Shrill Umno rhetoric betrays legitimacy doubts

– Peter Chong

The Malaysian Insider

May 26, 2013

MAY 26 – Barisan National (BN), the ruling coalition in Malaysia, might have returned to power at the recent national elections, but the response from Umno is far from celebratory.

The Prime Minister, Najib Razak, led the outbursts of anger by blaming Umno’s poor showing on a “Chinese tsunami”. Mohd Noor Abdullah, former Appeals Court Judge, took it a step further by warning Chinese to prepare for a “Malay backlash” for their “betrayal” in voting for opposition parties.

New Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, joined the attacks by saying that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition can “migrate elsewhere” if it is not satisfied with the country’s electoral system.

The tone became even more jarring when Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan, called on the opposition PR coalition to stop “sodomising” the people’s minds in questioning the legitimacy of BN election victory. At time of writing, news has emerged of arrests of senior opposition leaders as Umno hardens its position.

There is no doubt that Umno is trying to find a scapegoat for their poor showing and using race to create division is an old Umno favourite. The upcoming party election is another reason for the shrill tones as Umno leaders scramble for leadership positions.

However, Umno is also hurting and feeling the loss of majority support in the recent elections. Despite the vast sums of money expended during the lead up to the election, the majority voted for the Opposition. Umno feels rejected and the strident tone of the post-election debate betrays their bitter realisation that their legitimacy has been seriously compromised.

There is no doubt that the ruling BN coalition took a hammering in the elections, despite a fraudulent electoral process. For example, the electoral roll had tens of thousands of phantom voters that could not be challenged in the courts. BN also benefited from ballot boxes that appeared out of nowhere in the midst of synchronised blackouts in key seats.

The Election Commission engaged in a deliberate deception in the washable indelible ink saga. Despite all this, BN lost 7 seats and saw their national vote drop to 47.4 per cent of total votes cast. BN’s situation was worse on the Peninsula as its vote dropped to 45.7 per cent against the opposition’s 53.3 per cent.

The only thing that kept them in power was a wicked gerrymander which enabled the BN coalition to take a parliamentary seat for an average of 39,400 votes while the opposition PR coalition had to win 63,200 votes for every seat.

The underlying demographic analysis was telling a different story to the Umno racial analysis. Large numbers of Malays had rejected Umno. For example, in Kelantan and Terengganu where Malays make up 90 per cent of the voter population, nearly half the votes went to the opposition.

Further, the ruling BN coalition has lost the urban and youth vote, making their future prospects even bleaker. Holding uninterrupted power for nearly six decades had bred intolerance that cannot accept rejection.

Umno leaders don’t seem to realise the absurdity of their position. Why have an election in the name of democracy and attack the voters for betrayal if they vote for the other side?

Telling people to leave the country if they are unhappy about electoral fraud is not exactly the recommended way to win friends. After all, most of these people whom Umno is savaging are likely to vote again in the next election.

Umno leaders are not thinking straight and are behaving like little school boys who lost a game of football and want to beat up their opponents after the game. The race rhetoric is not getting traction as it did in the old days as prominent Malays rise to the occasion to condemn Umno’s crude attempts to stir racial animosity.

No doubt Umno leaders will come to their senses once their anger subsides but then the grim outlook will be no cause for cheer. The loss of majority support for Umno crystallised people’s understanding of how the electoral process is rigged.

The constituency map is due to be redrawn, a task that needs PR backing to pass muster at parliament. The dubious voters on the electoral roll will face a political challenge that Umno cannot resist. Umno is also likely to face international diplomatic pressure and despite all the bluster, such blatant electoral fraud is indefensible.

Some in Umno may feel that democratic elections are unwinnable and are contemplating doing away with the charade of elections. The arrests of opposition leaders are probably a sign of Umno’s hardline leaders pushing for a more extreme position.

If things are bad now, Umno leaders will come to realise that things will only get worse. There is going to be no rest for the wicked. – SABM Melbourne

                This entry was posted on Monday, 27 May 2013, 5:26 am and is filed under
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Malaysians wants IPCMC to end deaths in custody as they have no confidence in any police special committee even if it is headed by the IGP himself

The announcement by the Bukit Aman management director Mortadza Nazarene that the police will be setting up a special committee headed by the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to curb incidents involving deaths in police lock-ups is totally unsatisfactory and completely unacceptable, as what Malaysians want is an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as recommended by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry eight years ago in 2005 to put an end once and for all to the scandalous and endless spate of deaths in police custody.

After demonstrating himself in his first week as the most “political” IGP in history whose first priority is to protect the regime rather than the safety of Malaysians from crime and fear of crime, with scant regard to the human rights of Malaysians to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, Malaysians have no confidence in the IGP or in any police special committee even if it is headed by the IGP to put an end to deaths in police custody.

Khalid had been the Deputy IGP since April 2011 and Malaysians are entitled to know what he had done the past two years as the No. 2 in the police force to put and end to deaths in police custody, a scandalous state of affairs which had been highlighted by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry way back in 2005?

Even now, despite another two deaths in police lockups – N. Dharmendran, 32, at the KL police headquarters on May 21 and R. Jamesh Ramesh 40 at the Penang police headquarters on May 26 – the police announcement appears to be more of a PR or public relations exercise, as the setting up of the special police committee had not been done but is still in the future tense!

How many deaths in police custody have occurred in the past eight years since the report and recommendations of the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry in 2005?

Is the police prepared to make public a full list of deaths in police custody in the past eight years since the Dzaiddin Police RCI report, stating in each case what action had been taken by the police, including punitive actions against the errant police personnel concerned?

Mortadza talks about the police allowing visits from the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) as a check against incidence of death in police custody.

This is a meaningless gesture when there has not been a single Suhakam Commissioner for more than a month since the expiry of the term of appointment of the last batch of Suhakam Commissioners.

As IGP and Chairman of the special police committee on deaths in police custody, is Khalid prepared to spearhead a campaign for the establishment of IPCMC to provide effective check on all forms of police abuses? If so, Khalid will have the full co-operation of the 89 Pakatan Rakyat MPs.

(Media Statement in Kuching on Tuesday, May 28, 2013)

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                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 May 2013, 7:21 pm and is filed under
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National reconciliation or retaliation?

Lim Ka Ea

The Malaysian Insider

May 27, 2013

Lim Ka Ea is a traveller who sees travel as the answer to all the world’s woes. Writing is a grand love. Ka Ea has had NGO and legal experience.

MAY 27 — There was no cry of jubilation. Neither were there tears of joy.

If you had been in a coma during the past few weeks and were suddenly awakened to the image of the Barisan Nasional’s victory speech on television, you would have thought that someone important had died and the whole nation had gone into mourning mode. Why wouldn’t you when Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his sidekicks looked as if the apocalypse was upon them?

Before you could even make out the hazy details that had preceded such collective sombreness, you found yourself being hit by a train of confusion. “Chinese tsunami” quickly followed by “national reconciliation” — two terms coined together only mere minutes after the announcement of the election results were enough to make me want to crawl back into that coma. Ignorance is after all bliss during moments like this.

As I begin to hear comments pouring in from different public figures and the public, of what they thought of the proposed national reconciliation, I felt sheepishly stupid. Am I the only one who doesn’t understand what it means or what it’s for?

The coma must have impaired my intellectual capacity. Full stop.

A few days ago, someone asked me what I understood about Najib’s notion of national reconciliation. Instead of giving that person a straightforward answer, I went on a crooked tangent. If you were as confused as I was, you would probably understand why.

This was my answer: “You know what? It took me two years to learn how to reconcile my accounts. Why did it take me so long? Well, honestly, I had no clue how to do it! Accounting is like a useless foreign language to me. Neither do I understand it, nor do I have the desire to learn it. So it took me two years to finally nail it down. Anyway, to answer your question, I think national reconciliation is a bit like me trying to reconcile my accounts. The federal government has no clue what it’s about and most likely has no desire to learn what it really is about.”

Horrified at my analogy, the person finally said: “If what you said is true, let’s hope they’ll at least nail it down in the end.”

Of course, hope is a good thing and one can always hope.

Anyway, Najib had come out in public and said that national reconciliation is needed to heal racial and political divide. Never mind what he said because since then, I’ve had more opportunities to hear what other people thought about this notion in person and, unsurprisingly, different people seem to hold very different opinions of it. Although some agreed wholeheartedly that it’s all about reconciling racial divide, others said it’s more about the urban-rural divide. A few said that there’s really no racial divide and it was the politicians who have spun it to instil hate and fear because the real issue here is economic divide. A few vehemently claimed that it’s all about political party divide, much to the chagrin of those who quickly rebutted that political party division is a good thing and the pillar of a robust democracy. Listening to these opinions reminded me of the story of the elephant and the three blind men. (Scary or what? But anyway, Malaysia boleh!)

Without turning this article into something unnecessarily lengthy, I shall cut to the chase. Let’s just suppose that the prime minister is honest about his intention, how should he and his Cabinet go about developing the framework of this national reconciliation?

Here’s my take as a layperson. (I realise I’m running the risk of oversimplifying the issue but I think simplification is exactly what we need now.) I believe in order for a national reconciliation to be successful, it must first fulfil three criteria — it must 1) command the public’s confidence, 2) be a meaningful exercise, and 3) result in action. At the same time, it must be guided by these core principles — 1) truth, 2) repentance, and 3) justice.

In order to achieve the first criterion, the government owes it to the public to provide a clear and truthful explanation of what this national reconciliation is all about. As it is, the public’s confidence of the new government is already at an all-time low, it is now up to the latter to convince the public of the true purpose of this process. Without the public’s confidence and faith in this, it is likely going to suffer the same fate as the 1 Malaysia slogan, one that reeks of a political rather than human agenda. To curb this, the government must secure the public’s participation in developing its framework; not just their supporters but also dissenters. As such, it is imperative for the government to listen to both sides and this necessitates freeing up media space to allow opinions from both sides to be heard.

Secondly, for this exercise to be truly meaningful, the government must understand the true meaning of reconciliation. In order for reconciliation to work, all party must be willing to admit their wrongdoing, repent and agree to move forward together. The closing of one chapter so that a fresh one can begin, so to speak. As the initiator of this agenda, the government must first admit that it has played a role in allowing racism to manifest and, as such, resulted in this divide. By initiating this process, the government must be willing to admit that the 1 Malaysia campaign, the National Service Training and the National Economic Programme have in a way failed or contributed towards perpetuating racial-based politics because otherwise, why on earth do we need national reconciliation? By doing this, the government shows repentance and sincerity and this will help to restore the public’s confidence in the process.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, all this must in the end result in the government taking real action towards reconciliation. There has been far too many projects and agenda that ended up being nothing but mere politically rhetoric with no real benefit or meaning for the people. I’ve listened to various people giving recommendations of what should be done to achieve this goal — from establishing a parliamentary select committee to unifying our education curriculum. All noble solutions which will take a long time to implement and before you know it, the public loses interest and nobody remembers why the process was proposed in the first place. For a quick start just to get things rolling, in order for the government to prove its sincerity and will, why not get rid of those boxes that seek to verify our races in all government-related forms once and for all? Punish ministers who incite racial hatred and make an example out of them. Justice must be blind and not just for the powerful.

In conclusion, after all that is said and done, the secret ingredient that will eventually create a Malaysian culture that abhors racism is really quite simple. All it takes really is for the government to first set an exemplary role in eradicating racial sentiments and once that is accomplished, I am quite confident that the rest will follow. Not unlike reconciling your accounts, the two sides must be in tandem with each other. Otherwise, let’s not fool ourselves by calling it reconciliation but retaliation instead. If I were an avid conspiracy theorist, I would have concluded that “Chinese tsunami” and “national reconciliation” were part of a national retaliation strategy to divert the people’s attention from what’s really to come.

So Mr Prime Minister, which one is it going to be?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 May 2013, 6:39 am and is filed under
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Open letter to the EC

― Tessa Houghton

The Malaysian Insider

May 27, 2013

May 27 ― Dear EC Deputy Chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar,

I wish to comment on your recent statements in an interview reported in The Malaysian Insider, dated May 27, 2013 (reproduced below):

According to Wan Ahmad, the electoral system used in Malaysia is also used by developed countries that have been practising democracy for a long time.

“Britain, already a few hundred years practising democracy, until now it uses first past the post… Australia, first past the post. New Zealand first past the post mixed a bit with the proportional representation (PR) system. India, the largest democratic country in the world, 800 million voters, first past the post,” he said.

The EC deputy chairman said it would not be possible for PR to win so many seats, including a few states, if the “first-past-the-post” system was unfair.

New Zealand does not, as you state, utilise FPP “mixed a bit” with PR. It utilises the Mixed Member Proportional system (MMP), which is distinct from simple/’single winner’ FPP. New Zealand used to suffer under the same simple FPP system as Malaysia currently suffers from, which resulted in the right-wing National Party consistently gaining power despite a majority of New Zealanders voting for the left-wing Labour Party, and in a lack of recognition of smaller parties. Wide-scale electoral reform was undertaken in 1992 in response to huge dissatisfaction with the system, through a referendum that allowed NZ citizens to decide on their preferred voting system.

Almost 85 per cent of New Zealanders voted to throw out FPP, with over 70 per cent voting to replace it with MMP. A 2011 referendum held to re-gauge New Zealander’s voting preferences found almost 60 per cent of New Zealanders in favour of retaining MMP, and less than half of the 42 per cent wanting change expressing a desire to return to FPP.

As such, your claim that NZ “uses FPP” and conflation of the two systems is a grave misrepresentation of New Zealanders’ opinions on the system of FPP used in Malaysia.
 Ordinary NZ citizens understand the myriad voting systems available and have clearly registered their preferences. I take issue with you misrepresenting my country in an attempt to silence both the widespread criticism of both Malaysia’s iteration of the FPP system and the EC’s conduct.

I am proud of my country, even though I do not support our current government ― we regularly top corruption indexes as one of the least corrupt nations in the world, and were recently named world leaders in a human freedom index. No country is perfect, but I am proud of the fact that as a New Zealander, my government a) regularly asks NZ citizens for our opinions on matters of national importance, and b) regularly respects our decisions.

NZ chooses MMP because it prevents smaller parties (such as the New Zealand Maori Party and the environmentalist Green Party) from being crushed by two-party Labour/National dominance. We also recalculate our electoral boundaries every five years, using census results, to ensure that electorates are approximately equal, with a tolerance of voter population inequality of only +/- 5 per cent between electorates, so as to eliminate gerrymandering and malapportionment. Contrast this with the difference tolerated between the electorates of Putrajaya and Kapar ― an inequality in voter numbers of over 900 per cent. NZ also has strictly enforced rules to ensure equality and restraint in campaign advertising funding, fair media access for all parties, and an independent Election Commission overseeing the entire process.

I could go on to criticize your misrepresentation of Australia, which utilizes a preferential voting system with the option to cast votes “above” or “below the line” ― again, something entirely distinct from simple FPP ― but I will leave it to an Australian to defend their system in detail. There are also subtle but important differences in the way the UK and India operationalize their FPP systems, to do with electoral boundary maintenance and inequality prevention. These important differences should not be ignored or glossed over. For a start, it is worth noting that NZ, Australia, the UK and India all allow citizens to vote from age 18 onwards, a full 3 years before Malaysia (which has the highest voting age in the world), and much more in line with the international norm and with other recognitions of “adulthood”.

I hope that you will, in future, refrain from likening the electoral system in Malaysia to that present in NZ. I also hope that you will take note of the many systems in place in NZ (and elsewhere) to ensure fair and free elections, and begin performing your duty as a civil servant to ensure that Malaysian citizens are afforded the same basic democratic rights.

* Dr Tessa Houghton is assistant professor in Media and Communication, and director of the Centre for the Study of Communications and Culture, University of Nottingham Malaysia

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 May 2013, 6:54 am and is filed under
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Zahid best example of being “own victim” of  UMNO/BN 13GE “war room” lies about DAP spending more than a billion ringgit in past six years to employ 3,000-strong “Red Bean Army” cybertroopers  to demonise him and other UMNO/BN leaders

The new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the best example of being “own victim” of the lies of  UMNO/BN 13GE “war room” about DAP spending more than a billion  ringgit  in past six years to employ a 3,000-strong “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers  to demonise him and other UMNO/BN leaders.

This is again illustrated by today’s  Utusan Malaysia, one of the chief instruments of  UMNO/BN propangada in the 13GE, which carried a report headlined
“Red Bean Army serang kerajaan – Ekoran DAP gagal peroleh kuasa di Putrajaya”
, which states:

“Kuala Lumpur 27 Mei – Kecaman serta penghinaan berterusan yang dihamburkan oleh Red Bean Army terhadap kerajaan jelas membuktikan tentera siber DAP itu gagal menutup rasa kecewa kerana tidak berjaya memperoleh ‘kuasa’ di Putrajaya.

“Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi berkata, walaupun beliau sendiri tidak terlepas daripada serangan tentera siber berkenaan, perkara itu adalah lumrah bagi mereka yang bergelar ahli politik.

“Meskipun tidak menyatakan bentuk tindakan yang akan diambil terhadap pihak terbabit, beliau dengan nada sinis memberitahu, mereka merupakan jenis manusia yang hanya tahu menyalahkan pihak lain berbanding diri sendiri.”

I do not believe Zahid suffers from any  hallucination about the DAP spending more than a billion   ringgit in the past six years to employ a 3,000-strong “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers to demonise him and other Umno/BN leaders.

The kindest thing one can  say about Zahid is to regard him as an “own  victim” of  UMNO/BN 13GE “war room” lies about  DAP spending more than a billion ringgit in the past six years to employ 3,000-strong “Red Bean Army” cybertroopers to demonise him and other UMNO/BN leaders.

Zahid is being doubly foolish – firstly, for believing in the lies of the Umno/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists meant to confuse and  befuddle the enemy camp and secondly, for being the  only Minister on record to be  publicly identified with allegations about the DAP’s fictitious “Red Bean Army”.

Clearly, Zahid is not being smart at all – to believe in the lies perpetrated by his own people.

Of course, the UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists have a vested interest to perpetuate the lies they have created in the 13GE about the Pakatan Rakyat in order to justify their abject  failure to deliver their boastful prediction  that UMNO/BN would  win the 13GE with a two-thirds parliamentary majority despite a general election war chest running into hundreds of millions of ringgit directly and indirectly in a massive media campaign that encompasses print, television, billboards, online sites and whole armies of UMNO/BN cybertroopers, whether “Belacan Army”, “Ikan Bakar Army”, “Cincin Army” or “Petai Army”.

Zahid’s continued regurgitation of the lies about the DAP’s fictitious “Red Bean Army” has piqued my curiosity and I have caused a search and I have found that the lies, myth and legend about the DAP’s fictitious “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers were written extensively in the Umno/BN media, in particular Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times and Star just before polling day on May 5 and in the ensuing weeks.

For instance, days before Polling Day on May 5, New Straits Times carried an article entitled “Beware of DAP’s cyber troopers” which said:

KUALA LUMPUR: Beware of the DAP-sponsored cyber troopers, known as the Red Bean Army, who are ready to wreak havoc in the cyberworld.

The core group was said to comprise of between 2,000 and 3,000 members who could easily reach 60,000 people by sending out postings via social networks.

The members were said to be employed full time with a salary of between RM3,000 and RM8,000 each and they have been told to launch attacks on pro-government websites and social networks, spreading lies about the government and prevent any effort to connect with the people via the net.

Media analysts said the group, which was formed between four to six years ago, were also directed to “kill off” pro-government comments in alternative media and disrupt programmes that lent credit to the government.

They said this “army” would manipulate information and widen their attack on the government.

One of their duties was also to create feelings of hatred towards the government.

I am totally astounded and amazed that a senior Cabinet Minister and UMNO leader who have pretensions to become UMNO President  and Prime Minister one day could believe such garbage churned out by  the UMNO/BN “War Room” strategists and propagandists.

Taking an average of RM5,000 a month (re the allegation of a monthly salary between RM3,000 and RM8,000 each) for the  3,000 cybertrooper in the so-called DAP “Red Bean Army”, this will come out to a gargantuan expenditure of  RM15 million a month or RM180 million a year – and the  mind-boggling total of RM1.08 billion in six years!

Zahid believes that DAP is capable of spending RM1.08 billion in six years to employ some 3,000 cybertroopers in the “Red Bean Army” to demonise the UMNO/BN leaders?

 Zahid must be nuts to believe such rubbish but he is giving daily credence to such lies about the DAP’s “Red Bean Army” of paid 3,000 cybertroopers as in today’s Utusan Malaysia.

With such senior Cabinet Ministers and UMNO leaders like Zahid exposing himself as  an intellectual lightweight who could be so gullible as to believe the lies churned out by the UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists, what confidence could Malaysians have in the calibre, quality and excellence of the Najib Cabinet to promote genuine national transformation,  to effect a national reconciliation or take the country to a higher level of development?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 May 2013, 12:03 pm and is filed under
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Belaga boat accident should be regarded as a national disaster as it is tragic proof of failure of 50 years of equitable development in Sarawak with still no  road access to rural districts

DAP is shocked and outraged at the tragic Belaga boat disaster yesterday morning where an express boat sank in the Rajang River, with 23 passengers still missing when search and rescue (SAR) operations stopped yesterday because of nightfall.

So far, 181 passengers managed to swim to safety after the ill-fated express boat sank at the Jeram Tukok/Jeram Bungan area, about four hours’ journey upriver from Sibu.

Initial investigation indicated that the express boat had exceeded its capacity for 67 seated passengers as it was believed to be overloaded with over 200 passengers returning home for the Gawai Dayak festivities, and had encountered engine failure before crashing into a rock and sank.

The Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) Chairman Datuk Roland Sagah has announced a full investigation into the tragic accident, warning of appropriate action against the express boat operator for failing to heed the advice not to overload or allow passengers to climb on the roof when the vessel was too full while plying the rivers.

Unfortunately, such investigations are not going to bring back to life those who have perished in the latest boat disaster in Sarawak.

Two years ago, 13 passengers died in a similar express boat tragedy in Tatau district near Bintulu town.

The Belaga boat accident yesterday should be regarded as a national disaster as it is tragic proof of failure of 50 years of equitable development in Sarawak with still no road access to rural districts.

The frustrations of Sarawakians, particularly Dayaks in the interior, were very eloquently expressed in a letter to a web news portal by a Shell Malaysia “senior instrument engineer” as follows:

“The number of passengers taking the express boats from Sibu to Song, Kapit and Belaga increase every year. And it is a not short, safe ride.

“The journey would take hours. The Rajang river is full of debris from logging activities upstream. There are rapids in some parts.

“This is not the first river tragedy. There has been many senseless deaths in the past.

“The distance from Kanowit to Kapit is about 100 KM. Yet, its surprising to think why the construction is not even schedule to be completed in the next 5 years.

“By contrast, the dual carriageway from Cameron Highland to Bentong, was completed in 3 years. Same distance, and topography.

“The BN system is incapable of providing socioeconomic justice, because the economic cake is distributed from the top down according to race and hierarchy in the party.

“This, unfortunately, is the system that the rural populace appear to have voted for.

“The YBs will provide RM300 coffins for the dead, and the relatives would be forever grateful.

“Such is the tragic comic that befall our helpless fellow Malaysians and human beings, while in the clutch of BN.”

This is a powerful indictment not only at the failure of equitable development in Sarawak after 50 years but also on the whole system of rotten political governance in the state and nation.

The Belaga boat tragedy should be the top agenda of two meetings today – firstly, the last day of the Sarawak State Assembly and secondly, the second meeting of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s post-13GE Cabinet in Putrajaya this morning.

Both the Sarawak State Assembly and the Federal Cabinet should come out with an prompt and immediate response for an urgent plan to give top priority to provide road access firstly, Bakun-Belaga-Bintulu and secondly, Kanowit-Song-Kapit.

If not, the Belaga boat disaster and the failure of equitable development in Sarawak in the past 50 years with still no road access to the rural districts in the state should be top topic for MPs whether Sarawak, Sabah or Peninsular Malaysia in the first 16-day meeting of the 13th Parliament beginning on 24th June 2013.

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                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 7:44 am and is filed under
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Bolehkah KPN jelaskan mengapa polis berat sebelah tidak menguatkuasakan undang-undang ke atas bekas hakim Mahkamah Rayuan dan bekas Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan meskipun mereka melakukan kesalahan menghasut?

Dakwaan Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar bahawa pihak polis “adil dan tidak berat sebelah” dalam menjalankan tugas dan “mereka yang melanggar undang-undang harus berdepan dengan tindakan” adalah tidak masuk akal dan keterlaluan hinggakan mereka tidak boleh bertahan walau seminit penelitian oleh warga biasa.

Sebagai permulaan, bolehkah KPN jelaskan mengapa polis berat sebelah tidak menguatkuasakan undang-undang ke atas bekas hakim Mahkamah Rayuan, Mohamad Noor Abdullah kerana membuat satu kenyataan terbuka yang paling rasis dan menghasut dalam tempoh 44 tahun ini  dan bekas Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan,  Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Rahman Arshad  kerana melakukan hasutan dengan menyeru ditutup sekolah rendah kebangsaan Cina dan Tamil?

Jika kita mempunyai pasukan polis yang “adil dan tidak berat sebelah” dan yang menguatkuasakan undang-undang tanpa rasa takut atau memihak, kedua-dua Mohd Noor dan Abdul Rahman telah disoalsiasat oleh polis, ditahan dan didakwa di mahkamah di bawah Akta Hasutan.

Biar Khalid menjawab pertanyaan tentang layanan istimewa yang diberikan kepimpinan polis kepada bekas Hakim Mahkamah Rayuan dan bekas  Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan sebelum mengulang kenyataan yang tiada makna seperti pihak polis “adil dan tidak berat sebelah” dalam menguatkuasakan undang-undang.

Adakah pihak polis pernah diberi arahan, secara langsung atau tidak langsung, oleh kepimpinan tertinggi kerajaan dan politik supaya tidak “menyentuh” bekas hakim Mahkamah Rayuan dan bekas Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan meskipun terang-terang melakukan kesalahan hasutan?

Ya, rakyat Malaysia mahukan pasukan polis yang cekap, profesional, tidak memihak, tidak akan korup dan bertaraf dunia yang mana tugas utamanya ialah untuk mengurangkan kejadian jenayah untuk memastikan warga, pelancong dan pelabur selamat daripada jenayah dan kebimbangan terhadap jenayah dan bukannya memastikan kedudukan kepimpinan politik UMNO/BN dalam kerajaan selamat daripada cabaran sivik dan demokratik.

Di Malaysia hari ini, rakyat biasa, tidak kira kaum, agama atau kawasan, sangat khuatir dengan jenayah yang berleluasa dan ketakutan yang amat sangat terhadap jenayah, sementara Khalid begitu khuatir memikirkan bagaimana mahu mempertahankan Perdana Menteri dan kempimpinan UMNO/BN dari cabaran sivik dan demokratik rakyat.

Setiap hari, terdapat kisah tragis bagaimana rakyat Malaysia menjadi mangsa kepada jenayah yang berleluasa – di dalam akhbar hari ini misalnya, terdapat laporan yang menyayat hati berkenaan seorang wanita 40-an, Tar Bee Lin, dipercayai menjadi mangsa peragut, meninggal dunia di Unit Rawatan Rapi (ICU) Sultanah Aminah Hospital (SAH) di Johor Bahru pada hari Ahad selepas empat hari bertarung nyawa. Tar, seorang kerani berasal dari Paloh, Kluang, dipercayai telah diserang sementara menunggu berseorangan di perhentian bas berdekatan rumahnya di Taman Century ketika sedang menuju ke tempat kerja sewaktu insiden pada 8 pagi 23 Mei.

Beliau kemudiannya ditemui dalam keadaan tidak sedar di atas jalan dengan beg tangannya yang mengandungi buku nota dan beberapa helai pakaian  hilang.

Tar, yang telah menaiki bas ke pejabatnya di Taman Molek sejak 20 tahun lalu, tidak sedar dari komanya.

Khalid telah memberikan gambaran bahawa dia tidak begitu mengambil berat atau tersentuh dengan jumlah tragis setiap hari melibatkan nyawa rakyat biasa berpunca daripada situasi jenayah melarikan diri, terutamanya Johor Bahru yang mana polis tidak berjayah membasmi julukan sebagai “ibukota jenayah di Malaysia”, berbanding melindungi pemimpin politik dan rejim UMNO/BN daripada cabaran sivik dan demokratik dari rakyat!

Penahanan semula Ahli Parlimen PKR kawasan Batu, Tian Chua, ketua Asal Bukan UMNO (ABU) Haris Ibrahim serta aktivis PAS Tamrin Ghafar, bersama-sama dengan aktivis veteran Hishamuddin Rais dan aktivis pelajar Safwan Anang lalu mendakwa mereka di bawah Akta Hasutan menunjukkan sengetnya keutamaan pemimpin tertinggi polis di dalam negara.

Kini sangat jelas bahawa permohonan pihak polis Jumaat lalu untuk mereman Tian Chua, Haris dan Tamrin untuk tujuh hari lagi bagi tujuan siasatan di bawah Akta Hasutan 1948 adalah penyalahgunaan kuasa dan proses perundangan yang teruk, memandangkan tidak ada keperluan untuk polis menaha ketiga-tiga mereka walaupun untuk beberapa minit tambahan – seperti mana yang telah ditunjukkan hari ini dengan memilih untuk terus mendakwa ketiga-tiga mereka tanpa reman atau siasatan.

Dengan polis didapati memohon reman tujuh hari yang tidak diperlukan terhadap trio itu, berkemungkinan semata-mata untuk memuaskan dendam dan kesumat “Menteri Dalam Negeri” yang paling kuat berpolitik dalam sejarah negara, yakni Datuk Seri Zahid Hamid, bagaimana Khalid boleh meyakinkan rakyat Malaysia bahawa dia akan menjadi benteng daripada sebarang penyalahgunaan kuasa polis apabila dia tidak melakukan apa-apa untuk mengentukan penyalahgunaan kuasa polis dalam mereka trio itu tujuh hari lagi?

Adalah bernasib baik negara ini masih mempunyai pegawai-pegawai kehakiman seperti majistret Norashikin Sahat yang merupakan penjaga undang-undang serta pelindung kepentingan awam yang lebih baik berbanding polis, kerana menolak permohonan polis untuk mereman trio itu tujuh hari lagi sedangkan permohonan sedemikian tidak mempunyai asas.

Bolehkah Khalid menjelaskan bagaimana dakwaannya bahawa polis “adil dan tidak berat sebelah” dalam menjalankan tugas menampung permohonan yang tidak wajar untuk reman tujuh hari Tian Chua, Haris dan Tamrin Jumaat lepas?

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/05/29/can-igp-explain-police-double-standards-in-not-enforcing-the-law-against-former-appeal-court-judge-and-former-education-director-general-despite-their-offences-of-sedition/

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 5:00 pm and is filed under
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Can IGP explain police double-standards in not enforcing the law against former Appeal Court judge and former Education Director-General despite their offences of  sedition?

The claim by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar that the police are “fair and unbiased” in carrying out their duties and that “those who break the law have to face the music” are so ridiculous and outrageous that they cannot even bear a minute of scrutiny by the ordinary citizenry.

For a start, can Khalid explain police double-standards in not enforcing the law against the former Court of Appeal judge, Mohamad Noor Abdullah for making the most racist and seditious speech in public in the past 44 years and the pro-chancellor of UiTM and former Director-General of Education, Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Rahman Arshad for committing sedition in calling for the closure of Chinese and Tamil primary schools?

If we have a police force which is “fair and unbiased” and which enforces the law without fear or favour, both Mohd Noor and Abdul Rahman would have been questioned by the police, arrested and charged in court for under the Sedition Act.

Let Khalid answer the queries about the special treatment which the police leadership had given to the former Court of Appeal judge and the former Education Director-General Education before repeats meaningless statements like the police being “fair and unbiased” in enforcing the law/

Was the police ever given directives, directly or indirectly, by the top government and political leadership not to “touch” the former Court of Appeal judge and the former Education Director-General despite their blatant and flagrant crimes of sedition?

Yes, Malaysians want a police force which is efficient, professional, impartial, incorruptible and world-class whose first duty is to keep down the incidence of crime to make citizens, tourists and investors safe from crime and the fear of crime and not to make the Umno/BN political leadership safe from the civic and democratic challenges to their positions in government.

In Malaysia today, ordinary Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, are worried sick about the rampant crime and the paralysing fear of crime, while Khalid is worried sick how to defend the Prime Minister and the UMNO/BN leaderships from civic and democratic challenges from the people.

Every day, there is the tragic story of how Malaysians have fallen victim to rampant crime – in today’s press for instance, there is the heart-rending report of a 40-year-old woman, Tar Bee Lin, believed to have been a snatch theft victim, who died at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (SAH) in Johor Baru on Sunday after fighting for her life for four days.

Tar, a clerk who hails from Paloh, Kluang, was believed to have been attacked while waiting alone at a bus-stop near her home in Taman Century to work in the 8am incident on May 23.

She was later found lying unconscious on the ground with her handbag containing a notebook and some clothes missing.

Tar, who had been taking the bus to her office in Taman Molek for the last 20 years, did not wake up from her coma.

Khalid has given the impression that he is not that concerned, touched or moved by the daily and tragic toll on the lives of ordinary Malaysians because of the runaway crime situation, particularly Johor Baru which the police had not been able to eradicate its appellation as “capital of crime in Malaysia”, as compared to protecting the Umno/BN political leaders and regime from civic and democratic challenge from the people!

The re-arrest of PKR MP for Batu, Tian Chua, Anything But Umno (ABU) chief Haris Ibrahim and PAS activist Tamrin Ghafar, together with veteran activist Hishamuddin Rais and student activist Safwan Anang and charging them under the Sedition Act is an illustration of the warped sense of priorities of the top police leadership in the country.

It is now very clear that the police application last Friday to remand Tian Chua, Haris and Tamrin for another seven days for investigations under the Sedition Act 1948 was a gross abuse of power and the legal process, as there was no need for the police to detain the trio even for an extra minute – as illustrated by the immediate preferring of the charges of sedition against the trio today without any further remand or investigations.

With the police caught red-handed in unnecessarily applying for a seven-day remand of the trio, probably just to satisfy the vendetta and vindictive ego of the most political “Home Minister” in the nation’s history, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamid, how can Khalid convince Malaysians that he would be a bulwark against any police abuses of power when he did nothing to stop gross abuses of police power in wanting to remand the trio by another seven days?

It is fortunate that the country is having judicial officers like the magistrate Norashikin Sahat who is a better guardian of the law and protector of the public interest than the police, and who rejected the police application to remand the trio by another seven days when there can be no grounds for such application.

Can Khalid explain how his claim of the police being “fair and unbiased”

in carrying out their duties bear scrutiny in the totally unjustifiable police application for seven-day remand for Tian Chua, Haris and Tamrin last Friday?

Artikel ini juga boleh didapati dalam Bahasa Malaysia di:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/05/29/bolehkah-kpn-jelaskan-mengapa-polis-berat-sebelah-tidak-menguatkuasakan-undang-undang-ke-atas-bekas-hakim-mahkamah-rayuan-dan-bekas-ketua-pengarah-pendidikan-meskipun-mereka-melakukan-kesalahan-mengha/

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 4:32 pm and is filed under
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Chinese upset that MCA ‘loaned out’ Gelang Patah

by Kong See Hoh

The Sun

28 May 2013

PETALING JAYA (May 28, 2013): Former deputy higher education minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah borrowed the expression “Liu Bei borrows Jingzhou” (… never to return) from the classic Chinese novel Romance Of The Three Kingdoms to illustrate the reason for the Chinese response when MCA “loaned out” Gelang Patah in the 13th general election.

He said the Chinese anger over the move was one of the reasons for MCA and Gerakan’s electoral rout that forced both to stay out of the cabinet.

“I know the Chinese saying (Liu Bei borrows Jingzhou) means borrowing something without ever returning it.

“Regardless of whether Chinese voters agreed with DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, they felt the MCA chief himself should have taken on Lim in Gelang Patah,” Saifuddin, who is an Umno supreme council member, told China Press in an interview published today.

He declined to comment when it was pointed out that there is only one Chinese minister and one Chinese deputy minister now.

Instead, he used the Chinese expression “Liu Bei borrows Jingzhou” to describe how the Chinese felt.

He said some Chinese friends told him they were angry because they deemed it a kind of setback when MCA unconditionally “loaned” Gelang Patah to a Barisan Nasional component party to contest.

He said for the Chinese, to give Lim due respect has nothing to do with whether they support DAP or not.

So by “loaning out” Gelang Patah when Lim parachuted into the constituency, the Chinese community’s interpretation= was that the party had chickened out, he said.

He said the Chinese stress respect and believed MCA should not have given the seat to Umno even though the latter fielded a heavyweight (former Johor mentri besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman).

Saifuddin said MCA suffered another serious setback also because of other issues such as fair competition in the corporate world.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 1:37 pm and is filed under
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Kemalangan bot Belaga sepatutnya dianggap sebagai bencana negara kerana itu merupakan bukti tragis kegagalan 50 tahun pembangunan di Sarawak yang masih tidak mempunyai akses jalanraya ke kawasan pedalaman

DAP terkejut dan kesal dengan tragedi bot Belaga pagi semalam yang mana sebuah bot ekspress karam di Sungai Rajang, dengan 23 penumpang masih hilang ketika operasi mencari dan menyelamat berhenti semalam disebabkan waktu malam.

Setakat ini, 181 penumpang berjaya untuk berenang ke tempat selamat selepas bot ekspress yang dinaiki karam di kawasan Jeram Tukok/Jeram Bungan, lebih kurang empat jam perjalanan dari Sibu.

Siasatan awal menunjukkan bahawa bot ekspres itu telah melebihi kapasiti 67 tempat duduk dan dipercayai terlebih muatan dengan 200 penumpang pulang dari pesta Gawai Dayak, kemudian menghadapi masalah enjin gagal berfungsi sebelum merempuh batu dan karam.

Pengerusi Lembaga Sungai Sarawak (SRB) Datuk Roland Sagah telah mengumumkan satu siasatan penuh akan diadakan terhadap insiden tragis itu, memberi amaran tindakan akan diambil terhadap operator bot kerana gagal mengikut nasihat supaya tidak membawa lebih muatan atau membenarkan penumpang memanjat bumbung apabila kapal terlalu penuh ketika menyelusuri di sungai.

Malangnya, siasatan sedemikian tidak akan mengembalikan nyawa mereka yang telah terkorban di dalam insiden kemalangan bot di Sarawak.

Dua tahun lalu, 13 penumpang terkorban di dalam tragedi bot yang serupa di kawasan Tatau berhampiran pekan Bintulu.

Kemalangan bot Belaga sepatutnya dianggap sebagai bencana negara kerana itu merupakan bukti tragis kegagalan 50 tahun pembangunan di Sarawak yang masih tidak mempunyai akses jalanraya ke kawasan pedalaman.

Kekecewaan rakyat Sarawak, terutamanya Dayak, disebut dengan jelas di dalam surat kepada sebuah portal berita daripada seorang “jurutera instrumen” Shell Malaysia yang menyatakan:

“Bilangan penumpang yang menaiki bot ekspress dari Sibu ke Song, Kapit dan Belaga meningkat setiap tahun. Dan ia bukanlah perjalanan yang singkat dan selamat.

“Perjalanan memakan masa berjam-jam lamanya. Sungai Rajang penuh dengan serpihan daripada aktiviti pembalakan di hulu sungai. Di beberapa bahagian terdapat jeram.

“Ini bukan tragedi sungai pertama. Terdapat banyak kematian yang tidak masuk akal sebelum ini.

“Jarak dari Kanowit ke Kapit lebih kurang 100KM. Namun, mengejutkan apabila memikirkan pembinaan itu tidak langsung dijadualkan akan siap dalam tempoh 5 tahun lagi.

“Sebaliknya, laluan dua hala dari Cameron Highland ke Bentong, disiapkan dalam tempoh 3 tahun. Jarak dan bentuk muka bumi yang sama.

“Sistem BN tidak mampu memberikan keadilan sosioekonomi, kerana kek ekonomi dibahagikan dari atas ke bawah mengikut kaum dan hirarki dalam parti.

“Ini, malangnya, merupakan sistem yang penduduk pedalaman pilih dalam pilihan raya.

“YB akan memberikan keranda berharga RM300 untuk si mati, dan kaum keluarga akan selamanya bersyukur.

“Itulah komedi tragis yang menimpa saudara kita dan manusia yang tidak berdaya, di dalam genggaman BN.”

Ini merupakan dakwaan yang kuat bukan saja terhadap kegagalan pembangunan saksama di Sarawak selepas 50 tahun tetapi juga seluruh sistem politik pentadbiran yang membusuk di peringkat negeri dan nasional.

Tragedi bot Belaga sepatutnya menjadi agenda utama dua mesyuarat hari ini – pertama, hari terakhir Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak dan kedua, mesyuarat kedua Kabinet pasca-PRU13 Datuk Seri Najib Razak di Putrajaya pagi ini.

Kedua-dua Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak dan Kabinet Persekutuan sepatutnya mengeluarkan respon segera untuk pelan yang mendesak bagi memberikan keutamaan tertinggi memberikan akses jalanraya pertama, di Bakun-Balaga-Bintulu dan kedua, Kanowit-Song-Kapit.

Jika tidak, kemalangan bot Belaga dan kegagalan pembangunan saksama di Sarawak sejak 50 tahun lalu dengan tiadanya akses jalanraya ke kawasan pedalaman di negeri itu mestilah menjadi topik utama Ahli-Ahli Parlimen Sarawak, Sabah atau Semenanjung Malaysia dalam sidang pertama Parlimen ke-13 selama 16 hari bermula pada 24 Jun 2013.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/05/29/belaga-boat-accident-should-be-regarded-as-a-national-disaster-as-it-is-tragic-proof-of-failure-of-50-years-of-development-in-sarawak-with-still-no-road-access-to-rural-districts/

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 12:42 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia’s deep divides

by
John Berthelsen

Asia Sentinel

May 29, 2013 10:49AM UTC

National elections on May 5 haven’t cooled political and racial tensions, writes Asia Sentinel’s John Berthelsen

Any hope that May 5 national elections in Malaysia would cool the political atmosphere appears to have been misguided, leaving a country entangled in deepening racial problems and creating the risk of a real threat to the legitimacy of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s reign.

While not calling for Najib’s removal, the prime minister’s most potent critic, former Premier Mahathir Mohamad, damned him with faint praise, telling Bloomberg News in an interview in Tokyo last week that the United Malays National Organization will continue to support him “because of a lack of an alternative.”

Najib himself appears to have gone quiet as figures close to Mahathir including his longtime ally Daim Zainuddin have gone public to say the prime minister’s closest political advisors should be sacked. Instead of even attempting to woo Chinese voters, Daim said in an interview with the Chinese News, “surely the Barisan Nasional knows that the Chinese majority areas were gone. Why waste time and money? As a strategy you should concentrate on those areas where you lost by slim majorities in 2006 and strengthen the seats you won in 2008.”

(READ MORE:
Malaysia charges 4 more with sedition after polls
)

In the same interview, Daim echoed criticisms that Najib’s forces had in some cases picked the wrong candidates for the race and accused the advisors of attempting to run the election as a popularity contest for Najib instead of a parliamentary race, although in public opinion polls, Najib consistently ran far ahead of his party, which is widely viewed as corrupt, racist and tired.

The Daim interview was picked up on a blog maintained by A. Kadir Jassin, editor in chief of Berita Publishing and a longtime close confidant of Mahathir.

“Daim let Najib have it,” an UMNO source told Asia Sentinel. “He should go if you ask me. I’d much rather have Muhyiddin. UMNO is particularly upset as we told Najib not to throw money at the Chinese as other constituencies needed the resources and the Chinese wouldn’t vote us anyway. So now he has to answer for it.”

The “Muhyiddin” in question is Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib’s deputy and a man who openly covets Najib’s job. A Malay nationalist, he is close to Mahathir. So far, he has maintained his silence on whether he intends to challenge the prime minister at UMNO’s annual general meeting, scheduled to be held in October although Najib appears to be trying to move it to a different time to give himself the best advantage.

Meanwhile, although many political analysts say the fact that Pakatan Rakyat won 50.87 percent of the vote to 47.38 percent for the Barisan was an indication of disenchantment with UMNO’s racial politics and corruption – and that urban Malays crossed over to the opposition, groups such as the Malay nationalist NGO Perkasa are demanding an even bigger share of the economic pie for ethnic Malays. Abdul Rahman, the acting Perkasa leader, said that because Malays make up 60 percent of the population, the organization would push for 60 percent of corporate equity and quotas for enrollment in public universities, double the current 30 percent, which Najib has been attempting to reduce or remove over the past four years, but has been thwarted.

The government, he told the news site Malaysian Insider, should be thankful to the Malays for delivering the electoral victory. He echoed Mahathir and other figures in asserting that the Chinese had shown disloyalty by deserting the Barisan.

On the other side, reformers such as Khairy Jamaluddin, the son in law of former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, have urged Najib to press ahead with the social and economic reforms he has attempted to put in place for the past three years in an effort to address the concerns of the young, urban voters who have crossed over to the opposition.

At the same time Najib is being whipsawed by the Pakatan Rakyat, with Anwar Ibrahim leading the charge, continuing with a series of massive rallies in virtually every major city across the country, alleging that the election was stolen through a long litany of electoral abuses including vote buying, phantom voters, intimidation, stolen ballot papers, malapportionment, gerrymandering and other manipulations.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 2:57 pm and is filed under
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Rakyat Malaysia mahu IPCMC menamatkan insiden kematian dalam tahanan memandangkan mereka tidak yakin terhadap sebarang jawatankuasa khas walaupun diketuai oleh KPN sendiri

Pengumuman oleh pengarah pengurusan Bukit Aman Mortadza Nazarene bahawa pihak polis akan menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa khas diketuai oleh Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Khalid Abu untuk membendung insiden melibatkan kematian di dalam lokap polis amat tidak memuaskan dan tidak boleh diterima, memandangkan apa yang rakyat Malaysia mahukan adalah Suruhanjaya Aduan dan Salahlaku Polis (IPCMC) seperti mana yang dicadangkan oleh Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja Polis Dzaiddin lapan tahun lalu pada 2005 bagi menamatkan terus peristiwa kematian dalam tahanan polis yang memalukan dan tidak berkesudahan.

Selepas menunjukkan dirinya sebagai KPN paling “bersifat politik” dalam sejarah pada minggu pertamanya dengan meletakkan keutamaan tertingginya adalah untuk melindungi rejim berbanding keselamatan rakyat Malaysia daripada jenayah dan kebimbangan terhadap jenayah, dengan tidak begitu mengambil kira hak asasi kebebasan bersuara dan berhimpun secara aman rakyat Malaysia, rakyat Malaysia tidak yakin terhadap KPN atau mana-mana jawatankuasa khas polis sekalipun diketuai KPN untuk menamatkan insiden kematian dalam tahanan polis.

Khalid telah menjadi timbalan KPN sejak April 2011 dan rakyat Malaysia berhak untuk tahu apa yang telah dia lakukan sepanjang dua tahun lalu sebagai orang No.2 di dalam pasukan polis dalam menamatkan insiden kematian dalam tahanan polis, satu perkara keji dan memalukan yang ditonjolkan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja Polis Dzaiddin lama dulu pada tahun 2005?

Malah sekarang, meskipun berlaku dua lagi kematian di dalam lokap polis, N. Dharmendran, 32, di ibupejabat polis KL pada 21 Mei dan R. Jamesh Ramesh 40 di ibupejabat polis P. Pinang pada 26 Mei – pengumuman pihak polis sekadar berbentuk amalan perhubungan awam, kerana penubuhan jawatankuasa khas polis belum lagi dilaksanakan dan masih dalam perancangan!

Berapa banyak kematian dalam tahanan polis telah berlaku sepanjang lapan tahun lalu sejak laporan dan cadangan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja Polis Dzaiddin pada 2005?

Apakah pihak polis bersedia untuk mendedahkan pada umum senarai kematian dalam tahanan polis sepanjang lapan tahun lalu sejak RCI Polis Dzaiddin, menyatakan tindakan yang telah diambil pada setiap kes, termasuklah hukuman ke atas anggota polis yang ingkar?

Mortadza bercakap tentang polis membenarkan lawatan daripada Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (Suhakam) bagi memantau insiden kematian dalam tahanan polis.

Itu tidak mempunyai apa-apa makna apabila sudah lebih dari sebulan tiada seorang pun Pesuruhjaya Suhakam sejak tamat tempoh perlantikan kumpulan Pesuruhjaya Suhakam yang lalu.

Sebagai KPN dan Pengerusi jawatankuasa khas polis untuk kematian dalam tahanan polis, adakah Khalid bersedia untuk menerajui kempen untuk menubuhkan IPCMC bagi mewujudkan pantauan efektif semua bentuk kesalahan polis? Jika demikian, Khalid akan mendapat kerjasama penuh 89 Ahli Parlimen Pakatan Rakyat.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/05/28/malaysians-wants-ipcmc-to-end-deaths-in-custody-as-they-have-no-confidence-in-any-police-special-committee-even-if-it-is-headed-by-the-igp-himself/

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 12:54 pm and is filed under
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Umno Baru ‘takut MATI’

by Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini

May 27, 2013

It is simply ironic; Umno Baru’s Najib Abdul Razak, has urged the BN coalition to adapt so that it can maintain its relevance in the future – but behind closed doors, all the Umno Baru politicians fear change.

Why? They fear that Umno Baru will cease to exist because of Meritocracy, Accountability, Transparency and Integrity (MATI) – qualities which no Umno Baru politician displays or can ever hope to attain.

It is alleged that Umno Baru politicians laugh at this MATI joke because they realise the significance of adopting the MATI principles, as MATI means ‘death’ in Malay.

Umno Baru tyrants have exploited the rakyat for their own ends, but anyone who has met Najib or former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left) will be struck by their apparent friendliness and kindly manner. They will be surprised that despite what is written about them; their alleged arrogance and the alleged corruptions carried out on their behalf, they are very different in person.

That is why it is important for members of the rakyat, to understand that the public persona of these men is just a facade. Behind the public masks, lurk other people – men who are responsible for dividing the rakyat and plundering the nation.

Mahathir started off by separating the rakyat into ‘superior’ Malays versus the ‘inferior’ non-Malays. Each group was then further sub-divided. Malays were separated into ordinary Malays and Umno Baru-putras.

Najib continued Mahathir’s work – for instance, in Najib’s cabinet, the ‘divide and rule’ concept is used to keep the Indians at bay. This can be seen as Hindraf’s P Waythamoorthy eats out of one hand, whilst the MIC representative feeds from the other. Najib reinforces our prejudices by rewarding one group, only if they do as they are told.

The environment which Umno Baru created stifles national unity. The brainwashing of Malaysians has reached epidemic levels. We do not require the presence of people in uniform to make us obey.

Our grandparents thought nothing of entering a Chinese kedai kopi (coffeeshop) for refreshments. Today, when I enter a Chinese coffeeshop to meet a friend, I am amazed at the shocked stares of people along the five-foot way. Worse still, the coffeeshop owner looks anxious and is eager for me to leave quickly. He is afraid that he will incur the wrath of the authorities.

Unity begins at home

Our society has descended into a social morass, and yet these Malaysians – who react like this in Malaysia – have no reservations when they are overseas.

By dividing the rakyat into groups of “them” and “us”, Umno Baru has created a community of overbearing Malays. These people demand that non-Malays treat them with deference. Non-Malays have related their experiences during open house celebrations. They claim that to accommodate their Muslim friends, they would prepare halal food on new crockery and cutlery, but Malays simply snub their efforts.

Unity, like charity, should always begin at home. These may be insignificant acts, but their consequences are enough to widen the gulf between the races.

Despite the injustices in the country, there are many people who refuse to become involved. They are content to watch from the sidelines and say nothing, thus prolonging everyone’s suffering.

Do these people, who are not willing to intervene, condone the lack of meritocracy in the nation? The award of scholarships to students is masked in secrecy. What will happen when their children are denied a place at university? Why should our best scholars end up in Singapore or beyond?

Why are some able and financially secure companies unable to bid successfully for government tenders? Why are the children of politicians, with little or no experience, able to win multi-billion ringgit projects?

When it comes to accountability, are these bystanders not worried about the future of their country? The new inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar has vowed to curb “illegal” rallies, but he has failed to find the men guilty of the increasing numbers of deaths in police custody.

Extremists are let off, and crime is reportedly rising. Is there any accountability in the police force? Khalid claims that he is not politically motivated and yet his actions defy his words.

The new Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has wasted his superior education. Cheating, crime and corruption are wrong, although he has maintained that there was “not a shred of evidence” of electoral fraud in GE13.

How can you trust a man who once defended former Women’s Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who was embroiled in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal? The NFC was allegedly controlled by her husband and children, who misappropriated soft loans to feather their own nests.

Many government projects lack transparency and yet when they fail, it is the taxpayer who picks up the tab. The Penang administration claims that it practises transparency in awarding projects and that the majority of the awards are won by bumiputera contractors. If the Penang state government can achieve this, there is no reason why it cannot be accomplished at the federal level.

‘BN’s lack of integrity’

Waythamoorthy of Hindraf spoke at a University of London (School of African and Oriental Studies) lecture on ‘The Marginalisation of Malaysia’s Minority Indian Community’ in early 2012, where he was asked about the lack of integrity of Malaysian politicians. He agreed that Malaysian politicians were without honour. Little did anyone realise that one year later, he would join the ranks of politicians without integrity.

Young student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim (left) has more integrity than the whole BN government combined. He is worried about the future of the country, whereas the BN politicians are worried about the future of their pockets.

Najib’s crackdown on dissenters is a show of intimidation. He is afraid that the people’s power will topple him and Umno Baru in the same way that a rising tide of anger toppled some north African regimes.

Anyone who thinks that Umno Baru will adapt, or that the Election Commission (EC) will reform and ensure a free and fair GE14, is seriously deluded.

Before GE13, Umno Baru tried to wear down the opposition leader with a barrage of legal persecution. After GE13, Umno Baru is still attempting to quash the will of the people. They have no incentive to clean up the electoral system.

Umno Baru said they would reform, but they failed. When the public rallied to show their disgust, there was a large-scale brutal crackdown on dissenters. Very soon, the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) will cause the prices of ordinary goods to increase further. This – linked with corruption that remains unchecked – will cause our economy to suffer.

Umno Baru politicians have betrayed us and tried to pit Malaysians against one another. 10 years ago, one would not have thought of Malaysians as having solidarity. Today, they are united and will be able to kill off this tyrannical rule.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 5:04 am and is filed under
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Where is the Malaysian Dream?

by
Erna Mahyuni

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 29, 2013

“To boldly go where no man has gone before.” I still get the shivers when I hear that old Star Trek line.

Looking back, things we take for granted now like telepresence conferences, virtual reality and touch screens were mere fantasy, fancies of the imagination.

Dreams matter. But what has happened to our own abilities to dream? The problem, I think, with Malaysians and their leaders is that we set our sights too low.

An educationist told me our English syllabus is so infantile as we must “follow the standards of Malaysian students.”

We want our children to fly and yet assume that all they can do is crawl.

The only aspiration our leaders seem to tout for the most part is a “high-income nation.” What does that even mean? That everyone magically adds a few zeroes to their bank accounts? In that case we could probably call Indonesia a high-income nation.

It is also rather demeaning to limit our aspirations for the country to one where everyone has more money.

I guess for too long we have had our priorities all wrong. Over in West Malaysia, the “silo” thinking has yet to die. Preserving cultures, preserving languages, preserving identity, preserving rights… we might as well call ourselves the “jeruk” nation.

We have a home minister on an arrest rampage all in the name of preserving the peace.

Can we not dream a little bigger? Reach a little higher? Consider a future that could not exist until we let go of all the things that hold us back?

There is something fundamentally wrong with a society when we need an “Agency of Innovation” because clearly we can do nothing without government intervention.

We have a “Malaysian Book of Records” mostly dedicated to ridiculous achievements, which mostly involve wastage of food. Do we really need to know who made the largest roti canai ever?

My dreams are, perhaps, mundane. I dream of our kids being bolder, braver, willing to take risks. I dream of a society where no one falls through the cracks, where the wealth is not concentrated in the pockets of a few, very fat cats and politicians.

I also dream of being able to hold those dreams without being called a communist or socialist.

Until those dreams come close to reality, all I can do is fantasise about setting my phasers to stun and stalking Parliament.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 1:42 pm and is filed under
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Khalid should resign as IGP if he is not prepared to give top priority to roll back the wave of crime in the country instead of carrying out his obligations to his political masters in UMNO/BN

“Minister’s daughter injured when victim to snatch thieves” (Sin Chew)

“Retired teacher loses her life and jewellery in house break-in” (Star)

“Elderly Ipoh woman killed in house robbery” (New Straits Times)

If anybody in Malaysia needs to be convinced that there is a rife, rampant and runaway crime situation in the country, these three headlines in today’s printed media  should be adequate and convincing proof, as they are  about (i) the 26-year-old daughter of the Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek who lost cash and personal belongings amounting to RM8,000 to two snatch thieves near a hypermarket in Ampang and was slightly injured on her right knee in the 11.50 a.m. incident yesterday; (ii) retired primary school teacher Khalijah Abu Samah, 74, who was killed during a robbery at her home at Kampung Sungai Jai, Beranang, Kajang and (iii) elderly citizen, A. Sampuranan, 75, who was killed in a robbery in her house in Ipoh.

But there is one person who does not seem to be convinced that Malaysians are suffering from an unacceptable and intolerably high rate of crime and prevalent fear of crime – and that person is the new Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, even though in the  first week of his appointment as the No. 1 top police officer, his own sister was victim of a break-in in her  bungalow in Mantin in Negri Sembilan and the sister of the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was also victim of a house break-in in her double-storey bungalow in Petaling Jaya!

But the national tragedy is compounded, for the country not only has a new IGP but also a new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi who is also not concerned about the rampant crime situation as he regards Pakatan Rakyat leaders and civil society activists who are committed to peaceful and democratic process of political change as bigger enemies than the real criminals themselves!

Khalid should resign as IGP if he is not prepared to give top priority to roll back the wave of crime in the country instead of carrying out his obligations to his political masters in UMNO/BN.

A person who is not prepared to recognize and give top priority to reducing crime and eradicating the prevalent fear of crime is just not fit to be the IGP of Malaysia.

I am completely shocked that Khalid has misinterpreted his duties and responsibilities as IGP in a manner whereby keeping Malaysians safe and free from crime and the fear of crime is not his No. 1 duty.

Two days before May 5 polling day of the 13th General Elections, the outgoing IGP Tan Sri Ismail Omar assured all Malaysians that the police will continue to maintain public safety and security regardless of which coalition wins the general elections.

When Ismail declared that “Our duties do not depend on the results of the elections”, his assurance earned plaudits as it had credibility.

Why has the Police leadership veered from the independence, impartiality, professionalism upheld by Ismail in a short period of two weeks after the appointment of Khalid as the new IGP?

I hope it is not necessary for MPs to move a collective censure motion in the first meeting of the 13th Parliament to demand the resignation of Khalid as IGP for the simple reason that he is neither concerned nor capable of declaring an all-out war against crime to ensure the safety of Malaysians, tourists and investors and to eradicate the prevalent fear of crime in the country as he is more interested in regime-protection of the UMNO/BN government.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 30 May 2013, 5:05 pm and is filed under
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UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists thought  rakyat are suckers but it is UMNO/BN leaders like Zahid who prove to be real “suckers”

The 13GE UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists thought the rakyat are suckers who could easily fall victim to their lies and falsehoods concocted about the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat, but it is UMNO/BN leaders like the UMNO Vice President and new Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Zahid Hamidi  who prove to be the real “suckers”.

Before I am accused of using foul or indecent language, let me give one definition of “sucker” which is “Informal. a person easily cheated, deceived, or imposed upon.”
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/suckers?s=t

A case in point is the lies the UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists concoct and weave about the DAP’s  so-called “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers to demonise the Umno/Barisan Nasional leaders.

The trouble about the allegations about the so-called DAP’s “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers is that they are so wild and reckless that there is no effort on the part of the UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists  to present a consistent and credible version.

Instead, everyone who jumped on the bandwagon to tell lies and falsehoods about the so-called DAP “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers had the liberty to develop their own version – which is why the number of “Red Bean Army” varies from 200 to 2,000 and even 3,000; and the monthly payment could vary from RM3,000 a month to even up to RM10,000 a month; and the period of existence of the “Red Bean Army” ranging from four to six years.

This is why the range of expenditures for the alleged  “Red Bean Army” could vary from:

(i)  RM108 million (based on 200 cybertroopers being paid RM3,000 a month for six years with a RM1.5 million monthly budget, i.e.RM18 million  a year or RM108 million in six years); to

(ii) taking an average of RM5,000 a month for 3,000 cybertroopers (the allegation is that the 3,000 cybertroopers are paid from RM3,000 to RM10,000 a month!) which will work out to RM1,080 million in six years.

Only crazy people like those who run the Umno/BN “war room” and who  concoct the lies about the “Red Bean Army” can believe that the DAP has RM108 million to RM1,080 million to employ an army of cybertroopers to spread lies and falsehoods about UMNO/BN!

The imagination of these concocters of the “Red Bean Army” just ran riot, not only about the astronomical numbers and budgets but also the centres of operation, claiming that the “Red Bean Army” operates from various centres throughout the country, specifically naming two places – Komtar in Penang and Hotel Concorde, Kuala Lumpur.

I cannot help laughing when I am told that these wild allegations have even forced the Hotel Concorde management to come out with a denial, as reported in yesterday’s New Straits Times
“Hotel says it does not know of group’s activities”
.

Malaysian journalism is blazing new frontiers, concocting lies from whole cloth, then publishing clarifications and denials in such fictitious plots. If the  the New Straits Times is honest, ethical and truthful, its report yesterday should be: “Hotel says there is no such group activities”!

I am reproducing the NST report, for it deserves a permanent place in the  history of Malaysian journalism to show the depths Malaysian journalism had descended in the service of the 13GE Umno/BN “war room” strategies:

29 May 2013| last updated at 12:12AM

Hotel says it does not know of group’s activities

By AMIRA ZULKIFLI |
[email protected]

RED BEAN ARMY: Concorde concerned over claims it is operating from its premises

KUALA LUMPUR: CONCORDE Hotel Kuala Lumpur has no knowledge of the existence of the DAP-funded Red Bean Army (RBA) cybertroopers or their activities in its premises.

In a statement to the New Straits Times, hotel general manager Gary Lee said the hotel’s owners and management were deeply concerned over recent media reports claiming that a certain group out to incite hatred against the government was operating from the hotel.

“As a legitimate and reputable corporate entity, Concorde Hotel wishes to state emphatically that the owners and management are totally unaware of the existence of such a group or movement mentioned in these news reports, much less the activities carried out by the unknown parties within the hotel’s premises.”

“From the day it opened in 1991, Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur has never wavered from its main role as a hospitality service provider in the local tourism industry.

“As a responsible business entity that strictly adheres to all the rules and regulations governing the local hospitality sector, it has never condoned any unlawful business transactions or illegal activities of any kind in the hotel.

“We are solely focused on the business of providing accommodation and food and beverage options to all guests who walk through our doors.”

Ex-PKR Youth Information bureau secretary Nordin Ahmad had been quoted in the media, including the New Sunday Times on May 26, as saying that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was utilising a band of cybertroopers, known as the Red Bean Army, to incite hatred against the government by spreading falsehoods over social media.

He also claimed that Anwar had employed services of the RBA, which he claimed to be funded by the DAP, after Pakatan was formed in March 2008.

Nordin had alleged that about 3,000 members of the RBA had been operating for the past six years.

He had claimed that RBA worked with a dedicated network purportedly at the hotel, as well as the Komtar building in Penang.

He had also claimed that the group’s propaganda had managed to influence many Malaysians into thinking that the 13th General Election was fraudulent.

This, he had alleged, enabled Anwar to stage a series of rallies called Blackout 505.

Nordin had pointed out several of the RBA’s alleged postings, which included rumours of price hikes, had been proven to be mere hoaxes.

He added that the rumours were meant to deceive the public and stir up hatred against the government.

Read more: Hotel says it does not know of group’s activities – Latest – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/hotel-says-it-does-not-know-of-group-s-activities-1.288760#ixzz2UlpwLPMP

I must congratulate the Umno/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists for not being complete failures – for although they failed to entrap the Malaysian rakyat as “suckers”, at least they caught UMNO/BN leaders like Zahid to be the “suckers” who believed their tales and concoctions and even want to move the entire government agencies and personnel to act on them!

These UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists would not admit that they had been responsible for trying to concoct the most despicable and unethical of lies – and in order to salvage their reputations, they are continuing to concoct and weave more lies and falsehoods in the hope to get more “suckers” to believe them.

Their latest work is the report
“Guan Eng ‘much feared in DAP’”
 with the by-line of Syed Umar Ariff – containing a new pack of lies and falsehoods.

NST is not training a new generation of journalists but a new generation of liars!

Let us see who are the new “suckers” in the Umno/BN leadership who could believe these new lies and falsehoods about the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 30 May 2013, 7:12 pm and is filed under
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Was the Belaga boat disaster on the agenda of the Federal Cabinet yesterday and did the Cabinet take any decision to rectify the 50-year failure in equitable development in Sarawak by ensuring road access to Kapit and Belaga?

The questions that should be uppermost in the minds of Malaysians when the Dayaks celebrate Dayak Gawai is whether the Belaga boat disaster on Tuesday, with 179 survivors while 11 others are still missing, was on the agenda of the Federal Cabinet yesterday.

The second question is whether and what did the Cabinet decide to rectify the 50-year failure in equitable development in Sarawak by ensuring road access to Kapit and Belaga.

If the answers are negative to one or both, the third question is what difference has  the appointment of seven full ministers and four deputy ministers from Sarawak to the Federal Cabinet made to the thrust of national socio-economic and infrastructure development so as deliver belated socio-economic justice to the rural populace in Sarawak?

In fact, if the tragic Belaga boast disaster had happened before May 5 – the polling day of the 13th general election – either the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister would have visited Belaga with 24 hours to personally convey the condolences of the Federal Government, as compared to the indifference shown by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, who have not said a single word on the Belaga boat disaster in the past two days.

It is heart-wrenching that despite the express boat tragedy in the middle of the Balui River which is feared to have claimed 11 lives, the Kapit jetty yesterday was as crowded as ever with people desperate to go home for the Dayak Gawai harvest festival this weekend.

There are a limited number of boats going upriver to the Belaga area and most of the people cannot afford to stay overnight in Kapit until tickets are available.

Everyone is afraid of using an express boat as the river currents could be very unpredictable but they have no choice as they cannot use land transport.

It is estimated that there are about 100,000 people living within Kapit area and both the Federal and Sarawak state governments cannot continue to abdicate their responsibility to ensure road access to Kapit and Belaga.

I have received email from Dayaks and Sarawakians about the Belaga boat disaster, and their complaints and pleas must be heard and acted on by the Federal and Sarawak State Governments.

I will just refer to two of them:

“This latest tragedy is just like all the other tragedies that have taken place the last 30 to 40 years. I have been very often taking river transport on this Rajang river from Sibu to Song to Kapit to Belaga and almost very close to the Bakun dam further up. Dangerous and swift rapids can easily topple and overturn express ferries and smaller boats.

“I have been doing this the last 5 years and seen these tragedies with my own eyes. Problem is the local people who are Dayaks and Ibans etc consider these as very normal and acceptable accidents or tragedies. They simply don’t and won’t panic when such things occur.

“So the authorities just take it easy. And no one is charged as the ferry or boat owners are well connected. The locals are so poor that they do nothing but wait for the corpse to rise and bury same.

“And  you are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. They only know BN. They keep voting BN despite all their sufferings and hardships, poorly educated and in bad living conditions up to now.”

“Kit Siang, you are the man. You speak up for us, Dayak when our own Dayak leaders are so afraid, too coward to voice out, to admit the real ROOT CAUSE, which is the non-existence of Sibu-Kapit-Belaga road — as they are also part of the big conspiracy that prevent the Sibu-Kapit-Belaga road construction for the last 50-years. In recent news statements, the Dayak leaders are firing the surface causes, like SRB, boat operator, but don’t dare to admit the root cause & demand for Sibu-Kapit-Belaga road. The Ulu Rejang YBs especially always say that the government don’t have enough money to build Sibu-Kapit-Belaga road. What a poppycock lie. The cost is ‘peanut’ if compared to the cost to build Putrajaya, KLIA, Bakun Dam, Murum Dam — also a few ‘cents’ compared to the total money made from logging & express boat business at Ulu Rejang. Somemore, if JKR can’t do it because contractors are demand an hellish price, let our army’s engineering division do it (Blue Ocean Strategy).

Root cause isn’t the Gawai,

Root cause isn’t the river,

Root cause isn’t the rock,

Root cause isn’t the boat,

Root cause isn’t the engine,

Root cause isn’t the SRB,

Root cause isn’t the passengers,

Root cause isn’t the boat operator,

ROOT CAUSE is the non-existence of Sibu-Kapit-Belaga road — even after 50 years of independence & 6 more years to Vision 2020.

This will repeat again & again as long as the root cause is not solved.”

Will the cries of the rural people in Sarawak, particularly in Kapit and Belaga over the latest Belaga boat disaster in this year’s Dayak Gawai, be heard and acted upon by the new Federal Cabinet now that it has seven full ministers and four deputy ministers from Sarawak after the 13GE?

Will a special programme to ensure road access to Kapit and Belaga feature in the first policy speech of the post-13GE Najib Government when the Yang di Pertuan Agong officially declare open the 13th Parliament on 25th June 2013?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 30 May 2013, 12:00 pm and is filed under
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Bawang: Red Bean Army reveals secret battle with Tau Foo Fah

By Terence Toh | May 30, 2013

Poskod.My

“Great Dessert War” originated over a fight over which side was more delicious, soldier reveals.

SUNGAI NIBONG: The so-called Red Bean Army was formed to launch a secret invasion on the Tau Foo Fah Kingdom, a soldier revealed yesterday.

In an exclusive interview, Sergeant Bobo Cha Cha, 43, shared that the army had drafted over 40,000 cyber-troopers, storm troopers, paratroopers and super troopers in a non-stop attack on the Kingdom.

“We were just boys when they recruited us.” A visibly emotional Bobo said. “Barely out of school. They took away our books, and pressed bean rifles and sweet potato grenades into our hands.”

“I’ve seen some horrible things. I wake up screaming in the night, remembering my friends, who were caught in the ruthless gula melaka bombings. One time, we were ambushed by syrup canons. We were forced to retreat.. and we ran right into their atapchi mines. Prisoners of war were forced to endless portions of tau foo fah.”

Bobo added that while their enemies were vicious, it was their superiors whom he and his fellow soldiers particularly hated, due to their utter disregard for their troopers’ well-being. Bobo then rolled up his trouser leg to reveal a prosthetic left foot.

“The Red Bean Army Generals are monsters. I hope they get their just desserts,” he spat.

Bobo revealed that hundreds of Malaysians were being conscripted into the Red Bean Army every day to bolster their side in the Great Dessert War. According to him, the war started centuries ago after the leaders of the two nations had a tiff over which of them was the most delicious.

“The rivalry continues even today. Go to a market. You see how the tau foo fah and red bean soup sellers never talk to each other? Old blood runs deep!” Bobo said.

Bobo also scoffed at rumors that the Red Bean Army had been formed to launch cyber-attacks on rival political parties, saying those rumors were a smokescreen for the group’s true military purposes.

He further revealed that were further plans by the Red Bean Army to invade the Cendol Islands and the Republic of Goreng Pisang.

“The horror,” Bobo whispered, tears in his eyes. “The horror!”

                This entry was posted on Friday, 31 May 2013, 10:58 am and is filed under
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The right of rural communities in Sarawak to equitable development after 50 years of formation of Malaysia, particularly rural road access to Kapit and Belaga, should be one of the main issues of the 11th Sarawak state general elections expected in 18-24 months

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s condolences yesterday  to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in the Belaga boat disaster is most appropriate although made two days after the tragedy and after I had made adverse  comments on  the “silence and indifference” of the Prime  Minister and Deputy Prime Minister as they “had not said a single word on the Belaga boat disaster in the past two days”.

However, I am very disappointed that apart from calling for “a detailed investigation to determine the cause of the boat tragedy in Sungai Rajang, Sarawak on Tuesday”, both the Federal and Sarawak State governments have continued to ignore the problem of rural road access in Sarawak especially to Kapit and Belaga – which is the root cause of the tragedy of express boat disasters in upriver  areas of Sungai Rajang.

The Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Rahani Abdul Karim yesterday visited Belaga to convey the condolences of the Prime Minister to the families of victims of the Belaga boat tragedy, and a  Bernama reported quoted her as saying:

 “Yesterday, during the weekly meeting of the Cabinet, the prime minister was so sad over the incident, and he directed me to come (today) as a representative of the federal government.”

This raises the question why Najib or the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin or the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the Malaysian Security Council (MKN) Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim had not visited Belaga themselves to get first-hand information of the Belaga boat tragedy  – which they would have done if the Belaga disaster had occurred before the 13GE polling date on May 5.

Why should a difference of 23 days between May 5 and May 28 when the Belaga boat tragedy occurred make such a  great difference as to whether the PM, DPM or the Minister in the PM’s Department, would have made a personal trip to Belaga themselves?

In fact, if the tragedy had happened before May 5, even the Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud  would have personally visited Belaga himself, instead of just leaving it to Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang.

Yesterday I raised the question whether the Belaga boat disaster was on the agenda of the weekly Wednesday Cabinet meeting two days ago, and whether the Cabinet made any decision to ensure road access between Sibu, Kapit and Belaga – and if not, then what difference has the appointment of seven ministers and four deputy ministers from Sarawak to Najib’s post-13GE  Cabinet made to development for the rural population in the state?

Dayaks, Sarawakians and Malaysians are entitled to answers to these questions, or they will be raised by Pakatan Rakyat MPs in the first meeting of the newly-elected 13th Parliament on June 24.

Undoubtedly, the right to equitable development by rural Sarawak 50 years after the formation of Malaysia,  including road access to rural areas like Kapit and Belaga, will be one of the major issues in the 11th Sarawak state general elections which will be held in 18-24 months’ time.

There are 28 Dayak-majority seats out of 71 in the Sarawak state legislative assembly.

The Dayaks, comprising the Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Murut and other non-Muslim ethnic groups, are the majority race in Sarawak, forming over 40 percent of the total 2.6 million population.

After Tuesday’s Belaga boat disaster, with 12 persons still missing after three days’ fruitless search and rescue operation, the right of the rural folks, particularly the Dayak communities to equitable development 50 years after the formation of Malaysia, including rural road access, should bulk large in the forthcoming 11th Sarawak state general elections.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 31 May 2013, 8:26 am and is filed under
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Zahid may want to be an UMNO “hero” for the upcoming UMNO party elections by being a macho and belligerent Home Minister who dare to declare DAP unlawful even if it is gross abuse of power

 The statement by the director-general of Registry of Societies (RoS) Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman that many DAP members who were eligible to attend its national congress on December 15 last year did not receive notice to do so is both baseless and most unprofessional.

It is a “political twist” to the RoS investigations into the DAP and I see a political “black hand” behind it – all the way to the new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Zahid Hamidi.

Since becoming the new Home Minister a forthnight ago, Zahid had tried to politicise all the departments under him.

Firstly, being the most “political” Home Minister in partnership with the most “political” Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, he has created mayhem to police priorities, allowing crime and the fear of crime among Malaysians to run riot because he is obsessed with using police powers to crack down on Pakatan Rakyat leaders and social activists – not having said a single word on the primary duty of the police to keep crime rate low as well as to eradicate the people’s pervasive fear of crime.

As a result, Zahid’s two-week term as Home Minister takes on the hues of a return of Mahathirism, with arrests and prosecution of Pakatan Rakyat leaders and social activists while Umno/BN leaders and their kind enjoy immunity and impunity for the most sedious and racist utterances.

But the police force is not the only Home Ministry agency which is taking on Mahathirish hues. The Immigration Department director-general Alias Ahmad has announced that 6,564 Malaysians will have their passports cancelled to prevent them from leaving the country, among others, because they had “tarnished the nation’s image abroad”.

The government has no powers to revoke the passports of Malaysians who had exercised their constitutional right to support the coalition of their choice in the recent 13th general elections, as it is not only undemocratic but a gross abuse of power for the Immigration Department to equate criticism and opposition to Umno/BN as disloyalty to the nation.

DAP and Pakatan Rakyat will provide legal assistance to anyone of the 6,564 Malaysians whose passports are revoked because they had exercised their citizenship and constitutional rights to support the coalition of their choice during the 13GE, whether inside or outside the country.

In this connection, the barring of the PKR Vice President and MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar from visiting Sabah yesterday to celebrate Pesta Kaamatan must be condemned in the strongest possible terms, as it is an example of the growing list of Mahahathirish abuses of power and undemocratic practices after the 13th General Elections.

I commend the BN MP for Kinabatangan Datuk Bung Moktar Radin for criticising the Nurul Izzah immigration ban, describing it as “a big mistake…and it needs to be corrected”.

Bung has become more sensible and level-headed over the years, and he should be promoted as a Deputy Minister instead of those who blindly accept abuses of power without daring to utter a protest.

The RoS is the third government agency in the Home Ministry which is acting completely out character since having a new Home Minister.

Clearly, Zahid is only thinking about the upcoming Umno party elections and he wants to position himself as an UMNO hero by being a macho and belligerent Home Minister who dare to declare DAP unlawful even if it is a gross abuse of power.

DAP leaders, supporters and members must be prepared for the worst, as clearly Zahid has no respect for the rule of law but only rule by law – and may be prepared to shoot himself up to stratospheric heights in the UMNO popularity stakes by taking unlawful actions against the DAP even they constitute gross abuses of power.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 31 May 2013, 4:57 pm and is filed under
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Election Commission must start with a completely new slate with new Chairman and Deputy Chairman if it is to command full public confidence

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, announced today that the Election Commission (EC) will be reporting to a parliamentary select committee (PSC) from now.

He said he was transferring his office’s responsibility to oversee the election regulator to Parliament where a panel comprising members from both sides of the political divide would help improve its credibility.

He said: “With this step, it is hoped that the EC’s independence will no longer be questioned and the people’s confidence will be strengthened towards the EC.”

Without the details, it is not possible to comment intelligently on this move, although it is a step in the right direction.

It would have been more proper for Najib to have full consultation with the Pakatan Rakyat MPs on the this proposal before any announcement is made – so that it would be seen as an innovation which has received bipartisan discussion and support, including the full details involved.

Offhand, pending full details of the proposal, let me state that the Election Commission must start with a completely new slate with a  new Chairman and Deputy Chairman if it is to command full public confidence, as the present Chairman and Deputy Chairman had operated as if they are Barisan Nasional protoganists and politicians in taking on Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 1 June 2013, 1:35 pm and is filed under
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