Two fatal political assumptions –  one for BN and the other for PR

Another sign of the closeness of the 13th general elections is the RM3 billion 2011 election budget presented by the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Hassan to the Sabah State Assembly yesterday, with RM1.1 million allocation for every Barisan Nasional state assembly constituency to enable the BN Sabah State Assembly members to woo voters in their constituency with public funds.

This is political corruption at its most blatant and, although political or “grand corruption” has been identified by the Government Transformation Programme RoadMap and selected as one of the primary focus of the National Key Results Areas (NKRAs) to combat corruption, who believes that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) would seriously check let alone wipe out such political corruption?

In his Sabah state 2011 budget presentation, Musa cited the Barisan Nasional by-election victories in Batu Sapi and Galas as signs that the people had continued confidence in the Barisan Nasional to remain in power.

The Galas by-election is in Kelantan and was a state assembly by-election. What has it got to do with the Sabah 2011 Budget presentation if it is not an election budget to sound the gong for full preparations for the 13th general elections expected to be held early next year?

In his interview with Bloomberg,  former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir said Barisan Nasional is capable of wresting one or two states from Pakatan Rakyat on the ground that the opposition is in disarray.

Mahathir was however of the view that although BN would be returned to power in Putrajaya, it would likely fail to regain its two-thirds parliamentary majority.

This has prompted responses from BN leaders claiming that they have started to turn the political tide since the March 8 “political tsunami” in the 2008 general elections, expressing confidence that BN could not only regain two-thirds parliamentary majority but also recapture Kedah and Selangor state governments from PR and not ruling out making a bid for Kelantan and Penang state governments as well.

There are at present two fatal political assumptions – one for BN and the other for PR.

It is a great mistake for BN to believe that its hold on Putrajaya is secure and that it could win back the Kedah and Selangor state governments from PR based on its victories in the Galas, Batu Sapi, Hulu Selangor and Bagan Pinang by-elections.

The Ijok by-election held in April 2007 is a salutary example, where the Pakatan Rakyat candidate Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim lost badly to the Barisan Nasional candidate – but in the general elections held less than a year later, Khalid not only won handsomely, but Barisan Nasional also lost  state power not only  Selangor but also three other states, Penang, Perak and Kedah while continuing to be in opposition in Kelantan.

However, just as it will be a fatal political assumption for BN to think that its hold on Putrajaya is secure and can win back Kedah and Selangor in the next general elections, it is also fatal political assumption for Pakatan Rakyat to believe that it is embarked on an unstoppable movement to capture federal power in Putrajaya with invincible control of its present state governments, particularly Kedah and Selangor.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders must immediately take stock of the loss of public confidence in the PR, not only from the setbacks in Galas and Batu Sapi, but also from the internal turmoils and problems inside Pakatan Rakyat parties.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders must urgently address these problems to stop and reverse the erosion of public confidence as we cannot afford to be complacent or take lightly the serious challenge and threat posed by Barisan Nasional whether at the parliamentary or state assembly level.

PR leaders should not regard the present four PR states of Kedah, Selangor, Kelantan and Penang as completely invincible and should take serious stock of the present political situation both at state and national levels, and take the necessary actions to restore public confidence to regain the momentum of public support for political change under PR, and in particular ensure that the Pakatan Rakyat state governments of Kedah and Selangor can withstand an all-out Umno/Barisan Nasional onslaught.

Warning alarms that PR state governments in Kedah and Selangor are in danger must be heard loud and clear.

(Media Conference Statement in Kota Kinabalu on Saturday, 20th November 2010)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 November 2010, 5:18 pm and is filed under
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End trigger-happy shootings, lawmakers tell IGP

By
Boo Su-Lyn

November 21, 2010

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers have demanded newly-installed Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar to end indiscriminate fatal police shootings instead of “frolicking” at mock casinos.

Police had shot dead a 15-year-old suspected robber on November 13, just seven months after 14-year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah was gunned down by the police in Shah Alam on April 26.

“The top priority is to end cases of indiscriminate police shootings, reduce the crime rate and make people feel safer,” DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang told The Malaysian Insider today.

“These are the things that should receive the focus of the new IGP instead of going on a frolic having a mini casino,” he added.

Yesterday, the families of two of the three youths shot dead on November 13 after being suspected of robbing a petrol station claimed the trio were killed by the police in cold blood.

Muhammad Shamil Hafiz Shapiei, 15; Hairul Nizam Tuah, 20; and Mohd Hanafi Omar, 22, were killed by the police after a reported high-speed car chase in the early morning of November 13 in Glenmarie, Shah Alam.

The families’ lawyer, N. Surendran, described the shootings as a “gangland-style execution”, pointing out that the gunshot wounds showed that the victims were shot at close range and not in self-defence as the police had claimed.

“All three were shot in the head and chest with bullets exiting lower,” said Surendran.

Selangor acting police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan, however, has reportedly defended his officers’ actions by describing the three suspected robbers as “seasoned criminals” who were allegedly involved in at least three armed robberies in Selangor last week. He claimed that the police shot the suspects in self-defence as they had allegedly rushed to attack the policemen with machetes after the pre-dawn car chase.

Today, Lim accused Ismail of mixing up his priorities and failing to end a police “culture” supporting a shoot-to-kill tendency.

“If shooting is necessary and unavoidable to protect policemen’s lives, standard operating procedures must be followed so as not to kill but to maim. It would appear that with the change of IGP, there is no change in the police culture as such. There should be a total overhaul of police standard operating procedures in such cases,” said the veteran DAP leader.

“Yesterday, the media reported police having mock casinos. This is the wrong set of priorities,” he added.

Ismail, who replaced Tan Sri Musa Hassan as the country’s top cop on September 13, reportedly set up a mock casino at the Cheras police college in a bid to train policemen on nabbing gamblers.

Policemen are reportedly taught various gambling games available in casinos and other entertainment outlets.

PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar echoed Lim’s views and said that Ismail must assure the public that it was safe from indiscriminate police shootings.

“The new IGP needs to bolster public confidence that the police will not simply shoot indiscriminately,” said Mahfuz.

He also pointed out that Ismail should train his men on various procedures to be followed in shooting cases instead of card games.

“Training should be given on how to shoot, in which circumstance, what must be done before the shooting, the criteria for a suspect who can be shot, mental training… not training on gambling,” said the Pokok Sena MP.

Mahfuz also called for a thorough probe into the families’ complaints.

“A complete investigation should be done to check if the people who were shot were really suspected robbers, and to see if the shots were fired not to kill but to apprehend them,” he said.

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar supported Mahfuz’s points and further demanded for the formation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

“The shooting is deplorable,” said Nurul Izzah.”I call for immediate investigations and reiterate the need of the IPCMC in its entirety,” she added.

The IPCMC was proposed by the Royal Commission on the Enhancement of the Management and Operations of the Police in 2005 but the government rejected the proposal on the grounds that its powers were too broad. In place of the IPCMC, the government last year established the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC) to investigate not only the police but other enforcement agencies.

The commission has, however, not been called upon to investigate Aminulrasyid’s shooting or other fatal police shootings.

The PKR vice-presidency contender also lambasted the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) for saying today that negative public perception of the police was a new “crime” that should be curbed immediately.

“What’s worse is MCPF’s latest comments, which sidesteps the readiness to take stock of the problem and ownership in providing solutions,” said Nurul Izzah.

Meanwhile, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said a report on the incident was necessary to ascertain the facts of the case.

“It’s better for us to get the report,” said Shafie.

Echoing PR leaders, Umno’s Johor Baru MP Datuk Seri Shahrir Abdul Samad also said that an open investigation should be conducted.

“I reckon since the parents made the complaints, there must be an investigation,” said Shahrir.

“As with Aminulrasyid’s situation, I don’t think there will be any cover up,” he added.

Besides Aminulrasyid, a second case involving the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Mohd Afham Arin in Johor Baru on October 20 last year has also surfaced after the victim’s mother recently demanded an independent commission to investigate the case.

According to human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), 88 people died in police shootings last year.

The NGO also claimed that not even one police officer has been held accountable and that the high number of deaths in 2009 was “alarming”, considering that there were only 13 such cases in the previous two years.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 November 2010, 4:09 pm and is filed under
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Lim: Sabah budget is ‘cronies’ enrichment programme’

By
Queville To

Free Malaysia Today

21 November 2010

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Musa Aman’s ‘timely’ announcement of a special allocation of RM1 million to each Barisan Nasional representatives in Sabah next year has been described as a “form of political corruption”.

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang said Musa’s announcement – under the state budget – warrants Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) attention and investigation.

“It is a political corruption to allocate RM1 million public funds to the BN constituencies alone. It is clearly an election budget to boost the winning chances of BN in the next general election and not for the benefit of the people. It is to be used to buy votes,” Lim charged.

Musa announced the special allocation under the state Budget 2011 on Friday. He said the allocation was to enable BN elected representatives to provide assistance to the people in their areas. The BN holds 57 out of 60 state seats in the state.

His announcement is viewed by many as ‘timely’ since Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is expected to call for the general election anytime next year. Opposition parties are speculating that Najib will call for the polls anytime between March and Novemebr 2011.

Crony programme

Meanwhile Lim noted that one of the National Key Result Area (NKRA) in the Government Transformation Program (GTP) is fighting corruption and one of the main aspects identified is to fight ‘grand corruption’ which is political corruption.

“The MACC should investigate and wipe out such political corruption to show the government is serious about fighting corruption.

“The Auditor-General too should conduct a special audit on all these (past) years of spending of such allocations by Sabah BN assemblymen and give a detailed audit report on abuses.

“This (abuse) must be exposed and stopped if Malaysia is going to be developed to become a modern, democratic nation. Public funds must not be abused for political purposes,” he stressed.

Speaking to reporters here on Saturday before returning to Kuala Lumpur, Lim said the allocation was against the United Nation’s report on “inclusive growth”, asserting that inclusive growth is supposed to mean for the benefit of everyone regardless of one’s political affiliation or support.

“How can you talk about giving RM1 million for each BN constituency and on the other hand you’re talking about ‘inclusive growth’?” he asked.

Touching on the RM162 million allocated in the budget for poverty eradication, he was both puzzled and distraught by the fact that despite hundreds of millions of ringgit spent on poverty eradication programmes over the years since BN took over the state in 1994, Sabah has become the poorest state in the country.

“I think instead of calling it poverty eradication programme, it should be correctly termed as ‘BN Cronies Enrichment Programme’ in view of the fact that poverty remains high in Sabah,” he remarked.

Also present were assistant DAP national publicity Secretary cum MP for Serdang Teo Nie Ching, Sabah DAP chief cum MP for Kota Kinabalu Hiew King Cheu, his deputy cum Sri Tanjung assemblyman Jimmy Wong, its vice chairman Edward Mujie and its publicity secretary Edwin Bosi.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 November 2010, 11:09 am and is filed under
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Lim warns Pakatan to guard against losing direction

By
Queville To

Free Malaysia Today

21 November 2010

KOTA KINABALU: A senior Pakatan Rakyat leader is distressed that the opposition front is making the assumption that they are on an unstoppable march to Putrajaya.

DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, on a visit to Sabah over the weekend, urged the Pakatan leadership to acknowledge they are facing a crisis of public confidence as a result of the series of defeats in the recent by elections, besides some problems in coalition parties.

“The Pakatan leaderships will have to meet seriously to take stock on this situation and take into account the public concerns and loss of confidence of the direction of the PR,” he told reporters at a news conference here Saturday.

“All coalition partners will have to buck up and pull up their socks. This includes the DAP in the seats that Barisan Nasional (BN) feels they can win back like Kedah and Selangor and states like Kelantan and Penang where they (BN) think is difficult but Pakatan should not think we are invincible and cannot be conquered,” he said.

Lim said the BN confidence can bee seen from comments made by BN leaders such as Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan who announced that the ruling coalition is on a roll following its victories in Bagan Pinang, Batu Sapi and Galas.

Ahmad, who is also the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, was disputing a statement by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who told a news network recently that the BN would not be able to recapture the two thirds majority they once enjoyed in Parliament.

“They (BN leaders) have openly talked about winning two states … Kedah and Selangor and that they can even try to capture Penang,” said Lim.

The veteran politician urged the opposition parties and their supporters to keep working for a ‘inclusive’ Malaysia and reminded them that nothing would be decided until the day of the elections.

“I think that would be a fatal assumption for anyone to cite specific factors to predict an election victory. This was demonstrated in 2008. Before that there was the Ijok by-election where Khalid was badly defeated but in the 2008 general elections he not only won handsomely in Ijok but Pakatan went on to win Selangor and four other states,” Lim pointed out.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 November 2010, 11:48 am and is filed under
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Why only 12 Chinese students out of more than 4,000  get student grants from Selangor PR State Government?

Yesterday, I received an email from blogger nkkhoo entitled why
“The number of study grants for Chinese students in Selangor is terrible low”
and  asking for “serious attention to this unfair treatment given to Chinese students by the Selangor Pakatan Government”.

In his email, nkkhoo said:

Dear YB LKS and YB LGE,

I hope both of you as DAP Supremo pay serious attention to this unfair treatment given to Chinese students by the Selangor Pakatan Government.

The total study grants given to students in Selangor is more than 4000, but only 12 Chinese students are in the list. This is terrible wrong compared with treatment given by BN in the past.

The news was released by MCA Selangor (in Chinese) at
http://mykampung.sinchew.com.my/node/121939?tid=6

“I do not believe Chinese in Selangor suddenly become the rich people in less than three years after Pakatan took over Selangor.

Please do something quick before Chinese voters turn against DAP and Pakatan.

First let me clarify that I am no “DAP Supremo”.

I forwarded the email to DAP Selangor senior exco Teresa Kok for her attention and I received her prompt reply, viz:

Dear Mr Lim,

The statistics were given by state govt when Exco Dr Halimah and I have press conference on the education loan offered by Selangor state govt few days ago.

I was the one that asked Dr Halimah to do the pc with me, to announce the education loan of Selangor state govt and Yayasan Selangor to the  media when I found that there are so few Chinese applicants due to ignorance and other reasons.

If I am not mistaken, there were only 12 Chinese applicants of education loan last year and all 12 of them were given the loan. This means 100 percent approval to all Chinese applicants.

One of the reasons our higher education loan is not popular with Chinese students could be the amount offered  is only RM6500, much lower than PTPTN offered by higher education ministry. For those who apply for education loan from the state, they are not allowed to apply for loan or scholarship of other institutions. That’s why the education loan offered by Yayasan Selangor and state govt is not that popular amongst students in Selangor.

Sgor state govt doesn’t impose quota in this education loan. If u look at statistics, Chinese and Indian applicants are not many in past years. That’s the reason I call the press conference to encourage more non-Malays to apply. Looks like my good intention has been twisted by MCA and they turned it into a racial issue to attack Pakatan govt now.

I am using my mobile phone to reply this email, I can’t reply to the sender of that email. Pls fwd this email to him. He can contact me directly if he wants more clarification.

Regards

Teresa Kok

Teresa’s explanation not only explained why there were only 12 Chinese students out of more than 4,000 who get student grants from the Selangor PR State Govermment but exposes the irresponsible tactics of MCA and MCA leaders in trying to twist and expoit this issue for their political ends.

Malaysian Chinese and Indian students, who are grossly under-represented in the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat state government award of study loans although there is no quota imposition in this scheme, should make full use by applying for the study grants available in Selangor state.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 November 2010, 1:38 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia and ASEAN should support Aung San Suu Kyi’s call for a second multi-ethnic Panglong Conference to create a federal democracy in Burma to foster democratization and national reconciliation

Malaysia should play a leading active role in ASEAN to promote peace, democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar as Malaysia, under the then Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, was responsible for Myanmar’s entry into ASEAN in 1997 despite ASEAN reservations and international criticisms on the ground that a policy of  “constructive engagement” approach would pave the way for democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar and security and stability in the region.

Thirteen years have elapsed but none of these objectives had been achieved.

Nine days ago, on 13th November, 2010, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was released after spending 15 of 21 years in detention under the Myanmese military junta, a release which was long overdue as the  series of incarceration against the Nobel Peace Prize Laureatte  should not have occurred in the first place.

With over 2,200 political prisoners still in detention in Burma, is Suu Kyi’s release a sign that the Myanmese military junta is ready seriously to address the challenges of democratization and national reconciliation in Burma?

After her release, Suu Kyi called for a second multi-ethnic Panglong Conference that is appropriate to 21st century concerns to create a federal system based on equality and democracy.

Suu Kyi’s father general Aung San who then represented the Burmese government reached an agreement with ethnic leaders from the Shan, Kachin, Chin and Mon on 12th February 1947, to accept full autonomy in internal administration for the ethnic-controlled frontier areas after independence from Britain.

The agreement, which was an outcome of the conference at Panglong, was never enforced due to the assassination of national hero Aung San in July 1947, just months before independence. However, many ethnic groups have continued to deem the Panglong Agreement as their bible of struggle for self-rule in Burma.

Malaysia and ASEAN should come forward to support Suu Kyi’s call for a second multi-ethnic  Panglong Conference to create a federal democracy in Burma as an  important contribution towards achieving dialogue, democratization and national reconciliation in Burma.

Malaysia, ASEAN, the UN Security Council, General Assembly, Human Rights Council, the UN Secretary-General, the European Union, the United States and even China have been calling for tripartite dialogues in Burma among the military junta, the pro-democracy activists and the ethnic nationalities down the years and even decades, but they have not borne any fruit.

A second multi-ethnic Panglong Conference involving the Myanmese military rulers will turn a new page for Burma.

Although Suu Kyi has been released from detention, there has been increasing concerns not only whether she would be allowed to be fully active in legitimate political pursuits, but also about her personal safety.

There was an explosion in Mandalay with two injured following reports that Suu Kyi is planning to visit Burma’s second largest-city after her release.

Malaysia and ASEAN must send clear and unmistakable concerns to impress on the Myanmese military junta their responsibility  not only to respect Suu Kyi’s freedom of speech, association and movement, but to ensure her personal safety – and that there would be no repetition of the  Depayin Incident in May 2003 where about 100 of her supporters were killed and she herself was  nearly assassinated when ambushed by junta-backed  elements.

As part of the leading active role in ASEAN to ensure that Myanmar does not continue to undermine ASEAN’s good name and credibility, Malaysia should take initiatives on the following issues:

Immediate release of 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar;

The military must declare a nation-wide ceasfire and end its offensive against ethnic civilians. Rape and forced labour, torture, the forcible recruitment of child soldiers and the destruction of villages must stop.

Withhold recognition for the Nov. 7 sham elections held in Myanmar; and

Support the proposal by the UN Special Rapporteur to establish a Commission of Inquiry under UN auspices to look into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar.

[
Speech in the 2011 budget debate during the Foreign Ministry committee stage in Parliament on Monday November 22, 2010
]

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 November 2010, 2:29 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #41

By
M. Bakri Musa

Chapter 5: Understanding Globalization (Cont’d)

Globalization and the Free Movement of People

Earlier, I alluded to the fact that unlike imperialism where there was mobility of labor, today’s globalization does not have the comparable freedom of movement of people. Unlike goods, services and capital that can slip in and out of borders readily, people still have to go through tedious immigration controls. Leaders like Mahathir challenged advocates of globalization to also equally liberalize immigration, that is, to make the movement of people as free as that of ideas and capital.

         Much as I agree with this ideal, it is unlikely to happen, given present-day realities. Western countries that are today’s champions of globalization have elaborate social safety nets for their citizens. Indeed the greatest asset one can have at birth is not one’s set of genes, rather one’s birthplace. There are significant benefits just by being born as Americans or Western Europeans regardless whether you are contributing or not. These include free education and other generous entitlements. No wonder these citizens want to restrict immigration; it is a manifestation of the classic “rent seeking” economic behavior.

         Despite the various immigration restrictions, there is nonetheless considerable mobility of workers today, but only for those at the two extremes: the highly talented and the unskilled. Someone with a Wharton MBA or Caltech PhD will have no difficulty securing a permanent residency status in America or elsewhere; so too talented artists and athletes. American college recruiters scour African villages for potential basketball players and track runners. Cuba and the Dominican Republic have little chance of retaining their marquee baseball players; they are sucked up into America.

         These highly desirable individuals do not have to line up at the nearby American embassy for their visas. Their coaches or corporate lawyers would do that for them. For these fortunate souls the market for their talent is truly global, oblivious of national boundaries.

         At the other extreme – the unskilled and the desperate – for them national borders too are irrelevant. Every day thousands of Mexicans slip through the porous southern border of America. Immigrants from Africa and Asia smuggle themselves in by a variety of ingenious and dangerous ways. Every so often a rusty trawler full of desperate Chinese or Indians would beach upon American shores.

         The challenge for Third World countries today in the face of globalization is how to retain their highly skilled and talented citizens so they will not succumb to the lures of the developed world. In the past, appeals to nationalism and patriotism would keep them at home (at least some of them), but today such calls would fall on deaf ears. The only way to retain them is to give them their dues. This means paying the going global rates, not puny local salaries. Some countries like Singapore are aware of this and are appropriately rewarding their talented citizens with world-class pay. Many others, Malaysia included, have yet to learn this elementary lesson and are still in the mode of appealing to emotions. Sometimes that works, but most often not. There is a limit to what people would sacrifice.

          Leaders like Mahathir who advocate the free movement of labor have to be careful for what they wish, for if it were to become true, the losers would be Third World countries like Malaysia. Imagine if anyone can enter America and Britain; what chance would Malaysia then have in retaining her brightest and talented citizens? They would all emigrate and Malaysia would be left with the losers, and the unskilled illiterate immigrants from Indonesia and Bangladesh.

        With the spread of ideas, there would inevitably come a convergence or agreement on what is valued and what is not. That is, the emergence of a global standard or yardstick. I do not refer to the value system or the sense of esthetic, but more to mundane issues like quality of medical care and education. When Malaysians read about new advances in heart surgery elsewhere, they would not be satisfied if their local doctors were to stick with the old remedies. Malaysians too want the best for themselves and their loved ones. If they cannot get that at home they would go abroad. It is not just the King who goes to Singapore to get his pacemaker; every Malaysian too would sacrifice to get the best.

         The only way for Malaysia to stop the exodus of local patients would be to train local experts to meet international standards. When Petronas was building its Twin Towers, it searched the world for the best architects and engineers; there were no nationalistic considerations given for such a high profile project.

         The growth of private colleges in Malaysia is due to the widespread perception that local public institutions are not doing a good job. How do ordinary Malaysians know this? Well, they read about the achievements of leading universities elsewhere and then draw the conclusions.  Further, when local parents see graduates of foreign universities and local private colleges being eagerly sought for and paid more by employers, these parents would save hard to send their children to such institutions.

         Singapore has very few private colleges because its public ones are so superior; private colleges could not compete easily. Only the prestigious foreign ones like Johns Hopkins, INSEAD, and the University of Chicago could compete in such a competitive environment. East London University need not bother entering; it would not survive the rigorous competition.

         Medical care and education are only two examples. I can cite many more. Malaysians, having flown in the best airlines and stayed at the best hotels, would not patronize Malaysia Airways and local hotels if they do not have comparable levels of services. Just being a Malaysian establishment no longer sells. Like it or not, we have to adopt international norms and standards because our people demand them.

Next:
Maximizing the Benefits and Minimizing the Downside of Globalization

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 November 2010, 10:28 am and is filed under
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Malaysians abroad keeping the government under watch

by
Sydney Sasson

The Malaysian Insider

November 23, 2010

Dear Deputy Foreign Minister Pillay,

We read with interest your latest statements in the Dewan Rakyat today that the Malaysian government is keeping Malaysians abroad under watch.

Guess what? Malaysians abroad are keeping the Malaysian government under watch too. Its encouraging to know that a number of civil society initiatives and solidarity actions taken by Malaysians overseas in the past year have been noticed by the Malaysian government.

It means that all those days of braving the cold and rain to protest against the archaic Internal Security Act and government corruption, and writing to various overseas Members of Parliament and lobbying politicians, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Commonwealth Human Rights Council, the overseas press and international civil society organisations to alert them to the worrying state of human rights in Malaysia has not been in vain.

When will we stop protesting, letter writing, lobbying, campaigning and keeping the Malaysian government under watch?

When the Malaysian government starts listening to the voice of the people and restoring social justice and democracy to the citizens of Malaysia.

When the Malaysian government starts behaving like elected and paid servants of the rakyat, rather than lawless, corrupt political masters.

When the Malaysian government stops spending RM1.8 million of the Malaysian tax payers money on luxury holidays to Disneyland.

When the Malaysian government abolishes the Internal Security Act and stops using it to suppress freedom of thought, speech and association.

When the Malaysian government stops using the University College and Colleges Act to penalise students who choose to observe or participate in the socio-political life of our nation.

When the Malaysian government stops arresting peaceful candle light vigil protestors and throwing grandmothers in jail.

When the Malaysian government stops exerting absolute control over the media and using the Press and Printing Act 1985 to stamp out free speech.

When the Malaysian government stops stripping the judiciary of its independence and autonomy.

When the Malaysian government stops torture and murder in detention.

When the Malaysian government starts to recognise and uphold the rights of migrant workers and refugees.

When the Malaysian government stops institutionalised racism.

When the Malaysian government stops recklessly threatening that a challenge to their 53 years of BN rule will result in “crushed bodies” and “lost lives”.

Listen – loosing an election is not the worst thing in the world. This is politics — some days you win, some days you loose. When you don’t win, you retreat gracefully to the sidelines, show some statesmanship and rebuild and strengthen your team. You reflect on why you may have lost the popular support of the people and you try to adapt and improve accordingly. You form a shadow cabinet, you develop progressive policies and wait for the next election to once again capture the imagination and hearts of the people.

So get real and grow up, BN. No one party can rule for over 50 years and not be considered a despot.

When the Malaysian government stops plundering and cheating our brother and sisters in Sabah and Sarawak of their native customary rights and rich and beautiful heritage.

When the Malaysian government stops throwing cartoonist in jail.

Dear Deputy Foreign Minister Pillay, why do you think over a million Malaysians abroad choose to reside overseas?

Because they cherish their basic civil liberties and human rights which are all too often trampled on back home. Because they hold dear the fact that the most important ingredients to success are in fact talent and hard work, not the colour of your skin.

Because they acknowledge that any truly developed and civilised society emphasises the importance of high quality education, healthcare and social equity, not merely the senseless pursuit of obscene wealth and 100-storey vanity projects.

You claim that ‘irresponsible people are tarnishing the good name of Malaysia’. We beg to differ. In our opinion, the only one tarnishing the good name of Malaysia is the Malaysian government itself. The only traitors in this whole saga, are the politicians who have betrayed the citizens who elected them. And this is why Malaysians abroad are standing in solidarity with their fellow citizens back home to demand good governance, justice, accountability and transparency. Till then, please let Prime Minister Najib and his cabinet know that you are all under watch.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 10:14 am and is filed under
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New information on Anwar “black-eye” assault in 1998 surfacing in the public domain

New information on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s “black-eye” assault in 1998 surfacing in the public domain has fortified the case of Datuk Zain Ibrahim Ismail, the police officer who headed the investigations into the case, for a proper closure of the 12-year-old police stain to restore police image and credibility.

This new information in the public domain was made by Mat Zain himself in his 19-page Open Letter to the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Ismail bin Haji Omar, yesterday entitled: “Lagi Mengenai Insiden Mata-Lebam”.

On 9th November, 2010, when moving a RM10 salary-cut motion for the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Gani Patail during the 2011 Budget debate in the committee stage of the Prime Minister’s Department, I had referred Mat Zain’s allegations accusing Gani Patail of fabricating evidence in the Anwar Ibrahim “black eye” investigation in 1998, which had not been unrebutted.

Although the RM10 salary-cut motion was defeated in the House, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had promised Parliament he would bring the ;public interest issues which I had brought up to the Cabinet.

In his Open Letter to the IGP yesterday, Mat Zain has called for a proper   closure of Anwar’s “black eye” police assault, volunteering information strengthening his call for a “full and final’ closure which could restore police image and credibility in public esteem – as there was no need for any Royal Commission of Inquiry to ferret out the facts for the simple reason that the police itself was completely competent and capable of getting to the bottom of the incident.

The new information in the public domain are contained in Sections 12 – 14 of Mat Zain’s Open Letter, viz:

12.	Saya percaya Tan Sri,pucuk pimpinan tertinggi dan warga PDRM keseluruhannya,berminat mengetahui apakah tindakan yang diambil oleh pucuk pimpinan PDRM sendiri ketika itu, untuk membawa penutupan segera kepada peristiwa tersebut sebelum didedahkan dalam prosiding Suruhanjaya Di-Raja, yang pada pendapat saya, tidak sepatutnya diadakan.Untuk faedah Tan Sri,saya ringkaskan seperti perenggan-perenggan berikut dibawah;

12.1.	Sebenarnya persetujuan untuk penutupan sepenuhnya insiden mata-lebam itu, dicapai antara jam 2.30 petang hingga 3.30 petang hari Khamis 8.10.1998.Persetujuan ini dicapai diantara Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor (TSRN), Ketua Polis Negara ketika itu,Tan Sri Norian Mai,Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara dan saya selaku Pegawai Penyiasat,didalam bilik Pejabat TSRN sendiri.Wajar saya menyatakan kesediaan dan kerelaan TSRN mengambil tanggungjawab sepenuhnya insiden mata-lebam yang telah berlaku itu,dibuat secara sukarela dan tanpa pujukkan sebagai seorang gentleman. Proses penutupan ini juga dipersetujui dibuat secara professional,mengikut lunas undang-undang dan perlaksanaan sepenuhnya dibuat secara “above board”. Saya telah ditugaskan untuk menyiapkan kertas-siasatan serta merta dan lain-lain dokumentasi yang berkaitan,termasuk menyediakan factor-faktor mitigasi (mitigating factors),yang saya perakukan boleh disiapkan dalam tempoh 2 hari.Dengan mengambil kira tempoh rayuan  10 hari daripada Isnin 12.10.1998, jika ada sebarang rayuan keatas hukuman, kita menjangka dapat menutup kes tersebut sepenuhnya pada Khamis 22.10.1998.

12.2.	Setelah memberi persetujuan tersebut saya lihat wajah TSRN begitu tenang,dan menerusi “body language” beliau, saya dapati seolah beliau begitu lega, setelah beban diatas bahunya dilepaskan.Malah beliau sambil bersahaja menanyakan kepada Tan Sri Norian, sama ada beliau(TSRN) layak membeli staff-car Mercedes yang sedang beliau gunakan itu, dan jika boleh beliau minta tolong, untuk repair sedikit-sedikit mana yang rosak.TSRN juga memanggil PA beliau untuk menyemak baki pinjaman perumahannya atau bil-bil Kerajaan yang perlu beliau jelaskan.Malah beliau berpesan kepada Tan Sri Norian untuk menjaga kebajikkan “budak-budak” (anggota polis) yang menjaga dan mengawal kediamannya dengan baik.Tan Sri Norian juga ada menyatakan yang beliau dan seluruh warga Polis tidak akan melupakan jasa-jasa TSRN kepada PDRM dan berjanji akan membantu beliau dan keluarga setakat yang termampu setelah TSRN meninggalkan Pasukan;mengikut rancangan,dua hari selepas perjumpaan kami itu,bagi membolehkan PDRM membuka lembaran baru.Begitulah antara suasana dalam bilik TSRN ketika itu,dan selepas bersalaman dan memohon kemaafan dan ucapan terima kasih saya dan keluarga kepada beliau,serta berjanji akan menjengok-jengok keluarga beliau di-Melaka, saya telah meninggalkan Pejabat TSRN jam lebih kurang 3.30 petang, membiarkan mereka berdua untuk meneruskan perbualan.

12.3.	Manusia hanya boleh merancang,tetapi Allah sahaja yang boleh menentukanNya. Saya mendapat tahu kemudiannya, iaitu pada jam lebih kurang 5.00 hingga 5.30 petang 8.10.1998 itu,Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah (Allahyarham) diringi oleh orang kuatnya Datuk Abdul Ghani Patail ,telah menemui TSRN dibilik Pejabat KPN.Lebih kurang jam 6.00 petang itu saya dipanggil untuk berjumpa dengan Tan Sri Norian dan beliau cuma memberitahu saya “untuk meneruskan siasatan seperti biasa”,dan apabila melihat beliau membuat gesture bahunya sedemikian,saya faham bahawa persetujuan yang dicapai antara kami beberapa jam sahaja sebelum itu telah dibatalkan.Saya harus menyatakan bahawa saya terkejut dan hampa dengan perubahan ini,tetapi siapalah saya untuk menghalangnya, oleh kerana kita sendiri tidak tahu apa yang akan berlaku pada hari esok.

13.	Untuk mengelakkan sebarang kekeliruan dan mengenepikan sebarang keraguan Tan Sri, kepada ketepatan kronologi yang saya huraikan diperenggan 12 diatas,saya menggesa Tan Sri mendapatkan Kertas Siasatan kes mata lebam IP No:8497/98 bersangkut Tun H.S.Lee Rpt:25223/98 yang mungkin masih tersorok di-Jabatan Peguam Negara;untuk menyemak Diari Penyiasatan saya dan juga Minit-Minit saya bertarikh 15.10.1998,29.10.1998 dan 27.1.1999 yang kesemuanya berjumlah lebih daripada 100 muka surat, bagi tujuan verifikasi.Walaupun Diari Penyiasatan saya, tidak 100% lengkap seperti sebuah novel,namun tarikh,waktu dan rakaman ringkas peristiwa penting adalah cukup untuk menyegarkan ingatan saya kepada peristiwa sebenar yang berlaku.

13.1.	Sudi nanti Tan Sri merujuk Diari Penyiasatan bertarikh 8.10.1998 (Khamis) siri 75 hingga 78  muka surat 22 hingga 24 khasnya nombor siri 78 bertarikh 8.10.1998 mulai jam 2.30 petang berkaitan dengan persetujuan penutupan berkenaan.

13.2. Untuk peristiwa berkaitan sebelumnya,sudi juga merujuk siri no:73 bertarikh 7.10.1998 (Rabu)jam 8.45 malam hingga 1100 malam dirumah Tim.KPN, Tan Sri Norian.Saya juga ada merakamkan nama Pengarah-Pengarah PDRM yang hadir sama.Perjumpaan ini adalah bagi membincangkan pendirian PDRM dalam menangani siasatan ini dan cara terbaik menyelesaiknya segera, tanpa membelakangkan undang-undang.Saya juga telah diberi mandat untuk mengambil keputusan sendiri, asalkan nama baik dan imej Pasukan dipelihara.

13.3.	Dalam siri No:74 pula saya ada merakamkan mengenai perbincangan menerusi telefon antara jam 1200 tengah malam(7.10.1998) hingga 1.00 pagi (8.10.1998)dengan KPN.

13.4.	Mengenai pendirian TSRN sendiri berkaitan siasatan ini pula,sila Tan Sri rujuk siri No:15 jam 9.30 hingga 11 malam,Ahad 27.9.1998, bertempat di-Pejabat Komander Brigade Tengah,Ceras.Dalam perjumpaan ini beliau secara one-to-one dengan saya mengarahkan untuk siasatan dijalankan secara berkecuali dan “to leave no stone unturned”.TSRN juga berpesan bahawa sebarang keputusan yang saya bakal ambil,hendaklah meletakkan imej Pasukan diatas segalanya.

14.	Selanjutnya,sejak 9.10.1998 tempo dalam “gelanggang” siasatan bertukar menjadi tegang.Beberapa kali berlaku pertembongan secara “head-on” antara TSGP dan saya.Tidak mendatangkan faedah kepada mana-mana pihak pun jika saya menghuraikan apa yang terkeluar dari mulut TSGP dan apa pula yang terkeluar dari mulut saya.Mungkin hanya akan menimbulkan permusuhan dan benci membenci antara pihak-pihak yang tidak berkenaan.Namun begitu saya telah mengambil langkah-langkah yang terdaya oleh saya, sepertimana yang saya telah jelaskan terperinci dalam perenggan 10.9.1 Surat Terbuka Pertama.Selanjutnya,tanpa sedikitpun menghiraukan nasihat, sergahan dan amaran daripada saya yang lebih tua dari beliau, TSGP terus melakukan pemalsuan untuk menutup pemalsuan terdahulu dan membenamkan keterangan untuk membenamkan keterangan sebelum itu.TSGP yang sebelum insiden mata-lebam itu mungkin bersih daripada sebarang salah laku jenayah,tetapi kini mengikut pengiraan saya sendiri; boleh dihadapkan dengan sekurang-kurangnya 6 dakwaan salah laku jenayah melibatkan pembuatan keterangan palsu dan menyorokkan dan/atau cuba membinasaka keterangan,kesalahan-kesalahan yang beliau cari sendiri.

14.1.	Lebih lama kes mata-lebam ini kekal,lebih banyak kesalahan tambahan yang mungkin akan tercipta,dan tidak hairan ramai lagi orang-orang yang tidak berkenaan akan terbabit, lebih-lebih lagi Pegawai-Pegawai Kanan kita yang bagus-bagus,terutamanya di-Jabatan Peguam Negara boleh menjadi korban keadaan, selain dari ianya merosakkan imej Negara.

I have met with Nazri in Parliament this morning, drawing his attention to Mat Zain’s Open Letter yesterday, in particular the new information on Anwar’s “black eye” attack  which if true would mean that police image and credibility had suffered a most unfair assault in the past 12 years and the time has come for a full and final closure of the incident which could restore police image and credibility.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 5:04 pm and is filed under
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Cabinet to query A-G over ‘black-eye’ case

By
Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

The Malaysian Insider

November 24, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — The Najib administration has instructed two Cabinet ministers to question Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail over his alleged involvement in the infamous 1998 “black-eye incident” involving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the Cabinet’s decision came after former police officer Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim claimed to have new information on the 12-year-old case that implicated Abdul Gani, the current Attorney-General.

“I’ve now been instructed (as a result of the Cabinet meeting), Datuk Rais (Minister of Information, Communications and Culture)  and myself, to meet and speak to the Attorney-General and we are now waiting for him to come back from Mekah,” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz told The Malaysian Insider today.

Mat Zain, the former Kuala Lumpur CID chief, had, in an open letter on Monday to Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar, called for a full closure of the alleged police assault on Anwar, volunteering information that could “restore” police image and credibility.

Nazri said Cabinet wanted to hear what Abdul Gani had to say before taking action.

“We want to hear from the Attorney-General (regarding the contents of the open letter),” he said.

“This is a serious matter. If he (Mat Zain) is telling the truth, we would have to go into the details… but until then, there is no decision yet.”

In a statement yesterday, DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said he had met Nazri on the matter.

Nazri, who is minister in charge of Parliament, had told Parliament two weeks ago that he would refer the claims against the A-G to the Cabinet as soon as possible after the Dewan Rakyat rejected Lim’s motion to deduct RM10 from Abdul Gani’s salary for “failure to discharge his duties”.

“I said to him (Lim) that I would bring this matter up to the Cabinet two Fridays ago, which I did, with the support of Datuk Seri Utama Rais Yatim,” Nazri (left) said.

Mat Zain, the policeman who investigated the assault on Anwar, claimed that an independent panel that cleared Abdul Gani and former IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan of fabricating evidence in the incident was unconstitutional.

In his statement, Mat Zain accused the country’s top lawyer of deceiving Cabinet over the independent panel.

He said there was no need for any royal commission of inquiry on the matter as the police were capable of resolving the case themselves.

Mat Zain also revealed that there had been an agreement between former IGP Tan Sri Rahim Noor, former Deputy IGP Tan Sri Norian Mai as well as Mat Zain on October 8, 1998, at 2.30pm that there would be “complete closure” to the black-eye case.

“It is important that I note that Rahim Noor was ready to take full responsibility in the black-eye incident, and his decision was made of his own accord,” said Mat Zain. “The closure of the case had been agreed to be done professionally, above board.”

Mat Zain said that Rahim was prepared to step down after the closure of the black-eye incident.

“But I found out that about 5-5.30pm on the same day, Allahyarham (the late) Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah, along with the then Datuk Abdul Gani Patail (now Tan Sri), had met with Rahim Noor at his office. At 6pm, I was then told by Tan Sri Norian to ‘continue investigations like normal’.

“I then understood that the agreement that we had reached mere hours ago had been cancelled. I was shocked and upset, but who was I to say anything at the time,” said Mat Zain.

The former policeman also accused Abdul Gani of falsifying testimonies relating to the black-eye incident.

He said the longer the case remained unresolved, the longer innocent officers would be accused of being involved in a cover-up of the case.

In July 2008, Anwar filed a police report accusing Abdul Gani, Mat Zain, Musa (then a senior investigation officer in 1998) and Dr Abdul Rahman Yusof of falsifying a medical report on his black-eye case.

Rahim, the IGP in 1998, had admitted he assaulted Anwar following a royal commission of inquiry probe in 1999.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 November 2010, 12:54 pm and is filed under
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Kangaroos in full view

by
Goh Keat Peng

Once thought to only exist in Australia, we now know better. In fact, even in Australia, these unique animals are more easily spoken about than viewed. In the sixties when on my first visit to that country, I was on the farm outside Perth and my hosts felt it their bounden duty to show this young Malaysian the real thing. So I was put on the front seat of the Land Rover and literally taken for a ride. The powerful vehicle went all over the bush land, in and out of large holes in the ground but eighty minutes of focused search found not a single one of those fascinating animals. The only real kangaroo I could speak of was the one on the lunch table which I partook of only after much coaxing by the gracious hostess!

How was I to know that in this day and time, to view kangaroos, any Malaysian or for that matter any visitor to our land, need not take the Air Asia flight to Australia nor get into a powerful Land Rover. Here in Kuala Lumpur, they need not even have to make their way to the zoo. They need to just go to Jalan Duta.

There, to your surprise, you will see varieties of kangaroos performing to a full gallery and taking on the worse human antics of all- going through the motion of convincing people in and outside the country that a fair procedure is indeed taking place which meets all ethical standards and rule of thumb which we can all be proud of.

With due apologies to those fair Australian creatures, the local variety is not very convincing. In fact many of them may be thought to be distinctly non-functioning. It could be that not unlike their Australian cousins  they are nocturnal creatures and therefore could be excused if their performance isn’t very convincing during a given day.

Whatever the reason, we the watching and hearing public deserve to see some better performance now before the whole thing becomes a complete farce which outsiders will not be kind enough to overlook.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 November 2010, 12:42 pm and is filed under
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Chong Eu a great Penangite, a great Malaysian, and a great patriot

By
Thomas Lee

Mysinchew.com

 2010-11-25

Wednesday 24 November 2010 was a sad day for Malaysians, especially Penangites. It was on that day that the beloved Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu passed away.

Chong Eu was born in Penang on Wednesday 28 May 1919 to a young medical doctor Dr Lim Chwee Leong and his wife Cheah Swee Hoon. He was given the name Chong Eu, which roughly translated from Chinese means “heaven’s blessing”.

Dr Lim Chwee Leong was just 22 years old when he graduated as medical doctor and left his hometown of Singapore to work and settle in Penang. The young doctor’s decision to make Penang his permanent abode was certainly a heavenly blessing for the island state as his first child Chong Eu was destined to be the person who would bring abundant blessings to the people of Penang.

Chong Eu was born and grew up during a very exciting epoch-making period of world history, involving two great World Wars, several national revolutions, especially those of Russia and China, many regional wars, including the Korean War and Vietnam War, and the emergence of the anti-colonialism liberation movement in the Third World countries.

Several months before Chong Eu was born, World War I that began in the middle of 1914 had just ended in late 1918. The world was then in the midst of recovering from the Great War, which involved more than 70 million military personnel, with nearly 10 million killed.

And during the month of Chong Eu’s birth, an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement called the May Fourth Movement was launched in China following student demonstrations in Beijing on 4 May 1919 to protest against the Treaty of Versailles, especially Article 156, which made Shando a territory under the Japanese administration. The May Fourth Movement was in the vogue during 1915 to1921, and was later called the New Culture Movement.

Hence, Chong Eu grew up in a world undergoing a process of transition and transformation, with nary a year passing without any new conflict or crisis somewhere in the world. Obviously, the cultural, socio-political, and intellectual and emotive impact and influence helped mould the growing intelligent young boy destined for greatness.

Chong Eu had his primary and secondary education in Penang. He was originally enrolled in a girls’ school, but was transferred to the Hutchings School where he completed his primary education, and went on to study at the famous Penang Free School, which produced, among other national leaders, the first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Chong Eu completed his secondary school in 1937 with excellent scholastic distinction and achievement, and went to England for his tertiary studies in 1938.

Few people know that Chong Eu studied law at Gray’s Inn before he took up medical studies at the University of Edinburgh as a King’s Scholar, graduating in 1944. His stint at Gray’s Inn proved to be a valuable experience and beneficial preparation for his life career as a politician and chief minister.

His time in England, which coincided with the period of World War II, lasting from 1939 to 1945, was not only an adventurous learning experience for him, but an enlightening exposure to the real suffering of people, especially after he observed the cruel atrocities and inhumanity of Nazism in Europe.

Chong Eu said that his decision to enter politics was largely due to the impact and influence of the ferocity of the socio-political storm sweeping the world during his student days in England.

Hence, Chong Eu felt strongly that people of principles should to come forward to stand up and be counted to help make the world a better place to live in.

Chong Eu told me this when I met him in Adelaide during the Penang Festival held there in 1974. I was then the publicity secretary and editor of the Malaysian Students Union in South Australia, and was helping the Penang state government in organising the first Penang Festival in Adelaide after the twinning of the two cities. Penang was founded by Captain Francis Light in 1786, while Adelaide was established by his grandson Colonel William Light in 1836.

As a politician, Chong Eu represents a rare breed of honest, bold, brave and courageous characters, who are undaunted and fearless in the defence of truth, honesty, freedom, and human rights.

For example, Chong Eu, who joined the MCA in 1952 and was its president from March 1958 to July 1959, quit as the president when he could not accept what he considered as unfair treatment of the party by the then Umno president Tunku Abdul Rahman, and was not fully supported by his party colleagues in his reform plan.

Chong Eu was perhaps the only MCA leader so far who dared to stand up fearlessly to the Umno leadership. He could have “behaved” himself and just do what the Umno leaders wanted him to do, like most of the MCA presidents after him, and he would have been given big position and great honour in the Alliance coalition federal government. But Chong Eu stood firm on his conviction and principles.

Even after his party Gerakan joined the Barisan Nasional in 1972, Chong Eu did not compromise his political beliefs and principles, and was much respected by the various prime ministers and Umno during the term of his office as Gerakan president and chief minister of Penang.

Chong Eu is surely a great Penangite, a great Malaysian, and a great patriot. The nation owns much to this great man. Much more could be written about him, but what is the most significant is that he is one person who has made Penang a great place to live and work in, and Penangites are forever in his debt.

He may be gone, but two great structures in Penang stand as testimonies to this great architect of Penang — Komtar and the Penang Bridge. Komtar is named after our second Prime Minister Tun Adbul Razak. I think we should name the Penang Bridge after Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 25 November 2010, 11:18 pm and is filed under
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Discontinue the Teoh Beng Hock inquest

 by
P. Ramakrishnan

We are gathered here today to express our solidarity with the Teoh family.

We are here to express our sorrow over the tragic death of Teoh Beng Hock. We are here to share the pain and anguish that his family is suffering on a daily basis.

Teoh Beng Hock’s death has outraged the conscience of this nation. It is difficult to understand how his death could have taken place in a secure area without the knowledge of MACC officials who had complete control over the premises.

His death has distressed us and has raised many questions of propriety in the manner he was treated by the investigating personnel. He was on his feet working the whole of Wednesday, 15 July 2009, when he was taken in at 5.00pm for questioning.

His cruel grilling continued into the wee hours of the next morning until 3.45am the next day — nearly 11 hours after he had gone into the MACC building.

Why should he be subjected to this inhuman torture when he was taken in as a witness to help the MACC?

It is public knowledge that one Tan Boon Wah, another witness, who was in the building at the same time as Beng Hock, had stated that he had to stand the whole time he was being questioned without food, sleep, rest or break.

Beng Hock’s session could not have been any different. He must have been deprived of food, denied sleep and rest and subjected to intense questioning for nearly 11 hours.

Anyone who had been subjected to this torture would have bolted from this hell hole when he was released at 3.45am. Why then didn’t he leave the place in a hurry?

How, why and when did he die?

Is it believable that his death took place without the knowledge of the MACC?

“How can a bright young man walk into MACC office as a witness, only to return as a dead body?” Lim Kit Siang rightly demanded to know.

But after more than one year we are still waiting for answers that are not forthcoming to reveal the truth.

We were told that the findings would be made known within two months. Now, after more than one year, we are nowhere nearer the truth; no one is any wiser when the findings would be concluded.

We are still in the dark as to what caused his death and who contributed to this tragic episode. The mystery surrounding Beng Hock’s death should have been vigorously and relentlessly pursued to unravel the truth at the shortest possible time.

But what we are witnessing is the sad fact that the inquest has not moved with the speed this issue deserves. There is no sense of urgency. All that we have witnessed are delays and denials adding to the agony and anguish to the Teoh family.

It is totally unfair to them that they should suffer this dereliction without any sign of closure to this tragedy.

There is now a ridiculous attempt to introduce so-called new evidence to suggest suicide. Suddenly a handwritten note has been discovered but which was not submitted as evidence at the beginning of the inquest, nor was this fact disclosed to the lawyers representing the Teoh family and the Selangor state government.

There was even this absurd suggestion that Beng Hock could have strangled himself. When asked by Gobind Singh how this could be possible, the DPP Abdul Razak Musa came across as a clown when he tried to choke himself.

I wish that he had succeeded and spared us the torment of listening to his ludicrous cross examination of Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand! There was yet another opportunity for him to escape the embarrassment that he was going through.

However, it is a pity that when Abdul Razak asked Dr Pornthip if she had jumped off a building, nobody took advantage of this and to ask him how one does that!

His demonstration would have ended this comic opera!

When one is seeking the truth, no stone should be left unturned; no scrap of evidence should be overlooked. But, unfortunately, this wasn’t the case with this inquiry.

According to the investigating officer, he found a note in Beng Hock’s sling bag but put it aside because he “did not realise the significance of it”.

What gave him that right to come to this conclusion? His duty and business should have been to sieve through every item that was in that sling bag for possible clues.

But he behaved like a clueless clot displaying a total lack of discernment.

The Attorney-General’s conduct was no better. The AG’s clarification – that when this note was finally brought to his attention on October 7, 2009, he wanted further investigations to be carried out — is indeed baffling.

He should have tendered this note to the coroner for the court to determine its authenticity and relevance to the case. To submit this so-called “new evidence” some 10 months later is totally unacceptable.

It only raises questions of ethics and propriety. From whatever angle one may look at this situation, there is only one inevitable conclusion — evidence has been clearly and surreptitiously suppressed.

Instead of assisting by all means to arrive at the truth, the AG’s Chambers have not acted in a transparent and honest manner by hanging on to this so-called “new evidence” that now suddenly seems to have assumed “significance”.

This so-called “new evidence” has unfairly disrupted the entire proceedings and made the inquiry untenable. If it had been tendered from the very beginning, the trend of questioning would have taken a different form and direction.

There seems to be a serious contradiction in the statement issued by the AG’s Chambers as to when the note was discovered.

In Paragraph 4, the statement reads: “According to the investigation officer, it was not found when he first searched the deceased’s sling bag after the incident.”

But in Paragraph 10, we are told: “However, recently the investigation officer owned up by admitting that he did in fact find the note when he searched the sling bag on July 17…”

What then is the truth? Why did the investigating officer lie in the first place? What was he trying to cover up? Why should we believe him?

We must unravel the mystery that shrouds his death. But in no way can we reconcile to the possibility of a suicide. Why would a young man about to marry the day after, a young man happily looking forward to becoming a father for the first time, want to take his life!

The inquest into the death of Teoh Beng Hock has been totally discredited. It has turned out to be a sham inquest. Nobody is going to believe the coroner’s verdict.

It is Aliran’s stand that the inquest should be disbanded and discontinued; it should make way for the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Anything short of this would be a travesty of justice. Only a Royal Commission can determine what caused his death and who contributed to this tragic episode.

Someone who had suffered terribly in the Nazi death camp put it rightly: “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

Yes, we couldn’t prevent the injustice that was meted out to Beng Hock but we can protest to express our outrage, to demand justice for the Teoh family; to mobilise support so that an injustice can be remedied.

* P. Ramakrishnan, the president of Aliran, was speaking at a Malaysians for Beng Hock forum in at the Han Chiang Shcool in Penang.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 25 November 2010, 12:51 pm and is filed under
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‘Malaysia, don’t go our way’ call rings out

by
M Krishnamoorthy

Malaysiakini

Nov 25, 10

Malaysians were urged not to take the path of religious fanaticism and not allow politicians to exploit religious or racial issues when campaigning for votes.

“If politicians use religion or race to sway the people’s minds then the country may head for disaster,” said Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad Ashafa in a public talk to an audience of over 200 last night at the Hussein Onn Eye Hospital.

Organised by MRA/ Initiatives of Change Malaysia, they concurred that religious leaders should be sincere, fair and mediate conflicts without any agenda for political advantage.

“Neither should politicians use religious leaders to influence the people, and in countries which have used such propaganda have torn their social fabric and were doomed,” Pastor Wuye said.

The net result of any wrong actions by politicians will be a political tsunami and governments can be brought down if religion or race is preached the wrong way to win the people’s support, Ashafa stressed.

Once these religious figures, Pastor Wuye and Imam Ashafa were bitter rivals, but now consider themselves as brothers. In fact, at one time, they each tried to have the other killed.

Force of two for change

James Wuye and Muhammed Ashafa are living proof that people can change, and that the urge for revenge can be replaced by an urge to for love, forgive, foster reconciliation, understanding and peaceful coexistence.

Both the religious leaders were awarded honorary doctorates from Glasgow University and the Open University of India. The DVD that portrays their experience won the first ‘Conflict Prevention’ prize awarded by the Jacques Chirac Foundation, Paris, France

The Imam and the Pastor is a documentary from the heart of Nigeria and represents a moving story of grassroots peace building that gives hope to humanity.

Originally, both leaders belonged to opposing religious militias in Nigeria, and were in constant war through Christian and Muslim militias.

Then both experienced a spiritual transformation and became activists for interreligious dialogue. Together in 1995 they created the Interfaith Mediation Centre (IMC) in the State of Kaduna in northern Nigeria.

They have since worked to pacify their country and to spread their method of dialogue to other countries.

Founded in 1995 in Kaduna, IMC trains teams of religious leaders and religiously motivated individuals in conflict resolution throughout the country.

They lead seminars and workshops in schools and universities on subjects ranging from democracy to interreligious dialogue. Religion as a factor of rapprochement is presented as part of their method.

“It’s the incompetent religious leaders who turn out to be ugly and instead of preaching compassion and they manipulate people who can be easily influenced by politicians. Be careful because politicians play the card to win votes. For this reason, religion and politics cannot be brought together,” said Imam Ashafa.

Go for basic issues advice

For that matter, Ashafa added that politicians should not play the card of identity but instead be issue based like looking into the improvement of water supply, transportation and fulfill other basic needs.

Nigeria is regarded as one of the most religiously sensitive places in the world, stressed Imam Ashafa, but what has our religiosity got to do with life.” We are also one of the most corrupt societies in the world”.

They were looking forward to their visit to Malaysia as they were captivated by the international advertisements that captioned Malaysia as truly Asia.

“You have a diversity of people in Malaysia that has to be cherished” they said. Pastor Wuye stressed that peace is cheap but war and violence are costly.

“Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue, communicate, communicate, and communicate,” Wuye stressed. “Even until you sweat but do not lose a pint of blood,” he added.

The two protagonists have experienced forgiveness and healing. “We have used our experience to strengthen the call for unity which is critical for humanity at this stage in history, even in Malaysia,” they said.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 25 November 2010, 3:41 pm and is filed under
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Tun Dr. Lim Chong  Eu 1919-2010  – Malaysia has lost last surviving giant of Merdeka era

With Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu passing yesterday after a month-long stroke, Malaysia has lost the last surviving giant of the Merdeka era who became Penang’s longest-serving Chief Minister.

Malaysia and Penang have lost a great son.

Tun Dr. Lim’s contribution to Malaysian nation-building in general and the Penang state and economy in particular  is acknowledged by all Malaysians.

Although we were opponents in the political and electoral arenas, I always have the highest respect and regard for  Tun Dr. Lim’s political struggles and integrity.

My deepest condolence to the bereaved family particularly Toh Puan Goh Sing Yeng, Chien Aun and Chien Cheng.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 25 November 2010, 4:19 pm and is filed under
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In the military, the non-Malay is ridden like a horse

Written by
Major (Rtd) D.Swami

Friday, 26 November 2010

Centre for Policy Initiatives

Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi remarked that non-Malays shun a military career because they lacked patriotism. His sense of history and of the contributions of the Chinese, Indians and our brothers from East Malaysia towards the sovereignty of Malaysia leaves something to be desired. Zahid’s is a racist and bigoted view, pure and simple.

I’ve previously blogged about the winners of valour awards, not including those who had laid down their lives, are maimed, and not forgetting the non-Malay police officers.

I guess when the Chinese and Indians were bleeding and dying for this country, Zahid might just have been a dirty glint in his father’s eyes. I am not insulting this dull fellow, just that this shallow-minded individual needs some input regarding who was the first Malaysian to be awarded the Pingat Gagah Berani. He was a Chinese! Sergeant Chong Yong Chin PGB of the First Federation Regiment.

Dey Zahid, I suppose you did not know that. Insults have to be politely reciprocated with civility, I am doing just that.

Did you not know who was the first recipient of the Pingat Gagah Berani in the Congo? That person too was a Chinese, Lieutenant Lee Ah Pow PGB, read about how shoddily he was treated too! It had to take Brigadier R.S. Noronha of the Indian army (during a UN peacekeeping mission in Congo) to recommend him for an award. Lt Lee had shown exemplary courage and tremendous restraint under fire, yet his own Malaysian high command overlooked his valour.

There was another young Chinese officer, Lt David Fu Chee Meng, who too was awarded the PGB at the Battle of Tanah Hitam.

So those guys were not patriotic enough for you? Here is my favourite, someone I know personally, Sergeant Choo Woh Soon PGB, my wife’s uncle. The short guy in the centre of the photo is Sergeant Choo Woh Soon PGB. This guy, patriotic enough for you?

How about this Indian officer and Chinese soldier dying together to save your sorry butt from the commies? Captain Shanmuganathan PGB and 207770 Ranger Mat Isa bin Hassan PGB, do not be deceived by the name Mat Isa, he was a Chinese.

How about this Indian officer who laid down his life at the ripe old age of 24? Captain Mohana Chandran al Velayuthan (200402) Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa. Not patriotic enough for you? Here is another Indian who got the PGB, Second Lieutenant Panir Chellvum a/l Velaithan PGB. Still not patriotic enough for you?

M’sian soldiers burn cross

How about this where a sorry excuse for an officer caused the death of 13 Italian airmen in the Congo. The Malay Major had shirked his responsibilities of providing the airmen with protection, placed them in danger by ordering them to be brought to the mess and allowed them to be captured by the rebels. The Major then further disgraced himself by ordering all the officers and men at the mess to surrender their weapons to the rebels who had surrounded them, which they did sheepishly.

Malaysia’s name had to be salvaged in this incident by Second Lieutenants N.H. Siebel PGB and Captain Maurice Lam PGB, notice their names, they were non-Malays.

How about the time in Bosnia where soldiers desecrated a Catholic Cross? Again the situation was salvaged by the non-Malays.  For posterity I have another link here about how the then Defence Minister Najib Razak excused the burning of Croation Catholic cross by two Malaysian UN peacekeepers stationed in Bosnia-Herzegovina as “unintentional”.

I will not even talk about the vandalising of the Hoba meteorite in Namibia.

Here is another Indian, who after serving a total of 29 years in both the police force and the army is denied his pension. The reason being he did not attend the weapons course and tactics course. What weapons and tactics course, when he and his men wiped out the remnants of the enemy in Selangor. What would his unshaved instructors teach him? Read about him, Captain Courageous aka Mukhtiar Singh s/o Sodagar Singh.

In any other army in the world today, they would have cited Mukhtiar Singh for courage and piled honours on him without any questions asked. Unfortunately he is an Indian in Malaysia, get that Zahid?

Here is a picture of an all Chinese group of Kinta Valley Homeguards who fought the Malayan Communist Party. More pictures here.

The problem with people like Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is he does not know about people like these Chinese and Indians who were willing to die for Malaysia unconditionally. They only wanted to be treated fairly. The current situation is like “some people are more equal than others”.

East M’sians discriminated against

People like Zahid are wind bags, full of foul air and all empty talk.

If you notice the minorities were significant in numbers in the forces when Malaysia was in danger, from the Japanese occupation of Malaya, the Emergency, Confrontation and the subsequent Emergency until the cessation of hostilities by the Malayan Communist Party.

Remember the Communist Party of Malaya did not surrender. It was a treaty for the cessation of hostilities. Freeing our Great Leader to push his agenda of Ketuanan Melayu, subsequently his achievements were … I shall just cite one, i.e. the amazing statement that Anwar Ibrahim socked himself in the left eye to gain public sympathy and give the police a bad name. Mahathir could not do many of the things he has done if the Malayan Communist Party was on the warpath as it would increase their numbers. Zahid, being an ardent fan of this old goat, is still playing to the gallery.

Soldiers who have served, the non-Malays, know what it is to be discriminated against because of their race and religion. Even the Bumiputras of Sabah and Sarawak are discriminated against, as most of them are Christians.

While at this, being an ex-soldier and all, I have seen many East Malaysian officers serving in combat units. Why did not any one of them make it to General? Not good enough?

Look at how brave, loyal and patriotic they are. See in the archives for the records I’ve compiled. After seeing the results of the Sibu ‘buy elections’, where the BN lost, I guess they saw the writing on the wall and recently promoted an Iban officer to become the first Iban who made it to General, Stephen Mundaw, in September this year.

Anyway that is peanuts, East Malaysians should demand and expect at least a 4-star General from amongst the Ibans, whose bodies have been littered across the battle fields in Malaysia. Their courage and ferocity in battle is unmatched.

Lack of promotion prospects

After having served many years and plodding along, being bypassed by juniors and incompetents, there are so many grievances. There is not enough space to write it all at one go. Is it not heart wrenching? You expect patriotism to burn brightly in the hearts of the non-Malays when our children are discriminated by virtue of race and religion?

Treat everyone equally on a level playing field and you will not need to ask for the non-Malays to defend this country. The numbers would be so huge that you would have to send most of them back.

In the military, the non-Malay is ridden like a horse, for the greater benefit of the majority. No rewards, when it comes to promotions and benefits … they forget you. You know about the old race horse, that it runs until it drops dead or is put out to pasture. Most non-Malays make it to the rank of Major, I am sure you have heard this before, about the infamous glass ceiling. That is the rank you have to be happy with.

You are not promoted on merit. I know of guys who can barely speak English but become Generals. During my time all the courses were in English. Ask the ex and serving non-Malays about the subtle hints to convert. They do not even respect your faith by suggesting that. If they’re always hinting to you that you should convert, it means they look down on you.

Religious and racial discrimination go hand in hand.

I have also had the privilege of seeing a General’s knees tremble, when he stepped out of my Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) as I helped him down. This was after an exchange of fire. I was the escort commander and he was riding in my IFV in Somalia.

A hundred non-Malays would, without hesitation and asking questions, charge a hill of 10,000 enemies to defend their country, Malaysia, if you treated them and their offspring as Malaysians and not as dhimmis and second-class citizens.

I could continue shellacking Ahmad Zahid until the cows come home but it is us who are to be blamed. He is the MP for Bagan Datuk, Perak. Those of us who continue supporting MCA and the MIC, are actually getting him elected year in, year out. Your votes have made him arrogant. If you notice his majority is actually shrinking. So the strongest message for the Defence Minister would be to boot this racist Umno supremacist out of Parliament in the next general elections.

Never forget.

————————————————————————–

This article, first published Nov 12, is taken from the blog Seventh Rangers (Mech) and reproduced here with the author’s permission and some minor editing by CPI.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 26 November 2010, 6:47 pm and is filed under
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Keen To Join “BN Baru” But Needed Answers To these Questions First

Letters

by
Richard Loh

Very interesting that ‘Umno controlled BN’ is now opening the door for direct membership. To avoid confusion over the many questions that arises with this introduction, let me called it “BN Baru”. There are many confused statements coming out from the various leaders of what this ‘BN Baru’ constitutes.

Fellow Malaysians, before we rush in to sign up, we need to clarify a few things first in order not to get into ‘Umno controlled BN’ entrapment or deceit.

We need to ask these questions and hopefully the cybertroopers can forward them to their master for answers.

Q1 : “Najib said last week that the historic decision to amend its charter is an effort to make BN more inclusive and open to all who share its concept, principles and policies of the coalition.”

Many left ‘Umno controlled BN’ is because they are not happy with it’s concept, principles and policies. So what is the difference in this “BN Baru”? Have we got to endure the same old racist policies, abiding by master Umno’s concept and the principle of ‘ketuanan melayu’?

Q2 : Who will lead this “BN Baru”, Umno supreme council, BN supreme council or members will elect their own “BN Baru” supreme council?

If “BN Baru” is going to be under Umno supreme council or BN supreme council, then, what is the different, they are all race base and members will have to abide by their policies.

Q3 : Are capable members of this “BN Baru” allowed to stand for elections as MP or SA and under which of the coalition party or will it be under the “BN Baru” new flag?

Q4 : As members of this “BN Baru” can we object ‘Umno controlled BN’ policies of discrimination, racism and unfair treatment.

If we are not allowed to object or go against bad policies implemented by ‘Umno controlled BN’, then, what is the difference of having this direct membership when members have to bow to what ‘Umno controlled BN’ says or order.

Q5 : Will you allow members of this “BN Baru” to call for total transparency in governing, separation of power to MACC, PDRM and Judiciary and allow them to serve the public and country without fear or favor?

“The BN Rakan Muda Club is for those between 18 and 21 who want to support the coalition before they are allowed to vote at the age of 21.”

Q6 : Is this Club legal?

Youth between the ages of 18 and 21 are mostly students and undergraduate, if I am not wrong there is an act that disallowed students and undergraduate to be involved in politics. Is the ‘Umno controlled BN’ government going to remove this act to allow them to participate or a new act that allowed student and undergraduate to participate in politic ONLY if they join “BN Baru”?

Q7 : It is the understanding that this “BN Baru” is open to all races, does it means that the very much dislike of separating Malaysians into Bumi and Non-Bumi will come to an end?

Q8 : Will members of this “BN Baru” have the opportunity to climb the ladder to become elected as Prime Minister one day, irrespective of their races?

Q9 : Many youths today deplored the use of religion and race for political mileage. If I were to join this “BN Baru” am I allowed to campaign to stop the use of religion and race in politics?

Q10 : How far and to what extent can this “BN Baru” members go?

We need to know the involvement we will be into, active, passive or just as slave that follow orders from ‘Umno controlled BN’. If this is the case why the need to have this “BN Baru” direct membership that are no different from the present ‘Umno controlled BN’?

Until we have the answers as to where we stand as members of this “BN Baru”, we do not want to go in and regret that this “BN Baru” is going to behave and act like the same old ‘Umno controlled BN’ way of politics.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 26 November 2010, 12:55 am and is filed under
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8 motions to dock ministers’ salaries next week

S Pathmawathy

Malaysiakini

Nov 27, 10

Several opposition parliamentarians have vented their displeasure at certain targeted ministers and two high ranking civil servant by filing motions to slash their salaries by RM10. One was RM100, the set limit.

The current parliament sitting saw eight pay-cut motions being tabled, several being high-profile ministries.

So far two such motions filed by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) had named attorney-general (AG) Abdul Gani Patail and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Abu Kassim, both shot down by the Dewan Rakyat.

Lim’s motion against Abdul Gani claimed that the AG stood accused of fabricating evidence in Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s “black eye” case in 1998.

Meanwhile, he wanted the House to punish Abu Kassim (below) because for the last 16 years Malaysia’s score had been the worst in Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index for the Asia-Pacific region.

“It’s my impression that the these are the highest number of salary deduction motions in one sitting,” said Lim, a veteran legislator.

The sitting is now debating the next Budget or Supply Bill 2011 is in its committee stage, so the remaining six motions filed under Standing Orders 66(9) will be dealt with from next week.

According to accepted practice these motions ultimately mean a vote of no confidence in the ability of the respective ministers.

They are expected to be reply to the allegations and questions raised impromptu which must be resolved before the respective ministers can proceed to wrap up their arguments on other questions raised during the debate.

Defence Ministry

Ipoh Barat parliamentarian M Kulasegaran, affronted by Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s comment that non-Malays are *uninterested in joining the armed forces because they lack patriotism, insisted that the baseless remark must be explained.

He had stirred up a storm when he said that non-Malays lacked a sense of patriotism, in defending his reason for the low number of non-Malay recruits in the military.

Tourism Ministry

Minister Ng Yen Yen, had come under fire for her exorbitant travel expanses and several language booboos in tourism promotional brochures that were distributed overseas.

It was reported that the ministry has spent 40 percent more for its minister’s travels, while the expenditure for activities to promote tourism had dropped to70 percent.

Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) had asked for a breakdown of the expenses incurred by Ng and her officers’ work excursions locally and abroad as well as the cost of promoting Malaysia locally and overseas.

Clearly unhappy with the explanation that was provided by Deputy Minister James Dawos Mamit, Tian had filed the motion last week going for the maximum cut of RM100 from Ng’s (left) salary.

Works Ministry

Shah Alam PAS MP Khalid Samad is expected to bring up the delay in the construction of the new Shah Alam Nospital which was initially scheduled for completion in November 2011.

Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor had explained that only after the Public Works Department (PWD) had completed the re-tendering of the project would construction could restart.

The PWD had terminated the services of main contractor Sunshine Fleet Sdn Bhd on Sept 3, after it had fallen considerably behind schedule.

Energy, Green Technology and Water

Selangor which is caught in an ongoing tussle among water players Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB), Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) and Konsortium ABASS is probably Kuala Selangor PAS MP Dzulkefly Ahmad’s main contention against Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui.

Main concessionaire Saybas has threatened to drag the state to court for refusing to allow tariff hikes in accordance with an agreement struck with the previous BN government.

However, the Selangor government has refused to allow this while frustrating federal goverment attempts to take over its water assets as part of a nationwide effort to federalise water management under the National Water Services Commission Act 2006 and Water Services Industries Act 2006.

Concerned over the high number of accidents, especially those involving public transportation like buses, Kubang Kerian PAS MP Salahuddin Ayub filed a motion to dock minister Kong Cho Ha’s (right) salary for negligence of duty.

Recently, the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) had revoked express bus and charter licences with immediate effect of two companies whose vehicles had been involved in separate tragic accidents last month.

On Oct 10, an express bus owned by Syarikat Kuala Lumpur-Malacca Express was involved in five vehicle pile-up that killed 12 people at the Km223 of the North-South Expressway near Simpang Ampat, Malacca.

On Oct 29, seven people died in an accident at Km36 of the Karak Highway, near Genting Sempah. They were among 44 people on a chartered bus belonging to MM2H

Information and Communication Technology

Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) ,meanwhile, will probably highlight the poor reach of Internet and broadband services in rural areas.

Minister Rais Yatim’s son was recently accused of being one of the beneficiaries of the ministry’s RM1 billion grant to improve broadband access.

The Malay Mail had reported that blogs, Taikors and Taikuns (TnT) and bigdogdotcom had alleged that this telecommunication company was one of nine to have profited from government funds set aside for the purpose.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 27 November 2010, 3:56 pm and is filed under
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MIC Youth secretary C. Sivarrajah misleads public with false information to warp no-racial-quota education loans by Selangor State Government into a racial issue

by
Teresa Kok

Selangor State Senior EXCO and Member of Parliament for Seputeh

27 November 2010

MIC Youth Secretary C. Sivarrajah has copied MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker to warp my good intentioned effort to openly encourage students from all races to apply for Selangor State Government’s no-racial-quota education loans into a ploy to mislead the public about how students of Indian background have supposedly been marginalized.

The fact is that in 2010, Selangor offered the education loan to 28 students of Indian background and not only 4 as Sivarrajah claims. In his quest to be a “hero”, he has resorted to deflating the true number of Selangor’s positive efforts by 7 times!

Furthermore, the total number of education loans offered by Selangor in 2010 is 525 and not the trumped up 4000 figure provided.

I reiterate that the Selangor State Government education loan has no racial quota imposed. All students are judged based on their academic merit and family household income.

The number of students who apply for and accept the Selangor educations loans is not high because they also have the option of applying for and accepting Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN) loads which offer far larger sums.

It is thus disgraceful of Sivarrajah to twist Selangor’s education loan which assists students regardless of their skin colour into a racial issue to attack Selangor Pakatan Rakyat.

If Sivarrajah and MIC was genuinely concerned for Indian students, they would object to Public Service Department scholarships’ racial quotas instead of silently ignoring it.

This episode shows that Sivarrajah and MIC is still trapped in an outdated race-based paradigm of their own creation and cannot see beyond their own narrow political interests while remaining blind and indifferent to the genuine needs of all Malaysians as a whole.

(The correct figures are actually 12 out of 525 recipients of Selangor education loan in 2010, and not 4000 as NKKhoo had mistakenly thought at the time. Original false info came from statement by MCA’s Ti Lian Ker. The full statistics can be seen on
Teresa’s blog
.

(Unfortunately, various newspapers and politicians have knowingly or unknowingly picked up the 4000 number and been using it to criticise Teresa.)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 27 November 2010, 6:29 pm and is filed under
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