MCA – Heartless, Soulless, Hopeless

Tweets exchange:-

limkitsiang – 8.04am

I hope that one day I can return – John Malachi (TMI) http://bit.ly/kbN4sv

limkitsiang – 8.08am

Cry of a Msian – “as I write this in tears 2nite, I hope that 1 day I can return ..2do what I was doing b4 I left” http://bit.ly/kbN4sv

giamsk – 8.10am

Voice of a refugee? So sensational RT @limkitsiang: Cry of a Msian – “as I write this in tears 2nite, I hope that 1 day I can return…

mukhlisme911 – 8.16am

Me too YB, reading in tears “@limkitsiang: Cry of a Msian – “as I write this in tears 2nite, I hope that 1 day I can.. http://t.co/ocA1tVZ ”

limkitsiang – 8.18am

TQ @Mitchelltai @simonsclim @imFawziaariff @Ean_Yong @pepperlim @joekaedro @abacuscp @chiamck others 4wellwishes. Return evil thots 2senders

limkitsiang – 8.24am

Sad tragic @mukhlisme911 Me too YB, reading in tears “as I write this in tears 2nite, I hope that 1 day I can.. http://t.co/ocA1tVZ ”

limkitsiang – 8.32am

Most tempted 2use 4-letter words agnst MCA strategists/cybertroopers. So heartless/unrepentant @giamsk Voice of a refugee? So sensational

giamsk – 8.36am

:) janganlah YB RT @limkitsiang: Most tempted 2use 4-letter words agnst MCA strategists/cybertroopers. So heartless/unrepentant

skthew – 8.38am

RT @limkitsiang: Most tempted 2use 4-letter words agnst MCA strategists/cybertroopers. So heartless/unrepentant @giamsk Voice of a refugee? So sensational

limkitsiang – 8.42am

All MCA leaders shd publicly apologise 4grave brain drain crisis in Msia instead of shedding crocodile’s tears @giamsk :) janganlah YB

giamsk – 8.49am

@limkitsiang talent corp must succeed!

limkitsiang – 8.51am

We have Malay compatriots @mukhlisme911 who feel pain of Msians uproot themselves bcos unjust policies but heartless soulless MCA @giamsk

giamsk – 8.52am

@limkitsiang @mukhlisme911 yeah yeah yeah blame MCA again.. this is all DAP can do…

limkitsiang – 8.57am

Tkz MCA/Umno leaders Talent Corp will be Talent Corpse @giamsk @mukhlisme911 yeah yeah blame MCA again.. this is all DAP can do… .

mukhlisme911 – 9.01am

Ahaha..YB, that ‘Talent Corpse’ memang kena pada orangnya RT @limkitsiang @giamsk Tkz MCA/Umno leaders Talent Corp will be Talent Corpse..

limkitsiang – 9.18am

MCA leaders utterly hopeless post308 – imagine making snide remarks abt Msian Diaspora as “refugees” when they r responsible 2gether w UMNO?

choows – 9.29am

I really have great respect for @limkitsiang, every single issue that arises he can also link it to MCA & whack MCA, not any other party

buttercity – 9.34am

Lol RT @choows: I really have great respect for @limkitsiang, every single issue that arises he can also link it to MCA & whack MCA, not any other party

limkitsiang – 9.53am

Is @giamsk not from MCA? Want me 2whack Umno or Gkan? @choows every single issue ..he can link it to MCA & whack MCA, not any other party

giamsk – 9.58am

@limkitsiang whacks me la.. :D @choows

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 26 May 2011, 11:08 am and is filed under
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MMA concerned Lynas plant will wreak harm

By
Yow Hong Chieh
 | May 26, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 — The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) stepped into the controversy today over Australian miner Lynas’ rare earth plant near Kuantan, expressing “grave concern” that waste products could wreak harm on those living nearby.

The association, representing the country’s 13,000 doctors, stressed that the possible health risks presented by radiation from “extremely toxic” thorium outweighed the economic benefits from the project.

“Thorium-232, for example, has a half-life of some 14 billion years and gives off alpha particles. This radionuclide residue is recognised as being extremely hazardous for humans and life forms,” MMA president Dr David Quek said in a statement today.

“Due to the various refining processes, thorium will be enriched and concentrated to levels which could reach quantities that are difficult to contain or be safely sequestrated.”

Dr Quek also said the MMA shared public concern about government reticence over the project despite its controversial nature, pointing out that most Malaysians only learned of the plant’s existence when it was first disclosed in a New York Times article three months ago.

He said the government should have instead placed greater emphasis on public engagement, environmental impact studies, public safety guarantees and “impregnable” long-term waste disposal management, particularly since the plant was located so close to human habitation.

“That such a project has been allowed to be developed, to near completion all these many months, in ‘surreptitious’ concealment or without adequate and forthright disclosure, is troubling and unconscionable,” Dr Quek said.

The Najib administration estimates investment spinoffs of RM2.3 billion from what will be the world’s largest rare earth refinery once operations commence in September after over two years of construction.

The government has agreed to set up a panel headed by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to review the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) following mounting pressure from green groups and lawmakers here and in Australia.

Critics fear a repeat of the radiation pollution from the Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant in Bukit Merah near Ipoh, linked to birth defects and at least eight cases of leukaemia in the past five years, seven of which were fatal.

Nearly 20 years after it was shuttered, the ARE plant is still the subject of a massive RM300 million cleanup exercise.

Lynas, however, has given an assurance that the waste products produced by its Gebeng operation will be safe and expects the plant to fire up on schedule despite the month-long review.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 26 May 2011, 2:53 pm and is filed under
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Power subsidies: Their mistakes, our liabilities

Malaysiakini Your Say | May 26, 11

‘I doubt anything substantial will come out of the re-negotiation as the IPPs and Umno are sitting on the same side of the table.’

Transparency of IPP contracts ‘long overdue’

Kgen:
 The lopsided IPP (independent power producer) agreements are the result of Dr Mahathir Mohamad forcing TNB (Tenaga Nasional Bhd) to sign on the dotted line.

I frankly doubt anything substantial will come out of the so-called re-negotiation as the IPPs and Umno are sitting on the same side of the table – they feed each other at public expense.

The IPPs only have to give the faintest bleat of protest before the government backs off. Readers may be interested to know that despite the 40 percent excess electricity in the peninsula, yet another IPP power station in Manjung will be commissioned soon.

Cala:
 To the regime and their cronies, IPP contracts are as similar as honey is to bees, and opium is to drug addicts (as argued by MP Tony Pua).

To expect a re-examination of the terms of the contracts calls for exceptional political courage and foresight, something that is a tall order to a regime which has displayed little conviction to fight for public interests in its entire 53 years of uninterrupted rule.

So why is there a need to do so as suggested by minister Idris Jala? Three issues require our closer examination:

i) allocative efficiency

ii) incentive structure

iii) the benefiters behind IPPs

First, Malaysia is a Third World nation characterised by its preference for allocative efficiency in economic planning. Putting the said contracts in a lopsided fashion in favour of IPP producers is a case in point.

Second, what is the incentive structure for IPPs to surrender part of their bloated profits? None, unless of course someone comes to his realisation and is embarrassed by the magnitude of rent-capture. There is yet another reason for change, i.e. if the regime perceives trouble ahead, and in this instance, may twist the arms of IPPs (which are also their own arms anyway).

Third, who are behind IPPs? Since corruption and rent-seeking are the hallmarks of the Umno-led BN regime, one does not have to put them on public display. Recent public statements from DPM Muhyiddin Yassin who warned party members against complacencies and urged them to put public interest before self, are signs of admission of guilt.

Similarly, MCA chief Dr Chua Soi Lek too realised how little the party has done to protect public interests, and he foresees a dismal performance in the imminent general election. However, none of the above matters to the regime. Only the fear of losing in a GE may force an overhauling of IPP contracts.

Anonymous_5fb:
 The rational (if there is any rationality here) behind the unfair advantages to the IPPs is not ‘crony per se’, but political funds to you-know-who. If not, why be so secretive?

Even then, they have no shame at all. The ‘worms’ will only surface when Pakatan Rakyat takes over Putrajaya.

Opaque:
 Yes, it may be hard to amend agreed terms even though they are clearly lopsided. But as lawmakers, clearly there are many other ways the government could do to reduce the lucrative profits enjoyed by IPPs, including introducing ‘polluters pay’ tax, which has been proven successful in many countries.

The tax not only puts the pressure on top polluters to change to cleaner technologies but revenues collected could be put to better use, e.g. for upgrading of the appalling state of our public transport system.

The question is not whether they have a legal basis but rather do they have the political will to do the right thing against these lopsided agreements?

Longjaafar:
 It would be good to know the rationale for the signing of such one-sided contracts in the first place. To add insult to injury, such contracts are deemed ‘official secrets’, as if the disclosure of them may affect national security. This is stupidity at its lowest (or is it highest?).

Cannon:
 Transparency is the way to go. Malaysians should penetrate the veil, deny these pirates the cloak of secrecy for them to transact the people’s business in the dark. Maintaining transparency will help expose their crooked deals and stop the plunderers in their tracks.

Sandakan:
 Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Hussin said, “Do you want Malaysia to be known throughout the world as a country that can take back contracts that have been signed?”

But what about the agreement to allow Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng back into the country? Malaysia has no principles and cannot be relied to keep its word under Umno.

EugeneT:
 I rather have Malaysia be known to be able to correct past dubious practices and come out clean in the end.

Why should Malaysia be known to the world as a country that gets holed in bad lopsided deals and practice cronyism? This only raises questions on Malaysia’s capability to make wise economic decisions.

Sarajun Hoda:
 Well, while we are at it, let us pry open the Petronas accounts too. The oil and gas belong to the people and we have the right to know how much exactly is our revenue and how it is being spent.

I am sure, if we can save the wastage, the government will not need to cut subsidies, afford more tangible developments, reduce spending and make every Malaysian happier, healthier, wealthier and wiser. Make Petronas accounts public.

Kit P:
 There really is only one route to getting a transparent and fair contract between the government and the IPPs – the rakyat needs to punish BN at the polls. It is the only language Umno/BN understands.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 26 May 2011, 2:17 pm and is filed under
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Speaking up and facing the reality

Andre Sequerah

The Malaysian Insider

May 26, 2011

MAY 26 — Growing up and studying in a missionary La Salle school in the ‘80s was one of the best experiences ever. In general, boys from all the races mixed together and student populations then were well balanced between all the races.

Yet, even at that time, there were rumblings on the horizon. One of my closest Malay friends, a smart chap, was sent away after lower secondary school to further his studies in a boarding school.

When I went to one of the top engineering universities in the UK, I learnt two things. One was that from the viewpoint of a good friend of mine, a Frenchman, the thought that I had to tick a little box to state that I was under the category of “Others” to state that I was Eurasian was ghastly and hinted of racial prejudice. It was my first realisation of what the word could truly mean as I had never questioned that act before.

It was there that I learnt also from many of my Malaysian peers, non-Malays, that they were adamant about not returning to Malaysia as they felt that they would never make it due to the unfair policies back home. The feeling of unfairness pervaded as one person was horrified that whilst the rest of us had parents who broke their backs and their banks to get us to study in the UK, there were people on scholarship who spent their money buying hi-fi equipment instead.

I did not see all these things then, personally. At the time I also had two good friends, a Sarawakian and a Malay guy — we always collaborated to perform at the annual Malaysian night — and there was none of those thoughts between us. The people who complained stayed on and most that I know of ended up in very good positions with the likes of Shell and other large MNCs in Europe.

When I returned, I worked for a local telco and then subsequently for a large MNC telco vendor. The job entailed project work in many different parts of the world, from Australia to Japan and Sweden. During this time, our global project team based in KL was considered one of the best there was, not only in the region but, literally, globally.

The ability to travel, to work with some of the best in the world on projects that were ground-breaking (like the launch of the first 3G network in Japan) kept us all challenged and satisfied. There was a performance-oriented culture where we worked and if you were good, you were rewarded accordingly, which fit all of us (from all races) fine.

In the late ‘90s and ‘00s, a lot of us left — the global telco economy was still booming and Malaysian telco freelance contractors were generally in high demand for their competence and reputation for being hard workers.

Local salaries definitely could not cut it and why would you turn down a job which paid in US$ equivalent? I had other ideas as I started on an entrepreneurial bent, realising that if you were to make it in Malaysia, the only way to do it is to be in business for oneself. Besides, I liked the challenge.

Up till now, the ugly head of racism did not rear, at least not in my sphere of life. There were affirmative action policies for sure, but what was not given or favourable to me, I worked hard to achieve. A supportive family was also key to decisions I had made coming from a closed-knit family.

At the end of the day, that is what the Malaysian environment taught me over the years — that you have to be able to make it on your own two feet and be thankful for family and friends.

Then one day, it was the new year of 2010 and churches were getting fire-bombed. There is nothing that can justify defiling anyone’s place of worship let alone putting a torch to it. It just cannot be justified. And I read on blogs that week the most vitriolic and hateful words people were throwing into cyberspace. One day I read the title of one: “Torched churches… Reaping what is sown” and was so aghast and angry that I forwarded it on to my fiancé.

Her response that I should know the writer confused me. But on delving further, I realised that I did know the writer. He was the Malay “friend” I used to know during college days.

Why do I stay? I have been asked that by people. Working in the private sector which was performance based helped. For family and friends, yes, for sure. Because I like the country inherently, yes, it is home.

But I am contemplating starting a family here and the lessons that an environment that lets racists of the worst calibre (the intellectual kind who mislead with full knowledge of what they are doing) get away with it and what that teaches to children, and I question my decision every day. That, and the anger I feel towards all racists.

When I used to travel on work, colleagues at other offices used to ask us, the Malaysians, where we were from as we all looked so different. We always said we were Malaysian because that was and is who we are.

Yet, every time I have come home, I have felt less of a Malaysian each time with all that goes on. It is still my hope that change will occur if we believe and are willing to stand up and speak up for what is right. But, it is disheartening to know that after all these years, I still feel like a second-class citizen in the only country in the world I call home.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 26 May 2011, 7:18 pm and is filed under
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The reasons I stayed

Adrian Ng

The Malaysian Insider

May 26, 2011

MAY 26 — There are actually more reasons to leave than stay in Malaysia. But then again, I decided to stay… at least for now. Why?

 1. I love the food; I can step out in the middle of the night and still find my favourite food — nasi lemak (tambah telur mata kerbau) with teh tarik kurang manis.

2. I love the weather here, though it sucks at times, but it is still better than being in 20 inches of thick snow or being roasted to death in a 42-degree heat wave.

3. I speak Malay with my friends; can’t find that many friends who can speak the language outside the country.

4. There are a lot more other people in the country who need help and assistance and I will contribute in whatever way that I can.

5. I (still) have faith in the system and country, although it is not perfect; there is always the option of an easy way out, as in migrating and leaving the country.

6. I (still) believe I can do something to contribute to nation-building in whatever way I can (while I continue to complain a lot). Why leave without giving it a “fight” to try to make the country better.

7. I will have to start all over again if I leave for another country. I still feel very foreign in another country i.e. I am a (still) second-class citizen.

8. I have a bunch of fantastic, crazy, caring, responsible, intelligent, ethical, loyal friends here. They keep me entertained.

9. Importantly, my family and relatives are here. I am no one without them.

10. And, most important, this is my country. This is the place I call home.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 26 May 2011, 9:51 pm and is filed under
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When belts cannot be tightened anymore

Hsu Dar Ren

The Malaysian Insider

May 26, 2011

MAY 26 — I chatted with an old patient of mine after a consultation yesterday. He was probably suffering from the side effect of stress and not enough rest. I enquired about his job and he told me that he is working two jobs now; a daytime office job and part- time taxi driving at night. He had to do this to make ends meet.

So I told him what any doctor would tell his patient under these circumstances– to rest more.

Then he started to pour out his woes to me: that he has already been tightening his belt over the past few years, that he dreads to think of ways to tighten it some more, since the cost of living is creeping up and food prices are going to shoot up. He told me that there would come a point that the belt cannot be tightened anymore, and that point is fast being reached.

With so much news on the need to cut subsidies in the newspaper (it was even equated to opium), the government is in fact building up a case to cut subsidies further. It is just a matter of time that subsidies on petrol will be cut further. When that happens, petrol prices as well as electricity tariffs will go up.

Any economist will tell us that subsidies are actually bad for the economy in the long run. It creates a subsidy mentality among the people. But removing subsidies in a stagnant economy will result in a lot of problems for the poor. Subsidy removal must be done very gradually, and that too, should be done when the economy is expanding and real income rising.

I can’t help but recall what a young man said at a round table conference which I attended in February 2010 on subsidy and the economy.

At that particular round table talk, although most speakers spoke about the need to do away with the cost of living subsidy, like the subsidies for sugar, petrol and so on, what the young man said impressed me most.

This young man began by saying that even though all the speakers spoke about the need to do away with subsidies, he was against the idea because being a cynical person, he doubted whether the money saved from abolishing the subsidy (direct and indirect subsidy comes to about RM80 billion a year), will go to development and helping the poor. He said that being cynical, he thinks that this huge amount of money will go to someone else’s pockets and if so, why should he give up his right to subsidies?

His reason is based on one point only, and that is the whole system is rotten. I thought about it and I think he has a very valid point.

With the rotten system and everyone out to make a fast buck, whatever mechanism of doing away with the subsidy and using the amount saved to channel to development and helping the poor would just not work . Remember that time when the pump price of petrol went up to RM2.70 from RM1.92? The government promised to use the savings to channel into public transport and make it more efficient. Did we see any money going into the intended sector?

A big “No” of course.

I came out from that round table meeting thinking that if the money saved from abolishing subsidies (the 80 billion) goes into private pockets and results in a few more PKFZ, even though I am all for abolishing subsidies gradually (with safety nets in place such as cash coupons and cash cards to be given to the poor), I would want to change my mind and go along with the reasoning of this young man.

After all, if you have lived in Malaysia for the past 30 years, you can’t help but be cynical.

We should perhaps start to withdraw subsidies slowly AFTER we ensure that the leakages and wastages are plugged first. After all, the amount that has been siphoned out of the system is quite high, if we go by the foreign media and investment reports.

The government must have the will to tackle corruption and cronyism, not just pay lip service, and expect people to tighten belts which cannot be tightened anymore.

If subsidy withdrawal results in people unable to make ends meet, then expect social problems and crime rates to go up. If we do not clean up corruption first, expect corruption to become even more rampant and severe, since civil servants too will be hard hit by the subsidy removal and they, being in a position to dictate things, will no doubt be tempted to find other sources of income under the table.

From 2004 till now, we have wasted seven years tackling corruption, which is perceived to be even worse now. We do not have another seven years, given the conditions of the world economy and the middle income trap that we find ourselves in.

But do we have the will?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 26 May 2011, 10:14 pm and is filed under
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Why I would leave Malaysia

Hafidz Baharom

The Malaysian Insider

May 26, 2011

MAY 26 — There are a few things in every nation that a person can’t handle. With our nation now in a state of brain drain (or maybe not), it comes as no surprise that there will be people wishing to migrate for what they may consider greener pastures. I have mine as well even if the country’s national flag features a red maple leaf.

The truth is, I do love this country. To be more specific, I love my hometown of Shah Alam. I love the friends I grew up with even if some of them continue to argue that I should join PAS for some odd reasoning that I personally can’t comprehend. I love my dysfunctional and quirky family and perhaps would even go so far as to say that I love the people in the country when they’re not bigoted idiots running on emotional steroids.

What I don’t enjoy in this nation is the fact that we have a government and government agencies that are run exactly like our Parliament, where a whip is so strictly enforced that minority opinions cannot be promoted. In 2009, Shahrir Abdul Samad said that a Member of Parliament from his own party should be censured, and this motion was denied because nobody would go against the whip.

Similarly in 2010, when women MPs, both from the government and Opposition decried that the new Family Law amendments being tabled, which would grant a husband half of his wife’s property, was unfair, they still voted for it and then chased after the Prime Minister afterwards. Why? Because of the whip being enforced.

Call me naïve, but I want my government members to give their honest opinions on issues without having to adhere to a whip like some circus animal show.

Similarly, regardless of how Anwar Ibrahim came up with a statement that education will be provided with regards to LGBT issues, I just know that the “education” part is reserved for people like me, and not the closeted members of PAS and the conservative people of Malaysia who get married, have kids and then screw around. And sincerely, I have no problem with that. But I do request that they stop doing raids that lead to people jumping out windows.

Leave that to the MACC, which seems to have a new tagline of “when a door closes, a window opens”.

And of course, I do think that PAS members have no problems personally saying they have no problems with a gay, but they can’t support it openly.

Thus, the fact remains that my community remains absurdly unrecognised regardless of the 1 Malaysia agenda because of not wanting to piss off the majority of Malaysians who put them in government.

And I’m not even talking about wanting legislation to marry a guy.

Another reason for me wanting to leave is quite selfish, but also true. It is the fact that I would perhaps make more money overseas. And even if I don’t, the amount I earn would probably have higher purchasing power.

Let’s face it. Writers, political pundits and all-round raconteurs are not exactly part of the Malaysian social and economic agenda. Even our writings sometimes go unpublished due to the increasing level of censorship, especially if you write about things that are considered against public interest and seem to “encourage a deviant lifestyle”.

Of course, these are all reasons why I would leave.

Now let me tell you why I choose to stay.

With all the social injustice, warped politics and the even more warped Malaysian mind-set, I choose to stay because I believe we can change the nation. I know that this sounds very Obama-ish, but it is true. We can change this nation one step at a time. We saw it in 1957, 1963, 1969, 1998 and most recently 2008.

And I know this may seem ironic for a gay Malay Muslim to state, but I have faith that in due time Malaysia will be able to accept their rainbow brethren without prejudice. In due time, Malaysia will warm up to the concept of media freedom to the point that they won’t have to censor Glee on Astro when Blaine grabbed Kurt’s hand and ran down an open corridor in slow motion, let alone the kiss in the study room.

I just hope I live to see it.

But till then, I have faith that Malaysia’s future will be a vibrant multicultural people with varying beliefs which will in fact become a better place to live. That being said, however, it will take the efforts of all parties to get involved and make those changes happen. As Oprah Winfrey said, the greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.

So the main question for Malaysians fighting for race, religion, gender and sexual orientation equality is this; how do we change people’s attitudes?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 26 May 2011, 10:24 pm and is filed under
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10 Days in May (35)

Tweets @limkitsiang:-

DAP-Christian Msia May7 front-page not 1st time Utusan exploited bogey. Its worst example. Y it must be stopped @mpkotabelud does not know?

10:57am

Pathetic.MCA Ministers still dare not teamup w BN moderates 2demand action agnst Utusan though CSL shouts:MCA will stick 2stand! What stand?

11:06am

No 2ways abt it.Utusan May7 ChristianMsia bogey height gutter journalism irresponsible seditious treasonous. Yardstick 2measure BN politicos

11:09am

YB dare u condemn Utusan 4heinous offence instead of retailing lies? @mpkotabelud Prob starts when DAP uses church as political platform.

11:16am

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 11:20 am and is filed under
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10 Days in May (36)

Tweets
@limkitsiang
:-

TBH RCI Sabarni’s family has cried out “Justice 4Sarbani” just as TBH family had been crying “Justice 4TBH” for 22 mths http://bit.ly/lMG3DL

11:44am

TBH Sarbani Amirnuddin Kugan latest case 17yr-old MohdJohariAbuBakar shot by police in Dengkil 13May tragic fatal cases put govt in dock

11:51am

MACC must come clean on TBH death – not 2distract attn abt real culpability by raising host of red herrings inc accusing DAP of TBH murder

11:53am

Or as 2nd line of fallback position – that TBH committed suicide, even “honour suicide”. Y shld MACC go on such an irresponsible expedition?

11:54am

TBH RCI must b sincere effort 2establish facts not 4MACC 2indulge in wild fictions n theories. This is no OJSimpson trial 2beat the system!

11:58am

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 12:01 pm and is filed under
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Di antara Gerakan dan DAP

By
Wan Hamidi
 | May 27, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

27 MEI — Ada sebuah parti politik yang hampir semua pemimpin dan anggotanya adalah dari kaum Cina walau pun ia menegaskan perjuangannya untuk semua kaum. Matlamatnya ialah mewujudkan Malaysia yang bersatu, mengamalkan keadilan sosial dan bersifat sekular.

Ia juga mahu mewujudkan masyarakat yang mempunyai hak dan peluang saksama untuk semua walau pun bersetuju bahawa bantuan harus diberikan kepada mereka yang memerlukan tetapi tidak boleh berasaskan kaum.

Parti itu juga memerintah Pulau Pinang — pada suatu ketika dahulu. Nama parti itu adalah Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia atau lebih dikenali dengan nama Gerakan.

Tidak ada sesiapa, khususnya dari pemerintah pusat, yang menuduh Gerakan sebagai parti rasis, cauvinis, komunis, anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam.

Tidak ada media arus perdana atau mana-mana kumpulan pelampau kaum yang menuduh Gerakan mahu menghapuskan Bahasa Melayu, mengkhianati Perlembagaan Persekutuan atau pun mahu menubuhkan negara Kristian.

Mengapa begitu?

Pertamanya, kerana memang Gerakan bukan rasis, cauvinis, komunis, anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam, serta ia tidak ada konspirasi untuk menghapuskan Bahasa Melayu, mengkhianati Perlembagaan Persekutuan atau pun mahu menubuhkan negara Kristian.

Keduanya, kerana ia adalah rakan komponen Barisan Nasional yang didominasi oleh Umno. Ia tidak melawan Umno. Ia tunduk dan patuh kepada Umno. Ia mengikut telunjuk Umno. Dan ia jarang menimbulkan kemarahan para pemimpin Umno.

Walau pun kadang-kadang Gerakan bersuara tidak puas hati, ia cepat-cepat dipadamkan atas nama semangat setiakawan BN.

Berlainan pula nasib dengan sebuah parti yang banyak persamaan di segi majoriti etnik khusus, ideologi dan matlamat dengan Gerakan. Ia telah menjadi mangsa tohmahan BN, khususnya Umno dan konco-konconya, kerana ia tidak berada dalam BN dan ia enggan tunduk kepada ketuanan Umno.

Ia menjadi mangsa fitnah dan pembohongan yang dahsyat sehingga ramai pemimpinnya merengkok dalam tahanan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri dan sehingga kini terpaksa berdepan dengan tuduhan-tuduhan liar yang tidak berasas.

Sebarang jawapan balas dari parti ini untuk menjelaskan kedudukan sebenar tidak diberi ruang sama sekali dalam mana-mana media arus perdana, terutamanya dalam akhbar, TV dan radio berbahasa Melayu.

Parti ini yang bernama Parti Tindakan Demokratik atau DAP hanya menjadi sasaran tuduhan dan fitnah tanpa berpeluang memberi penjelasan, apatah lagi membela diri, sejak 45 tahun ditubuhkan.

Bagi tukang-tukang fitnah, tidak penting bagi mereka bahawa DAP, yang hampir sama seperti Gerakan, bukan rasis, cauvinis, komunis, anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam. Yang penting bagi mereka, DAP harus dibalun habis-habisan supaya sentiasa dibenci orang Melayu.

Kini DAP menjadi teraju Pakatan Rakyat mentadbir Pulau Pinang. Dengan tiba-tiba ia dituduh menindas orang Melayu di negeri itu. Ia didakwa menjadi punca orang Melayu terbiar dan hidup melarat.

Walau pun pihak yang menuduh tidak membuktikan dakwaan dengan perangkaan, fakta dan maklumat yang benar serta lengkap, tuduhan itu bertubi-tubi dibuat sehingga ramai orang Melayu di luar Pulau Pinang menelan bulat-bulat fitnah sedemikian.

Yang tidak diceritakan oleh tukang-tukang fitnah itu ialah, jika benar pun orang Melayu terbiar melarat, bukan DAP yang memerintah Pulau Pinang sejak Merdeka. DAP dan Pakatan Rakyat yang menguruskan pentadbiran negeri baru berusia setahun jagung.

Sejak pilihan raya umum pertama atas nama Malaya pada 1959, MCA telah memerintah Pulau Pinang dengan diterajui oleh Ketua Menteri Wong Pow Nee sehingga ditewaskan oleh Gerakan pada 1969 (dan Gerakan kemudian menyertai BN). Gerakan menguasai pemerintahan negeri hampir 40 tahun dengan dua ketua menteri Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu dan Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

Jika benar lah orang Melayu Pulau Pinang papa kedana dan hidup daif, sama seperti golongan fakir dan miskin tegar di pedalaman Terengganu, Sabah dan Sarawak, sukar untuk dipercayai ia berpunca daripada pentadbiran Pakatan di bawah pimpinan Lim Guan Eng yang baru menerajui negeri sejak tiga tahun lalu.

Namun, pemerintah pusat BN serta media arus perdana yang mereka kuasai seperti malu-malu kucing untuk mendedahkan maklumat dan fakta sebenar tentang apa yang berlaku kepada orang Melayu di Pulau Pinang sejak 50 tahun sebelum 2008. Walau pun MCA dan Gerakan memerintah Pulau Pinang selama itu, banyak keputusan mereka tertakluk kepada Umno sebagai tonggak pemerintah pusat.

Fitnah berterusan terhadap DAP menyebabkan masyarakat Melayu hanya mendapat tahu tentang parti itu dari kaca mata musuh-musuh politiknya sahaja. Selama ini, sebelum bermula zaman Internet, kebanyakan orang Melayu disogokkan “berita” tentang DAP melalui media arus perdana milik Umno dan BN.

Tidak ada tanda-tanda keadaan ini akan berubah.

Bayangkan jika ditakdirkan Gerakan keluar atau dipecat dari BN, ia mungkin menerima nasib yang sama dengan DAP.

Tidak mustahil jika segala jasanya kepada Umno dan BN akan dicampakkan serta-merta, dan secara tiba-tiba ia akan dituduh parti rasis, cauvinis, komunis, anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam.

Namun, ini sekadar andaian. Gerakan tetap setia dengan BN. Ia tetap patuh dan tunduk kepada Umno serta sanggup menerima tohmahan dan kecaman apabila ia sesekali berani menegur sesetengah dasar dan amalan Umno.

* Wan Hamidi is a veteran journalist who has a penchant for rock music.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 12:40 pm and is filed under
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Gov’t scholarships: Don’t be disheartened, Heama

‘Have the inner strength to carry on your struggle despite this setback. Persevere. The world out there is waiting for you to explore.’

High achiever’s PSD scholarship dreams dashed

Pemerhati:
 The Sun reported Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz as saying that of the 300 scholarships that were given based on merit, 14 percent were given to bumiputeras while 86 percent were given to the non-bumiputeras.

This indicates that if Malaysia has a meritocractic system, there would be only about 20 percent bumiputeras in the various fields that require strong academic ability.

Countries with enlightened administrations realise the importance of having the best and brightest people in all fields and hence go all out to find and retain such people, whatever their ethnicity.

Unfortunately, the racist mindset of the ruling Umnoputras and their civil servants results in policies that produce a lot of bumiputera professionals of very low quality and these racists are happy with the exodus of the brilliant non-bumiputeras.

The Umnoputras and the royalty know of the low quality professionals and hence shun our local education and medical institutions. Such institutions are for the ‘benefit’ of the rakyat.

Terminator:
 The problem is it is difficult to change government agencies such as the PSD (Public Service Department). It will take a change of goverment and another 10 years at least to see positive changes in our country.

For Heamanthaa Padmanaban, please do not be de-spirited as I was also in the same shoes almost 25 years ago. I also attended the PSD interview and was not chosen for a scholarship in UK, despite having 5As in SPM. I knew it would be miracle for a non-bumiputera to get it.

I accepted an offer from a local university and did my studies with own expenses (no loan or scholarship). In the end, what is important is your hard work. Today I compete internationally and outwit a lot of Europeans in my field overseas and earn a healthy income.

Bao Zheng: Hemanthaa, you should remain strong and not deterred by such sinister intention to deprive you of what you deserve. Look for options to reinforce your position. Truth prevails and it is crystal clear that our government offers empty talk and does not deliver.

Singapore, UK, Australia would receive you with open arms and help you achieve your ambition of becoming a doctor. The brain drain began since independence. Only mediocre candidates remain. Just look at our higher institutions, they are such a letdown. The country has long gone to the dogs.

Do well in your A levels and things will go your way. Good luck.

Phoenix Star 88:
 Haema, please accept the private scholarship you have received to cover the tuition fees. They are hard to come by. You can get a small loan to cover the living expenses.

Don’t let this rejection from PSD spoil your self-esteem as it is clearly not your fault. It’s no the end of the world. And to all good Malaysians, ask yourselves how denying opportunities to the our best and brightest would benefit the country?

Anonymous:
 Heamanthaa, I believe your determination and dream will come true. While you still believed in the government, I already feel sick and tired of this government.

I have a son and I don’t depend on the government to provide either the study loan or scholarship. It is for me to work hard to improve the life of my family. Believe in yourself, not the government.

SickNegara:
 After reading this story, I could only shake my head in disbelief. The whole process is wrong – from the way the scholarships are awarded to the way courses are chosen and offered to the students.

When will these low-grade leaders ever get anything right? What a 1Malaysia with 0Brain leaders?

JBGUY:
 There must be transparency in the award of government scholarships. Every year we hear of bright students being turned away and mediocre students of a particular race being given these scholarships. This clearly infringes the PM’s promise to reward students solely based on meritocracy.

It is time the PSD stops interviewing the candidates as this is being used to favour one race. Candidates should be gauged on their academic performance, their extra-curricular activities and a standard test akin to the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) in the US.

This test should be set by a multi-racial team of education specialists from the public and private sector. The panel who make the final decision must be made up of a multi-racial committee who are answerable for any discrepancy in the awards. The successful students will then have their names and scores published in the PSD website.

Malaysian Born:
 I feel sorry for our country as we seem to be on the road to running discounted quotas into oblivion. Instead of targeting excellence, we seem too comfortable holding on to mediocrity.

Government service needs to be the vocation of choice attracting the best and the brightest. By pushing away applicants of merit, we are doing serious long-term damage to the service at a very fundamental level.

Merit is not a bad thing. In Malaysia, for some reason, it has become a dirty word. Mention it in front of the Perkasa types and they hit the panic button because they feel they will be left out. Well, they should. There are, and will be, more than enough performing Malays to fulfill the requirements if you make excellence non-optional.

The Ibrahim Alis will of course end up unable to qualify, but that is okay as they are not meant to – someone has to sit outside the toilet to collect the tokens. Let the meritorious Malays and non-Malays be the majority in the government service.

Clearwater:
 Forget the PSD and their scholarship and direct your energy to other alternatives. Getting 10As at SPM level is not a big deal nor is it life defining. It’s only a low-level local examination and not highly thought of at that.

Never ever think you are entitled to anything because you are smart or athletic or pretty or gifted or just born with favoured status. Don’t compare yourself to others, either favourably or unfavourably. No one owes you anything.

Have the inner strength to carry on your struggle despite this setback. Persevere. The world out there is waiting for you to explore.

Anonymous_40a7:
 Now we all know why Malaysia is going backwards – the high achievers are teaching English, while the lesser ones are running the country.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 10:40 am and is filed under
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Gov’t to announce power tariff hike on Monday

Malaysiakini
 | May 27, 11

The National Economic Council (NEC) has today approved an increase in the electricity tariff but details will only be announced on Monday.

The NEC convened today in Putrajaya at a meeting involving several cabinet ministers chaired by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin is expected to hold a press conference on Monday to deliver a formal announcement.

In recent weeks, cabinet ministers have been repeatedly telling the public to brace for an electricity tariff rise as the government embarks on a subsidy-slashing exercise.

On Wednesday, the cabinet deferred plans to hike up fuel prices, which critics argue cannot be justified unless the federal government first embarks on an austerity drive.

Over the past 18 months, the government has pushed up sugar prices by 58 percent and allowed RON97 grade petrol to hit a record high of RM2.90 per litre.

Coupled with the ‘5-in-1 hike’ on July 15 involving RON95, RON97, diesel, liquified petroleum gas and sugar prices, inflationary pressure is mounting.

Mustapa: Increase will be gradual

The withdrawal of subsidies is part of the federal established Performance Management and Delivery Unit’s (Pemandu) subsidy rationalisation plan.

According to the plan, electricity tariffs will be raised by 2.4 sen/kWh initially, followed by 1.6 sen/kWh hike every six months spread over the next five years until July 2014.

Currently, the average electricity tariff stands at 31.3 sen/kWh.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd has frozen its base tariff rate since 2009 and complains that currently the tariff covers only coal cost of up to US$85 against the prevailing coal price estimated at US$117 per tonne, reported StarBizWeek.

Meanwhile, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said that Malaysia’s industries must be prepared to face the electricity tariff hikes but stressed that it would be done gradually.

“The government needs to be financially strong. Therefore, the increase is necessary and some industries are expected to feel the pinch once it (tariff) goes up.

“The surge in power costs would, however, be done in stages. This is to enable industry players to be prepared,” Mustapa told reporters in Shah Alam, reported Star Online.

Tenaga is one of the top 10 gainers in Bursa Malaysia today. It closed at RM6.58 per share, an increase of 4 percent.

[
More to follow
]

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 6:09 pm and is filed under
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High achiever’s PSD scholarship dreams dashed

By
S Pathmawathy
 | May 26, 11

Malaysiakini

Every year, we hear stories of high achievers not being able to secure government scholarships to pursue the courses of their choice despite fulfilling the necessary requirements.

Heamanthaa Padmanaban was among those who had suffered this setback to follow her ambition to study medicine abroad and also did not qualify to take up a course in biotechnology locally.

The 17-year-old from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tuanku Jaafar in Seremban, Negri Sembilan, scored 10A+ and 1A in last year’s Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations and was an all-rounder in extra-curricular activities.

“I qualified for cross-country runs and played hockey at state level, and was a school champion in chess and badminton.

“In April last year I was among those chosen to participate in the Malaysia-America Soccer Exchange programme with 12 other women,” Heamanthaa (right) told Malaysiakini.

All these, besides her academic qualification, were means to secure a Public Service Department (PSD) scholarship to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor.

“I got the letter from PSD on May 13 and when I saw it I was happy thinking I must have qualified.

“After reading the contents of the letter I felt as if all my efforts and everything I had strived for had shattered.

“I cried and when I told my mum about it she broke down crying, too, she couldn’t take it,” she recounted.

Instead of an opportunity to study medicine or biotechnology, the petite and athletic looking Heamanthaa was offered a Diploma course in English at University Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI).

“If it was my ambition to teach English, I would have taken up the offer but I want to be a doctor. It doesn’t make sense,” she said.

‘I believed in the govt’

Although disappointed, she has appealed for an alternative offer as she is determined to become a doctor, specialising in oncology.

But without a scholarship, Heamanthaa’s chances of achieving her dream are bleak as her family may not be able to sustain and fund her tertiary education if she decides to pursue medicine privately.

Her father deals in health products and her mother is a primary school teacher while her younger brother is in Form 4.

“Private institutions have offered scholarships but they are only enough to pay tuition fees. I worked hard to study overseas and I believed in the government’s word that students with 9A+ will be given scholarships and also to study the courses of their choice,” said Heamanthaa.

In July last year, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that PSD scholarships would be awarded to all students, regardless of ethnicity, who managed to score 9As or higher, for either local or overseas studies.

On May 4, the cabinet decided that all students who scored 8As and above in the SPM would be eligible for PSD scholarships and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Aziz reiterated that the promise will be kept.

Later, Nazri had rubbished Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong’s allegations of malpractice in the PSD’s selection of scholarship recipients.

The minister also said the PSD’s focus includes medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering, science and technology and several areas under social sciences.

“Two of my peers were offered medicine, one at a medical college in New Zealand and another at the International Medical University (IMU).

“We all got more less the same grades but why didn’t I get any such offers? I want to do medicine and it is one of the critical courses under PSD,” said Heamanthaa.

‘Think about our feelings’

She related that during her 45-minute interview with four PSD panel members on April 13, she was asked several perplexing questions.

“They asked me why doctors don’t want to work in rural areas; why PSD scholars don’t want to come back to the country to work; and what inspires me to be successful.”

In PSD’s merit category – 85 percent is based on academic excellence, 10 percent on co-curricular activities and five percent on the interview.

Heamanthaa’s father Padmanaban opined that it is unlikely for his daughter to fail her PSD interview, as she had received good remarks from the US Embassy visa approval officer when she attended an interview last year.

At a press conference yesterday, Heamanthaa said she had appealed to MCA and MIC as well as to several NGOs.

“Please give it to those who are worthy – that’s all I ask, give scholarships to all those who deserve them,” she added.

Imagine the anguish when their applications are rejected or not offered the courses they want, she said.

Another who suffered the same fate as Heamanthaa was Chai Sheng Min from SMK St Joseph in Kuching, Sarawak who obtained 10As. He said he was only offered a scholarship to study engineering at Universiti Technology Petronas, while his two friends with 4As and 5As respectively were awarded scholarships to pursue science degrees in the United States.

“I hope this doesn’t get repeated again in the coming years and the issue is addressed once and for all,” Hemanthaa said.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 10:19 am and is filed under
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Keluarga: ‘Kami nak tahu apa status kes Sarbaini’

Oleh Syed Mu’az Syed Putra
The Malaysian Insider

May 27, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, 27 Mei — Keluarga Allahyarham Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed mahu polis mendedahkan perkembangan terbaru hasil siasatan kematian penolong pengarah Kastam Diraja Malaysia itu dua bulan lalu.

Ini kerana, menurut sumber yang rapat dengan keluarga Ahmad Sarbaini, sehingga kini masih tiada perkembangan, menyebabkan keluarga itu tertanya-tanya status sebenar hasil siasatan tersebut.

Tambah sumber itu, perkembangan terakhir yang diketahui pada 4 Mei lalu di mana kertas siasatan kematian Ahmad Sarbaini akan dihantar semula ke Jabatan Peguam Negara.

“Kami nak tahu apa status terkini sekarang, kami tertanya-tanya apa yang berlaku dan perkembangan kes ini.

“Saya sendiri tertanya-tanya apa status kes ini sekarang, sebab saya lihat macam tidak ada apa-apa yang berlaku… senyap begitu sahaja,” katanya kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Ahmad Sarbaini, 56, yang bertugas di pejabat Kastam Pelabuhan Klang ditemui mati di gelanggang badminton di tingkat satu bangunan Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) setelah dilapor pergi ke pejabat itu untuk bertemu pegawai penyiasat berhubung siasatan kes rasuah yang membabitkan 62 pegawai Kastam.

Bapa lima anak itu meninggal dunia kerana kecederaan pada bahagian kepala selepas jatuh dari bahagian tinggi bangunan SPRM di Jalan Cochrane, 6 April lalu.

Tegas sumber itu, keluarga Ahmad Sarbaini bimbang jika polis masih berdiam diri dalam perkara itu. lama-kelamaan ia akan “hilang” begitu sahaja.

“Sebab itu kami mahu polis dedahkan perkembangan terkini dalam kes ini, jangan senyap sahaja,” katanya.

“Polis buat macam tak tahu sahaja, yang paling kasihan kami sekeluarga sebab masih menanti perkembangan terbaru,” kata anggota tersebut.

Jelasnya, keluarga Ahmad Sarbaini sudah tidak mahu menunggu lagi dan mahu mengetahui perkembangan hasil siasatan dengan segera.

“Kami nak tahu apa yang berlaku, apa status… jangan senyap macam ini.

“Jangan biarkan kami tertanya-tanya, nak kami tunggu sampai bila? Sudah hampir dua bulan sejak kejadian, tak akan tiada apa-apa perkembangan?” katanya.

Balu Ahmad Sarbaini telah membuat satu laporan polis berhubung kes ini kerana terdapat kesangsian ketika berbual dengan salah seorang pegawai kanan Kastam.

Maziah Manap dalam laporannya awal bulan ini mendakwa bahawa pegawai yang dinamakannya — Ghani — telah memberi gambaran kepadanya bahawa salah seorang kakitangan bawahan terlibat dalam kes berkenaan.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 8:40 am and is filed under
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Let us be blasphemous!

By
Zan Azlee
 | May 27, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 27 — I am no longer a believer and will burn in hell for questioning Islam. And, by raising and seeking answers to issues that I am in doubt of, my children will even grow up to have sex with animals.

These are some of the things I have been called and accused of by certain people in reaction to the documentary films and articles I’ve written that deal with my religion.

Of course, I don’t take these comments to heart. But it does make me think about how receptive Malaysians, Muslims specifically, are when it comes to really learning about Islam.

I used to go to religious school in the evenings during my primary school years. There was no doubt that I learnt a lot in religious school.

That was where I really learnt to improve my galah panjang skills because there was a wide open tarred space in front of the classroom building where we would play.

There I learnt the finer points of gambling when my friends and I went behind the canteen where one of the abangs from the drinks stall would open up a tikam table.

And, I also learnt how to appreciate all the variations of asam kecut since there was a nice elderly makcik at the gates of the school whose smile was just too enticing.

What I definitely didn’t learn there was the religion itself. Well, to be fair, I did learn the Jawi text, hence, I would be able to read Utusan Melayu today, if the newspaper still existed.

But the school was really a place that was the death of true critical thinking when it came to understanding Islam.

Let me give you an example of a typical classroom conversation I would have with the ustaz.:

“Ustaz, why can’t we touch dogs?” I asked.

“Because it’s haram.” the ustaz said.

“I know that. But why is it haram?”

“Because God says so.”

“Then why did God make it haram?”

“Because it just is.”

“There’s no reason?”

“Don’t think too much into what God says. It will make you go crazy! Now go back to your seat!”

Honestly, it’s freaking annoying. I cannot believe that Islam, my chosen faith, actually wants people to accept things blindly and never question anything.

Correct me if I’m wrong here. But Islam is a religion where its followers are obligated to constantly ask questions and search for knowledge.

The first ever verse of the Quran (Surah Al Alaq) that was sent down to earth reflected this:

“Read! Read in the name of your Lord who has created (all that exists). He has created man from a clod. Read! And your Lord is the most generous. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen. He has taught man that which he knew not.”

The Quran (Surah Ta Ha ) also states:

“Ask of Him: My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.”

I’ve even met people who have told me not to ask and question too much about Islam because if you do, then you may be at risk of being blasphemous.

“Why would God punish a person for sinning if He has already determined that person’s fate?” I asked a friend whose skullcap was about to fall off.

“God has his reasons,” he answered, readjusting his skullcap.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t that be unfair since he already determined the person to sin?”

“Zan, stop questioning God. That’s blasphemy!”

Goddamn it! The concept of blasphemy doesn’t even exist in Islam because it would never condone a concept that restricts thinking and discussion by shutting everything down.

I cannot subscribe to the belief that everything is so sacred until the search for knowledge itself becomes useless.

Prophet Muhammad would be so upset if he were alive today to see this archaic concept of blasphemy being used to shut people up, since he did say:

“Whoever conceals knowledge would be muzzled on the Day of Resurrection with a muzzle of fire.”

And he also added:

“He is not from my followers, he who does not respect his elders, who does not show mercy to the young and who does not give due right to a scholar.”

So, let’s continue criticising, questioning, raising issues, and understand more about this religion we claim to love so much. Blasphemy!

*
Zan Azlee is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, writer, New Media practitioner and lecturer. He runs Fat Bidin Media www.fatbidin.com

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 12:57 pm and is filed under
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Life is still good here

By
Malik T
 | May 26, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 26 — It’s a wee bit late for me but I did consider encouraging my kids to move to Australia and for me to get a property for them there. However, I was not keen to do so for the following reasons:

1. The quality of life here is good. There are nice restaurants and pubs such as in Changkat Bukit Bintang, with a big and lively expatriate community. We have a good circle of friends here.

2. Places stay open late unlike in Australia where only places in the inner city centre are open late but the security is not good. I spent a number of years at university in Australia but feel KL is a much nicer place to stay in than, say, Perth.

3. Work is interesting and challenging. I may not get to be in such a senior position if overseas.

4. Because there is for me and my family economic security. There is more opportunity for advancement here as there is still a strong demand for skilled workers. Malaysia is still a net importer of labour.

5. Although for my kids the starting salary is low, salaries will increase as you progress and the differential between graduate and non-graduate jobs is high. Purchasing power is high as most items are cheaper here than they are in Australia.

6. We have a nice house, nice cars for my wife and kids. Maids are easy to get. Because I enjoy having my kids close by especially when they have their own kids

7. I feel secure being in Malaysia. Gated community provides good security. Confident that the chance of racial strife is minimal with the strong government in place.

8. Because racial discrimination is more pervasive in some other countries. Experienced a number of occasions of such discrimination when I was staying in Australia and during recent visits.

9. I have kin in Australia but I am very concerned about the level of violence especially in cities such as Melbourne.

10. Because I feel I will be treated like a second-class citizen in Australia.

* We asked readers to tell us in their own words why they stayed in Malaysia… instead of migrating. This is one of the stories.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 10:21 am and is filed under
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LRT lobbying tests Najib’s resolve to push public tenders

The Malaysian Insider
 | May 27, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — The award of a contract to upgrade the light rail transit (LRT) line to European engineering powerhouse Balfour Beatty has sparked intense lobbying which is testing Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s commitment to public tenders.

According to a report in today’s Singapore Straits Times, the intense lobbying over the contract could also delay the PM’s plans to upgrade the chaotic transport network and inject fresh vigour into Malaysia’s economy.

It is also shaping up to be a test of Najib’s resolve to make public tenders a hallmark of his administration, as opposed to the opaque system of the past, the Straits Times said.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara has just completed an international tender for upgrading the LRT.

But Prasarana’s yet-to-be publicised decision to award the contract to the lowest bidder — a consortium led by European engineering powerhouse Balfour Beatty — is being hotly contested behind the scenes by the losing bidders, executives familiar with the situation told the Singapore Straits Times.

“The rivals include Bombardier, which installed the city’s existing light rail system, and Britain’s Colas. According to executives close to the tender exercise, the lowest bid was Balfour Beatty’s at RM590 million. The highest was Bombardier’s at RM850 million,” the Straits Times reported.

How Najib handles the Prasarana award will signal whether he can break away from past practices and introduce a more level playing field in the award of contracts, analysts and private economists told the Straits Times.

If the government decides to review the contract, it could raise speculation that the intense lobbying prompted him to step in.

“There is a strong lobby with people close to the PM to change the decision,” one industry executive closely involved in the tender exercise told the Straits Times.

This executive said the Balfour Beatty consortium could face problems integrating with the existing systems installed by Bombardier.

But parties close to Balfour Beatty said those concerns were misplaced. “These issues were considered by the Prasarana board before it came to the decision,” said one engineering consultant familiar with the tender exercise.

Prasarana had been forced last week to cave in to pressure from Malay rights groups when it revised pre-qualification criteria for several construction packages for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT).

The project owner said last week that contractors who wish to tender for elevated civil works, stations and depots work construction packages will be allowed to form joint ventures or consortiums among local companies.

Prasarana had on March 30 imposed additional criteria on contractors taking part in the project tender which disallowed them from forming joint ventures or consortiums.

But Perkasa was quick to accuse Prasarana of blocking Bumiputera contractors from participating by enforcing “strict” guidelines that would only benefited “rich non-Bumis”, saying that MMC-Gamuda was “looting and monopolising” the project.

The Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia later asked the government to hand over the whole project to it as Bumiputera contractors were finding it hard to bid for tenders.

The KVMRT is expected to be the largest-ever construction project in Malaysia and had earlier been estimated to cost between RM36 billion and RM53 billion.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 11:31 am and is filed under
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Of forest spirits and conservation

By
June Rubis
 | May 27, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 27 — The problem with conservation work is this: when you have finally done a right, it feels like a wrong.

I had only been based in central Kalimantan for less than a year, when the first major controversy of the conservation project that I was managing erupted.

A couple of young men from a village situated by the wildlife reserve were arrested by my patrol for taking logs out from the reserve. They landed in jail for six months.

The fallout from the arrests was emotional. The village rallied to their defence, upset that their sons and husbands were arrested for what they felt was their moral right to harvest from the nearby forest.

We had to organise a public meeting immediately to clear the air and cool down hearts. Much to our dismay, the forestry reps showed up with firearms “for protection.”

Refusing to be intimidated on their own soil, the villagers yelled us down in a heated debate, and told us to clear off. They didn’t want any conservation education activities happening in their village.

And so we cleared off. However, because of the good work of one persistent staff who had quietly worked on the ground for months as an organic farming facilitator, we were welcomed back by the village almost a year later to host an Environment Day event.

We couldn’t have been happier. It was progress.

When that day arrived, we held colouring competitions and environmental games for the children, and gave out colourful stationery as prizes.

My team dressed up as an orangutan and a hornbill to entertain the village. We planted local fruit seedlings along the roadside with the women and children, and as the day drew to a close, played conservation film shorts on a fabric backdrop pinned on the wall of the village hall.

It was a good day.

My team and I were hosted by the one of the more prosperous residents of the village, and spent the night on the floor of his relatively spacious house.

The next morning, as we were having our breakfast of fried fish and rice, I couldn’t help but notice a young man staring intently at me. Our host noticed my discomfort, and explained in Indonesian that this man was one of those who had been arrested.

“He has a wife, and a baby who was born while he was in jail,” he added nonchalantly, as I squirmed a bit under the intense gaze.

I gave the young man a friendly smile, and asked him how he was doing. He stared back at me, without uttering a response.

Enjoying my growing discomfort, my host lapsed into a story of the young man.

This is the story as told to me.

The young man, who was caught for poaching logs, is actually a skilled hunter who has hunted in the reserve many times.

He has a special relationship with the spirits of the forest, and before he enters the forest, he prepares a special offering of leaves, betel nuts and cigarettes for the spirits. Once appeased, the spirits allow him to hunt in peace, and he has never been caught by our patrol teams.

One day, he saw a very large deer in the forest and wanted to hunt it, but it kept eluding him for hours. Frustrated, he decided to make use of the rest of the day by collecting logs to build a house for his new family.

As he lugged the logs out of the forest, he walked straight into a patrol that promptly arrested him.

He believes that the large deer was a forest spirit that had punished him for the audacity of trying to hunt it.

He spent six months in jail for his troubles.

I listened to the story with fascination, also noting the discrepancies of the later part of the story compared to what our patrol team had reported. Our team had insisted that it was a planned concerted effort with several local men, and that the logs were heading to a rich buyer in town. They took photos of the truck and people as evidence.

Justice was already meted, and the crime already paid. What was left was the young man’s belief that it was essentially his fault for getting caught, for disrespecting the forest spirits.

The people of this small coastal village are not indigenous to the land, and are of Muslim faith. However, they continue to have their own traditional system of managing their natural resources.

You take what you need from the forest, but only if you had paid proper respects to it. Otherwise justice would be meted out.

In a way, I was grateful for the passion and anger we experienced earlier in the village. It was a good reminder that proper dialogue and collaboration with rural communities is not a token exercise to appease donors, but rather it is an essential key to unlocking a long-term genuine effort for effectively managing natural resources between government, NGOs and local communities.

We had hit a bump along the way, but hopefully this was a positive start for a more conducive working relationship with the village, and of other villages surrounding the wildlife reserve.

As I thought these thoughts to myself, the young man finally stirred and said simply to me: “God be willing, I am fine. I am looking forward to returning to the forests once more.”

* June Rubis has spent the better years of her adult life with the primates in the Borneo rainforests. She has no regrets. She now spends most of her time working with humankind. There are some regrets.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 12:43 pm and is filed under
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Page wants Putrajaya to make stand on English

By
Clara Chooi
 | May 27, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Pro-English language lobby group Page today pleaded with the Najib administration to stop delaying its decision on re-introducing PPSMI (Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English) as an option in schools.

Page chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim revealed to The Malaysian Insider today that the group had been invited for a discussion with the Education Ministry on April 29, but said the meeting was mysteriously cancelled at the last minute.

She said both parties were to discuss the possibility and mechanics of reverting to PPSMI in some schools or sticking to the government’s newly proposed MBMMBI policy, the Malay acronym for “Upholding the Malay language and strengthening the command of English”.

Since the cancellation, she said, the ministry has been silent and parents were left in the dark over the issue.

“I received an email on Thursday (April 28), notifying us that the meeting for the following day with the ministry was cancelled indefinitely. Since then, nothing has materialised and we are quite disappointed. I do hope that the prime minister will keep his word,” she said.

Noor Azimah was referring to a statement by Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the government would engage with parents to seek their views before making a final decision on the matter.

Prior to the Sarawak polls on April 16, Najib had also announced he would consider using dual languages as the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science in schools. PPSMI was first introduced in 2003 but the Education Ministry decided last year to stop it by 2012 after consulting with teachers and parents around the country.

In the uproar that followed after PPSMI was abolished, Putrajaya introduced MBMMBI, which will see the teaching of Mathematics and Science revert to Bahasa Malaysia from 2012 while more contact hours for English would be offered in order to improve students’ skills in the language.

But Noor Azimah argued today that the new policy would ultimately reduce English exposure time from 41 per cent under PPSMI to only 20 per cent.

“Like what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, we are losing our skills in scientific English. The English that we are learning now is purely conversational while the teaching medium for Mathematics and Science goes back to BM, which has no commercial value,” she said.

She added that Page had nothing against MBMMBI but stressed that both policies should go hand in hand.

“Let the parents decide what they want… if a large number demands English, then let that school use PPSMI. If a large number prefers BM, then use BM.

“I do appreciate that some schools perform better in English while some do better in BM. But we must also take note that those who learn in BM all the way later have problems when they enter the sixth form.

“What we want is a seamless transition and English, we must admit, is not a foreign language to us but a second language or even first language to a large part of the population,” she said.

The Malaysian Insider reported today that the Najib administration had deferred its decision on the matter as several Cabinet ministers feared any further change in policy would be viewed as an embarrassing flip-flop.

Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s rule was marked by several policy U-turns that led to him being mocked by predecessor Dr Mahathir and other critics.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 6:05 pm and is filed under
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Pua: Water bonds premium price abuse of public funds

By Yow Hong Chieh | May 27, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — The federal government’s decision to buy back Selangor water bonds at a significant premium is not only an abuse of taxpayers’ monies but borders on the outrageous, Tony Pua has said.

Quoting The Edge Financial Daily, the DAP publicity chief said the RM6.5 billion rescue deal will see Putrajaya acquire the bonds for 94.49 against a mark-to-market value of only 54.54 at the end of last month, or 73.2 per cent above market value.

Pua (picture) said the bond buyback, which will be done through the Water Asset Management Company’s (PAAB) wholly-owned unit, Acqua SPV Bhd, was akin to the bailout of Malaysian Airlines System Bhd (MAS) in 2000 when the government paid 121 per cent above market value for Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli’s shares.

Putrajaya has also not been clear on how it plans to restructure Selangor’s water industry in line with the Water Services Industry Act 2006 after taking over the debts and whether water concessionaires will be required to repay the government, he said.

The Petaling Jaya MP said it was inexplicable that the government would settle outstanding bonds of privatised water companies when the companies’ shareholders should be taking responsibility for their own debt.

“In fact, when these companies were profitable, they have declared handsome dividends for their shareholders. Among the concessionaires, Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Holdings (Splash), whose parent company is Gamuda Bhd, declared dividends of RM578.6 million in 2007 while Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd (PNHB) had declared dividends amounting to RM214 million between 2006 and 2010,” he said in a statement today.

“The above certainly makes true the dictum of the BN government privatising profits and socialising losses by taking over the debt burden of these companies.”

Pua said that Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin should disclose terms of the bailout as it will affect the basic right to water of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya residents, as well as billions of ringgit in taxpayers’ monies.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 11:28 am and is filed under
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Sabah KDM BN parties must be firm on gerrymandering

By Daniel John Jambun (loyarburok.com) | May 27, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 27 — It had recently been announced that the Election Commission is planning to change yet again the boundaries of the state and parliamentary constituencies throughout the country. And so far, strangely, nobody has made any statement about the matter although we are all very much aware of the serious ramifications of such an exercise.

As a Kadazandusun voter and leader, I see this new redelineation as another opportunity for the Election Commission to indulge in another gerrymandering exercise — the manipulative shifting of electoral boundaries. For all we know, this exercise will be an all-important one in which BN will do its utmost to secure maximum political advantage through various ways.

There is no question in anyone’s mind that Umno will play its part in “helping” the Election Commission to determine how the new boundaries are going to be. Umno/BN’s most important consideration will be on how to ensure an increase of its electoral advantages in the states by maximising the new number of pro-BN areas and reducing as much as possible the so-called pro-opposition areas.

In the case of Sabah, this will mean increasing the Malay/Muslim-majority areas and reducing the Kadazandusun and Murut (KDM) majority areas. Small Malay/Muslim areas will be further divided while super-large constituencies like Kinabatangan and Kiulu may remain as they are. As such, the percentage of the KDM-majority areas will be significantly reduced, thus further reducing the KDM political advantage. This therefore means that the redelineation exercise can be a lot more important than the general election because if the BN has secured its leverage with the new boundaries, the general election results will be a foregone conclusion — well, at least in theory.

In view of this, the KDM-based parties in the Sabah BN (Upko, PBS, PBRS) must make a strong stand to ensure that the redelineation exercise will be conducted in the most reasonable way and with justice and fairness. It must never be seen as a manipulation for electoral advantage by Umno which already has more than half of the constituencies in Sabah. It is time for the KDM-based BN parties to voice out their concern over the strong possibility of gerrymandering and do whatever they can to ensure they are duly consulted in the proceedings towards a final decision.

As members of the ruling coalition, they cannot be seen as weaklings who would simply go along with whatever is decided. The issue for them is clear — the securing of equitable representation of the KDM in the government. This cannot continue to be reduced. As the 60 constituencies now stand, the KDM-majority can be increased significantly as many areas, like Kinabatangan, Kiulu and Moyog, clearly need to be split further. The KDM-based BN parties must see this transition as very critical for the KDM, a turning point which may seal forever the fate of the people. They must speak out and mobilise their administrative muscles to intervene because they need to prove to the people that they are not mere traitors, proxies and stooges of Umno.

They must also remember that the balance of constituencies along racial/religious lines must reflect the true racial composition of the population of Sabah. The KDM (including the Orang Sungai), numbering about one million or one-third of the population, must have one-third of the constituencies! They must also be aware that the present number of Muslim-majority areas far exceeds the proportion of the Muslim population in Sabah, and that this is a serious case of injustice and electoral misrepresentation.

The other consideration that must be taken into account is the fact that the peninsula has a disproportionate number of parliamentary constituencies when we consider the size of the peninsula compared to the larger area of the Borneo states. Even Sarawak alone is bigger than the peninsula. Of course, we also need to consider the population size. Hence, to be fair the peninsula should have 50 per cent of the seats, while Sabah and Sarawak should each have 25 per cent. Remember that when Singapore was separated from the Federation, the seats allocated for Singapore were all re-allocated to the peninsula without any being give to the Borneo states.

Note also that in the redelineation exercise, the new Bumiputeras (immigrants given Mykads) are heavily factored in. They are now residents of the more urbanised areas and so are being used as excuses for splitting the “densely populated” areas, whereas the bona fide Sabahans in many interior regions are too few to justify the splitting of their constituencies.

It is therefore, important that the KDM-based BN parties should now form a joint redelineation consultative committee to create more credible weight by involving their parties in the decision-making process of this redelineation exercise. Of course, whatever BN does now to maximise its advantages through racial polarisation of the constituencies will not necessarily help in all circumstances in the future. The Malay areas will not necessarily be supporting Umno forever, because the political tide will keep changing. But the leaders of the KDM-based parties will still have to be involved to constrain Umno from getting the lion’s share of seats. — loyarburok.com

*
Daniel John Jambun is the president of CigMa (Common Interest Group Malaysia), an ad hoc apolitical human rights movement in Sabah.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 6:08 pm and is filed under
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Too many top scorers, not enough scholarships

Malaysiakini Your Say
 | May 27, 11

‘Perhaps the major problem is not there are too few scholarships, but too many applicants from an examination that have too many top scorers.’

High achiever’s PSD scholarship dreams dashed

Wfworker:
 While I sympathise with parents with ‘brilliant’ children, I like to relate two incidents regarding my friends’ children.

One parent expressed her surprise over her son’s achievement of 5As at the recent SPM examination. The reason being that he had failed in all his subjects at the school trial examination.

Another mother had been complaining that the son was performing equally bad during the school’s trial but his result was 9As.

Hence, my apprehension for the nation when As are just churned out by the examination board. Surely the school teachers can’t be setting that much higher standard than the syllabus demanded.

Hann Wei Toh:
 I checked the Singapore PSC (Public Service Commission) scholarship website – it looks like it gives about 90 scholarships every year. I suppose O Level candidates are not eligible.

The Malaysian PSD (Public Service Department) gives about 300 merit-based scholarship to SPM/O Level holders every year, plus several hundred that takes income and other factors into account.

The numbers seem comparable based on the population sizes, though the latter have lower requirements (SPM/O Levels, instead of A Levels).

Perhaps the major problem is not there are too few scholarships, but too many applicants from an examination that has too many top scorers.

Bangsamalaysia:
 My son scored perfect 10As out of the 10 subjects he sat for. He also played for Malaysia in the junior world cup for his chosen sport.

He wanted to study medicine overseas under a PSD scholarship. He was rejected with no alternative offers. There was no explanation given.

I took the case to S Samy Vellu, then MIC president, because he made a press statement that MIC would appeal to the education minister and help deserving students. Complete bullshit.

My son was completely devastated because his bumiputera friends and even Indian Muslim friends with lesser results were offered several countries to choose from. Imagine his frustration at this unfair system.

He has gone on to graduate from a top university overseas with his family’s support. Do you think he will come back and serve here?

BernieBaby:
 At 20 , I was an incumbent Computer Engineering student in USM, Penang and they asked me ‘how many seats are there in the Dewan Rakyat’ during my PSD interview. I replied that I didn’t know.

They accused me of not being a true Malaysian and didn’t deserve a government scholarship.

So there you go. Singapore will be a better place for Malaysian talents. Besides you can get more income and stay in Johor Bahru, just like I do now.

Don’t worry Heamanthaa Padmanaban, you will have the last laugh.

Simpang 4:
 Where is Minister in the PM’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz now? Are the civil servants becoming the disobedient implementors of government policies?

Is the cabinet in control of the government? It is time the chief secretary crack the whip on recalcitrant government servants before the rakyat become disillusioned.

Joker:
 We don’t hear any sob stories from Malay students but funnily, that clown, Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali, said that it is the Malays who lose out in the scholarships.

If the PSD has the guts and confidence in their selection criteria, then let us see the final list of students of who gets what scholarship to study where and what course. Throw in the results obtained by these students as well.

I don’t think such an information should be under OSA (Official Secrets Act) nor is this considered as ‘politicising’ the issue. This is just plain transparency and fairness. Berani kerana benar, takut kerana salah.

Ben Hor:
 This is yet another ‘government’ handout to the bumiputeras. I’ve personally know someone who received a full government scholarship to attend a university in the US.

He did not achieve outstanding results for his SPM, 6As out of 10 subjects. He received the scholarship only because he had an ‘inside connection’.

To Ibrahim Ali and Co, scholarships are not a Malay right, but the right for all Malaysians for stellar performance. Go create your own ‘Perkasa Scholarship Fund’ if you want it to be exclusive.

Makcik Har:
 PSD should stop giving scholarships after SPM. There are a lot of students with a collection of distinctions but can’t carry out a decent argument or conversation.

Besides I don’t trust the passing mark of the Malaysian Examination Syndicate. Somebody suggested 35 percent.

The Education Ministry should make everybody go to Form Six and do the STPM. Then give scholarships to the top achievers regardless of race.

TehTarik:
 The so-called PSD interview is a farce. When my daughter was called for the interview, there were six candidates being interviewed simultaneously by the interviewer for about 15 minutes.

My impression was that a decision had already been made to select the candidates before the interview. It is also said that some less deserving but politically well-connected candidates are also given scholarships.

Anonymous_5fb:
 Would Heamanthaa be able to meet Prime Minister Najib Razak to get a scholarship like what Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan did? What was Saiful’s examination results then when he met Najib?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 10:38 am and is filed under
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Tweetup at Kota Kinabalu and Kuching

@limkitsiang

tweetup
 details:-

Saturday, 28 May 2011, 10am; Kota Kinabalu

Shangri La Hotel (conference room), Bandaran Jaya

Monday, 30 May 2011, 7pm; Kuching

Lot 97, 1st & 2nd Floors,

Lorong 5a, Jalan Datuk Abang Abdul Rahim,

93450 Kuching, Sarawak.

All are welcome.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 8:22 pm and is filed under
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Wary of flip-flop tag, Cabinet dithers over English

By
Clara Chooi

The Malaysian Insider

May 27, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — The Najib administration has not decided on switching back to English for Science and Mathematics (PPSMI) because several Cabinet ministers feel any change would be another embarrassing flip-flop.

The Malaysian Insider understands the Cabinet has discussed the issue but ministers are still divided, leaving Datuk Seri Najib Razak to ask the Education Ministry to work out the various options.

“They don’t want to appear to flip-flop like the Abdullah government,” a government source told The Malaysian Insider recently.

Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s rule was marked by several policy U-turns that led to him being mocked by predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other critics.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz confirmed yesterday that the matter had been discussed in Cabinet prior to the Sarawak state polls last month.

“But we have made no decision yet. Cabinet views were divided so we still have to study the option,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Before the Sarawak polls, Najib announced that he would consider using dual languages as the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science in schools.

While those in the pro-English faction, including lobbyist Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE), lauded the announcement, concerns were also raised over the possibility that the statement was merely politically-motivated.

In the excitement over the polls, which saw the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) pact cruise to a thumping victory, chatter over Najib’s announcement eventually fizzled out.

In an article carried by several media organisations earlier this week, PAGE raised the matter again, insisting that the PPSMI policy was favoured by the majority.

“Lately, the views of bloggers seem to be dominating the print and digital media.

“PAGE views this as a positive proof that PPSMI is indeed favoured by a significant number of the rakyat, both in the peninsula and in east Malaysia,” the group said.

It is learnt the prime minister wants the Education Ministry to be serious about the matter as parents and foreign investors he met recently were alarmed with the lack of fluency in the language.

The Education Ministry, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, has announced it will hire 10,000 teachers to teach English in local schools.

Najib has also got a promise from the United States to send Peace Corps volunteers to teach the language in the country.

“Najib wants action now before fluency becomes a bigger issue for investors,” a Cabinet source said.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 May 2011, 8:17 am and is filed under
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‘BN not worried about facing separate polls’

Malaysiakini

May 27, 11

Barisan Nasional (BN) is not worried over the possibility of facing a separate election should the Pakatan-held states refuse to dissolve their state assemblies, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said.

“We cannot determine what they can do; we can only determine what we can do.

“So, I’m not worried about what they will do because I cannot control their actions. I will only give serious consideration to things that I can do,” he told a media conference after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting at the party’s headquarters today.

Najib said that under the federal constitution, state governments could advise the Sultan or the Yang Dipertua Negeri whether or not to dissolve their state assemblies.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had previously said that states under the opposition pact would not dissolve their state assemblies if the federal government was to dissolve parliament this year.

– Bernama

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 28 May 2011, 8:06 am and is filed under
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I will never trade it for another country

Mohd Elfie Nieshaem Juferi

The Malaysian Insider

May 27, 2011

MAY 27 — If the principles of jus soli were strictly enforced in the country, I wouldn’t even be registered as a citizen of Malaysia. Thirty-one years ago, my father was working for an multi-national corporation based in the Sillicon Valley and he brought his young bride along. I suppose I was conceived during this time. I was born in San Jose, California in the United States of America.

I even have a US birth certificate and a US passport (expired in 1988) to boot. The US recognises dual citizenship so I have no doubt that I am already recognised as a citizen of the US. But because my parents had the foresight to register me at the US Embassy in Washington, DC using Borang W, I became a Malaysian citizen at birth. My father could have made the decision to stay. But he didn’t. He came home to Malaysia with his family in tow.

I grew up in a middle-class family and was for most of my life based in Penang, having been enrolled into a private school (Sekolah Sri Inai). The majority of students were non-Muslim Chinese, I was only one of the very few Muslim students around in the whole school.

Regardless, I had a lot of inter-racial contact and I count a lot of non-Muslims and Muslims alike as among my closest friends during this time period. Back when we were children, the issue of race and religion did not count for much, not even during the 1990s.

However, my father decided to enrol me into a government school, where the racial balance was rather skewed and I saw some form of racism first-hand. There was even discrimination against me, even though I am Constitutionally-defined as a Malay (although today, I do not see myself as such). Moving on to secondary school, I began to make more friends as I grew accustomed to the culture surrounding me and my family.

I was overwhelmingly pro-Umno throughout my earlier student years and saw everything through their lenses. Then 1998 came, when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was unjustly sacked and publicly humiliated, under dubious circumstances.

This incident forced me to start seeing things through a wider lens. I learned over the years of the pervasive corruption within Umno, the excesses of their leaders and their unjust treatment of Malaysians — and even the Malays, those whom they claim to be protecting.

I started to read up and learn about Islam, eventually embracing my religious roots and realised that the only way to achieve universal peace is through the justice of political Islam.

Fast forward to today, the political climate is far different from what it was during the 1990s. Barisan Nasional/Umno is now widely seen as corrupt and unjust, manipulating race issues for their political gain.

The wealth of their leaders is unaccounted for, their continuous disregard for the livelihoods of the rakyat even more evident in the past decade. The economy is being managed badly and social problems such as baby dumping, promiscuous sex among teenagers and crime are on the rise and unlikely to be reduced significantly for as long as the current government remains in power.

With all these known excesses and problems in Malaysia, why am I still here? Why have I remained in Malaysia? I could have just as easily moved to the United States , where I would be welcomed as a citizen and, unlike others who choose to leave, have the right to vote and participate in the political process.

I remained in Malaysia because I believe that to achieve change, the only way to do it is with political change and that must begin with oneself. I translated this into action when I registered as a life member of the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) in 2007.

This belief would not have changed, even if the political tsunami of 2008 did not happen and the tripartite opposition did not make significant gains. Whining and groaning and voting with your feet will not bring about change, it will only bring further apathy to those who stayed behind. The lack of patriotism from those who discarded their vote should not be a reason for anyone to leave the country and never come back.

On a personal note, I am doing reasonably well with my own SEO / Internet business and consistently obtaining clients from the US and the UK / Europe. Although there may be a higher income if I were to leave the country and start living elsewhere, the cost of living in other countries is relatively higher than what it currently is in Malaysia.

Also, I believe that my wife would be able to wear the hijab freely in public, and I will be free to practise Islam openly, without anyone on the street harassing us or calling us “terrorists.” Despite what one may be led to believe, xenophobia and religious bias is not absent in the US, the UK, Europe or anywhere else.

Malaysia is my home, and for better or for worse I will never trade it for another country.

* The author is a Muslim Internet activist and blogs at Critical Thoughts (ibnjuferi.com)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 28 May 2011, 9:01 am and is filed under
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Laporan kajian tentang penyimpangan dan kelemahan buku teks sejarah

CPIASIA
 | 27 May 2011

Urutan Power Point di bawah telah disediakan oleh Centre of Malaysian Chinese Studies (CMCS) dan Nanyang University Alumni Association of Malaya (NYUAA, Malaya) and dibentangkan kepada awam yang menghadiri upacara pelancaran kempen A Truly Malaysian History pada Mei 15 baru-baru ini.

Laporan CMCS dan NYUAA membuat ulasan bahawa skop sempit matapelajaran Sejarah tidak berupaya memupuk generasi muda yang “berpandangan global”.

CMCS dan NYUAA menganggap (sila rujuk di sini nama ahli-ahli panel yang dipertugaskan Kementerian Pelajaran untuk mencatat sejarah rasmi negara) pengolahan rentetan peristiwa-peristiwa sejarah bagi sukatan pelajaran KBSM sebagai suatu pentafsiran yang berat sebelah.

Seterusnya siri buku teks Sejarah terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka tersebut juga mengandungi “penggunaan ayat yang menyinggung perasaan” kaum minorti.

Contohnya, buku-buku teks Tingkatan Tiga dan Lima karya Ramlah Adam et al sering menggunakan perkataan “golongan imigren” dan “pendatang” apabila merujuk kepada penghuni negara ini yang berbangsa India dan Cina. (Bagi pengetahuan umum, Ramlah adalah seorang ahli jawatankuasa pusat dalam gerakan Perkasa.)

Satu contoh lagi, para penulis buku Sejarah Tingkatan Tiga telah menyelitkan ayat berikut: “Eh, Encik Chan, nasib baik kamu masuk sekolah kebangsaan! Dapat kamu berkomunikasi dengan baik” (mukasurat 130) – yang membawa maksud tersirat budak-budak lepasan sekolah aliran bahasa ibunda tidak mampu berkomunikasi dengan baik.

Pemantauan CMCS dan NYUAA juga mendapati buku teks Sejarah Tingkatan Empat mempunyai “isi kandungan kurang seimbang and sejarah tamadun Islam terlalu panjang lebar”. Sekiranya dibandingkan dengan buku teks Sejarah terbitan tahun 1991 di mana sejumlah 30 halaman membincangkan tamadun Islam, buku teks terbitan 2002 pula memaparkan 115 halaman yang membincangkan tajuk berkenaan – suatu peningkatan fokus yang mendadak.

Di samping itu, kupasan yang dibuat tentang agama, adat resam dan budaya kaum Melayu dan penduduk pribumi Sabah dan Sarawak secara keseluruhan merangkumi empat bab dalam buku teks Sejarah Tingkatan Satu (2004). Namun tiada isi kandungan yang sejajar menyentuh kehidupan Orang Asli, kaum Cina dan kaum India di tanahair.

Buku teks Sejarah Tingkatan Dua (1996) ketika mengulas tentang pembangunan bandar Kuala Lumpur hanya menyatakan sumbangan Raja Abdullah manakala sumbangan Kapitan Cina Yap Ah Loy tidak disebut langsung. CMCS dan NYUAA membuat kesimpulan bahawa peranan tokoh-tokoh serta negarawan keturunan Cina tidak diberi penekanan yang sewajarnya.

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Permasalahan buku teks sejarah peringkat sekolah menengah nampaknya timbul kerana penulisnya terlalu bersandarkan pendirian etnik dalam hujah-hujah mereka.

Maka disyorkan agar hanya fakta-fakta sejarah yang benar dan terbukti perlu dikemukakan kepada para penuntut dan bukannya pandangan peribadi penulis sepertimana yang dibayangkan dalam ayat berikut:

“Walau bagaimanapun, IMP (parti yang ditubuhkan Onn Jaafar setelah beliau meninggalkan Umno) gagal mendapat sambutan daripada kaum Cina, India dan kaum lain di Tanah Melayu. Ini kerana mereka tidak merasa bahawa mereka adalah sebagai satu bangsa Tanah Melayu. Rasa perpaduan terlalu asing bagi mereka.” (mukasurat 121, buku teks Tingkatan Lima)

Slides

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