linked directly to UMNO. I say that what obstacle that have been put in place to prevent the coming together of the races and to prevent the ability of the opposition to effectively governed in the state that they were elected in are just the mechanism by which UMNO uses to impose political and economic hegemony over its own people. And their repeated accusation that we as nation are not politically mature enough to weather the complexities of multi ethnic politics is wearing a bit thin. It is time that Barisan stop being patronizing us and begins to understand that the country needs to be return to its people. There is no more need to seek for the Malays historical dispensation on the grounds of a colonial legacy that is flawed. The time for that no longer holds credence with the Malays or the others.

The current situation that we are in now is a damming indictment of the failure of UMNO. It has also resulted in confrontation between the Government and its own people in which the state has in some fundamental way been steadily losing.

You must understand that power only comes from the people that allow its leaders to govern them if they so desire. The people have a political role to play not as Chinese, Indian or the others but as autonomous individuals.

The people are matured politically do not want to be patronized. Look at us as individuals rather then as Malays, Indian, Chinese and others.

You can claim your right to rule as decided by the ballot box in the last election – but the people will hold you politically accountable on the premise that the relationship between the constituent and its representative is ultimately that between you and me – the rulers and the ruled on a one to one basis. Your disregard for this premise is at your own peril. Understand also that the structures and instruments of democracy are not yours to abuse in pursuit of your own vested interest.

We no longer accept your interpretation of your desired ‘ideal polity’ to serve your own purpose. We demand a change to a higher and morally superior political order. Do not use the flawed multi partyism of Barisan as a weapon to subjugate Pakatan because you know that Barisan in itself is not a shining example of a liberal democratic order. We know that what you practice bear no relation to the political reality you profess to champion – Democracy. May you have the intelligence to understand that for UMNO the beginning of the end started at the last General election and will run its course by the time of the next. Amen.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 10 September 2009, 2:50 pm and is filed under
Hussein Hamid
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Will Najib’s super task force on PKFZ scandal be a super “cover-up” task force to try to “get the cat back into the bag”?

I am taken aback by the announcement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of the Cabinet decision yesterday to set up a super task force,  headed by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, to investigate the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Why didn’t the Cabinet establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal to ensure a full inquiry and public accounting of the mother of all scandals – as the Gerakan President and KPI Minister, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon had belatedly given his support?

Unless convinced otherwise, I see the establishment of the so-called “super task force” into the PKFZ scandal as a major step backwards in public accountability and good governance, as it smacks of being a super “cover up” task force to get “the cat back into the bag” with specific reference to the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

What is the purpose of a super task force into the PKFZ scandal, which is to include the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, the Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Wan Abdul Aziz and representatives from Finance and Transport Ministries, after the the PKFZ scandal had ballooned from RM1.08 billion in 2002 to RM4.6 billion in 2006 and now set to become RM12.5 billion through three Transport Ministers and three Prime Ministers?

Will the super task force now make all other inquiries, whether by the Public Accounts Committee or the PricewaterhouseCoopers and various Port Klang Authority task forces subordinate and irrelevant?

After three years of persistent questioning inside and outside Parliament as well as the recent  108 questions of “three-queries-a-day” directed at the Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, there have been some significant results in forcing into the public  domain the gross  and wide-ranging financial improprieties of the  PKFZ “mother of all scandals” – although what has been made public is only the tip of an iceberg.

Will  the super task force announced by Najib yesterday result in the PKFZ scandal again shrouded in secrecy and unaccountability?

Another query  is why the Chief Secretary Sidek Hassan is now heading such an inquiry into the PKFZ scandal, and why he had failed to conduct such an inquiry earlier as this was resolved  by the Cabinet in July 2007 when it  decided on the RM4.6 billion bailout of PKFZ, including giving retrospective approval to the four illegal Letters of Support unlawfully given by the two previous Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy which have landed the country in the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

There should be individual and collective Ministerial responsibility by the Cabinet members for the shocking decision yesterday to set up the so-called super task force, when the right course of action would be a Royal Commission of Inquiry to conduct a public and no-holds-barred investigation into the “mother of all scandals” in the nation’s history.

For a start, can Tsu Koon explain why he abandoned his support for a Royal Commission of Inquiry and instead accepted a super task force which might end up as a super “cover up” task force into the PKFZ scandal?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 10 September 2009, 11:33 am and is filed under
PKFZ
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


A Clever, Conveniently Contradictory and Convoluted Judgment

by Martin Jalleh

The perversion of justice in Bolehland continues to persist with the judiciary playing politics to please and pander to the will of the powers that be. The Perak constitutional crisis has revealed a judiciary, the chief guardian of the Constitution, willing to compromise justice by ignoring the Federal Constitution and interfering in the proceedings of a state assembly.

The judiciary descends into abysmal depths as it blatantly disregards constitutional provisions and treats the doctrine of separation of powers with deference,. It continues to deliver, in cases related to the Perak constitutional crisis, what former and retired Court of Appeal judge N H Chan describes as “bad” and “perverse” judgments.

Even when the judiciary chooses to interpret the Federal Constitution correctly, it does so when it is politically expedient and best suits the BN (also read as Umno). There is no better example of this “selective application” than the recent Ipoh High Court ruling that it had no jurisdiction to hear the proceedings of the Perak legislative assembly.

Striking out a civil suit by Perak Pakatan Rakyat legislative assembly speaker V Sivakumar against BN speaker R Ganesan, Ipoh High Court Judge Azahar Mohamed ruled that the court could not interfere with what had been decided by the Perak assemblymen at their sitting on May 7 in accordance with Article 72 (1) of the Federal Constitution.

He said any matter arising with regard to the dismissal or appointment of the speaker at the assembly sitting should be examined, discussed and resolved in the assembly and not in court. Alas, if only his colleagues in the Ipoh High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court who made decisions contrary to this, were as equally enlightened.

Just after declaring that the court “has no jurisdiction on the validity of the assembly proceedings and only the legislative assembly can decide on the legality of the two speakers”, Justice Azahar added that “the decision of the legislative assembly on May 7, 2009 to remove the plaintiff as speaker and to appoint the defendant was conclusive and had been fairly determined by the state assembly on May 7, 2009”!

The judge conveniently contradicted himself. What was on the surface a bold ruling (a brave departure from the erroneous decisions of his colleagues) was in reality convoluted bias – a conclusion most unfair to Speaker Sivakumar. Azahar was making a legal judgment. He was interfering in the legislative proceedings by inferring that Ganesan was the rightful speaker. The judge was guilty of breaching Article 72!

Confusing Contradiction

The judge’s portrayed bold front followed by his blatant and befuddling contradiction left Speaker Sivakumar bewildered: “I had filed the two court cases against Zambry and his six executive councillors, and another against the three frogs (independent assemblypersons who left Pakatan to support BN which saw the collapse of the Pakatan state government in February this year).

“On both occasions, I had cited Article 72 of the Federal constitution to argue my case to which their defence lawyers had objected, and the courts ruled in their favour.

Now the same article is used against me and the court has recognised the immunity of assembly proceedings from court jurisdiction. I’m very confused by the court’s decision” (Malaysiakini).

Indeed, one is forced to ask how is it possible that in One Malaysia one consistent interpretation of the law by the judiciary is sorely lacking or even non-existent! Is whimsical interpretation of the law part of the “judicial renaissance” that the Chief Justice is preaching about and supposedly pushing for?

Well-known and respected Malaysiakini columnist Kim Quek offers an interesting perspective to the judicial circus of the Ipoh High Court. He says that “(a)part from this atrocious double standard applied by the judge, the main flaw of the judgment is the inability to differentiate between assembly proceeding and criminal behaviour.”

“What Sivakumar is seeking is redress for the unlawful physical violence inflicted on him. And Article 72 covers only businesses conducted in the assembly – not unlawful and criminal act.”

Kim Quek rightly concludes that from the operative words “proceedings” in Clause 1 (of the Article) and “anything said or any vote given” in Clause 2, it is abundantly clear what Article 72 refers to are the speeches and resolutions made in the assembly, not any criminal or unlawful act.

“But what happened on May 7 was complete pandemonium and chaos in the assembly hall. There was no chance to conduct any business at all, least of all any resolution passed. In fact, the only business done on that day was the address by the Perak Regent Raja Nazrin Shah…Judge Azahar has therefore wrongly used Article 72 to come to his judgment.”

It is very evident that Justice Azahar had made use of Article 72 to strike out Sivakumar’s suit and as justification to declare Ganeson the rightful MB. If the judge was truly convinced and committed to the adherence of Article 72 he would not have legitimized the position of Ganesan – for the manner by which the latter was installed Speaker was a clear violation of the doctrine of separation of power.

A horde of policemen had trespassed into the State Assembly. They had forcibly dragged out Speaker Sivakumar, an officer of the legislature, and detained him against his will. They replaced him with Ganeson who was smuggled into the Perak State Assembly by the illegitimate MB Zambry and facilitated by the police. As an Umno leader would later comment in great disgust: “It was high-handedness at its foulest”.

Judges like Azahar Mohamed have allowed their courts (supposed portals of justice) to be turned into a playground of political expediency and the perversion of the rule of law. The judicial circus continues and Chief Justice Zaki Tun Azmi appears to be cheering them on!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 11 September 2009, 5:30 am and is filed under
Judiciary
,
Martin Jalleh
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Do unto others….

by Hussein Hamid

Over the years we have time and time again witness the public unraveling of UMNO not by its detractors but by its own. Dato’ Onn Jaafar. Tunku Abdul Rahman. Tun Hussein. Tun Mahathir. Tun Musa Hitam. Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh. A veritable list of Malays who have made history –  who are our history. I am the same age as UMNO. Sixty-Three years old this year. What does the future holds for UMNO?

In March this year the outgoing Prime Minister and President of UMNO made this comment of UMNO in his last speech as UMNO’s President.

“Longevity in power has led to complacency and a number of Umno leaders are increasingly out of touch with the ordinary people who have been the source of Umno’s strength for so long.

We must rid ourselves of our arrogance and the conceit that we are the only ones who are right, that we are the only ones who know all. Distance ourselves from corruption. Let us be equal in our concern for all, be they Malays or non-Malays, party members or those who support our opponents.

Materialism has seeped into the party, making a number of party members greedy and avaricious, hence creating the negative perception that Umno is a corrupt party.

We were intoxicated by own achievements and we became complacent. We believed that we had become all powerful. We have put our own positions within the party first, instead of being concerned over Umno’s position in the eyes of our citizens and the nation”.

That in a nutshell is what UMNO has become today from some one who knows.

And yet what do we have today? UMNO is still out of touch with the reality around it. If not why would it think that the people of Permatang Pasir would accept a disbarred lawyer as its candidate? Why would it think that the ISA is still relevant in our time? Why would it use MACC as its agent for its harassment of the Opposition rather then undertake the task of ridding the country of corruption.and the list goes on.

If I can see that all this is not doing any good to UMNO, why can’t they? If I can see that this will only result in creating further rift between UMNO and the people in Malaysia – why can’t they? Is it so hard to understand that as our Political leaders they must show courage in making moral decisions that will earn them our respect? And yet when there was occasion to do so as in the Section 23 Cow-head demonstration –they drag their feet and react only after the fact. After public opinion made their disgust of Hishammuddin defense of the guilty party so clear that all the AG could do was to go after the guilty party. To do anything else would be unwise.

But for Najib and Muhyiddin that seems so hard to do. To admit mistakes made. To make decisions for all rather then for themselves. To step back from the abyss that now confront them for surely when you are at the edge the right thing to do is to step back. When can we expect to have these leader reach out to us and go forward with us rather then to constantly refer to us as being unready, immature and unable to understand that the things they do are for the common good rather then for just the Malays or UMNO alone. After having put up with fifty years of UMNO’s less then sterling performance in good governance I think we are entitled to see that UMNO will do rather then what they promise to do.

You have put away all of our leaders under ISA. Not one, not two but all of them. At every opportunity you have harass them and their families  – separating them form their loved ones and intrude into their lives to demean and strip them of any dignity that they still have. Tell me Najib how will you feel if I bare for all to read your alleged infidelities. How did it feel to be linked to Altantuya – did it not cause you pain and embarrassment in facing your family – whether the accusation are true or false? Muhyiddin. How would you feel if, when push comes to shove, your personal weaknesses and faults are exposed for all to know? No these are not all part of the political scenario in Malaysia. YOU all made it part of the Political Scenario in Malaysia.

Najib Sometimes I wonder how it is possible for you to involve yourself with the sordid business of people like Saiful and the State Assemblymen from the Perak Government who left their own party to become independent. For God sake you are the Prime Minister. You must not only do the right thing for our country but also must be seen to be doing the right thing. Even the whiff of corruption and money politics should have you running quick smart in the opposite direction from where it is coming. But no – we see these people being feted and thank by you for their deeds, which are certainly viewed by the population with disgust and contempt.

Since March this year you have consistently been reacting to situation as they occur. No leadership. No reaching out to the masses with sensible and enlighten leadership. Your preoccupation in trying to eliminate the Opposition does not do you any good. Remember then the opposition garners more then 50% of the votes at the last elections. In simple terms that means that they are the elected representatives of half the population of this country. Work with them. They will not go away. There are too many of them to eliminate.

Engage in constructive dialogue with Pakatan Rakyat. Anwar has not ‘gadai hak melayu’. He is a man that has been able to remain relevant in spite of spending six years in Prison. He was able to hold the opposition together in the last election without the machinery that UMNO has – working on a shoestring budget – but relying and getting the commitment and focus from those who had had enough of the politics that UMNO offered. And UMNO offered money, position and much  more – Anwar offered only the promise of things to come. The promise of hope. What he accomplished with the assist of everybody in opposition is beyond your comprehension and certainly beyond our expectation.

Now consider this Najib. What do you think he and Pakatan Rakyat can now do? They are now with a bit more experience, a bit more commitment and with the last election behind them – methinks the next election will only be a promise of better things to come for them.

I see that your way of handling the situation is to annihilate, destroy and wipe Pakatan rakyat into oblivion. Do you think this is possible with the numbers that they have? Yes you can see that Anwar and the leaders of the opposition are all within range of your fire power…but remember Najib when they are within range – so are you. Attempting to portray Anwar as a traitor to the Malays while simultaneously playing the race and religion card is surely not the thing to do now. Try constructive détente. I am sure Anwar, Kit Siang, Karpal and Tok Guru will be caught of guard if you do so.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 11 September 2009, 6:00 am and is filed under
Hussein Hamid
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Is Chan  Kong Choy innocent or implicated in the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat today rebutted in the Chinese media the Singapore Straits Times report on Tuesday that former Transport Minister Tan Sri
Chan Kong Choy had been implicated
 in the
RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal
 as one of those identified as having committed serious breaches by the PKFZ Task Force headed by lawyer Vinayak Pradhan as chairman.

Ong has his theories as to how such a Singapore Straits Times report came about but Malaysians are only interested in whether as the Transport Minister who had unlawfully issued three of the four Letters of Support for the issue of multi-billion ringgit bonds by the PKFZ turnkey contractor, Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB), resulting in the Malaysian government and taxpayers being burdened with the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, is Chan Kong Choy innocent or implicated in the PKFZ scandal.

As I had said when
I unsuccessfully moved a motion of censure against Kong Choy as Transport Minister during the budget debate on 27th November 2007
 when I proposed a RM10 salary cut against him, it is completely unacceptable for Kong Choy to say that he did not know that he did not have the power as Transport Minister  to issue such Letters of Support, especially as Kong Choy was Deputy Finance Minister for close to four years from Dec. 1999 to June 2003.

If a bank officer who exceeds his authority in a loan approval by a few hundred thousand ringgit could be prosecuted under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act for jeopardizing public funds why should a Minister who exceeded his authority by committing public funds measured in terms of billions of ringgit go scot-free and need not be accountable, and even more serious, could get his unauthorized and illegal acts ratified retrospectively – creating the monster of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal for 27 million Malaysians  today!

Is there no one at the Ministerial and Cabinet level who need to be held responsible and accountable  for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

Is the “
super task force
” headed by Chief Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan as announced by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Wednesday empowered to zero in on the culprits responsible at Ministerial and Cabinet level for  the “heinous crime” of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal or is its ulterior agenda to sanitize, minimize or expunge whatever governmental,  Ministerial and political  fall-outs from the PKFZ scandal?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 11 September 2009, 1:01 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
PKFZ
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


A nation ripe with fear

By Augustine Anthony

Wing collar with bands, wearing a black jacket and holding my robe, my brisk stride to the usual work place came to a momentary halt by a gentle voice coming from the back me. “
Bos boleh menang kah… ini BN Ooh
”

In a short given moment, that gentle voice had many misgivings about the state of affairs in our country, but then I had to go or else I will be late. Then with a tinge of despair the parting words came from that gentle voice. “
Tapi apa boleh buat, kita mesti undi dia
”.

From his attire and the way he spoke my reading is, he must be a civil servant.

Later that evening, I sat down and thought about the words of that gentle voice that were spiked with sadness. There were no hidden meanings to decipher. The emotions were simple and clear to understand. I know.  And so let us talk about fear. And not just our fear but of those who are opposed to our thoughts and actions.

It has been depicted in the movie “
Gandhi
”, where a Hindu man in rage rushes to the fasting and near dying Gandhi and confesses that he had crushed and murdered  a Muslim child during communal violence and fears that he will, in death end up  in hell for his wrong doing, Gandhi assures him that he can overcome that fear. Gandhi tells the Hindu man to raise a child who is orphaned in the civil unrest with conditions. That, that child must first be a Muslim and he/she must be raised as a Muslim in the Hindu man’s home.

Barack Hussein Obama has made the message of overcoming fear and human prejudices simple and exceedingly pleasing to listen.

He is Hussein Obama to start with, but a practising Christian. To the Muslims he is a Christian who they need not fear and to the Christians he brings assurance that they need not fear the Muslims.

To the American whites he sees his fears as a white through his grandmother’s eyes and as an American black and coloured he shares the fears of blacks and coloured through the pain and hardship of people like his father.

By birth and disposition Obama is an embodiment of assurance rather than a byword for fear.

But in our country even after 52 years of independence, UMNO continues to put fear in non Malays by words such as “
Ketuanan Melayu
” and all the side shows of
Ketuanan Melayu
 that we have often witnessed. UMNO at the same time puts fear in Malays of the potential loss of Ketuanan Melayu if the Opposition comes to power.

MCA puts fear in Chinese and non Malays that PAS is going to turn this country into an Islamic state (frankly I have no fear of this but it is a topic that we can discuss on some other day)

I will stop by saying that politics in MIC is frightening. The events of late leading to the party election is proof of its state of affairs.

Collectively Barisan Nasional puts fear amongst ordinary people, civil servants, fishermen, farmers occupying TOL lands and etc. etc. of what potentially awaits them if they do not vote for Barisan Nasional candidates. And many out of fear vote for Barisan Nasional even though the chosen candidate may not be the real choice of the people.

The Prime Minister’s
1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now!
  is a very attractive catchphrase but the recent events indicate that it may be heading the same direction as other slogans like
Bersih Cekap Amanah, Vision 2020, Zero Inflation and Cemerlang Gemilang Terbilang
. The prime minister’s down liners are such a let down.

The above actions of politicians are only causing fear and mistrust in ordinary people. In fact it is akin to poisoning an otherwise ordinary, peaceful and healthy society.

Do we have any assuring words from our politicians?

Anwar Ibrahim’s message to the nation is very assuring. Having listened to such assuring words from Anwar, peoples’ mistrusts are likely to disappear. But then there are many who may say that Anwar cannot be trusted because of his past association with UMNO, but at least he is prepared to change his old rhetoric with a new way forward. That is a first step and a good sign. Check Anwar’s recent speech in Ipoh available in You Tube.

Lim Kit Siang’s frank disclosure is also assuring. By making honest admission of the negative (though manageable) state of affairs in Pakatan Rakyat coalition, (like the recent interview with Sin Chew), voters who are not partisan feel that as a leader he is sensitive to their feelings. His further statements that collectively there are efforts to resolve these minor differences are very assuring to the people. In this way he signals the people that he is listening to their grouses even if it is only a whisper. These are steps in the right direction.

Click here to read My Sinchew interview with Lim Kit Siang:

Exclusive Interview With Lim Kit Siang: “Pakatan has not yet achieved maturity.”

Exclusive Interview With Lim Kit Siang: “Islamic state is the greatest challenge.”

As a leader of an Islamic party, Ir. Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin is also very assuring in his ways when dealing with people. The Kuala Sepetang Chinese voters are living testimony to this.
Click here
 to know what makes him special.

Those who put fear in people may attain success for a certain period of time but not always, for people who live in fear may one day stand up and say enough is enough and let us rid of it, once and for all!

History is the best lesson for those who are unwilling to learn and reform.

I think the writings are not only on the wall but all over the place.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 12 September 2009, 6:26 pm and is filed under
Augustine Anthony
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Indonesia, we are not your whipping boy

By Tunku Aziz

The Javanese have done it again. They have burned our national flag.

Many years ago, I was interviewed in London by BBC Radio 2 as part of a series on the great languages of the world. I was asked about some significant differences between Bahasa Indonesia and our own Bahasa Melayu. I feigned ignorance about the existence of a language called Bahasa Indonesia. I said what Indonesia claimed as its language is really Bahasa Melayu.

They had no choice but to use Bahasa Melayu, the lingua franca of the Malay world to communicate among themselves because they never had a common language to begin with. Malay is undoubtedly the basis of their language. So, if we do what they in Indonesia do so well, we should be burning their flag every day because they have purloined our national language.

An excessive display of nationalistic zeal is generally considered “ugly” in civilised societies. The Indonesians by their actions have reduced themselves into sad figures of ridicule and fun. Their claim, and not for the first time, that we have infringed their “cultural copyrights” is totally absurd. They now have got it into their heads that we should stop singing our national anthem because the tune was Indonesian. What else next? Stop eating satay and wearing kain batik because these are Indonesian?

I remember the time when Indonesia took it upon themselves to rename the Indian Ocean as the Indonesian Ocean, and had the new name put on their official map. The Indians demurred, and Sukarno the regional bully boy realised that it was not such a clever thing to do after all.

Last year we had Wahyu Susilo of Migrant Care, an influential labour organisation telling us “We also want Malaysia to legalise illegal workers and not simply deport them home.” Then, again last year we were reminded by Indonesian lawmakers that Malaysia-Indonesia relations were “at their worst since Sukarno’s days of Konfrontasi in the sixties.”

The reference to Konfrontasi is mischievous in the circumstances. It was a attempt to stampede us into submitting to their will. Indonesians should want to forget that disastrously miscalculated adventure which ended with a bloody nose for their country. On the positive side, it brought to an end the reign of the megalomaniac Sukarno only to be replaced by the rapacious Suharto. Perhaps we had a match in our own country, and we should not gloat over it too much. As a matter of interest, even the normally calm and staid Najib when Deputy Prime Minister was moved to refer to Malaysia as the “Whipping Boy” of the Indonesian media whenever they felt they had a grievance, real or imagined, against us.

I mention all this as a way of reminding ourselves that history provides important lessons for us all. Patterns of political behaviour are often deeply entrenched in the consciousness of a nation, and in the case of our big and unwieldy neighbour, this phenomenon is more marked than is good for them. We want to continue to maintain good neighbour relations with Indonesia, but Indonesia must remember that we are not a client state, and there is a limit to how far we are prepared to go to be nice. We have to think about protecting our national security interests and not putting them at risk. After all, our responsibility is to our own people, first and last.

I recall vividly the burning of our flag in 2002 in Jakarta, that very violent capital of Indonesia. Dr. Mahathir, the then Prime Minister responded in a statesman-like manner to the crude officially orchestrated provocation in which the petulant Speaker of the People’s Consultative Council, Amein Rais played a big role. So, in the most recent incident, we were yet again treated to a pattern of behaviour that seems to have been well integrated into the great Indonesian cultural psyche, and that is part of their culture they can keep without any fear of copyright infringement by Malaysia.

It is obviously difficult for us to engage such a volatile country without causing offence and endless misunderstandings, but we must show patience and wisdom and do all we can to keep the relations on an even keel. Indonesia is still a country in transition and has yet to find its own realistic level in international relations. It seems to lack the confidence of a potentially rich and credible nation, and therefore occupies its time in the luxury of blaming others when things do not go their way. I suppose they will now want to take back all their nearly two million nationals, both legal and mostly illegal, working hard, and robbing hard, to keep body and soul together.

We are not your whipping boy. Grow up Indonesia!

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 12 September 2009, 10:33 am and is filed under
Foreign
,
Tunku Abdul Aziz
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Losing in Victory

By Hussein Hamid

When will UMNO starts its journey of renewal? Take on the path of morality and decency to ensure that the resurrection of UMNO will meet the aspirations of the Malays and the people of our country? This is not hard to do because there are still amongst them people who are decent, upright and committed to uphold the cause of the Malays and of our country. Let these good people speak their mind. Listen to them and do what they ask you to do so that UMNO will rid itself of the ignorance and narrow mindedness of its current leaders.

They will tell you that at the General Elections of 2004 UMNO could have secured its right to govern the country for fifty more years. UMNO could have right many wrongs, do justice for all  and serve the people of this country as UMNO leaders had promised they will do. They could have enhanced the values that they then hold and focused the purpose of our nation into more tangible directions – towards a truly Malaysian Malaysia where all its people having their place in society because if the reality of one Malaysia if not attained it would mean that UMNO would have failed the people, failed the nation.

But they did not do this.

There is no racial problem. No religious problem. There is only a Malaysian problem and we are all Malaysian and so it is our problem.

Remember these words:

All Men are created equal.

Government by consent of the governed

Every one of us wants to be treated equal in opportunity to all others. To be denied this because of our race or religion is to deny our basic rights as a citizen. There is no reason to deny anyone this right and yet we know that there are in place many obstacles and the only way of overcoming these obstacles is if you are a Malay. So we must act now to eliminate these barriers and restriction that divides our people from each other.

There is no moral issue. There is no issue of Malay rights. We have waited over 50 years to do this. Let us not wait any longer. The time for change has come and it is now.

Our enemies are ignorance and narrow mindedness of a Government that chooses to ignore our needs. But they must not forget that these right once given carries with it responsibility. The responsibility to live and work together.

There are Malays that have questioned the wisdom and necessity to do away with UMNO and my rational for involving myself in this matter Let me tell you why I do so.

For years we Malays have been told that we are a lazy people. That we are weak and in need of being protected from the Chinese. That we are not capable of taking care of ourselves and that we need UMNO to do that for us. We have been told that we must be grateful for the many largeness that UMNO has provided us with. The NEP, the Bumiputra status, the business opportunities, the education….and that if these are taken away from us we will not survive.

Some of us have begun to believe these lies. Believe that the hopes and the aspiration of the Malay race lies only with UMNO…a self fulfilling prophecy that could have become true if not for the ability of the Malays to think for themselves. We might be exceedingly polite and unfailingly respectful of our elders but we are not stupid. Yes we did begin to think that UMNO and the Malays could not survive without the other but in time we understood that it would be more true to say that one feed of the other. That UMNO did the feeding. That realization came at a costs to UMNO and to the Malays.

To UMNO it came with their loss in spite of a victory in the last General Elections. Losing in victory is ironic but you cannot call it anything else. For the Malays it was a realization that we need to stand shoulder to shoulder with the others not after the NEP has done its work but NOW. Thank GOD we are ready but no thanks to UMNO that we are!

UMNO has weakened at least one generation of Malays because they lost their sense of direction and focused on enriching themselves instead of preparing the Malays for the time that has now come. Thank GOD that they have only weakened not destroy that one generation of Malays. The Malays will prevail and take their place with the others with much vigor and confidence. Are we downhearted? No we are not…for we have enough belief in ourselves to know that we will survive and thrive.

For UMNO understand this. Nothing that you do in the name of UMNO, Malaysia or its people is safe if it does not show that it can bear discussion and publicity. In time all will be reveal. Every secret, every decision, every administration of injustice, every means you tried of enriching yourselves will be revealed.

Understand too that whatever objective you had while in Government – whether it be for the advantage of UMNO, the enrichment of your own people or the subjugation of the opposition – all this will be questioned by those that come after you. It is only when one is fighting for justice and freedom for all its people that there will be no objections to it as it will benefit everyone and provoke no opposition.

And understand too that when we judge Najib, Mahuyuddin – all you Barisan leaders – if there is any presumption for us to make as to whether you all did any wrong, our expectation will be that those who are with greater power will be judged more harshly for they were given more trust by the people. That they abused this trust confirmed our belief that “All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

For the Indians and the others we are aware that they have been oppressed by the majority. It is true to say that whether a country is free or not can be judged by the amount of security enjoyed by the minorities so we will need to look constructively at what needs to be done to redress this imbalance.

For now we wait.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 12 September 2009, 5:00 am and is filed under
Hussein Hamid
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib will have to explain in Parliament next month why Hishammuddin is not prosecuted for sedition if Malaysiakini is charged for cowhead protest video clips

I am giving notice that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will have to explain in Parliament next month why the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is not charged for incitement and sedition in initially defending and justifying the cow-head protest in Shah Alam section 23 three days before National Day, committing the crime of ultimate religious insensitivity and sacrilege, if Malaysiakini is charged for showing the cowhead protest video clips.

The Malaysiakini video clips of the cowhead protests is highly offensive, not because of the news portal but because of the action of the irresponsible people who showed utter contempt for the sensitivities and sensibilities in a plural society as well as a top Cabinet Minister who could be guilty of such offensive conduct as to defend and justify such protest.

The cowhead protestors should be prosecuted. Even the Home Minister should be prosecuted. But it would not enter into any sensible, rational and reasonable person’s mind that Malaysiakini should be prosecuted – except those who have an axe to grind in wanting to penalize the news portal for the audacity of reporting the truth!

It was as a result of intensifying and irresistible public pressures that the culprits responsible for the cowhead sacrilege in Shah Alam were charged in court, but they comported themselves as if they were national heroes with the support of Umno leaders!

Former Selangor Mentri besar Datuk Mohd Khir Toyo had been highly offensive and insensitive when he used the  language of “stupid cow”. Are Umno leaders immune from action for such insensitive and offensive conduct?

Deputy Minister for Information, Communication and Culture Joseph Salang Gandum cannot be more wrong when he said that the public expect action to be taken against Malaysiakini by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for the videoclips.

MCMC will go the way of the Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in having its institutional independence, impartiality and professionalism doubted if it embarks on the road to become Umno/Barisan Nasional catspaw in a campaign of selective prosecution against Malaysiakini and independent news portals or websites over the cowhead videoclips.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 12 September 2009, 10:57 am and is filed under
Law & Order
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Anwar Ibrahim – he cannot sing he cannot dance….

By Hussein Hamid

Anwar Ibrahim was born in August 1947. Me in October 1947. Two months separates us at birth-enough for me to be able to say that he is older, but possibly two or three lifetimes separates us knowing what he has gone through in his life.

I remember the time when I wanted to meet up with him to find out what he was doing with his life. He was then teaching at one of the shop houses along Jalan Pantai – possible with Adabi if I am not mistaken. I did find him and he was indeed teaching and in slippers. At home that evening I casually told my father that I had met Anwar that afternoon. My father was then Director of CID. He stopped, looked at me and said sternly “Engkau tak ada kerja lain?” Whenever my father uses “engkau” when addressing me I knew that he was not amused. And he then went on to lecture me as to why it would be in my best interest to keep away from Anwar!

Then I was away in Australia for a while and he became DPM.  I was at Ampang Shopping center with my Family patiently letting my kids wander around Toy R Us. As we walked up to the counter to pay there was Anwar. We hug and he smiled that smile that light up his whole face and then he was gone again out of my life for a few more years. But always the familiarity of old classmates made for easy banter every time we meet.

Then this time he was away for a while – six years I think – as the British like to say – At her Majesty’s pleasure in Sungai Buloh. I was with one of UMNO ex Ketua Bahgian  who had joined Keadilan when we heard that Anwar had been released and was at home. My friend wanted to immediately head for Anwar’s house in Damansara to pay his respect. Would I like to come along? He asked. I said ok. We arrived and there were people everywhere. We got into line and waited our turn. We were told that Anwar was not well – that he was sitting down and that anytime he might need to rest. One hour of waiting in line I eventually stood in front of him. He looked up from his chair, again with that smile of his, stood up and gave me a hug oblivious to what pain he must have felt –we talked for a few seconds and mindful of the others waiting to see him, I excused myself and walked on.

The last time I saw him was at a class get together in Bangsar – at Fauzi’s house, a school mate of ours who was the host – a few years back. As always his arrival was greeted with good nature ribbing and for the son of one of our classmates who had not seen Anwar before – that was a real treat. We sat and talked and I could see that age had caught up with all of us – Anwar included. He looked not as robust as I though he would be- after all he has always looked good whenever he was on TV and photographed well. But sitting beside me he looked vulnerable.

Was the pressure of living constantly under public and media gaze getting to him? Was UMNO getting to him? I could not imagine what he had to go through on a daily basis in what he chose to do – POLITICS. It is one thing to be DPM where everything is laid out for you, another to be in the opposition. He constantly referred to Azizah in conversation with us and we could see that Family meant a great deal with him. As we talked I found myself thinking what more has he got to endure before his work is done. I did not envy the situation he was in.

But he had no regrets. No wanting to take his pound of flesh from those that have done him ill. A more spirited discourse came from him when we talked about Mahathir – but either he was in control of himself or that he did not think it worth his while to think to much of times gone by. The present was what mattered.

At 63 I will not run if I can walk. Stand if I can sit. Talk if I can be quite. But Anwar has chosen the path less traveled. This path requires an uncommon resolve to move relentlessly ahead no matter what. He stands in front of crowds everyday. He meets more people then he can remember everyday and all this he does with a willingness that belittle his age. He could be anywhere he wants to be in the world and be welcomed by world leaders and acquaintances. He could be in business and be rich beyond our wildest dreams. Instead he chose to serve the nation. He chose to take us to the next election because if Anwar does not do so, who will take us? I am sure sometimes in his moment of solitude he must question his capacity to physically last the distance but his commitment to our cause is great. That will see him through and he has said that Azizah has done enough while he was away.

This is a good man. As we all know he cannot sing well, neither can he dance well even if his life depended on it but he is decent man. I wish Najib and UMNO will do battle with him on a level playing filed. I wish they could have enough compassion in their hearts to accept that Anwar had gone though more that a baptism of fire – a baptism that neither Najib or Mahyuddin could ever imagine or endure. But then it that would be like asking Bush to go fight Saddam one on one. No shock or awe, no overwhelming force meeting defenseless people, no doctrine of Rapid Dominance, no weapon of mass destruction on stand by just in case they are needed….none of the above. Bush would never survive.

We know that Anwar was with UMNO many years back. We do not know what he will be in the future. But this I know now. He and the other leaders in Pakatan Rakyat are the leaders we now have to lead us to the next General Election and they give us our best hope for a new beginning – without an UMNO that has already abused the trust we Malays placed in them many times over, without a corrupt PDRM, a cowered MACC, without a Government that steals from its people, without a Judiciary that does the bidding of its Political masters, without many of the injustices and unfairness that we now have. Are these not reason enough for us to give them the opportunity to do so?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 September 2009, 5:00 am and is filed under
Anwar Ibrahim
,
Hussein Hamid
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Malaysia’s three-place drop in WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 because of worsening crime is powerful reason why Musa Hassan should not continue as Inspector-General of Police

Although the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak kicked off his premiership five months ago with a pledge to raise efficiency and productivity of the public delivery system, even appointing the Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon to be the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) Minister, the new Prime Minister has not been able to convince Malaysians that he is prepared to do whatever is necessary to check the rot in public service standards.

This hard truth was illustrated by the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2009-2010 released a few days ago which saw Malaysia’s global competitiveness ranking dropped three positions to 24th from 21st spot last year.

This report was released ahead of WEF’s annual meeting of the New Champions, dubbed “Summer Davos”, in Dalian, China.

The drop in Malaysia’s international competitiveness was the result of a much poorer assessment of its institutional framework – with every indicator in the area exhibiting a downward trend since 2007, causing Malaysia to tumble from 17th to 43rd position in this dimension in just two years.

Security in Malaysia was of particular concern with its ranking dropped 25 levels to 85th.

In the past decade, DAP leaders both inside and outside Parliament had been making a major  issue of the worsening crime situation, which was one reason why the Royal Police Commission was set up by former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2004 to reform the Malaysian Police to reduce the incidence of rampant crime in the country and to make the country safe for Malaysians, tourists and investors.

Despite the Royal Police Commission’s 125 recommendations to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service with three core functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights, the crime situation has got from bad to worse in the past four years since the Report of the Royal Police Commission – until it became a major factor in Malaysia’s four-place drop in global competitiveness in the WEFs GCR 2009-2010.

The person who must bear the greatest blame for the worsening security situation in the country as to undermine’s Malaysia’s economic well-being and international competitiveness is none other than the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan.

If Najib is serious about efficiency and productivity of public service delivery, we should be having a new IGP as there can be no worse KPI for Musa Hassan as IGP in the past three years than the WEF Global Competitiveness Report citing worsening security as a major reason for Malaysia’s three-point drop of Malaysia’s global competitiveness.

This is a powerful reason why Musa should not continue as IGP.

(Speech at the Menglembu DAP Branch anniversary dinner in Menglembu, Perak on Saturday 12th September 2009 at 9pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 September 2009, 4:02 pm and is filed under
Crime
,
Police
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The 30 votes that changed Samy Vellu/MIC history?

26-vote margin still fresh in my mind, says Subra

The Star

Wednesday September 9, 2009

PETALING JAYA: Datuk S. Subramaniam has hit out at his nemesis MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu for claiming that the 30 “pocketed votes” in the 1977 party elections was an impossibility.

The former party deputy president also brushed off Samy Vellu’s claim that he and Datuk V. Govindaraj were “pathological liars”.

“Govindaraj told me he did it. He was Samy Vellu’s man and led his campaign then.

“I can’t recall off-hand the total number of votes cast in 1977 but I know that the difference was 26. That is still fresh in my mind.”

Govindaraj told an English daily recently that he took the 30 votes cast for Subramaniam during the party polls that saw Samy Vellu defeating Subramaniam for the deputy president’s post by a mere 26 votes.

He was quoted as saying that he did it at the spur of the moment without instigation.

Expressing regret over his actions, Govindaraj, who was Samy Vellu’s one-time ally, said he realised that the party’s leadership in the last 30 years would have been different had he not taken the 30 votes.

Samy Vellu eventually became party president after the death of Tan Sri V. Manickavasagam in 1979.

Asked to comment on Samy Vellu’s retort that there were no unaccounted-for votes in the election, Subra-maniam said only the delegates list for the election would prove the total number of votes cast.

“Maybe Samy Vellu would like to swear in a temple that he is right.”

On Govindaraj’s actions, Subramaniam said he forgave him a long time ago and that they had remained good friends.

“But when I found out about the incident, it was past the time for any challenge or complaint.

“I realise that with the 30 votes I could have won but we can’t do anything about it now.

“Time has passed. At least he (Govindaraj) had the courage to admit it publicly and apologise for it.”

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 September 2009, 4:22 pm and is filed under
Indians
,
Politics
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Cabinet on Wednesday should ask for Musa Hassan’s resignation as IGP in view of the 25-rank drop of Malaysia’s security indicator

The Cabinet on Wednesday should ask for Tan Sri Musa Hassan’s resignation as Inspector-General of Police in view of the 25-rank drop of Malaysia’s security indicator resulting in a three-point drop in Malaysia’s global competitiveness ranking in World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 released last week.

Malaysia  has dropped three positions to 24th from 21st ranking last year in the latest  WEF GCR announced just before the WEF’s annual meeting of the New Champions, dubbed “Summer Davos”, in Dalian China.

This was essentially the result of a much poorer assessment of its institutional framework – with every indicator in the area exhibiting a downward trend since 2007, causing Malaysia to tumble from 17th to 43rd position in this dimension in just two years.

Security in Malaysia is of particular concern with its ranking dropped 25 levels to 85th.

The WEF GCR sub-index on “Security” is made up of four indicators and Malaysia scored very poorly in everyone of them, viz:

Business cost of terrorism

97

Business cost of crime and violence

95

Organized crime

83

Reliability of police services

48

This is what the WEF GCR 2009-2010 stated:

“According to the business community, the potential of terrorism (97th) and crime (95th) both impose significant costs.”

A comparison with the WEF GCR 1999 highlights the worsening of the crime situation of the country in the past ten years, which was supposed to be rectified by the Royal Police Commission as the first initiative of the former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi five years ago – but the reverse has taken place, with the country in the throes of the worst crime-and-order situation in the country’s history.

There are only two indicators on the security sub-index in the WEF GCR 1999 report, one on “Effectiveness of Police Force” and the other on “Organized Crime”.

Malaysia was ranked No. 25 out of 59 countries in 1999 on “The effectiveness of police force” index to measure “what extent can police service be relied upon to enforce law and order in your country” with “1=cannot be relied upon at all; 7= can always be relied upon”.

Malaysia scored 5.14 and was ranked No. 31 out of 59 countries in the WEF GCR 1999. Ten years later, in the WEF GCR Report 2009-2010, Malaysia was downgraded to  4.7 and ranked No. 49 out of 133 countries.

Countries which ten years ago were regarded as less safe and secure as their police force were not as reliable, competent and professional have overtaken Malaysia in the estimation of foreign investors – including countries like South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan.

The index on “Organised Crime”  for Malaysia in the past decade is most shocking and outrageous.

This indicator poses the question whether “organized crime (mafia-oriented racketeering, extortion) impose costs on business in your country” with “1=significant costs; 7=no costs”.

Malaysia scored 5.76 and was ranked No. 22 out of 59 countries in 1999 but ten years later, the score went down to  5.0 and plummeted 61 places to be ranked No. 83 out of 133 countries.

Among the countries Malaysia has overtaken in the past ten years in having a more serious problem of “organized crime” in Asia are Hong Kong, South Korea, India, China, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan.

The WEF GCR report on the security situation in Malaysia is an indictment on the service record of Musa Hassan as he must singly bear the greatest blame for the worsening security situation in the country which has  undermined  Malaysia’s economic well-being and international competitiveness as he was the nation’s top cop in the past three years.

If Najib is serious about efficiency and productivity of public service delivery, we should be having a new IGP as there can be no worse KPI for Musa Hassan as IGP in the past three years than the WEF Global Competitiveness Report citing worsening security as a major reason for Malaysia’s three-point drop of Malaysia’s global competitiveness.

It is most shocking that Musa should have his tenure as IGP renewed for another year. Will the Cabinet now ask for Musa’s resignation as IGP in view of the blistering WEF GCR 2009-2010 on the dismal security situation in the country under Musa’s watch?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 September 2009, 10:48 am and is filed under
Crime
,
Police
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Chief Secretary should explain why he had failed in past two years to carry out Cabinet mandate to identify and punish culprits responsible for the unlawful issue of four Letters of Support by two Transport Ministers?

It is a great disappointment that the MCA Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) is not being used for a united MCA call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to bring to book all MCA, Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders implicated in the “mother of all scandals”.

When former Finance Minister Tun
Daim Zainuddin could say that the PKFZ fiasco
 provides the Barisan Nasional government the best opportunity to fulfill its promise of cracking down on corruption, abuse of power and mismanagement, why are MCA, Umno and other Barisan Nasional component parties dragging their feet when they should be acting decisively to identity and punish the wrongdoers, without fear or favour and regardless of their present or past position or status?

Daim speaks with great authority, knowledge and experience when he said:

“The government must punish all those lawbreakers, only then can it regain the public’s confidence.

“In the past, the public did not see those who abused their power getting punished, resulting in more abuses of power.  As such, it (making the PKFZ audit report public) is a good start”.

Daim cannot be more right as witnessed the five-fold multiplication of the first major financial scandal in the Mahathir premiership some three decades ago – the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal – to the present RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal!

The Cabinet decision last week to set up a super task force, headed by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, to take over all investigations into the PKFZ scandal is not a demonstration of political will to get to the bottom of the “mother of all scandals” but the opposite.

I see it as a major step backwards in public accountability and good governance, as it smacks of being a super “cover up” task force for the PKFZ scandal.

What is needed is a Royal Commission of Inquiry to conduct a comprehensive and no-holds-barred investigation into the “mother of all scandals” including relevant Ministerial and Cabinet aspects of the scandal instead of trying to sweep the whole issue back under the carpet.

In the first place, is Mohd Sidek the most appropriate person to head the super task force on the PKFZ scandal?

Before Mohd Sidek takes up this appointment, he should explain to the Malaysian public why he had failed in the past two years to carry out the Cabinet decision in July 2007 when it resolved on the RM4.6 billion bailout of PKFZ, including giving retrospective approval to the four illegal Letters of Support unlawfully given by the two previous Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy, that the Chief Secretary should conduct an inquiry as to how the four Letters of Support could have issued unlawfully and to take the necessary disciplinary actions against the culprits who have now landed the country with a RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

Did Mohd Sidek carry out such an inquiry as not  a single culprit had been identified, let alone penalised for the unlawful issue of the four Letters of Support in the past two years?

Clearly, Mohd Sidek had not carried out the Cabinet instruction or there would not be today a merry-go-round of multiple investigations into the PKFZ scandal, but all without the necessary sweeping powers to get to the bottom of the scandal.

Can Mohd Sidek succeed where he had failed in the past two years?

This is why the MCA, as the party which is most implicated in the PKFA scandal as  so many MCA top leaders were involved whether as Transport Minister or Port Klang Authority Chairman,  should take a stand to ensure that there should be no  further cover-up of the PKFZ scandal and its EGM should, among other things, demonstrate the undivided support of the MCA delegates for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to bring to book all MCA, Umno and BN leaders implicated in the  PKFZ “mother of all scandals”.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 September 2009, 1:20 pm and is filed under
PKFZ
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Penans – Last of our Mohicans?

By Hussein Hamid

In September 2008 The Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) media release said in essence that:

“Penan women from the Middle Baram area of Sarawak are launching a cry of alarm to the international community over cases of sexual abuse by logging company workers in the East Malaysian state’s rainforests.

The Penan are accusing workers from Interhill and Samling, two Malaysian logging companies, of harassing and raping Penan women, including schoolgirls. They come on an almost weekly basis, but the situation is worst during the school holidays when they know the students are in the villages.

In other cases, school transports operated by company vehicles had been arranged in such a way that schoolgirls had to stay overnight at a logging camp, where they were abused.

Complaints by the Penan to those in charge of the logging camps and to the Police have so far had no effect.The Bruno Manser Fund is asking the Malaysian government to start a formal enquiry into these serious criminal offences. In particular, the government is being asked to ensure that the victims are protected and that the harassment of Penan women by company workers is brought to an end immediately”.

On 8th October 2008 cabinet set up the
Jawatankuasa Bertindak Peringkat Kebangsaan untuk Menyiasat Dakwaan Penderaan Seksual
 on Wanita Penan – to investigate the Sexual Abuse of Penan Women and Girls as contained in The Bruno Manser Fund media release of September 2008.

Here are some of the cases of those sexual abuses that came to the attention of the
Jawatankuasa
 pertaining to the sexual abuse of the Penan Women and Schoolgirls.

AGE GROUP: FROM AS YOUNG AS 10 ONWARDS.

Case One:

Age 17 years old. Rape at 12 while walking outside the school compound during school holidays. Not surprisingly at that age she was not able to identify her attacker. She was raped once again by a worker from the logging company while getting a lift from the company’s vehicle from her village at Long Kawi to her school at Long Lama. When she realized that she was pregnant she stopped school and married a fellow Penan.

Case Two:

First raped in 2005 by a worker from the logging camp of Inter Hill. She knew him when her Family got a lift back to the village after sending her sister to school. (Walking to school would have taken two days.) He entered her house at night and raped her in her room. She gave birth to a daughter. Second rape was in 2007. The same guy again entered her house at night when she was by herself and the result was another daughter in February 2008. She did not make a Police Report as she was not able to read or write. This same guy claimed her as his wife – but she refused to accept him as he had two other wives – one of which was a Penan.

Case Three:

She knew of two Penan girls – one age 15 and another 20 that had had sexual relationship with two logging workers while getting lifts to leave their village area. This became the talk of the village and both these girls eventually married Penan men and left the village in 2008.

Case Four:

A student age 14 of Sekolah Menegah at Long Sam whose  breasts were fondle while getting lifts to school by the driver of the logging camp vehicle. This is a normal occurrence and the girls reported it to their parent but not to the school authorities. They were worried that the school would accuse them of lying and finding an excuse of not coming to school and then be caning them. There were claims that members in uniform were also involved in these sexual abuses but the girls were not able to substantiate these claims.

Case Five:

She said that she was regularly abused during lifts to school in the vehicles belonging to the logging company. They were even attempts at rape by these drivers. At the age of 10 she and four other girls’ students, while on the way to school in the company lorry, was almost raped by the driver. They managed to free themselves but were injured and did not attend school on that day.

In another instance she said that the Lorry Driver asked the male students to disembark. They did so and managed to get all the other girl student out except for one girl. The driver drove off with her and to date no one has asked her what happened that day.

At the age of 13 she was introduced to an Iban man who was a logger while visiting her mother in Miri. She was abducted by him and raped. A police report was made. The Police found her at Kem Kilometer 10 with the man and they were brought to Balai Polis Bakong, Beluru and then to the Miri Polis station. She stopped schooling after this incident.

Next she got involved with another logger who plies her with cigarettes and alcohol. Other workers from the logging camps often joined them with their Penan girlfriends to party at their boss house. This relationship lasted two years until he lost interest in her. She then got involved with another logger with whom she had a child out of wedlock. She stopped seeing him after his wife beg her to stop the relationship.

She then met a businessman who came to buy rattan and gaharu. He gave money and food to her family. She had a child out of wedlock with him now aged two. He soon met a Penan girl and tire of her.

Case Six:

She was almost raped while on her trip with her Father and Family to apply for her ID Card at Long Bangan, Baram. In the middle of the journey the driver stopped the vehicle and asked her family and the other passenger to disembark while holding on to her hand. Then he sped of with her. She struggled and he had to stop the vehicle. Then he dragged her into the bush but by that time her Family and the other passengers caught up with them and he did not have the time to do anything.

Case Seven:

She was aged 17 and had just given premature birth at Hospital Miri. The baby survived. She was said to have had relations with a logger but she denied this – however she was shaken and almost cried while denying that it had ever happened.

These are the cases investigated at length by the
Jawatankuasa
. It is a fact that the workers from the logging camp repeatedly took advantage of the very people who depended on them for transport, food and money. The Penans were taken advantage off by workers of these logging companies that resulted in the abuse of their women and girls.

To take advantage of girls from the age of 10 onwards is despicable and deserved to be punished severely.

The biggest problem in Sarawak is that loggers and government are one and the same,” said William W. Bevis, an American academic. Sarawak’s chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, also serves as the forestry minister, grants logging concessions and approves environmental impact statements. Wong, the environment minister, personally holds a large concession and pioneered hill logging with bulldozers.

Malaysia is one of the worlds if not the world’s largest supplier of tropical wood.

Therein lies the Penan problem. How will the Ministry of Women, Family and Community development plead the case of the Penan women and girls against the might of the Sarawak State Government – against Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud unless international condemnation of these bastardly acts are forthcoming. We know that the Federal Government will be reluctant to act against Taib. The result of the last election when Sarawak made the difference to Barisan continued stay in power is good enough reason for Najib not to do anything. But our condemnation and international pressure will make a difference. So please my friends think of what we can do. Demonstrate, write letters to anybody who can make a difference locally and internationally, hold aloft slogans supporting the Penans….anything to make this shame done by the logging companies and the others to the Penan known first in Malaysia and then the world. In a multiracial country such as ours it is how we look after our minority that will be the mark of our ability to respect and live with each other well. We should not fail the Penans.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 September 2009, 11:14 am and is filed under
Crime
,
Human Rights
,
Hussein Hamid
,
Orang Asli
,
Sarawak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.