Race quotas, politics led to falling UM standards, says World Bank study

by Leslie Lau

Executive Editor

The Malaysian Insider

Oct 17, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — A World Bank publication has found that standards at Universiti Malaya have fallen and the institution has been kept at a disadvantage because of race-based admission quotas and political interference in university management.

In contrast, Singapore’s decision to prioritise research, keeping English as the medium of instruction and a merit-based admissions policy have all contributed to the success of the National University of Singapore’s success, according to “The Road to Academic Excellence,” which studies what contributes to a world-class research university.

The study also noted that Malaysian secondary school students are not well prepared for tertiary education.

It points out that the Malaysian education system promotes rote learning, conformity and uniformity rather than fresh and creative thinking.

The study is led by two scholars — Philip Altbach and Jamil Salmi — while various chapters see contributions from various academics.

Salmi, a Moroccan education economist attached to the World Bank, also notes that “disturbing political developments, from the burning of churches to the whipping of a woman for drinking beer in public,” also cast a shadow on Malaysia’s “image as an open and tolerant society.”

The comparisons between UM and NUS is contained in a chapter entitled “The National University of Singapore and the University of Malaya: Common Roots and Different Paths.”

The chapter is authored by Hena Mukherjee, a former Universiti Malaya department head with a doctorate in education from Harvard University, and Poh Kam Wong, an NUS Business School professor.

According to the study, “at an early stage, the Singapore government realised the universities’ role in sustaining economic growth.

“In contrast, after 1970, UM’s institutional goals reflected the New Economic Policy, an affirmative action plan for ethnic Malays and indigenous groups, put in place in the wake of disastrous 1969 ethnic riots that took the lives of hundreds of people on both sides of the racial divide.,” the study found.

The authors said that apart from the student quota system, the NEP translated into more scholarships to Bumiputeras, special programmes to facilitate their entry into higher education institutions, and the use of the Malay language in place of English in the entire education system by 1983.

“In UM and in government, the policy impact spiralled upward so that Bumiputera staff members, over time, secured almost all senior management, administrative, and academic positions.

“As NUS kept pace with the demands of a growing economy that sought to become competitive internationally, with English continuing as the language of instruction and research, UM began to focus inward as proficiency in English declined in favour of the national language — Bahasa Malaysia — and the New Economic Policy’s social goals took precedence.”

The study noted however that there has been widespread recognition that the implementation of affirmative action policies in Malaysia has hurt the higher education system, sapping Malaysia’s economic competitiveness and driving some (mainly Chinese and Indians) to more meritocratic countries, such as Singapore.

In the broader study, the lead authors found that research was an important element in the making of a world-class university, as well as top-grade talent.

“We’re both convinced that serious research universities are important in almost all societies,” Altbach, who is the director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, told the New York Times last week in an interview.

Said Altbach: “Independence, luck, persistence, some kind of strategic vision, adequate resources — usually, but not always, public resources — good governance structures, good leadership, the ability to attract good students and so on. But we have found that the quality of the faculty is really crucial.”

Salmi, who co-ordinates the World Bank’s activities related to higher education, told the same newspaper of their new 390-page study, which will be released later this month, that their advice is like that supposedly given for a rabbit stew recipe: “First, catch your rabbit.” Only in this case the advice would be: “First, catch your faculty.”

“The difference between a good university and great university comes down to talent.”

                This entry was posted on Monday, 17 October 2011, 9:05 pm and is filed under
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Save Kampung Tambatuon

In May this year I visited Kampung Tambatuon at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu and which will be totally drowned in a proposed RM450 million Tambatuon Dam project.

Although the proposed Tambatuon Dam had been mooted for two years, there had been no proper and full consultation by the relevant authorities, including the MP for Kota Belud, who has become the strongest advocate for the Dam project, with the people who would be directly affected with the destruction of their traditional habitat and way of life.

The people of Kampung Tambatuon and concerned communities have protested to the various state authorities against the proposed Tambatuon Dam project.

For instance, there is the  memorandum to the Sabah Chief Minister and other authorities  by the Jawatankuasa Induk Badan Bertindak Bantahan Pembinaan Empangan Sungai Kadamaian Kampung Tambatuon in  November 2010, signed by its Pengerusi Jahim Singkui, Ketua Kampong Kampong Tambatuon  Amin Goling, Ketua Kampung Kampung Ratau, Mait Matundian, Ketua Kampung Bundu Paka Singan Loki, Wakil Mukim Kabayau Sayhui Sumbin and Ketua Kampung, Kampung Lingkubang Kubing Sudompong, entitled “Memorandum Bantahan Rancangan Pembinaan Empangan Tambatuon Di Kampung Tambatuon – Sungai Kedamaian – Kota Belud”, which read:

“Sebagaimana Yang Berhormat telah sedia maklum bahawa pembinaan empangan di sungai Kadamaian yang terletak di Kampong Tambatuon, Kota Belud akan mengakibatkan Kampung Tambatuon sebuah perkampungan asli yang telah wujud sejak sebelum Malaysia merdeka dan sedang berkembang maju akan tenggelam sementara tiga buah perkampungan lagi akan dipindahkan iaitu Kampung Bundu Paka, Kampung Lingkubang dan Kampung Kaung Ulu.

“Sesungguhnya kami penduduk kampong yang terlibat amat terkejut dan kecewa kerana seolah olah pembinaan empangan tersebut tidak dibertimbangkan kesan baik dan buruk bukan sahaja kepada penduduk kampong yang terlibat tetapi juga kesan yang menyeluruh iaitu bencana yang mungkin berlaku kepada penduduk di sepanjang sungai Kadamaian dan di seluruh daerah Kota Belud seandainya pembinaan empangaten ini nanti mengalami masalah yang tidak dijangka akan berlaku.

“Maka dengan itu, kami berharap dengan memorandum ini pihak Kerajaan Negeri Sabah memastikan agar kehidupan kami terus terjamin dengan MEMBATALKAN RANCANGAN PEMBINAAN EMPANGAN TAMBATUON di Kampung Tambatuon ini. Ini juga adalah selaras dengan konsep 1MALAYSIA, RAKYAT DIDAHULUKAN, PENCAPAIAN DIUTAMAKAN.

“Sebagai makluman awal pihak Kerajaan Negeri Sabah dan Yang Berhormat Datuk, kami telah tinggal, mendiami dan mengusahakan kawasan kawasan kami di kampong kami sejak dari datuk nenek moyang kami yakni sekurang kurangnya 8 generasi (Menurut cerita datuk-nenek kami mungkin sudah 17 generasi). Sebagai penduduk yang memegang status Warganegara Malaysia dan merupakan Anak Negeri Sabah, kami sedar dan percaya bahawa kami berhak keatas kehidupan dan tanah adat kami. Pihak Kerajaan Malaysia juga telah memberi pengiktirafan dan komitmen untuk menghormati Hak Hak Orang Asal Sedunia dengan menyokong dan menerima deklarasi Pertubuhan Bangsa Bangsa Bersatu Berkenaan Hak Hak Orang Asal Sedunia.”

The time has come for Parliament and the Federal Government to take fully into account the views, grievances and concerns of the people of Kampung Tambatuon and adjacent kampungs as well as their unanimous stand that the authorities “BATALKAN SERTA MERTA CADANGAN RANCANGAN PEMBINAAN EMPANGAN TAMBATUON DI KAMPONG TAMBATUON DI SUNGAI KADAMAIAN, KOTA BELUD ATAU MEMINDAHKANNYA DI TEMPAT YANG TIDAK MENYUSAHYKAN PENDUDUK ORANG ASAL”.

The worst flooding in decades of the region’s rice growing areas in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos  and Vietnam – with about 1.5 million ha of padi fields or about the size of 21 Singapores having been damaged or are at risk from floods – has again brought to the fore the problem of food security for Malaysia.

This however cannot detract from the need for the people who will be directly affected by the proposed Tambatuon Dam, whether from Kampung Tambatuon, the other kampungs on Sungai Kadamaian and in Kota Belud to be  fully consulted and involved  in every step of the decision-making process about whether  a Tambatuon Dam is necessary, or whether increasing   padi yields and Malaysia’s comparatively low rice productivity is a better way to look after Malaysia’s food security; taking cognisance of the fact that the problem in Kota Belud is not that there is not enough water but too much water with very inefficient drainage and irrigation system;b whether a series of small dams rather than a mega-dam would be more appropriate and sustainable and the need for structural and institutional reforms whether in size of landholdings, susidies and price of padi and the role of Bernas and its Sabah subsidiary Sazarice.

I call on all the relevant government authorities whether at federal or state level to fully consult and involve the people who will be directly affected by the dam project before a final decision is reached.

Speech (7) in Parliament on the 2012 Budget on Monday 17th October 2011

                This entry was posted on Monday, 17 October 2011, 4:16 pm and is filed under
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Teoh Beng Hock and Sarbaini – victims of MACC

3. Continued degradation instead of restoration of independence, professionalism and integrity of key national institutions in the country.

(a) Great flaw of TBH RCI report – failure to affix responsibility for TBH’s death on MACC despite evidence galore

The Teoh Beng Hock Royal Commission of Inquiry did not contribute to the restoration of public confidence in the independence, professionalism and integrity of key national institutions but their continued degradation.

A great flaw of the Teoh Beng Hock (TBH) Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report is its failure to affix responsibility for Beng Hock’s death on the MACC although there were evidence galore before the RCI proceedings.

It was not just persons, namely various MACC officers led by Hishammuddin Hashim the then Selangor MACC Deputy Director and the “mastermind” of the illegal and massive 33-officer MACC “operation”, who must bear responsibility for Beng Hock’s death but also the institution of MACC as well.

The RCI report only made oblique references to the MACC’s role and responsibility for Beng Hock’s death without going for the jugular to pinpoint directly to MACC’s liability and responsibility.

This is most unsatisfactory and an abdication of responsibility of the TBH RCI on its specific term of reference “to enquire into the death of Teoh Beng Hock and the circumstances surrounding and contributing to his death”.

For instance, Para 336 of the TBH RCI said: “336: We are of the view that the death of TBH should not be in vain and all attempts should be made to improve the functioning of the MACC and the administration of criminal justice in the country as a result of our inquiry into the workings of the MACC. The evidence adduced showed that the MACC officers were prepared to go to great lengths to lie.”

The scandal of Beng Hock’s tragic death at the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009 is not just MACC officers “were prepared to go to great lengths to lie” but the MACC as an institution which went to great lengths to participate in a conspiracy of silence and lies to pervert the course of justice to “cover up” the actual causes and circumstances of Beng Hock’s death.

The TBH RCI pinpointed Hishammuddin Hashim as “the seniormost officer who was in overall command of the operation” who was “clearly accountable” for what transpired to TBH at the Selangor MACC – causing his death.

But at present, Hishammuddin has remained scotfree as full-fledged senior MACC officer who has merely been taken off investigation duties when he and other MACC officers should be charged for causing Beng Hock’s death.

Beng Hock’s death would would been “in vain” if firstly, his killers remain free and unpunished; and secondly, the MACC is not held responsible and liable for his death and instead allowed to “go to great lengths” to participate in a “cover-up” of the actual causes and circumstances of Beng Hock’s death at the TBH RCI, with MACC officers telling “lies after lies” at the RCI.

When there should be condemnatory strictures, the TBH RCI merely observed weakly that instead of “being impartial in assisting us to arrive at the truth of what happened to TBH on that fateful night of the 15th and early morning of the 16th”, MACC took sides with the MACC Counsel Datuk Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah defending the MACC officers called to testify.

The Bar Council, in its submission to the TBH RCI was more direct and straightforward in its criticism of the MACC’s role at the royal commission of inquiry. It said:

“One would have expected the MACC to have led the charge in this inquiry to ascertain the truth and thereby restore its credibility. Instead, it failed to draw a distinction between itself and the officers, and chose to align itself with its officers who may have been involved, responsible and/or privy to the cause of death of Teoh Beng Hock. The absence of separate representation is telling. MACC as a whole chose to defend the actions of its officers rather than assist in the investigation. The MACC adopted the posture of a defendant throughout the course of this inquiry.

“The Commission has had to deal with witnesses primarily from MACC who have either been evasive, misleading and/or lied. It has also been shown that the MACC had suppressed, tampered with and destroyed evidence.

“In the circumstances, it has been a difficult task to piece together the evidence to establish what actually transpired at Plaza Masalam leading to Teoh Beng Hock’s death.”

Why did the TBH RCI shirk from its responsibility to censure the MACC for its role at the RCI which “suppressed, tampered with and destroyed evidence”, frustrating and perverting the course of justice at the TBH RCI to find out the actual causes and circumstances of Beng Hock’s death?

The Bar Council in its submission said the RCI provided “classic evidence of the saying that an institution is only as good as its people.” It continued:

“ It is important that the officers of MACC tasked with preventing, detecting and eradicating corruption possess the qualities of integrity, independence and intelligence, what may be conveniently referred to as the three “I”s.

“Whilst the Commissioners have recognised that MACC as an institution must be preserved and its image, reputation and functioning enhanced, it must also be recognised that this can only be brought about if the people entrusted with the powers of the institution were brought to task for abuse.”

The TBH RCI has ended without MACC and MACC officers being held to task for their ultimate abuse – causing Beng Hock’s death while under the control, care and custody of MACC!

A  “golden opportunity” was missed by the RCI to examine why the MACC is “world’s apart in terms of repute, public perception and functioning” from Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) – when MACC is supposed to be modelled after the ICAC!

Based on the TBH RCI proceedings, the Bar Council recommended that the RCI should make a finding that the MACC and its officers should be held responsible for TBH’s death and that they had also perpetrated a cover up on the causes and circumstances of TBH’s death at the RCI.

If Beng Hock’s death is not to be in vain, both MACC and its officers must be held responsible for his death and cover-up.

Justice for Beng Hock demands that there should be a re-opening of inquiry into Beng Hock’s killers by a high-level special investigations squad, to pursue the new evidence and leads provided by the RCI and to break the conspiracy of “blue wall of silence”of MACC officers to pinpoint and to bring to book Beng Hock’s killers.

Although a RCI has not proved to be efficacious and effective in ensuring justice, calls for its establishment will continue to be made if it remains the only recourse open to the aggrieved parties.

This is why the family of the second case of mysterious MACC death from height, Ahmad  Sarbaini Mohamad, has rejected the coroner’s “death by misadventure” verdict on his death and is demanding a RCI.

There are many suspicious circumstances about the 56-year-old Customs assistant director Sarbaini falling nine metres to his  death at the MACC KL Office on April 6,  especially why  the CCTV footage during Sarbaini’s visit to the MACC Kuala Lumpur office was intentionally erased with  testimony by a police expert from the police forensics labs in Cheras that the CCTV (footage) had been tampered with by someone skilled.

I call on all MPs to support this call and urge the Prime Minister to announce such a RCI into Sarbaini’s death in the winding-up of the debate.

Speech (4) in Parliament on the 2012 Budget on Monday 17th October 2011

                This entry was posted on Monday, 17 October 2011, 3:46 pm and is filed under
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Why Malaysian universities fallen so low in international rankings?

Is Malaysia on the cusp of a major national transformation to restore national unity,  achieve excellence and regain international competitiveness after the slew of policy initiatives, like the “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” and the impementation of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) with seven National Key Result Areas (NKRAs), Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) with 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs), the New Economic Model with eight Strategic Reform Initiatives (SRIs), and latest the Political Transformation Programme to repeal and reform undemocratic laws?

We are still very far from it and the following events and incidents in the past few weeks and months are  salutary reminders of this solemn fact that we still have a very long way to go to have any transformational mindset and mentality, viz:

1. Exclusion of Malaysian universities from Times Higher Education (THE) 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12.

The recent release of the Times Higher Education (THE) 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12, where not a single Malaysian university is included, has punctured the elation and euphoria just two months ago over the QS 200 World University Rankings 2011/12 which saw University of Malaya making to the top 200 Top Universities moving 40 places to 167 compared to 2010.

In the QS World University Rankings 2011/12, four other Malaysian universities slid down the rankings – University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) ranked 279 this year compared to 263 in 2010; Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) ranked 335 (309 last year); Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) ranked 358 (319 last year) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) at between 401 and 450 (365 last year).

But in the just-released THE 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12, none of the Malaysian universities made it into the placings.

A total of 60 Asian Universities made it into the THE 400 Top World University Ranking, with 16 from Japan, 10 from China,  eight from Taiwan, seven from South Korea, six from Hong Kong, two from Singapore, and one each from India and Thailand.

Of special interest is the inclusion of Mahidol University, which made the local headlines during the inquest into the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock in August last year, when the MACC Legal Counsel Abdul Razak Musa made a spectacle of himself when he attacked the qualifications of  renowned Thai forensic pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand as not recognised in Malaysia, earning her rebuttal that Mahidol is one of the world’s top ranked universities – which is again confirmed by the latest THE 400 Top World University Ranking.

The Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin in his response said that Malaysian universities will be ready to be part of the Times Higher Education top 400 ranking in six to seven years from now.

He said the THE ranking is based 62.5 per cent on high impact research and citations, which is still a new area for local universities.

This is a most shocking admission. When the QS World University Rankings were announced in September, Khaled said this showed that Malaysian universities are competitive – as reflected by seven Malaysian universities ranked in the top 600 bracket out of more than 30,000 universities globally which participated in the exercise.

But he has a different excuse for the adverse THE rankings.

We should not be too obsessed with the different university rankings but we cannot  apply double standards claiming them to be relevant and important when our universities are ranked while dismissing the rankings as irrelevant and unimportant when our universities are excluded.

We must accept that the annual university rankings by reputable organisations or institutions provide an useful assessment of the international ranking and competitiveness  of our universities.

What Malaysians want to know is why the country’s leading universities, in particular the premier university, the University of Malaya and USM, which was acclaimed at the apex university, could not hold their  ground with other universities in the Asian-Pacific region as they  had started with comparative rankings.

For instance, in the fifties and sixties, University of Malaya was on par with other universities in the region – like the National University of Singapore, the University of Hong Kong and regarded as superior to most universities in Australia.

Today, in the THE 400 World University Ranking 2011-12, the University of Hong Kong is ranked No. 34, University of Melbourne 37, Australian National University 38, National University of Singapore 40, University of Sydney No. 58, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 62, University of Queensland 74,Monash University 117, Chinese University of Hong Kong 151, Nanyang Tecnological University 169, University of Auckland 173, University of New South Wales 173, University of Western Australia 189, City University of Hong Kong 193, etc.

Australia itself has got 21 universites in the THE list.

Fifty years ago, Malaysians would regard the University of Malaya as at par or even superior to the hundreds of universities listed in the THE Top 400 World University Ranking – and reading such a list should be a sombre reminder as to how low our premier university have fallen in the international ranking of universities.

Why did it happen? Are we prepared to learn from its mistakes? And if we are not prepared to make our universities great institutions, what is the national transformation that we are talking about?

Speech (2) in Parliament on the 2012 Budget on Monday 17th October 2011

                This entry was posted on Monday, 17 October 2011, 3:29 pm and is filed under
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Attack on Guan Eng’s son is ‘gutter politics’, says Pakatan

By
Shannon Teoh
 | October 18, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) top leadership came out in full force today to defend Lim Guan Eng, calling allegations by Umno against the DAP secretary-general’s son “the lowest gutter politics” seen in decades.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told a press conference after a PR presidential council meeting that the accusations showed that Umno leaders “know no limits when it comes to clinging on to power.”

“Attacking not just leaders but their families … it is disgusting,” the PKR de facto leader said.

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang called the allegations, which centre around the alleged conduct of Guan Eng’s son in school and allegations about the subsequent use of his father’s name to escape punishment, “gutter politics of the lowest I have seen in over 40 years of politics.”

“I call on the prime minister and deputy prime minister to state their stand on how they would feel if their children or grandchildren were the subject of such baseless slander. Is this their political transformation?” said Kit Siang, who is the grandfather of the 16-year-old.

Guan Eng said today he was furious with the “barbaric lies” made about his teenage son by “pro-Umno ferocious beasts” and singled out Khairy Jamaluddin and other party leaders for perpetrating the allegations with snide comments on blogs and social media sites.

The Penang chief minister pointed to the allegations highlighted in Bukit Gelugor Umno division chairman Dr Novandri Hasan Basri’s blog and a subsequent comment posted by Umno Youth chief Khairy on his Twitter account.

Dr Novandri and other bloggers also accused Lim of paying RM200,000 to keep the scandal out of the media and said the chief minister had then transferred his son to another school.

Using the Twitter handle @Khairykj, Khairy had written, “Mungkin dia roboh Kampung Buah Pala sebab nak ganti dengan Kampung Buah Dada” in response to another tweet by pro-Umno blogger “@PapaGomo”. [English translation: Maybe he destroyed Kampung Buah Pala because he wanted to replace it with Kampung Buah Dada.]

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang also said that such attacks on sensitive issues showed that Barisan Nasional (BN) had entered election mode.

“They should keep this disease of slander within their own parties,” the Marang MP said.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 5:35 pm and is filed under
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Fitnah galore

Tweets
@limkitsiang
:-

How PM/DPM feel if their children/grandchildren victims of such despicable/contemptible gutter attack built on lies?
ow.ly/70wLK

3:54pm

Will Najib/M’ddin condemn such despicable attack on innocent children by Umno cybertroopers? Is this Najib’s “political transformation”?

3:57pm

Fitnah 1:Kes pencabulan di bulan May sebelum cuti sekolah. Fitnah 2:Bayaran tunai RM200 ribu untuk tutup mulut kes selepas tuntutan RM500k.

4:27pm

Fitnah 3: RM200k bayar oleh pihak pemaju. Fitnah 4: “Dengan angkuh dan sombongnya dia berkata ‘apa you boleh buat,I anak CM!’.

4:30pm

Fitnah 5: “Selamatkan Anak Guan Eng,Kroni Dapat Projek?”

4:31pm

And other fitnah attacking an innocent student just to score political points against LGE! Y has politics descended to such a gutter level?

4:35pm

And the girl who was alleged to be the victim was not even a student in his school or class!

4:37pm

Confessed v sad/down/disheartened last 2 days unable 2protect my grandkids from such heartless cruelty/viciousness.Najib/Mddin condone them?

4:44pm

My grandson nvr met saw or knew girl, alleged 2b victim. Could not have cos she is not even from Penang. @n_izzah Fitnah wajib ditolak #fb

5:40pm

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 6:01 pm and is filed under
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Guan Eng slams pro-Umno ‘beasts’ for targetting son in ‘barbaric lies’

By
Clara Chooi
 | October 18, 2011

The Malaysian Insider (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Lim Guan Eng said today he was furious with the “barbaric lies” made about his young son by “pro-Umno ferocious beasts” and singled out Khairy Jamaluddin and other party leaders for perpetrating the allegations with snide comments on blogs and on social media.

“My family and I deplore these lies and fabrications against my young son as morally despicable and barbaric. Umno should act against those trying to wreck the life of my young son with cruel and barbaric lies just to finish me off politically,” Lim (picture) said in a strongly-worded statement today.

The Penang chief minister pointed to the allegations highlighted in Bukit Gelugor Umno division chairman Dr Novandri Hasan Basri’s blog and a subsequent comment posted by Khairy on his Twitter account.

The allegations centre on Lim’s 16-year-old son conduct in school and accuses the youth of using his father’s name to escape punishment.

Dr Novandri and other bloggers also accused Lim of paying RM200,000 to keep the scandal out of the media and said the chief minister had then transferred his son to another school after the incident.

“Sadly, even Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaludin joined in these shameful lies by poking fun at my son with this tweet,” Lim said today, citing Khairy’s remarks on the microblogging site yesterday.

Using the Twitter handle @Khairykj, Khairy had written, “Mungkin dia roboh Kampung Buah Pala sebab nak ganti dengan Kampung Buah Dada” in response to another tweet by pro-Umno blogger “@PapaGomo”. [English translation: Maybe he destroyed Kampung Buah Pala because he wanted to replace it with Kampung Buah Dada.]

“I hope those poking fun and spreading lies at my young son can look at themselves in the mirror as a father and ask whether they want their own child to suffer the trauma of such lies,” said Lim.

Denying the allegations, he explained that his son had requested a transfer to St Xavier’s Institution in Penang from SMK (C) Heng Yee as he did not want to have a “crew-cut” hairstyle as required in the latter school.

Lim said he had promised to allow the transfer if his son scored at least 6As in his PMR.

But following the allegations, Lim said his son was “very shaken up” and has been unable to face school for the past few days.

“In this modern world, it is difficult for a young kid growing up, especially so when his father is a chief minister targeted daily by the pro-BN media. For a young kid growing up, to be maligned in such a beastly and cruel fashion publicly is unacceptable and inhumane.

“I urge these ferocious pro-Umnno beasts not to prey on the innocence of my young children. If you want to finish me off, do your worst to me but leave my innocent children alone,” he said.

Lim urged the Umno leadership to take action against party members guilty of perpetuating the rumouts, adding a warning that he too reserves the right to take further action.

“In the meantime, my wife and I will try to heal my young son and pray that he will recover from having his innocence so cruelly destroyed by these pro-Umno beasts,” he said.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 3:38 pm and is filed under
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Incensed Guan Eng castigates pro-Umno blogs

Malaysiakini
 | Oct 18

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is incensed that pro-Umno bloggers are trying to finish off his political career by wrecking the life of his teenage son with “morally despicable and barbaric” lies.

In a statement, Lim demanded that Umno acts against those who are guilty of this, to prove that the party does not employ “desperate, dangerous and dirty tactics” to cling own to power at any cost.

He condemned  several Umno leaders for highlighting “this shameful episode” in their blogs, namely, Bukit Gelugor Umno division vice-chief Dr Novandri Hasan Basri and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaludin.

Khairy (right), the Rembau MP, had tweeted earlier @PapaGomo Mungkin dia roboh Kampung Buah Pala sebab nak ganti dengan Kampung Buah Dada (Perhaps he demolished Buah Pala village to replace it with ‘Boobs village’).

“I hope those poking fun and spreading lies about my young son can look at themselves in the mirror as a father, and ask whether they want their own child to suffer the trauma of such lies,” said Lim.

“My family and I reserve the right to take any further action to protect my family. In the meantime, my wife and I will try to heal my young son and pray that he will recover from having his innocence so cruelly destroyed by these pro-Umno beasts.”

Lim said that, if his critics want to finish off, they can do their worst to him but should leave his children alone.

Umno politicians have children too, he noted, but the DAP has never gone for their children and does not intend to so.

“My son is very shaken up by these lies. He has also not gone to school for two days. I feel sad and that I am not able to protect (him) from these pro-Umno ferocious beasts.”

Promise made and kept

Yesterday, unsubstantiated allegations had gone viral on pro-Umno blogs that a VVIP’s son had been transferred out of his school due to disciplinary problems.

The VVIP was speculated to be Lim, but he had challenged Umno to publish the reports in “their newspapers”.

Lim’s son – a school prefect  who has been described as a good student – was recently transferred to St Xavier’s Institution in Penang.

His former school, SMJK Heng Ee, had denied that he had left due to sexual harassment complaints, as alleged by the blogs.

Lim clarified that his son was transferred to the school of his choice after scoring at least 6As in his PMR, as had been promised to him.

He said his son did not want to have his hair crew-cut as required for SMJK Heng Ee students, but wanted to keep his hair longer.

“For a young kid growing up, to be maligned in such a beastly and cruel fashion publicly is unacceptable and inhumane,” he added.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 3:41 pm and is filed under
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Lim Guan Eng on alleged criminal wrongdoing involving his son

Press Statement By Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 18.10.2011.

UMNO Should Act Against Those Trying To Wreck The Life Of My Young Son With Cruel And Barbaric Lies Just To Finish Me Off Politically To Prove That UMNO Is Not A 3D Party That Employs Desperate Dangerous And Dirty Tactics

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had declared during the Gerakan National Delegates Conference two days ago that BN had not given up on Penang and will go all out to recapture the state from Pakatan Rakyat. Following those Najib’s declaration of intent, we see pro-UMNO blogs and some UMNO leaders carrying out a serial campaign in the internet to systematically not only character assasinate me but also cruelly dragging in my young 16 year old son with their lies.

My wife and I are furious that pro-UMNO blogs and some UMNO leaders have made or perpetuated false allegations against my young son of criminal wrongdoing. My family and I deplore these lies and fabrications against my young son as morally despicable and barbaric. UMNO should act against those trying to wreck the life of my young son with cruel and barbaric lies just to finish me off politically to prove that UMNO is not a 3D party that employs desperate, dangerous and dirty tactics just to cling on and retain power at any cost.

My son had transferred to St Xavier Institution in Penang from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Cina Heng Yee because I had promised him that he could transfer to the school of his choice if he scored at least 6As in his PMR. When he achieved that, he was transferred at the beginning of the school term this year in January 2011. My son wanted to go to St Xavier because he did not want to have his hair crew-cut as is required for Heng Yee students but wanted to keep his hair longer.

In this modern world, it is difficult for a young kid growing up, especially so when his father is a Chief Minister targeted daily by the pro-BN media. For a young kid growing up, to be maligned in such a beastly and cruel fashion publicly is unacceptable and inhumane.

My son is very shaken up by these lies. He has also not gone back to school for two days. I feel sad and that I am not able to protect my young son from these pro-UMNO ferocious beasts.

I urge these ferocious pro-UMNO beasts not to prey on the innocence of my young children. If you want to finish me off, do your worst to me but leave my innocent children alone. UMNO politicians have children too and DAP have never gone for their children and do not intend to so.

Amongst some UMNO leaders who highligted this shameful episode in the blogs is Bukit Gelugor(Penang) UMNO Division vice-chairman Dr Novandri Hasan Basri. He was then followed by many UMNO leaders rehashing the lies. Sadly even UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaludin joined in these shameful lies by poking fun at my son with this tweet:-

@Khairykj Khairy Jamaluddin

@PapaGomo Mungkin dia roboh Kampung Buah Pala sebab nak ganti dengan Kampung Buah Dada.

@
papagomo
 Mungkin dia roboh Kampung Buah Pala sebab nak ganti dengan Kampung Buah Dada.

— Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj)
October 17, 2011

I hope those poking fun and spreading lies at my young son can look at themselves in the mirror as a father and ask whether they want their own child to suffer the trauma of such lies. My family and I reserve the right to take any further action to protect my family. In the meantime, my wife and I will try to heal my young son and pray that he will recover from having his innocence so cruelly destroyed by these pro-UMNO beasts.

LIM GUAN ENG

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 2:26 pm and is filed under
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Mukhriz confirms Najib wants meritocracy for Malays

By Shannon Teoh

The Malaysian Insider

Oct 18, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s call for meritocracy over the weekend meant finding the best Malays in the country but not abolishing pro-Bumiputera policies despite liberalising the economy, says Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir.

The prime minister was reported to have said that affirmative action under the New Economic Policy (NEP) is “here to stay” by a pro-Umno blogger who attended a closed-door session with the Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) Junior Science College alumni.

Mukhriz, who is the alumni president, confirmed the blog report with The Malaysian Insider, saying yesterday that Najib’s message was “that we are getting rid of rent-seekers and helping Malays become more competitive instead.”

The report quoted Najib as saying that the NEP would not be abolished but that meritocracy would be implemented among Malays to find “the best amongst Malays.”

“We no longer want to see Malay businessmen sell away assets, especially when they face a major crisis. We have seen this before.

“If I wanted to be popular, then I would pander to the economic rent-seekers,” he was quoted as saying by a blog.

The Umno president was reported as explaining that government-linked companies (GLCs) prioritised doing business with Malay companies because “when they go outside, their new markets ask them ‘did your government buy your product?’”

He said last month there was a need to eventually do away with Bumiputera quotas but said the government must continue to support the community’s best talent to ensure a more competitive business environment.

Although Najib quickly insisted he had no intention to abolish quotas immediately, he has continued to stress that Malays should no longer “hide” behind government protection.

He told Malay economic NGOs last month that his New Economic Model (NEM) promotes affirmative action based more on meritocracy, saying “we must promote the right Bumiputera.”

Najib has moved to liberalise the economy since taking office in April 2009, most recently removing Bumiputera equity requirements for 17 services subsectors.

But analysts have said that his plans are being threatened by Malay hardliners who have forced Putrajaya to revise pre-qualification criteria for the RM50 billion Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) mega project and sale conditions of billion-ringgit prime land by UDA Holdings — a government agency tasked with boosting Bumiputera participation in the urban economy.

Najib, who is expected to call for a general election soon, has also intervened personally in the so-called Bumiputera Agenda, carving out for them RM8 billion or 43 per cent of civil engineering work for the MRT.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 10:19 am and is filed under
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Allegations against Guan Eng’s son ‘completely untrue,’ says school principal

By
Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
 | October 19, 2011 (updated)

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 – The principal of SMK Heng Ee in George Town today moved to put an end to accusations that Lim Guan Eng’s son had sexually harassed a female student of the school, calling it “completely untrue.”

Goon Boon Poh told The Malaysian Insider that he was “shocked” when he read news reports of the allegation, and that he wanted to put an end to the matter as it could affect the image of the high school.

Pro-Umno bloggers including Bukit Gelugor Umno division chief Dr Novandri Hasan Basri had claimed that the Penang chief minister’s son had assaulted a 16-year-old schoolmate and tried to escape punishment by using his father’s name.

“The allegations are completely untrue. It is very simple, there’s absolutely no truth to it,” Goh told The Malaysian Insider today.

“The blogs said the incident occurred in May this year. CM’s son has not been a student of my school since the beginning of this year,” he added.

Goh said that the pictures posted on the blogs were not of Lim’s son, and that pictures of the alleged victim was not even a student of Heng Ee.

The principal said that officers from the state education department had conducted an investigation into the allegations on Monday, and were satisfied with his explanation on the matter.

“If I had kept quiet, the silence would have put me, the school in an embarrassing situation. Very simple if it had happened I would have known about it, wouldn’t I?

“No students had complained about any such case and the girl is supposed to be a classmate, so I want to just clarify the matter,” said Goh.

The girl whose photograph was used by Umno bloggers to level accusations of sexual harassment against Lim’s son has been identified as 21-year-old chess Grandmaster Anya Sun Corke.

Corke, who represents England in chess, has no ties with Penang and has never been a classmate of Lim’s son as alleged by Umno blogs, the DAP said in a press conference in Parliament today.

The girl is understood to be currently an undergraduate of Wellesley College in the United States.

Without revealing details of the allegation, the Penang CM (picture) said yesterday he was furious with the “barbaric lies” made about his teenage son by “pro-Umno ferocious beasts,” singling out Khairy Jamaluddin and other ruling party leaders for perpetuating the allegations through snide comments on blogs and social media sites.

The Rembau MP had written on micro-blogging site Twitter on Monday, “Mungkin dia roboh Kampung Buah Pala sebab nak ganti dengan Kampung Buah Dada” in response to another tweet by PapaGomo. [English translation: Maybe he destroyed Kampung Buah Pala because he wants to replace it with Kampung Buah Dada].

The DAP called on Khairy today to “retract his snide remarks and apologise to Lim’s son, who is an innocent victim.”

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 5:53 pm and is filed under
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DAP: Blogs used fake photo to tarnish Guan Eng’s son

By
S Pathmawathy
 | Oct 19, 2011 (updated)

Malaysiakini

Bloggers aligned to Umno used a fake picture to depict the victim of alleged molest by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s 16-year-old son.

DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua said that the picture used by the bloggers had been identified as that of Anya Sun Corke, 21, who is a British citizen reportedly a Hong Kong chess champion.

The woman has no ties to Penang, nor has she come in contact with Lim’s son, Pua said at a press conference at Parliament lobby together with other MPs from the DAP.

“(She is) now a third year student at a top liberal arts college in the United States.

“All these prove beyond doubt that the accusations by these Umno cybertroopers are nothing but barbaric lies,” he said.

Pua described the bloggers’ attempts to pin the molest accusation on Lim’s son as a “complete disgrace to their race, religion and country”.

He said these “bottom feeders of society” were “sinking to despicable depths” to wreck a teenager’s life.

“These bloggers even attempted to lend credibility to the concoction by putting up the picture of a (innocent) young girl,” Pua said, referring to a posting on a blog with the picture of the alleged victim.

According to Pua, it was DAP’s IT manager Goh Kheng Teong who traced the identity of the woman after her picture was posted on the site of Umno-linked blogger PapaGomo.

“Nobody from the school of Lim’s son knew who she was, including the principal and teachers.

“It is not surprising, especially since the girl never studied in Penang, and not even a Malaysian,” he said.

‘They’re willing to destroy a teenager’s life’

Corke, who is currently studying at Wellesley College, earned the reputation as a woman grandmaster and the first-ever woman to play for the Boston Blitz, a Cambridge University-based team that competes in the United States Chess League.

Yesterday, Lim lashed out at pro-Umno bloggers for trying to finish off his political career by wrecking the life of his teenage son with “morally despicable and barbaric” lies.

The DAP parliamentarians also demandied that Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin apologises for his snide remarks against Lim’s 16-year-old  son or risk losing his credibility.

Khairy, who is also Rembau MP, had tweeted “@PapaGomo Mungkin dia roboh Kampung Buah Pala sebab nak ganti dengan Kampung Buah Dada” (Perhaps he demolished Buah Pala village to replace it with Boobs Village).

Pua said, “They are willing to destroy the life of an innocent teenager and bring the country into disrepute by defaming a foreign top achiever for political ends.”

He said Khairy should withdraw his tweet and apologise for the snide remarks “which were not only crass, (but)… perpetuating the vicious lies to his 64,000 followers” on micro-blogging site Twitter.

“As Umno Youth chief who is a role model for many Malaysian youths, and who claims to be an example of new politics, he must take responsibility for his callous action and publicly apologise, especially to the victimised 16-year-old son of Lim’s.

“His failure to do so will only further taint his character in the eyes of Malaysians,” said Pua adding that the pro-Umno bloggers should also “repent for their actions”.

He also called on the Umno disciplinary committee to act against the party members involved to prove that Umno is not “beyond redemption”.

“Failure to take action against these rogue and vulgar members, such as Dr Novandri Hassan and PapaGomo, will only lead to the conclusion that Umno is the real culprit behind this concerted effort to slander and libel Pakatan Rakyat leaders, even if young, innocent boys and girls become collateral damage in the process,” Pua said.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 2:16 pm and is filed under
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Gutter politics

The Malaysian Insider
 | October 18, 2011

OCT 18 — There is no denying that Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin is a smart man.

The Oxford graduate has made use of his education and upbringing to shine through the untalented masses that make up the bulk of his party.

Which is why it is a disappointment that the Rembau MP saw nothing wrong with his remarks about allegations involving Lim Guan Eng’s teenage son, and called his critics hypocrites for pointing out that he was perpetrating lies about a member of a political rival’s family.

Earlier today, Lim said he was furious with the “barbaric lies” made about his teenage son by “pro-Umno ferocious beasts,” singling out Khairy and other ruling party leaders for perpetuating the allegations through snide comments on blogs and social media sites.

Is it fine to defend or perpetuate a lie? Or does Khairy know the alleged misconduct is a fact?

If it is, won’t he ensure that justice is done?

After all, Khairy has been the subject of gossip and innuendo from within his party too. Has he forgotten what it is like to be the topic of the day, to be the subject of lies being spread like wildfire?

Or is this all in the name of political expediency? Scoring cheap shots and bringing down rivals with nasty talk and unfounded facts.

Is this what a gentleman does? Is this what intelligent people do? Is this what politicians of a certain pedigree resort to in order to bring down a rival or remain popular with the masses?

Is there nothing sacred anymore in the quest for popularity, position and power? Not just the Umno Youth chief but the vast number of pro-Umno bloggers who are out to keep their party popular by criticising or weaving tales about their opponents.

Perhaps gutter politics is the way to go. Perhaps we have to stop holding KJ or Umno to any standard and no one will be disappointed or surprised by what they do.

What a pity. A young man like KJ is the symbol of Malaysia’s future. But what sort of future can it be with the easy acceptance rather than the rejection of such politics?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 10:29 am and is filed under
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Khairy, Oh why Khairy?

By
Douglas Tan
 | October 19, 2011

Free Malaysia Today LETTER

In less than 140 characters, Khairy Jamaluddin may have just destroyed his and Umno’s chances of swaying fence sitters and Malay moderates from supporting Barisan Nasional at the next General Election.

He has committed the cardinal sin of politics by picking on not his political opponent, but his son. A mere school boy, what could Lim Junior have possibly done to deserve such slander? Lim Guan Eng and Lim Kit Siang have every right to be outraged at this despicable behaviour.

It is one thing to have pro-Umno bloggers spreading lies and slander over the Internet. That only reaches a limited audience. Politician expect to face criticism on a daily basis. In fact one would argue that criticism could make one stronger.

However, to level a blow on a 16-year old boy, this is no longer fair game. No one would ever tolerate attacks on a person’s child, whether in government and opposition. When an opposition member condemns the child of a member of the ruling party, when that child is in no position to defend his or herself, it should be roundly condemned. It holds true the other way round.

Right now, Khairy Jamaluddin finds himself in a precarious position. As Umno Youth chief, he has painted an image that he is a moderate and an agent for change within a party which has lost their core values in their quest to retain power.

He is a young, highly educated and well spoken leader, representing the next generation of politicians in this country. We also know he is a loving father with two sons which he dotes upon. Imagine if one of his sons was in Lim Junior’s position. Wouldn’t he be outraged? We would be appalled if he was not.

Why one earth then did he decide to add fuel to fire with his two tweets, the first one yesterday where he said in response to another tweet by pro-Umno blogger “@PapaGomo” translated to “Maybe he destroyed Kampung Buah Pala because he wants to replace it with Kampung Buah Dada”, which can be construed as a direct attack on Lim Junior.

Despite clarifications that the girl in question was not even in the same class as Lim Junior, Khairy was relentless. In his response to calls to apologise, he defended his comments tweeting “Bro, what BN leaders & their families get from the opposition is far worse.

Don’t be hypocritical” replying to Liew Chin Tong and Satees Muniady. I actually replied, via @douglast86 “because BN leaders feel aggrieved of past attacks they can justify an attack on LGE son?”

Personally, I’m horrified that as a result of both sides accuse each other of playing gutter politics, children can be brought into the foray. This is nothing short of disgusting, with every loving parent condemning this kind of action, irrespective of political affiliation.

Do we see here the real Khairy Jamaluddin? What about the moderate, the reformer and the light for the future of Umno? Will the real Khairy Jamaluddin please stand up?

Now he faces the uphill battle to restore his and his party’s image. An apology is certainly in order, but he would have to go the extra mile to erase this from the memories of the Rakyat. May God forgive him for this unprovoked attack on an innocent child. In future, remember the rules and pick on someone your own size.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 3:10 pm and is filed under
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Ladies & Gentlemen, we have safely landed…

By
Art Harun

Ding dong…a very good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, we have safely landed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Welcome to Malaysia.

The local time is 5.35pm. The weather is slightly cloudy with the usual monsoon rain expected in about 30 minutes time and the current temperature is 34 degrees Celcius. For those who think that the rain in Malaysia is similar to the rain in Paris, London or New York, please note that our monsoon drains are 8 feet deep and 4 feet wide and run for hundreds of kilometres. They cost 30,000 Malaysian Ringgit per foot to build and 30 million Malaysian Ringgit to maintain per month. We take our rain very seriously, Ladies & Gentlemen. And you would be well advised that our rain is nothing, repeat, nothing compared to the rain in your country.

A bit about Malaysia for you. Malaysia is truly Asia.  We have the Talibans in some states and government agencies. Please do not ever ever bring with you a Bible in Bahasa Melayu, the national language. Sorry, I have to be more specific. No Bible in Bahasa Melayu is allowed in Peninsula Malaysia. Eh, sorry, I have to be more particularly specific. No Bible is allowed in Bahasa Melayu in the Peninsula Malaysia other than the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, our capital and Putrajaya, our administrative capital. In the states of Sabah and Sarawak, Bible in Bahasa Melayu is kosher.

By the way, Bahasa Melayu is also known as Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Kebangsaan. As to why it has three names, let’s not get into that or otherwise you all would never disembark this plane.

By the same token, please do not use the word Allah if you are not Muslims unless you are in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya or the states of Sabah or Sarawak. So Ladies and Gentlemen, beware of the state boundaries while in Malaysia. For example, if you are in Kuala Lumpur going towards PJ Hilton, do stop at the Kuala Lumpur/PJ boundary to throw away your Bible in Bahasa Melayu, if any. And stop using the word Allah too. As a rule of thumb, you would know when to do that when you exit a toll plaza, if you use a highway, that is.

So, as I was saying, we have the Talibans. Then we have the Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and various races from the Indian sub-continents. Venture along the Bukit Bintang areas at night and you will see many Chinese from China, Vietnamese,  Myanmarese and Cambodians, all of them women. Somewhere in Ampang, you will see many Koreans. Venture into some of our private colleges which teach English – without students although there are many student names on the register – and you will probably see some Iranians. And that’s apart from the thousands of Indonesians, Thais and Philippines here.

We are truly Asian, indeed.

Speaking of Talibans, if you happen to be an American couple of 60 years of age or more, please be careful while in your hotel room. Your room may be raided at 3am and both of you dragged in a hearse or kereta mayat to a religious agency’s office for “khalwat.” After finding out that you are not Muslims, you would be duly released.

So, don’t worry too much about it. It is part of our effort to give you a full “Malaysian experience”, an experience which you will not forget and will ever remember.

Thank you for flying with us, MAS, Malaysia Air-Asia System, ooops, sorry, the Malaysia Airline System. Here at MAS, we give a lifetime warranty that Malaysia will not turn into an asylum. This lifetime warranty is good for 10 days or until you go completely insane, whichever comes first.

While in Malaysia, please do not hesitate to drive around. Rent a car, like our national car, the Proton. Mind you, Proton gives a lifetime warranty that it’s power windows will work. The lifetime warranty is good for 10 years or until 250000 km, whichever comes first. A double lifetime warranty that all four tyres will continue rotating is also in the pipeline, we heard.

Do switch on the television set and watch our national channels please. The contents are guaranteed to be inoffensive by the Minister of Information himself. So you can watch all the programmes without being worried that any of them might offense you, your wife or girlfriends, your kids, your mother or anybody. All offensive programmes, including advertisements or public announcement service have been removed. Do not worry.

However, there might at times be some black & white video clips of half naked men in a towel in a hotel room waiting to have sexual intercourse with a nice little sex worker during prime time. That is not offensive. So please do not be offended by that.

While you are having your nice Italian, French or plain old English dinner, there might be some discussions on our national television channels about how semen could be found in the ass without any penetration of the ass and the likes. That is also not offensive. Sorry if you find that offensive. You are obviously hyper-sensitive social miscreants from the West who is too concern with political correctness. Get real please.

For those of you who are Christians, please be careful while talking to the Muslims over here. They are very weak and they could be proselytise to Christianity very easily. If that happens, you are at fault. You could be dragged in a hearse or kereta mayat to any religious office and be interrogated. They might raid your hotel and do whatever.

As a guide, please conceal your crucifixes while talking to your Muslim friends. If you wear crucifix on your necklace or bracelets, do conceal it. If you have a crucifix tattoo on any part of your body which could be seen by your Muslim friends, please remove those tattoos before meeting your Muslim friends. They might get offended or worse still, they might convert to Christianity after meeting you. Trouble, I tell you!

Now, I wish to make a special announcement to all of you who are British. We are sorry and please accept our most fervent apology for saying all this while that you lot had colonised us. We now say you have never colonised us. Repeat. You, the British, have never colonised us.

All those times, you were only protecting us from the evil Dutch, Portuguese and Thais. In fact, looking at our nation 54 years after you all had left, we now think that you were actually protecting us from ourselves. Our deepest  gratitude to you all. Never mind the fact that all our Sultans or Malay Rulers had to follow and do whatever you said. You have been very kind to station your advisers in all our states to advise our Rulers and forced them to follow such advices. Thank you also for permanently rearranging our society.

For all that you have done in protecting us, we have repaid you with our tins and all our other natural resources. We have also allowed you to convert our land into rubber estates and named our roads in your British names. In fact, we are sorry to have stolen your British names and used them for our roads, schools, temples, churches and others. You have been very kind.

You might ask why our Father of Independence screamed out Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka (Free, Free, Free) at the stroke of midnight of 31st August 1957 had we not been colonised by you? Well, it seems that he was only celebrating the divorce of his good friend from his three wives.

The point is, you have not colonised us. Sorry for saying so for the past 80 years or so.

For those of you who are inclined to know our contemporary political and societal issues, please be advised that you will not impress Malaysians in any of your conversation with us if you talk about our newly read budget for 2012, the fast rising inflationary rate, the impact of the global economy, particularly the impact of the forthcoming Europe meltdown, or the United States’ debt ceiling or similar matters.

The most recent issue in our political arena, which is being discussed everywhere for the past 3 days is the squeezing of tits. In local lingo (use the local lingo if you want to impress us ya!) that is called “ramas tetek.” You can start your conversation with anyone of us by asking, “eh, true ahh that fler ramas the tetek?” And just follow the flow of the conversation after that.

If you want to impress your Malaysian friend more after that, throw in some discussions about sodomy. Then try discussing about the possibilities of semen ending up in the ass without penetration. Come up with your own theory, like the semen could fly into the ass. Something like that. Then talk about sex videos. You will surely be a hit with the locals in no time.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure serving you and we hope to see you again on our flight. A very good evening from me, your friendly stewardess, Norazilawati Azreen Sherry binti Mahat.

(silent)

….

….

Ding dong. This is your chief crew, Tony Fernando. On behalf of Captain Ahmad, welcome on board flight MH481 to London. We apologise for Cik Norazilawati’s mistake in reading the arrival greeting instead of a departure greeting just now.

Our flight to London will take 13 hours……….

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 6:50 pm and is filed under
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Leave the children out of dirty politics

Malaysiakini YOURSAY
 | Oct 19, 2011

‘After the blue film, now they are resorting to slander against opponent’s child? Really, how low can you get, Umno?’

Incensed Guan Eng castigates pro-Umno blogs

your sayMalaysian Born: The politicians who are involved in spreading these unsubstantiated and cruel attacks on this child are despicable and have lost their way.

They are neither qualified to be representatives of the people nor are they deserving of being given any face or respect. This sort of behaviour is indicative of not having a proper upbringing, of not having any breeding, certainly the sort of bottom feeding dirt bags that should be avoided by all, let alone allowing them to be elected.

Can you imagine the kind of person who would have no compunction to destroy the life of a child just to score some minimal political points against its parents. One wonders what they would be willing to do to their own children and family to gain advantage. Real low grade riff-raff.

I always believed that it was not the sort of thing you would see in Malaysia, obviously I was wrong.

Truth-seeker: This is a black day for Malaysian politics. Where is the unspoken agreement of agreeing to disagree? If politicians have to resort to ‘hitting below the belt’, then it shows how desperate and low they have become.

LGE (Lim Guan Eng) must take this lesson and resolved to be stronger. Maybe, this is a ‘baptism of fire’ for the young impressionable 16-year-old.

Who knows – it heralds the birth of another firebrand in the Lim family who will show these low-class politicians a thing or two in years to come. LGE, take this as part of the collateral damage that comes with the job.

BTN: LGE, Penang folks will not let the state fall back to Umno. Look at them and their dirty tactics. They can’t find anything wrong with the dad and they cook up some lies about his son.

What type of human beings are these people in Umno? As LGE said, they have children as well.

Hope: I dislike LGE, but if the rumours are not true, I sympathise with him and hope that he gives courage to his son that having a father as a politician, he has to expect this and be strong.

You cannot control the beastly attitudes of anyone, not just Umno, anyone, especially those online. No worries young Lim, your friends and family know you are innocent.

Avatar 111: This is what we get when full-time politicians indulge in only playing gutter politics without any due regards to basic humanity.

And on top that, they are always protected by the corrupt system perpetuated by the ruling elites. Just look at what Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim had gone through.

Dood: “Sodomy story” for Anwar, “molester son story” for Guan Eng. Is Umno/BN so desperate and morally bankrupt to have to stoop so low to spread these kind of despicable tales?

These tactics aren’t new. Still remember the kinds of accusations these Umno-BN people and their lackeys spun and put out against Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong when her modesty was outraged and private pictures of her were released without her knowledge or consent?

Or more recently, what about the MCA leader who poked fun at DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang having to wear sunglasses because of his eye surgery? And who can forget the ridiculous so-called ‘fictitious story’ published in Utusan Malaysia about the assassination of a woman politician that, oddly enough, closely resembled DAP MP Teresa Kok? What else, Umno/BN? What else?

Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin’s tweet was a funny joke, yes, but in poor taste and unprofessional for an MP. It’s almost as bad as his fellow Umno-BN clowns making fun of women in Parliament. Still remember that? I do.

Solaris: If they’re really lies, why doesn’t LGE just sue them for slander instead of demanding for Umno to take action against them? After all, initiating lawsuits isn’t exactly something new for him.

Also, he refers to the alleged incident as “this shameful episode”. How can it be shameful or even an episode if, according to him, it never happened?

Saengch: Solaris, you either have ulterior motive or is so cynical and naive at the same time that you yell “there is no fire without smoke” every time Umno media make baseless slandering.

You are pushing to help such slandering. While I am no big fan of LGE, there are plenty of reasonable answers to your loaded questions: It is completely understandable that parents and school would want to protect the minor (from newspapers, law suits, and court) if the allegations are false or not as serious as alleged.

Why respond legally to shallow accusations on blogs when Umno papers know they do not have enough facts to report? If Umno blogs slandering your son or mom is not shameful, what is?

Onyourtoes: Solaris, didn’t LGE challenge all the Umno-controlled MSM (mainstream) to publish the “news” first? If they have not published, how do you sue? Sue those nameless rat poor ‘mat rempit’ type bloggers?

In any case, you know as well as I do that it is very daunting for politicians from the opposition to go through our judiciary process.

LGE is the chief minister of a state; you should know his priority given the limited hours per day. How many court cases you want him to entangle with? Is this not what his opponents want him to do?

For you, it is easy to sue this and that, but I know your intention. We took exception not of your questions but your insinuation.

KSD: Solaris, if you’re not getting paid for writing your rubbish, you’re missing out on a great chance to get regular income.

You are basing your opinions on completely unproven allegations and you’re attacking a defenceless child. That makes you a perfect candidate to become a cybertrooper.

And by the way, I gave you a good reason why LGE cannot sue now. You sound very much like a young punk who thinks he knows it all. That would also make you too young to know that LGE went to jail because he came out in defence of a 15-year-old girl who was raped by an adult.

Go and do some research and you will know what I am talking about. But then again, your comments prove that you don’t know the meaning of the word ‘research’.

Myrights: Solaris, my guess is you don’t have any children, otherwise you would have understood why it can be a shameful episode for the children to be accused of such thing.

But, if you do have children, I feel sorry for your children. After all, there are still some sick twisted people in Malaysia who sometimes harm their own children.

These people usually don’t know how to protect their own children, and in fact victimise their own children for their own lack of self-esteem or sick twisted desires.

DannyLoHH: I thought I have seen the worst, boy, how Umno could shattered norms in terms of low blow and gutter politics. After the blue film, they are now resorting to slander against opponent’s child? Really, how low can you get, Umno?

Tkc: We should not worry too much about the effect of this dirty attack on LGE’s son. If his grandfather and father are the benchmarks, Lim Jr should also be as tough as nails.

This pathetic and below-the-belt attack by Umno – including the things that they are doing to Anwar – will produce another generation of strong Lims and Anwars that will stand our country in good stead in the future.

Lim Chong Leong: Umno has hit below the belt by targeting their opponents’ children. Even the mafia has a code to leave family members alone unless they join in their secret activities.

There is honour amongst thieves, but there is no honour in Umno. Umno has become desperate beasts. And coming from an Oxford grad, this is shameful.

Pakatan may have attacked BN leaders, but there is no reason for Umno to attack Pakatan’s leaders’ children.

Lone_star: KJ (Khairy Jamaluddin), being from the Territorial Army and an Oxford graduate, you should be an officer and a gentleman. But your unnecessary tweet makes you such a twit.

Apologise like an officer and a gentleman should.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 10:23 am and is filed under
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Politics is not dirty, Umno is!

By Martin Jalleh | 19 Oct. 2011

Darkness descends on Bolehland. Politicians in Umno stoop low, so very low, by resorting to gutter politics of the most disgusting kind never seen before.

The Umnoputras are desperate. They are very disturbed. Dr M has warned them that “…if the general election is held now, Umno may lose big…” mainly due to their own political dystrophy.

Their ground support is slowly disappearing. They may be dumped in the coming General Election and driven out of Putrajaya. They abandon all sense of human decency to remain entrenched.

They are led by a equally desperate president who had proudly declared In the UMNO Assembly last year that there will be “crushed bodies, lost lives and ethnic cleansing” if the status quo was not kept.

Najib is very nervous. He plays a double game and speaks with a forked tongue. He and his party fight for survival at all costs. There are no limits in their political devices to demolish the Opposition – no matter how despicable.

Still in a state of denial, Umno is morally and politically bankrupt. To cling on to their power, popularity, position and privileges, Umno’s warlords have deployed politicians without principles.

The recent baseless slander against the teenage son of Lim Guan Eng by pro-Umno blogs is an indication that they will even drag the children of Opposition leaders into their dirty smear game.

That the Umno Youth chief could even spread the lie, add his snide comments to the slander and later defend himself and justify the dastardly act shows that Umno is devoid of any sense of shame.

The party that portrays itself as the great defender of Islamic and moral values resorts to the most diabolical to defeat its political foes and openly displays its religious disguise and hypocrisy.

Deep in depravity and debauchery Umno becomes laughable with its stories on sexual misconduct. It is not that Opposition leaders are infallible, but that Umno has become just unbelievable!

Further, what a tragic-comedy when the self-declared political champion of the Malays for 61 years have degenerated into a professional producer cum editor, purveyor and pedlar of pornography!

Umno’s script to repair its badly dented image has become so predictable and pathetic. It does not take much to decipher the dangerous direction it has taken to stay in control:

Destroy the greatest danger to Umno – Anwar Ibrahim, by launching a relentless and slanderous attack on him with a second sham sodomy trial, sex videos and the help of spin doctors.

Damage the credibility and integrity of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders with ceaseless calumnies of wrongdoing and downplaying the successes of the PR states…till the coalition disintegrates.

Discredit the coalition with the help of deserters, detractors and disgruntled leaders of PR parties with them spewing out their stale and silly exposé.

Demonise, denigrate, defame, disparage, even denounce as traitors those who dissent against or criticize Umno and the government and those who dare to march for genuine political reform.

Distract the nation from the failures of the Umno-dominated government and the damning evidence that the country is going to the dogs and we have become a perfect “sham democracy”.

Divert the people’s attention from the Umnoputras bleeding the country dry. Deceive the nation with Najib’s publicity stunts and populist slogans. Distort the truth about the economy.

Divide and rule this country along racial and religious lines and provide Umno’s newspapers the licence to publish unsubstantiated and wild allegations aimed at fomenting distrust and discord.

Drag in the King and the royalty as pawns in their dirty political game. (Umno and Najib have made use of the palace to push and protect their agenda and vested interests.)

Alas, what has Najib, Umno and the BN delivered — a divided nation, decaying institutions, a dour economy with deepening debts, a PM dogged by allegations and a disturbing diaspora rate!

Tengku Razaleigh once so rightly declared that Umno has “indeed lost its soul” and “is tempted more and more to fan racial feeling and abuse public institutions to maintain power. This is a death spiral.”

Indeed, Umno has chosen the path of self-destruction. It has become a disgrace to its own race and religion. It will reap the evil deeds that it has sown with impunity. It will receive the damned destiny it so deserves.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 2:27 pm and is filed under
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The most cruel cut of ‘em all

Comment

by
Thomas Lee Seng Hock

As a father, my heart goes out to Lim Guan Eng whose teenage son is being politically abused by the cruel inhuman Umno and other upstart politicians.

It is surely sad that the Malaysian politicalculture has descended to such a low gutter level that a 16-year-old innocent boy’s life may be permanently damaged or even destroyed by the evil derogatory politicians who dragged him into a shameful circumstance with their mischievous wickedlies.

Such immoral morons should be politically castrated,and treated as beastly pariahs by all right-thinking and righteous persons fortheir extremely uncouth and uncivilized character and behavior, even if they have doctorate degrees or graduates of prominent prestigious universities like Oxford.

I know what it is to be falsely accused of something shameful like what the poor chap is subjected to, as I too had the misfortune of being a victim of such a cruel allegation. But being an adult, it was much more easy for me to overcome the deceptive stigma, and walk tall again since my conscienceis totally clear before God and people, and certainly, myself. From young, Ihad adopted as my personal motto the three principles of “Honest to God, Honestto Myself, and Honest to People”.  Living by these three principles has sustained me through many crisis and periods of intense difficulty or even danger.

The immoral morons who initiated and perpetuate the lies about Guan Eng’s son are definitely persons lacking in character, integrity,credibility, maturity, and, certainly, spirituality, whatever religious faith they profess.

They are surely people who are so stupid not to know and realize that their thoughtless remarks would cause inestimably emotional, psychological,and spiritual impact on the young innocent boy.

One thing I am very puzzled about is why the school authorities have not come forward to clarify and explain the whole matter, to give the boy his just and fair due. It is simply the height of irresponsibilityfor the school management to refrain from telling the truth, perhaps because ofeither political patronage or political pressure. In the name of justice and fair play, I demand that the school authorities concerned should come out with an official statement refuting the lies.

(Admin’s note: The school authorities have denied the lies.)

I believe the people, especially Penangites, should mobilize around Guan Eng and his family at this critical time when they are under fierce demonic attacks for what they stand for, fight for, sacrifice for, and even paid for with their personal freedom and life. I urge all believers in Godto come together to uphold Guan Eng and his family members in prayers. This isthe least we can do. The more concrete action is to ensure that Guan Eng is returned as the chief minister or our beloved Penang.

And to Guan Eng’s son, I want to say that we believe you, and we will always love and care for you. The baptism of fire that you are going through now is going to make a great man out of you, like your grandpa Kit Siang and father Guan Eng. God bless and protect you always!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 9:03 am and is filed under
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Umno blogs used chess champion’s picture to attack Guan Eng’s son, says DAP

By
Shannon Teoh
 | October 19, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — A girl whose photograph was used by Umno bloggers to level accusations of sexual harassment against Lim Guan Eng’s son has been identified as 21-year-old chess Grandmaster Anya Sun Corke.

Corke, who represents England in chess, has no ties with Penang and has never been a classmate of Lim’s son as alleged by Umno blogs, the DAP said in a press conference in Parliament today.

The girl is understood to be currently an undergraduate of Wellesley College in the United States.

Pro-Umno bloggers including Bukit Gelugor Umno division chief Dr Novandri Hasan Basri had claimed that the Penang chief minister’s son had assaulted a 16-year-old schoolmate and tried to escape punishment by using his father’s name.

DAP publicity chief Tony Pua (picture) showed a press conference today screenshots from Dr Novandri’s and Papagomo’s blog and pictures from www.chessbase.com said to be of a 21-year-old Anya Corke.

“The chess board has been edited from the picture. This proves beyond doubt that the accusations by these Umno cybertroopers are nothing but barbaric lies.

“They have attempted to defame the 16-year-old son of Lim Guan Eng and humiliate his family with a completely fictitious sexual harassment story,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said.

According to Corke’s Wikipedia listing, she “is a Woman Grandmaster and the top chess player from Hong Kong who is currently playing for England.”

She earned the title with her performance in 36th Chess Olympiad, playing for the Hong Kong men’s team.

She was the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 Hong Kong National Champion (for men and women), thought to be one of the youngest national champions ever.

Without revealing details of the allegation, Lim said yesterday he was furious with the “barbaric lies” made about his teenage son by “pro-Umno ferocious beasts,” singling out Khairy Jamaluddin and other ruling party leaders for perpetuating the allegations through snide comments on blogs and social media sites.

The DAP secretary-general singled out Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and other ruling party leaders for perpetuating the allegations through snide comments on blogs and social media sites.

The Rembau MP had written on micro-blogging site Twitter on Monday, “Mungkin dia roboh Kampung Buah Pala sebab nak ganti dengan Kampung Buah Dada” in response to another tweet by PapaGomo. [English translation: Maybe he destroyed Kampung Buah Pala because he wants to replace it with Kampung Buah Dada].

Pua called on Khairy today to “retract his snide remarks and apologise to Guan Eng’s son, who is an innocent victim.

“As a role model to young Malaysians claiming — and who claims to be — an example of ‘new politics’ he must take responsibility,” he said.

He also demanded that Umno take disciplinary action againtst its members who “perpetrated the slander”.

“Failure to do so will lead to the conclusion that Umno is the real culprit behind these concerted efforts to slander Pakatan Rakyat leaders, even if young boys and girls become collateral damage in the process,” Pua said.

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang also said the “despicable, heinous and dastardly” accusations had created an “international incident”.

“We have tarnished our image by dragging one of the youngest female grandmasters in the world into this political slander,” said the Ipoh Timor MP, who is also the grandfather of the 16-year-old boy in the centre of the allegations.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 2:11 pm and is filed under
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AIPMC statement on detainees’ “swap” between Malaysia and Myanmar

20 October 2011

AIPMC notes with serious concern recent developments of the Malaysian government’s plan to implement the ‘detainees exchange program’ with Myanmar. This plan will result around 1,000 people from Myanmar, detained in Malaysia, deported from the country.

There will be a possibility of persecution for those who are sent back to Myanmar.

Those who flee Myanmar, namely ethnic and other persecuted minorities, remain at risk from persecution of all forms – forced labour, land confiscation, rape, and torture among them – should they continue to live under the military regime. Thus, they risk their lives to find asylum in neighboring states, in pursuit of a dignified, secure and peaceful life elsewhere.

We wish to reiterate that such a ‘swap deal’, which would see Burmese nationals returned to persecution in their homeland, serves political interests well ahead of these exceedingly serious human rights concerns.

Contrary to the principles of international law upon which ASEAN is founded, such an agreement would only further jeopardize the dignity and security of Burmese refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia – who should be considered among the region’s most vulnerable.

Thus, the AIPMC calls for a halt to any such ‘swap deal’ plans, until effective systems be put in place to ensure that such refugees and asylum seekers are  protected from persecution upon their return to Myanmar. The human rights situation in Myanmar, grievous as it remains, is unlikely to be able to ensure such protections, without which Malaysia cannot hope to fulfill its international obligations to ensure that human rights of refugees be protected.

We also note with concern that the Malaysian Government has, in recent months, further completed the registration under the 6P programme.

There must be a total change in the Malaysian government’s approach and policy with regard to the grave issue of the Burmese refugees in the country. As a first step the Malaysian government should accord them recognition as refugees.

There should be a timely and efficient refugee registration process to give certainty to refugees with regards to their in-country status to protect their rights. We also call upon the Malaysian government to ensure that detainees are provided access to both representatives from legal and non-government organizations, as they embark on a long route to ensuring their inherent rights are formally recognized when lodging asylum claims.

Finally, we strongly urge the Malaysian government to ensure that all refugee registrations be undertaken in full collaboration with the UNHCR, which consistently act to ensure the rights of refugees are both explicitly recognized and protected.

(Statement as Chair of the Malaysian Caucus of the AIPMC)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 20 October 2011, 10:45 pm and is filed under
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Gutter politics – utterly disgusting

By P Ramakrishnan Aliran President | 20 October 2011

Resorting to utter gutter politics is akin to swimming in the cesspool without a care. That’s how those faceless pro-Umno bloggers who spun a lie regarding an innocent son to get at the father came across – filthy and smelly.

Not to be out-done, the Umno Youth chief gets into the act with his silly comments. He comes across as no better than the half-baked politicians who are incapable of being logical.

What is disturbing and worrying is the fact that these so-called know-all cheap politicians had picked a fight with a 16-year old teenager who is not capable of defending himself or explaining himself. This is their crude and cowardly way of waging a political battle to disgrace and denigrate the Chief Minister of Penang.

Why can’t these vile politicians take on adversaries who are their equal and prove to the world that they are men of substance?

To traumatise a teenager with blatant lies is doing irreparable damage to someone who is just growing up. This is the period that a teenager can be easily crushed and shaken psychologically to the extent that he may lose all his self-confidence and may not even recover from this trauma.

He may be forced to withdraw into a shell and become an introvert. Worse, he may even view society as an unreasonable, uncaring one hell of a big bully and turn into an anti- social individual. The possibilities are tremendous – all because certain unethical politicians chose to be unscrupulous in wanting to grab power.

It has now been established by the school concerned – SMK Heng Ee – that this boy had not molested any girl in his former school. It has also been established that he was a school prefect and a good student who had elected to be transferred to another school of his choice after completing his PMR. According to his father, he did not want to have a crew-cut as was required by his former school but wanted to keep longer hair. This is understandable and that was the reason for the transfer.

The girl who was alleged to be the victim of sexual molestation was never a student of Heng Ee School. She was never a citizen of Malaysia. She is presently a third-year student at a liberal arts college in the United States.

Yet the perpetrators of this heinous crime had resorted to posting her picture and linking Lim Guan Eng’s son to a criminal activity that never took place. It is these unscrupulous politicians who are a danger to our way of life. They are the scum of our society.

Don’t they have bigger matters to worry about concerning the state of our nation? Shouldn’t they train their sights instead on bigger issues like the looming economic problems arising from the economic meltdown in Europe? Shouldn’t they be concerned about the rapid breakdown of our national unity? Shouldn’t they worry about the religious conflict that is threatening to wreck this nation?

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, also the President of Umno Baru, cannot turn a deaf ear to this unforgiveable episode. Does the Prime Minister of Malaysia approve of such dastardly conduct that demeans an individual unjustly. Does he, as Umno Baru President, condone this despicable act that brings shame to his party? Is his sullen silence due to the fact that he no longer shares the values espoused by the original Umno, which had existed for 42 years before it was destroyed, paving the way for Umno Baru to be established in 1988?

Let’s not forget that it was Umno’s lawyer who argued for Umno to be declared an illegal society. He wouldn’t have done that without the proper advice and mandate from the then president of Umno who happened to be Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In both his capacities – as Prime Minister and President of Umno Baru – Najib owes an explanation to this nation.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 20 October 2011, 4:51 pm and is filed under
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Kit Siang: Stop detainee-swap deal

Tarani Palani | October 20, 2011

Free Malaysia Today

Put in an effective system in place first to protect Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers from persecution in their homeland, says the AIPMC chair.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) has voiced concern over the planned exchange of detainees between Malaysia and Myanmar.

Its Malaysian caucus chair, Lim Kit Siang, today said that the planned exchange raised concerns as there may be a possibility of persecution of those sent back to Myanmar.

“Those who flee Myanmar, namely ethnic and other persecuted minorities remain at risk of persecution of all forms should they continue to live under the military regime.

“We wish to reiterate that such a ‘swap deal’ serves political interests well ahead of these exceedingly serious human rights concerns,” said the Ipoh Timur MP.

Lim called for the planned swap to be halted before an effective system is put in place to protect the Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers from persecution in their homeland.

He also questioned if such a swap deal was in accordance with international law.

The swap plan was announced on Monday by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein as part of a larger cooperation between the two countries to combat trans-border crimes.

A newly-formed working committee is set to meet next week to discuss in detail the exchange-plan.

‘M’sia abdicating from its responsibility’

Hishammuddin said currently there are about 1,000 Myanmar detainees held here and that the swap will help ease the congestion in Malaysian detention centres.

It was not revealed how many Malaysian detainees are currently held in Myanmar.

The swap deal comes hot on the heels of the failed refugee and asylum-seeker swap between Australia and Malaysia.

Australia was to send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia and accept 4,000 refugees from Malaysia. However last week, Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard scrapped the deal after months of strong opposition.

PKR vice president, Tian Chua who was also at the press conference questioned why the Malaysian government was “obsessed” with swapping refugees and asylum seekers.

“Is there some hidden motive behind it? (Malaysia) seems to be abdicating from its responsibility to others when dealing with refugees,” said the Batu MP.

Tian brushed aside Hishammuddin’s justification for the swap – that it will ease congestion in Malaysian detention centres

“We are sending them (Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers) to the dungeon in Myanmar. There are other ways to improve conditions here which have nothing to do with prison conditions,” he said.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 20 October 2011, 7:07 pm and is filed under
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