Address terrorism, not flimsy sedition

By Azly Rahman

Malaysiakini

Sep 19, 2014

‘Dewan ulama delegate pays tribute to slain militant, saying he was a martyr’ – The Malaysian Insider

That was what I read yesterday –  a most dangerous symbolic act Malaysia is seeing from an influential political party- the romanticising of diabolism, and if a political party can do this, imagine what we will be facing in these immediate years to come – home grown ISIS!

We ought to be afraid and to be very afraid – when the modus operandi of ISIS is to strike global fear through the broadcasting of beheadings, rape, mayhem, murder. My question to the government is, what are you going to do about this celebration of martyrdom and diabolism?

What is martyrdom or “shahidism in jihadism…”? I am still grappling with these words.

It might be the most misunderstood concept in the Socratic maxim of the life examined. My questions are:

Who or what would you die for and why? is the question…

Who decides whether one has died for god and paradise awaits…? and

Which god is worth dying for in all its validity?

I don’t know.

I am more interested not in the question of what to die for but what kind of life have you lived to the fullest with the wonderful gift of life giveth – because my question is – must religion have enemies if ‘religio’ (from the Latin) means ‘connectedness to a universal higher force of life that will not require warring factions’?

Then there is this story of ISIS handing out its new curriculum in Mosul, Iraq – removing the arts, humanities, and liberal ideas to the schools to impose a theocratic paradigm of teaching and learning, echoing the vision of society in what the Boko Haram of Nigeria and the Talibans of Pakistan hold.

Critical to Malaysian education is the equal emphasis given to music, the arts, humanities, cross-cultural studies and philosophy to be structured into the curriculum, across all subject matters, across the lifespan of the mind, and the monitoring of all formal and non-formal religious schools .

Taken seriously by the Malaysian Education Ministry, this might even be the most important advice for preparing bastion against religious militancy in schools and a peaceful and sustainable weapon against the country’s takeover by ISIS-inspired groups. We must remember what Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Afghanistan were like before what they are now, (and not all hell that broke loose is the fault of the Americans, mind you…)

In the late 1980s in Malaysia I have been in schools that mirror what is being promoted by the curriculum of the Islamic state – girls and boys separated in class, even in group discussions requiring intermingling, English Language arts and drama activities sabotaged by religious groups, music lesson discouraged, students given the free hand delivering all kinds of khutbahs/sermons and talks inspired and fuelled by religious and politically-motivated teachers – all those that ISIS is promoting. I don’t know how things are these days.

Religious martyrs?

I cannot understand why there are Malaysians who still think that those who died fighting alongside ISIS is a ‘shahid’/religious martyr when they are killed. I must say that even God will not accept the reason for this ‘struggle’ when beheadings and forcing Christians to convert to Islam at gunpoint, and raping women are the modus operandi of this ultra-mega-global terrorist group.

I cannot understand why our education system has not prepared its citizen to choose what is right and what is outright wrong, even in matters of religious belief.

We must ponder on this proposition: stop sending students to those troubled Middle Eastern countries.

Find more peaceful places where they teach liberal ideas, humanism, diversity of opinion, and how to respect women; that’s where our students should go to study and not in countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, or any other countries as such where students will bring home ‘fiery’ ideas they cannot truly understand their cultural context only to be coming home with those ideas and messing up the lives of others in Malaysia.

The same situation applies here. Why should international students come here to study in Malaysian when the universities are not conducive to intellectual freedom and when academicians are not free to free the minds of students? What quality thinking education are they getting learning from the idea of democracy a la Malaysia?

We have to suspend our bickerings that do not add value to the evolution of a progressive, tolerant, and intelligent, and civil society we harped so much upon when we craft the Rukunegara of Principles of Nationhood.

We have a bigger threat affecting all races and religions.

The 1980s ‘Islamisation Project’ (transplantation of the radicalism of the Islamic Brotherhood/Ikhwanul Muslim of Egypt, and strands of Wahhabi-ism, laced with ideas of Muhammad Abduh, Syed Qutb, or al Maududi, embraced by some Islamic youth groups ) is bearing a poisonous fruits, as seen from a perspective of Complex Social Systems. We might be seeing our own half-baked Islamisation gone wrong turning into fully-cooked chaos.

In the case of these useless political bickering, dark-clouding of good political discourse, and endless media coverage given to personality bashings, and the ridiculousness of the over-abuse of the useless Sedition Act, let us resolve these and form some kind of collaborative governance and deal with the emerging issue of the ISIS threat and rebuild this nation, emotionally, economically, culturally, and socially.

Re-embrace your own culture

Most importantly I submit, especially for the Malay-Muslims – leave Arabism behind – particularly the disabling values of Arab tribalism that is now an epic of endless troubles borne in antiquity and globalised with such magnanimity to the current phenomena of the spread of this ‘Khalifahdom-propagated ideology in which beheadings, rape, and Attila-the-Hun-styled mayhem’ is the leitmotif of ‘Islamic millinearistic movement of global dominance and forced supremacy’. The disabling strands of it are deadly.

My plea for the Malays: re-embrace your own culture and relearn the essence of its beauty and the profundity of its philosophy. The wave of the Islamisation project of the 1980s has swept it to the middle of our own ocean of mercy.

Yesterday, thinking of all these I lamented the state of things entire with these verses as I think of my time growing up in Johor Baru back in the late 1970s.

TAKE ME BACK TO THE SEWEL SEVENTIES …

when things were fine and dandy

when my teachers were groovy

when there was no ISIS nor Muslims that went crazy

when there was just you and me

and a dog named boo and no cellphones to do selfies

when life was just carefree

and you could roam around the village and the city freely

when puppy love and monkey love and sewel love were true love actually

when one could just pluck your neigbour’s rambutan and not get arrested unnecessarily…

when sepak takraw and sepak yem were cool games to make you happy daily

when girls do no wear the tudung and you could see genuine smiles as they ride their Chopper bikes around the kampong endlessly

when you tell seditious jokes with your friends and not get arrested immediately…

BRING ME BACK THE SEVENTIES

when P Ramlee was king of comedy

and Latifah Omar was the real beauty

and Si Tora Harimau Jadian was a Halloween tiger you wouldn’t want to hold lovingly

TODAY is a time when many Muslims are going mad crazy…

with beheadings as modus operandi

no longer at peace with themselves not feeling kind of groovy

YES TAKE ME BACK TO THE SEWEL BUT HAPPY SEVENTIES

when a truly multicultural feeling and a sense of unity goes well with bell-bottoms and dungarees and smiles all day and people are mad happy! –

DR AZLY RAHMAN, born in Singapore and grew up in Johor Baru, holds a Columbia University (New York City) doctorate in International Education Development and Masters degrees in four areas: Education, International Affairs, Peace Studies and Communication. He has taught more than 40 courses in six different departments and has written more than 350 analyses on Malaysia. His teaching experience in Malaysia and the United States spans over a wide range of subjects, from elementary to graduate education. He has edited and authored six books; Multiethnic Malaysia: Past, Present, Future (2009), Thesis on Cyberjaya: Hegemony and Utopianism in a Southeast Asian State (2012), The Allah Controversy and Other Essays on Malaysian Hypermodernity (2013), a first Malay publication Kalimah Allah Milik Siapa?: Renungan dan Nukilan Tentang Malaysia di Era Pancaroba (2014), and Controlled Chaos: Essays on Mahathirism, Multimedia Super Corridor and Malaysia’s ‘New Politics’ (forthcoming 2014). He currently resides in the United States where he teaches courses in Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Political Science, and American Studies.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 September 2014, 9:05 pm and is filed under
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Will Najib revisit his two earlier speeches to the UN General Assembly and admit the failure even in Malaysia of his initiative on the Global Movement of Moderates?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, will be making his third address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Friday since becoming the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia in 2009.

The thrust of his two earlier UNGA speeches were his initiative on the Global Movement of Moderates for  “moderates of all countries, of all religions to take back the centre, to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalize the extremists”.

Or to use Najib’s own words,  a  clarion call “to reject extremism in all its forms because the real divide is not between East and West or between developed and developing worlds or between Muslims, Christians and Jews. It is between moderates and extremists of all religions”.

In  his September 2010 speech in the United Nations,  Najib even offered Malaysia as an example of a country practicing such principles of moderation –  “a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and democratic society that has benefited from the positive interaction and synergy between the various communities.”

He said:     “Mosques, temples, churches and other places of worship co-exist in harmony. Although Islam is the official religion, we honour other religions – Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism – by making their religious and cultural celebrations as national holidays and celebrate them as national events. It is this equilibrium that leads to moderation or ‘wasatiyyah’ in the Islamic tradition of mutual justice.

“Malaysia stands at the geographical cross roads of major civilisations and religions of the world. We are therefore well poised to play our part in promoting religious understanding, harmony and tolerance. To further strengthen our process of national unity, I have introduced a philosophy known as 1Malaysia . 1Malaysia is a vision that seeks renewal and rejuvenation to bring all our people together in a just and harmonious relationship. 1Malaysia calls for the acceptance of diversity as a source of greater unity. We seek to celebrate our multi-ethnic and multi-religious society for strategic strength and harmony.”

In the past 16 months since the 13th General Elections last year, the 1Malaysia policy has disappeared from the lexicon of Najib and his administration.

In his third speech to the UNGA, will Najib revisit his two earlier speeches to the UN General Assembly and admit the failure even in Malaysia of his initiative on the Global Movement of Moderates?

In Malaysia today, his brainchild the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMM) is operating  as if it is a seditious organization, with the media asked not to report its forum on the “Future of Malaysia” with NGOs on Malaysia Day, as moderation has become sedition in Najib’s Malaysia while certain  extremism enjoys immunity and impunity despite infractions of the law!

Will Najib salvage his Global Movement of Moderates initiative and make an international statement in the United Nations for an end to the current “white terror” campaign to create a new climate of fear in Malaysia  after the 22-year Mahathir “Dark Age”, give an undertaking that there will be no Operation Lalang II using the Sedition Act instead of the Internal Security Act,  drop all sedition charges and  repeal the Sedition Act as he had promised to do in 2012?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 September 2014, 4:42 pm and is filed under
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A Modest Proposal for the Champions of Ketuanan Melayu

M. Bakri Musa

First of Three Parts: Have High Expectations Of Our Young

Hardly a day goes by without those self-proclaimed champions of Malay race and defenders of Malay rights frothing at the mouth demanding that they (non-Malays) do this or that so we Malays could be the unquestioned Tuans (masters) of Tanah Melayu. When these Hang Tuah wannabes are not consumed with their theatrics of brandishing their ketchup-soaked kerises, they are obsessed with denigrating our culture and national character. To them we are lazy, dishonest, and know no shame.

            Strip the rhetoric and those expressions of frus (“Manglish” for frustration) and fury are understandable if not predictable. We are frustrated because with the billions spent on us and the ever-generous special privileges heaped upon us, we still lag behind the others. We are furious because despite not being mollycoddled by the government, they thrive.

            We are so angry that we cannot even pause to ponder perhaps they prosper precisely because the government leaves them alone and does not direct their lives, or that the massive “help” we get is anything but that. There is an art in helping. Done right and you open the door to the world for those you help; done wrong and you have a dependent invalid.

            Our futile and unenlightened reactions do not solve our dilemma; they hinder by hiding the glaring reality and fundamental issue: Malays are not competitive or productive.

            Malaysia cannot be stable much less thrive if a sizable and readily identifiable segment of its population (more so if they consider themselves “special” or “princes and princesses of the soil”) is marginalized through lack of competitiveness or productivity. Then all Malaysians would suffer. If Malays are competitive, then Malaysia would be too.

            At the individual level, if Malays are competitive then we would be Tuans even if we are not in Tanah Melayu. I can attest to that.

            Because we are not productive, our hard work does not generate commensurate returns. That disheartens us. To aggravate matters, those whom we deem “successful” get there not through their own effort but connections, corruption, and other classic manifestations of a rentier economy. That discourages us even more; worse, it encourages us to emulate them, meaning, do anything but an honest day’s job.

            Our laziness and dishonesty are the result and not the cause of our lack of competitiveness and productivity. Our newly-acquired value system where honest hard work is denigrated only aggravates matters. Once we acknowledge that we are not competitive or productive, and appreciate the various contributing factors, then we can begin crafting effective remedies. That demands hard work and much thought, with little time left to shout or be angry.

            Enhancing our competitiveness and productivity would enable us to contribute to rather than depend on the state. Apart from benefiting the economy, that would also dignify our values and culture, quite apart from reducing our envy for the achievements of others. We would also be less likely to be swayed by the demagogues amongst us.

            It is too late and would do little good to focus on the old, rigid, or senile. Besides, they are the not the future of our race or country. Likewise the Mat Rempits; their die is already cast. As per our ancient wisdom, melentur buloh biarlah dari rebung nya (if you wish to bend bamboos, begin with the shoots). Not just any sapling but those promising ones, the ones at our Sekolah Berasrama Penuh (SBP, fully residential schools).

            How good a job are we doing at shaping those vigorous saplings? SBPs get the top students, best teachers, and more than their fair share of resources. However, visit the top universities and the Malaysians there are from other than our supposedly elite SBPs. This sorry state should alarm those champions of Ketuanan Melayu.

            Consider the oldest SBP, Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). It only recently started its International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Prior to that the school, like most SBPs, was but a glorified middle school; its students had to go elsewhere to matriculate. Despite the luminaries on its board (with Raja Muda of Perak, now Sultan, chairing it), MCKK took over a decade to implement its IB program. Imagine the pace at lesser institutions! MCKK’s female counterpart, Tunku Kurshiah College, remains an expensive middle school.

            IB is a rigorous academic program, and recognized as such worldwide. Despite or perhaps because of that, few of MCKK students enroll in the program. That speaks volumes of them, and their perception of the school after spending five years there.

            It may surprise many but the two schools that regularly send the most students to elite universities are not in Britain or America but South Korea (Daewon, established in 1984; and Minjok, 1997). Both may be new and in a non-English speaking country, with their students non-native English speakers to boot, but they bested the Etons and Exeters.

            It is a sad commentary that in over a century MCKK managed to send only a very few to the Ivy League, fewer than peas in a pod. If Malaysia aspires to have a Nobel laureate by 2020, as expressed often by many, then may I suggest that it first try a less lofty goal, as with sending a student or two to Harvard or Yale? This should be SBP’s yardstick. There is no point in having these expensive SBPs if their students were to end up at UiTM, Creekville State U, or the University of Ulu Britain.

            Our SBPs do not lack for potential Ivy League candidates. Fulfilling their aspirations would require strong effort not just from them but also the entire community, from teachers and governing boards to parents and policy makers. Failure to do that would provide potential recruits for future Mat Rempits and latter-day Hang Tuahs.

            SBP students must and should end up at top universities. There must be acceptance of and striving towards this singular goal. The scarce and expensive resources of SBPs should not be expended on those with lesser expectations. If the students do not share such high aspirations, then they should not be at a SBP. The students at Minjok and Daewon are very much aware of this high expectation when they apply for admission.

            There should not be any equivocation, or the adding of extraneous fuzzy themes like loyalty to “bangsa, bahasa, agama, negara.” Those are nebulous and not readily measurable anyway. The cause of our bangsa, bahasa, negara, agama is best served with these students attending elite institutions.

            By “elite” I mean the top dozen in Britain, the half a dozen in Australasia and Canada, and a hundred or so in the US (University of California level and above). You do not need expensive SBPs to prepare for the rest.

            SBPs are expensive, so we must explore innovations to reduce the cost so many more could benefit. These include dispensing with the boarding component, inviting private sector participation, and making those who could afford pay their way.

            Take the last item. To non-Malays, the billions spent on SBPs are for Malays; there is no denying that. However, visit any SBP on weekends; the parking lots and beyond are filled with expensive late-model cars of wealthy parents.

            If I had been spared my children’s educational expenses I could have a new Lamborghini and more every year. If those rich Malay parents had been made to pay the full freight, they would not send their children to SBPs, thus opening more slots for deserving poor kampong kids. That would truly be helping Malays.

            When I went to Malay College in the early 1960s, there was a quantum leap in my living standards. I studied under the cool comfort of the fluorescent lamp instead of the searing heat of a kerosene one, and enjoyed piped water instead of having to haul it from a well. I was also spared endless hours waiting for the erratic village school bus. For my sons and grandsons however, sending them to Malay College would be a significant downgrade. Besides, that would deprive other young Bakris now in the kampongs of their opportunity.

            Contrary to popular perception, making SBP free does not “help” Malays. Far from it! As well-to-do parents do not factor in the costs of their children’s education, they do not save. In the aggregate that contributes to the declining savings rate; and with that, capital formation that is so essential to economic growth. Worse, we corrupt the values and mindset of those wealthy Malays, turning them into welfare recipients. They in turn transmit those values to their children; the subsidy mentality and culture of dependency ingrained for generations. That is the most destructive part.

Next Week – Second of Three Parts: Molding Our Students

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 September 2014, 12:30 pm and is filed under
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The many colours of Malaysia

by Dyana Sofya

The Malay Mail Online

September 22, 2014

Dyana Sofya suffers from dysania and is using her superpowers to pen down her thoughts late into the night. Political Secretary to Lim Kit Siang by day and she tweets from @dyanasmd.

SEPTEMBER 22 ― One tip for anyone intending to make the trip to the Sabah interior: have a bottle of minyak cap kapak handy!

Last week, I visited a few kampungs in Tenom and Keningau, two towns in the interior of Sabah about two hours’ drive from Kota Kinabalu. The journey required traversing the Crocker Range via the notorious Kimanis-Keningau highway.

This highway is reputed to be the steepest and most dangerous in Malaysia, with a gradient ranging from 10 to 25 degrees. And as if that isn’t challenging enough, add low visibility from severe fog conditions.

Hence, you can see why minyak angin became a necessity!

We were there to meet villagers, talk to them and share our ideals of the future. However, it was clear that ideals alone would not improve their living conditions.

To begin with, road conditions were horrible and impossible without all-terrain 4WDs. Broken bridges made connectivity an issue, street lights were almost non-existent, and proper water supply remains a literal pipe dream.

One village we came across relied on a nearby irrigation canal as their water source for washing and cleaning. Following the canal upstream, we discovered that the villagers had been bathing and cleaning themselves with water polluted by industrial effluent.

Villagers at two of the kampungs complained to us that the price of rubber has dropped significantly. Today, they get less than RM2 for a kilogramme of dried rubber.

As it takes five trees to produce a kilogramme, they need to tap about 50 trees just to make RM20, excluding costs involved in transporting the dried rubber to the collection centre. Life was certainly not easy for them.

The colourful participants of the Impian Malaysia Colour Run. ― Picture by Dyana SofyaThe colourful participants of the Impian Malaysia Colour Run. ― Picture by Dyana SofyaTo supplement their husbands’ dwindling income, female villagers would harvest fruits like rambutans from the jungle to sell by the main roads. I have to say, the big juicy rambutans were delicious, and three times cheaper than what we pay in KL.

Our main purpose in visiting these villagers was to further the cause of the Impian Sabah initiative. After discussing what interventionary measures could be done to help ease their burden, we concluded that we would invest in a low-level river crossing that would allow vehicles access into the kampungs.

Without the resources of the federal government, the Impian Sabah and Sarawak programme relies solely on volunteers and donations from all over Malaysia.

Although we can only afford to do one small project at a time, we believe that whatever little change for the better that we bring to our brothers and sisters in East Malaysia would go a long way in the cultivation of stronger ties and deeper relationships across the South-China Sea.

After a few days in Sabah, I returned to Teluk Intan for the Impian Malaysia Colour Run, held in conjunction with Malaysia Day. The long trip from Sabah to Teluk Intan gave me chance to ponder upon my experience in the Land Below The Wind.

I could not help but feel angry and despondent that even though it has been 51 years since the formation of the Malaysian Federation, tens of thousands of our fellow Malaysians still live without basic necessities in the richest states in terms of natural resources.

Fifty-one years and so many communities in Sabah and Sarawak still do not get to simply turn a tap or flip a switch in order to get clean water and electricity. It was something I could not come to terms with.

Malaysians are told that much has been given to us. However, we should also be reminded that much has also been stolen from us. Immense wealth generated by hardworking Malaysians, as well as our vast natural resources, have been looted to benefit a select few.

In many villages in Sabah, they have to resort to using water from irrigation canals. ― Picture by Dyana SofyaIn many villages in Sabah, they have to resort to using water from irrigation canals. ― Picture by Dyana SofyaAs a result, the rich have become super rich, while the poor continue to make no headway. Quantitatively, this is reflected in the fact that Malaysia has the highest Gini Coefficient in South-east Asia, a measure of our income inequality.

Back to the Impian Malaysia Colour Run. The response was overwhelming, as none of us expected 700 people to register for a run in Teluk Intan. We were even more encouraged to see that the participants were from all sorts of backgrounds, age groups and skin colours.

We began the event by singing our beloved national anthem, Negaraku, before magic powder was ceremoniously scattered all over the participants. The powder was white, but would change colour randomly upon contact with moisture.

At the finishing line, it was certainly a sight to behold. Seven hundred walking canvases in smudges of yellow, blue, green and red, all exhausted after running five kilometres but all gleeful after a colourful experience.

It may have been a small event, but it proved that Malaysians could come together in celebration of our diversity of colours. And what better way to commemorate the union of Malaya with Sabah and Sarawak?

I hope it is not too late to wish you Selamat Hari Malaysia!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 September 2014, 1:43 pm and is filed under
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Three reasons why Najib must unambiguously and unconditionally denounce ISIS in his United Nations speech on Friday

There are at least three reasons why the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should unambiguously and unconditionally denounce ISIS in his United Nations General Assembly speech on Friday.

Firstly, because his first reference to ISIL/ISIS was quite laudatory, exhorting UMNO to emulate what he described as the “brave exploits” of ISIL/ISIS if the party wishes to survive.

Speaking to more than 1,000 Umno members  at the Cheras UMNO Branch’s 20th anniversary dinner on June 24, Najib outlined six virtues that UMNO needed to survive and flourish in the country, among which bravery as displayed by ISIL/ISIS terrorists was a requisite trait.

Singing praises of ISIL/ISIS’ exploits in defeating an Iraqi force outnumbering it, Najib said: “For example, when someone dares to fight to his death, he can even defeat a much bigger team”.

Najib said: “Whether we agree or not is another matter, the group ISIL with the strength of just 1,300 people, can defeat an Iraqi army of 30,000 soldiers, until four, five generals with three, four stars run for their lives, jump out of window at night.”

Although the Prime Minister’s Office later clarified that Najib’s remarks glorifying the ISIL/ISIS terrorists had been taken out of context, as the Prime Minister’s brief mention and “in passing” of ISIL “in no way indicated any support” for ISIL, Najib himself failed to clarify his own statement until more than two months later – raising the question whether his condemnation of ISIL/ISIS was half-hearted because of his secret admiration for the ISIL/ISIS terrorists.

Secondly, the daily ISIS sadistic and horrific human rights violations, including targeted killings, trafficking, sexual abuse, abductions, forced conversions and beheadings run contrary to the Global Movement of Moderates and Wasatiyah advocated by Najib to reject all form of violence and extremism, whether political or religious.

In fact, the Global Movement of Moderates should be in the forefront of an international campaign against the ISIS terrorists, as Najib had repeatedly made the clarion call in international fora, including twice at the United Nations, for “moderates of all countries, of all religions, to take back the centre, to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalize the extremists”.

Or has Najib given up on his conviction that “the real divide is not between East and West or between the developed and developing worlds or between Muslims, Christians and Jews; it is between moderates and extremists of all religions”?

Thirdly, as Prime Minister of multi-religious Malaysia, with Islam as the official religion, Najib should speak loud and clear to lead the world, including Islamic nations, to condemn the terrorism and inhumanity of ISIS, not only as an affront and anathema to Islam as a religion of peace but for its  crimes against humanity.

The Indonesian government banned the ISIS in early August as it does not want the terrorist outfit to spread its ideology in the archipelago.

With some 40 Malaysians recruited to become ISIS fighters, with four  of them confirmed as having been killed in Syria/Iraq, and the declaration of support of the Abu Sayyaf group for ISIS, it will be most appropriate for Najib to outline Malaysia’s national and international role in countering the new ISIS terrorism in his speech at the UN General Assembly on Friday.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 September 2014, 3:55 pm and is filed under
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Can Zahid also swear to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of  a complaint against UMNO Ministers and leaders, including himself?

Yesterday, Malaysiakini in its report “Zahid swears to God sedition probes to go on” quoted the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi taking an oath to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of a complaint.

In a speech at an UMNO Lumut event on Sept. 20, Zahid said: “As the minister responsible for the Royal Malaysian Police, wallahi billahi tallahi (I swear to Allah) that if police reports are lodged against any individual who impinged on a sensitive issue, the police will start investigations immediately, if possible within 24 hours.”

Zahid said although he can promise an investigation, the decision on whether or not to prosecute can only be made by the attorney-general.

I want to ask Zahid whether he can also swear to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of a complaint against UMNO Ministers and leaders, including himself?

For instance, former UMNO Minister and Selangor Barisan Nasional/UMNO Chairperson Datuk Noh Omar threatened “an uprising” at a gathering of some 500 people organised by a coalition of NGOs called Gerak Daulat in Shah Alam two days ago.

Will Zahid ensure that police will initiate investigations “within 24 hours” if  a police report on sedition is lodged against Noh Omar.

Or even closer home, can Zahid undertake that police will initiate investigations “within 24 hours” if a police report on sedition is lodged against the Home Minister himself?

Zahid’s speech in the Pengakalan Kubor by-election yesterday, as reported by The Malay Mail Online “Zahid Hamidi calls Malays to defend rights, says ‘over our dead bodies’”, about what happened in Perak during the 2009 Constitutional crisis is  clearly seditious in trying to incite inter-racial hatred apart from being a tissue of lies and falsehoods.

The Malay Mail Online report said:

“Zahid, who is also home minister, cited incidents surrounding the Perak constitutional crisis to back his claim that divisions among the Malays had given the predominantly Chinese opposition party the DAP space to pit the two races against each other.

“Zahid said the Perak crisis was a good example of how Malays have become so politically divided that it was willing to insult the monarchy, a symbol of Malay sovereignty.

“He suggested some Malays were willingly doing the dirty job for the Chinese by putting their lives on the line.

“’I remember during the Perak crisis, they were protesting (against the Barisan Nasional takeover) at the time, they tried to block the entrance to the state building. You know who were the ones lying down on the streets? All Malays.

“’Where were the DAP people? They were throwing stones at the Raja Muda… they also threw stones at my car. I was there. When they were doing this, those lying down on the road were all Malays,’ he said.”

I am shocked at Zahid’s most irresponsible, inflammatory and seditious speech which were based on lies and falsehoods.

Can Zahid give a public assurance that police investigations will commence against him “within 24 hours” of any police report lodged against him for committing the offence of sedition for such incendiary, inflammatory and seditious speech based on lies and falsehoods?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 September 2014, 12:40 pm and is filed under
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An open letter to Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar of Selangor

BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

23 September 2014

Dear Azmin Ali,

Selangor gets a new menteri besar today in you and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) gets to continue running the country’s wealthiest state after a messy nine months of politicking that has left people wondering why it even happened.

How different will you be from the previous occupant of the office in Shah Alam, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim?

You cut your teeth in politics, serving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from early in the PKR de facto chief’s political career, while Khalid has been a corporate man for most of his life and burst into the political limelight in the 2008 general election.

In the past six years, we have seen Khalid turn from political greenhorn to a man who shook his own party and coalition, sacked his allies, made deals after years of rejecting them, and hurt PR from the inside.

Here is what we expect from you as you make your debut as the leader of the state government of Selangor.

1. You must avoid back room deals with powerful individuals. One theory floating around is that some powerful lobby was always concerned that Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail would have been a stumbling block to one-sided transactions, etc.

2. You must consult the Selangor people on major projects and be willing to explain the rationale on controversial deals such as the Kidex expressway.

3. You must be fair and even-handed in dealing with minorities in Selangor. For example, instead of staying on the sidelines, you must be willing to speak out and act when the rights of others are trampled upon. The Khalid administration did not cover itself with glory in the handling of the seizure of Bibles earlier this year.

4. You must be prudent in using the RM3 billion funds in the state’s coffers. This money belongs to the rakyat, and not PR.

5. You must remember that you owe your allegiance and loyalty to the rakyat, the same small men and women who have supported PKR since its inception and have stood by you and your party even during the most trying days, when it was unfashionable and costly to be a PKR supporter.

The powerful and the connected may demand a pound of you but ultimately, you are where you are today because of that housewife in Sekinchan or that teacher in Subang Jaya.

6. You must remember that this is PR’s one shot – the last chance to show Malaysians that it has the ideas and policies to run not just the wealthiest state in Malaysia, but the country also. After all, the “Kajang move” was all about removing the insipid Khalid and replacing him with the dynamic Anwar, who was going to use Selangor as a frontline state for inclusive and just policies.

7. There is no honeymoon period. You have to hit the ground running and do well from Day One. Unfair? Not really.

The people in the state have had to put up with a lot of nonsense of late. This is the laundry list of shame: betrayal by a coalition partner; seeing the Constitution and the rule of law trampled; witness a menteri besar refuse to walk away from his position gracefully; seeing PKR stumble with one snafu after another.

There is little patience among voters for more dithering and mistakes.

8. You are a public official. There is no aspect of your life that can be nicely carved aside as private.

For example, if there is a deal brokered between you and a financial institution or another business entity, it has to be declared to your political party and to the state assembly.

9. You risked arrest and were part of thousands of Malaysians who marched in favour of free and fair elections.

You have been threatened with detention without trial and other draconian laws by a regime that has shown little respect for freedom of speech and disdain for the rule of law. You have been fighting the establishment for more than 20 years.

Being the MB does not make you part of the establishment.

10. It is better to be remembered for doing the right thing and for standing up for the right principles than amassing wealth and influence. Would you rather be Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, or Marcos?

11. Your report card will be marked by the voters in three or four years, and not by Jais or Mais or Umno power brokers or Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad or Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Getting a ringing endorsement by Utusan Malaysia or any of the mainstream media is a death knell and not something to write home about.

12. Your promise is to the people of Selangor. All of them, not just the civil service or your own party. You are the MB for all of them. Serve them well. Praise will come from all quarters, not just the civil service or other vested interests, when it is due.

Azmin, you carry a heavy burden after what has happened the last nine months and even from PR’s second term as the Selangor government from 2013.

Most of the issues have been self-inflicted, either by your party, some officials or even allies. Make the most of the remaining mandate left to show that you are the right choice and that the Selangor Sultan has chosen well.

All the best, to you and the people of Selangor. – September 23, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 September 2014, 7:22 am and is filed under
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DAP Selangor will extend its fullest support to Azmin Ali to provide him with every opportunity to prove himself to be the best Menteri Besar Selangor has ever had

Tony Pua

DAP Selangor Chairman and MP for Petaling Jaya Utara

22 Sep 2014

DAP Selangor welcomes the appointment of the state assemblyman for Bukit Antarabangsa, Azmin Ali as the new Menteri Besar of Selangor which brings to an end a unnecessary and frustrating protracted political crisis in the state.

While DAP Selangor is gravely concerned over how the will of the majority in the state assembly has been trampled upon, it is equally important that we end the political crisis swiftly so that we can resume normal service to serve the people of Selangor.

Hence, DAP Selangor and our state assemblymen will give the fullest support and cooperation to the new Menteri Besar to ensure that we maximize the opportunity over the next 3 years to prove to the people why the crisis and their patience is worth the while.

With the appointment of Azmin Ali, the new Government has been given a fresh start to succeed where the previous administratrion has failed, and to achieve a higher level of success than Pakatan Rakyat did in the first 5 years of our administration from 2008-2013.

DAP Selangor looks forward to an administration led by Azmin and the new Exco line-up which is more consultative, inclusive and people-centric to fulfill Pakatan Rakyat’s promises to the people.  We believe that by working as a team, Azmin Ali will be able to take Selangor to greater heights by making it the best-run state in the country.

As a Government we must adhere to the highest standards of accountability and transparency, by implementing policies such as fully competitive tenders and disclosure of assets.  We must be a government with zero-tolerance for corruption and cronyism by punishing the guilty and promoting the clean and competent.

We must also ensure that our elected representatives, councillors and civil servants, particularly in the local councils listen to the rakyat they serve, instead of sitting on the high pedestal.  As an administration which opposes the abuse of power and clamp down of civil liberties by the Barisan Nasional Federal Government, Selangor must prove itself to be a beacon of hope by actively implementing our democratisation policies.

At the same that we hope that under Azmin’s leadership, the Government will steer away from getting ensared in operating businesses.  It is not the business of Government to be in the business of making profits.  The best Government is one which creates the most conducive environment for businesses to thrive.  Instead we believe that the state government and its GLCs can be restructured to re-focus on aspects which are neglected by profit-making enterprises, such as affordable housing and better transportation infrastructure.

We believe that if the new administration is able to achieve the above in the next 3 years, the certainly Azmin Ali will go into history as the best Menteri Besar Selangor has ever had.  It is only with the proven track record will the rakyat agree to renew our mandate in the next general elections.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 September 2014, 7:33 am and is filed under
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Going gaga over Rara

by Rashvinjeet S. Bedi

Star Online

September 23, 2014

EXCLUSIVE: DAP’s Syefura Othman, better known as Rara, is not cowed by the criticism she has received for joining the party.

KUALA LUMPUR: It was by accident that Young Syefura Othman (yes, that is her real name but more about that later) – better known as Rara was thrust into the political limelight.

She had sent an application form to join DAP to Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, who then tweeted a group picture of them.

This was in July, just two days before Ramadhan.

The rest they say is history. The picture went viral on social networking sites with the DAP news organ Roketkini labelling her “awek cun” in a report.

“I am not really comfortable about that because I think it’s a bit sexist. I will however try and take it positively,” the demure and soft- spoken lass told the Star Online in an interview.

“I didn’t want to make a big deal about joining DAP,” she said on her instant fame.

But even before joining DAP, Syefura’s pictures had been widely circulated during the Bersih 3.0 demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur two years ago, earning her the nickname of “Puteri Bersih.”

She has a pretty big following online – about 5000 followers on Instagram and another 7000 on Twitter.

So why did Syefura join DAP?

“I joined DAP because it leans on equality for all. The party accepts anyone regardless of their race or religion,” she said.

Syefura added that she also wanted to try something new and wanted to take the opportunity to make friends from other races.

Her decision initially did not go down well among many people who labelled her “Pengkhianat Bangsa” (traitor to her race) among other things, something that Teluk Intan by-election candidate Dyana Sofya has experienced as well.

Some accused Syefura of wanting to remove bumiputra rights and there are those who said she was anti-Malay.

Syefura’s younger brother who is an Umno member was angry with her for two days while her relationship with her best friend has deteriorated.

Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) and a number of other organisations blasted her for joining DAP but Syefura brushed off their comments by saying that it was her right to do so.

“There are racist people everywhere and from every race. Those who accuse other of being racist should take a look at themselves first,” she said.

“How can DAP be racist when they accept anyone regardless of their race?

They are attempting to make the party more Malaysian. In any case, no one forced me to join the party. I did it on my own will,” she added.

Being the only girl of seven siblings, she has learnt to become tough and independent.

“I am used to going everywhere, even outstation on my own by bus,” said Syefura who is sixth in the family.

For the interview with The Star Online Syefura took two hours to get to Kuala Lumpur as she took public transport from her house in Puncak Alam.

She was born in Lumut, Perak and her father “modified” the common Yong name given to Perakians to Young.

“He wanted to give the Yong name an English touch,” she said with a laugh.

Syefura is no stranger to politics, as her her mother is active in the PAS grassroots. She said her mother would actively campaign during elections and that she also attended the recent annual Muktamar in Johor.

Her mother supported Syefura’s decision to join DAP, saying that it was her choice to do so.

Syefura said she has political ambitions, although she would leave it to the party to decide if she was capable enough.

“It sounds like a cliché but I am going into politics because I want to help people and the society. I would like to voice out the problems faced by communities,” she said.

Syefura is very much an activist- volunteering with Dapur Jalanan, being active in Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) and involved in making documentaries with a club in Bangsar.

In recent weeks, she participated in DAP’s “Impian Malaysia” programme at the Kampung Orang Asal Tual in Kuala Lipis Pahang where they built toilets for the village.

This was the first time that Syefura experienced life in an Orang Asli village. She called it a good and different experience.

“The villagers were very accommodating and friendly. We managed to learn a lot from one another,” she said.

Syefura does all this activities while balancing with her own business of alternative medicine.

This includes bekam (cupping therapy), acupuncture and sauna among other things.

Syefura who worked six months as a nurse even took a course in acupuncture.

“All of these treatments are good and complement one another,” said Syefura who works based on appointments to balance life with politics and activism.

With DAP, she is currently involved in “project Redah” a fortnightly programme on Ubah tv that touches on social and political issues in the country.

Her schedule is packed, but Syefura prefers to be occupied than being idle.

“I really like to be busy instead of just resting or watching television. There is so much one can achieve,” she said.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 September 2014, 3:28 pm and is filed under
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Targetting Anwar on sedition for his 2011 speech worst form of political vendetta and gross abuse of power – would Zahid ensure police would investigate Mahathir “within 24 hours” when sedition report lodged against former PM?

Targetting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim under the Sedition Act for his ceramah speech in March 2011 is the worst form of political vendetta and gross abuse of power in the latest  regime of “white terror” to create a climate of fear to stifle criticism and dissent in the country.

Amnesty International’s deputy Asia-Pacific director Rupert Abbot hit the nail on the head when he described as “blatant persecution” Putrajaya’s move to probe Anwar for sedition for what he said in a ceramah more than three years ago.

If what Anwar said in March 2011 did not warrant any police  investigation under the Sedition Act for more than  three years, what is the merit and justification now to probe Anwar for sedition for what he said more than three years ago apart from being a disgraceful case of persecution, political vendetta and gross abuse of power?

It may be argued that there is no statutory limitation for sedition but this should apply indiscriminately to everyone, whether in government or otherwise.

There is also also no statutory limitation for corruption offences, but no one in the pinnacles of power in Malaysia seems to need to worry about this!

Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had sworn that police would commence investigations “within 24 hours” of a sedition complaint.

Yesterday I asked whether his oath that  the police will commence investigations “within 24 hours” of a sedition complaint applies to UMNO Ministers and leaders, and most importantly, to himself.

At 2.30 p.m. yesterday, the Perak DAP state secretary and Assemblyman for Canning, Wong Kah Woh, lodged a police report against Zahid for making a seditious speech during the Pengkalan Kubor by-election campaign on Monday, trying to incite racial animosities, conflict, tensions and hatred with a distorted and untruthful account about the events in the Perak constitutional crisis in 2009.

This morning, at 9.20 am, a team from the Ipoh Police took a statement from Wong on his sedition report against Zahid.

Does this qualify to fulfil Zahid’s oath of police commencing investigations “within 24 hours” of any police report on sedition?

I will not be surprised if Zahid had phoned and directed the Ipoh Police to take a statement from Wong “within 24 hours” so that he could claim that he had kept to his oath – but this is just sheer humbuggery, for what Malaysians want are meaningful and not formal “commencement” of police investigations, which means at minimum, the  police taking a statement from the person who is the subject of the police report or in the case of Wong’s sedition report, Zahid himself.

If Zahid is serious about police investigations “within 24 hours” of any sedition police report, then let the Home Minister let the Malaysian public know when the police had visited him and taken a statement from him on his seditious speech in Pengkalan Kubor – or his oath of police commencement of investigations “within 24 hours” is just bunkum.

Today, I want to ask Zahid if his “within 24 hours” oath for police to commence investigations for any sedition police report would apply to former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

If Anwar could be investigated for sedition for what he said in a ceramah in March 2011, is Mahathir immune from police investigations for sedition in connection with what he said only in April last year, when he made seditious and scurrilous allegations and lies that I was contesting in the Gelang Patah constituency in the May 2013 General Elections because I want:

1.	the Chinese in Gelang Patah and Johor to “reject working together and sharing with the Malays”;

2.	the Chinese in Johor “to dislike and hate the Malays” to create “conflict and antagonism between the races”;

3.	to create “an unhealthy racial confrontation” between the Malays and Chinese in Johor, which will be “disruptive and will not be conducive to the development of Malaysia”.

All these three allegations by Mahathir were not only downright lies and falsehoods, but highly incendiary, inflammatory and seditious!

I am not suggesting that Mahathir should be jailed for these sedition offences, but Zahid owes the Malaysian public a satisfactory explanation why Mahathir should be immune from police investigations “within 24 hours” a police report is lodged when Anwar could be hounded and persecuted for what he said more than three years ago, and over something which was clearly not seditious!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 September 2014, 1:29 pm and is filed under
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DAP call for scrapping of re-sitting of UPSR English, Tamil and Maths papers as the  500,000 primary school pupils should not be made to suffer because of the incompetence and lack of professionalism of the Education Minister and his Ministry

DAP calls for the scrapping of the re-sitting of the UPSR English, Tamil and Maths papers as the 500,000 Std. 6 primary school pupils should not be made to suffer because of the shocking incompetence and lack of professionalism of the Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his Ministry.

It is the height of irresponsibility and gross negligence of the first magnitude that the Education Ministry took13 days to announce the leak in the UPSR Maths and Tamil papers and the requirement for UPSR pupils to resit for these two papers on Oct. 9.

The Education director-general Datuk Dr. Khair Mohamad Yusof announced on Monday that the date was fixed after the Examinations Syndicate confirmed on  Sunday that the papers sat by the UPSR pupils on Sept. 10 were leaked.

What boggles the mind is that after the disgraceful leak of the UPSR Science and English papers on Sept. 10 and 11, which were discovered on the very same day itself, it has taken the Examinations Syndicate, the Education Ministry and the Education Minister almost a fortnight to discover that the UPSR Tamil and Maths had also been leaked.

If this is not incompetence and lack of professionalism of the first order, I do not know what would qualify to come under the rubric of these two terms.

Muhyiddin shouted “sabotage” when the Science and English papers were leaked. Has he found any evidence that the leak of these two UPSR papers were part of an insidious political conspiracy to attack his integrity and that of his Ministry?

Muhyiddin’s allegation becomes even more intriguing when a former UMNO Minister recently blogged on the need to protect Muhyiddidn from being forced to resign by a faction in UMNO promoting  “Queen’s English” UMNO leaders!

Is there any truth in this UMNO intra-party “cloak-and-dagger” intrigue?

Is Muhyiddin again shouting “sabotage” to undermine his integrity and that of his Ministry with the leak of the UPSR Tamil and Maths papers?

The Malaysian public are not interested in these UMNO  political  “fairy tales” but want to know why the Education Ministry has taken such an inordinate and even unconscionably long time to discover that the Tamil and Maths papers had leaked, when on Sept. 11 itself, the ministry had  announced investigations into whether the UPSR Maths paper had leaked.

There can be no doubt that Muhyiddin had been most remiss in the discharge of his responsibilities as Education Minister.

Is he prepared to state publicly when he first learned  about rumours of the leak of the UPSR Maths paper and when he was first informed categorically that the UPSR Maths paper had been leaked?

It is most unfair and unconscionable  to put half a million Std. 6 pupils  through enormous emotional stress and strain of re-sitting for the leaked UPSR papers, through no fault of the pupils.

Those responsible for the dastardly act of the leak of the UPSR papers for gain and profit must be brought to book without any mercy shown to them.

But those who, through their incompetence and utter lack of professionalism, had allowed such leak of UPSR papers to take place should not be allowed to escape blame and responsibility.

The least Muhyiddin can do to minimise the great emotional  stress and strain he has brought on the half-a-million Std. VI pupils and their parents as a result of unbelievably great Ministerial incompetence  is to take the  immediate decision to scrap the re-sitting of the UPSR English paper on Sept. 30 and UPSR Maths and Tamil papers on Oct. 9.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 25 September 2014, 6:41 pm and is filed under
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Ironically, Najib will be speaking as the most “transformational” leader at the UN General Assembly tomorrow, representing Malaysia as the world’s most seditious country instead of being the world’s best democracy

Ironically and most tragic as well, Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be speaking as the most “transformational” Malaysian and even world leader when he takes the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow to give his third UNGA speech in five years, representing Malaysia as the  world’s most seditious country instead of fulfilling his three-year promise to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world”.

Najib has not only beaten all the previous five Prime Ministers in chalking up the most number of sedition prosecutions in any Malaysian administration, including that of his father Tun Razak and his former mentor Tun Mahathir in a 22-year premiership, he can even claim credit as the only  leader in the contemporary world who has sanctioned the most number of prosecutions under the arcane colonial law of sedition to suppress freedom of speech, criticism and dissent.

May be, Najib will be best remembered in history for his “transformation” in deviating from his promise to make Malaysia the world’s best democracy to become the world’s worst democracy with the “white terror” reign of malicious and selective misuse and abuse of the Sedition Act against the opposition, critics and dissent.

Can Najib explain to the United Nations General Assembly why Malaysians have suddenly in the past five years  become the most seditious people in the nation’s 57-year history as well as being the most seditious people in the world, judging by the number of seditious prosecutions particularly in the past six weeks?

Already caught in the sedition dragnet are some 20 personalities representing a whole spectrum of backgrounds, from federal and state legislators like Teresa Kok,  N Surendran, Khalid Samad, RSN Rayer to academician,  reporter and social activists like Azmi Sharom, Susan Loone, Safwan Anang, Ali Abdul Jalil, Wan Ji Wan Hussin  and Adam Adli.

I have been investigated for sedition, and so have others, including lawyer  Edmund Bon.

Next week, Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim may join a lengthening list of Malaysians hauled to court under the Sedition Act after  the police re-opening of  sedition investigations against Anwar tomorrow in connection with a ceramah speech Anwar made in March 2011.

Can Najib rebut on the floor of the UN General Assembly  national and international charges that the latest action against Anwar is nothing but “blatant persecution”, especially when  what Anwar said in March 2011 had not warranted any police  investigation under the Sedition Act for more than  three years?

This raises the question whether there is  an ulterior agenda in the re-opening of the sedition investigation against Anwar – such as to intensify a climate of fear against legitimate comment and criticism in the country.

It would appear that the sedition dragnet is still in an active phase, nowhere near its end, which probably explains why the  Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had gone into an offensive to justify the sedition spree launched in the past six weeks, swearing that police would commence investigations “within 24 hours” of any sedition complaint.

Yesterday, the DAP MP for Segambut, Lim Lip Eng lodged police reports both against Prime Minister Najib and former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir for their past seditious statements.

Sedition reports have also been lodged in the past two days against Zahid himself and the former UMNO Minister and Selangor UMNO Chairman Datuk Noh Omar.

Have the  police taken statements from Zahid, Noh Omar, Najib and Mahathir “within 24 hours” as publicly sworn and promised by Zahid that such police actions would be done?

In fact, the “within 24 hours” for the police reports lodged by Lip Eng against Najib and Mahathir have come and gone, and the police have as yet to commence any investigations on these two police reports!

Zahid has broken his public oath.

I am indeed tickled by Mahathir’s flippant response to the police report lodged by Lip Eng against him, declaring that he had no qualms being arrested if he has broken the law.

Mahathir had been a law unto himself, not only in his 22 years as fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia but even after he stepped down as Prime Minister 11 years ago.

Everybody knows that Mahathir had arrested Zahid under the Internal Security Act in 1998 but nobody would expect Zahid to dare to arrest Mahathir regardless of how many police reports are lodged against the former Prime Minister for the offence of sedition.

The rampage of sedition dragnet in the crackdown against the Pakatan Rakyat MPs, State Assemblymen, social activists ranging from the academia, the press, the law profession to the civil society, as if there is an upsurge of extremists drowning out the moderates in Malaysia in the past few years, is patently false and  completely unwarranted and unjustifiable – making a total mockery of Najib’s signature initiative of a Global Movement of Moderates which had been the thrust of Najib’s two earlier speeches to the UN General Assembly in 2010 and 2013.

Is Najib going to admit the utter failure of this Global Movement of Moderates initiative, not only in the international arena as highlighted by the atrocities and crimes against humanity perpetrated by ISIS, but also in Malaysia because of the Barisan Nasional/UMNO government’s abandonment of the moderate path of democratic governance and  resort to the “white terror” of malicious and selective misuse and abuse of Sedition Act to supress freedom of speech and stifle criticism and dissent?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 25 September 2014, 3:38 pm and is filed under
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Dyana unfazed by dirty tactics

by Dina Murad

The Star Online

September 26, 2014

PETALING JAYA: Being a young woman is never an easy thing in politics, as DAP’s Dyana Sofya has quickly learned.

The 27-year-old DAP starlet has turned into quite the media darling with her quick and fiery reactions to current issues. She even drew in a stream of admirers from the public and press alike with her down-to-earth and friendly demeanour.

Although she commands her own legion of supporters, the political secretary for Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang has nevertheless become a favourite target for dirty tactics and sexist remarks – which culminated and peaked during her run for the Teluk Intan seat in May in which she eventually lost to Gerakan veteran Datuk Mah Siew Keong by a slim margin.

In fact, Dyana’s signature barely had time to dry on her party application form when she received her first taste of derision.

“When I first joined DAP – it was announced in early 2012 right before Chinese New Year – I had already faced the backlash. I was called a ‘pengkhianat bangsa’ (traitor of the race), ungrateful… things like that.

When I became (Lim Kit Siang’s) political secretary, it happened again so I knew that when I was fielded as a candidate, the wave would triple or even quadruple so I was prepared.”

The moment Dyana’s named was announced as candidate, a frenzy erupted. Here was a smart, young, beautiful girl that everyone wanted to know more about. Many were curious, many were impressed, but a few opportunists ere out to cripple the budding politician before she could establish herself.

In the days before and during campaigning various attempts to discredit Dyana surfaced on the internet.

The first, a bikini-clad photo emerged, supposedly of Dyana. It was later discovered that image was actually that of a Filipina actress.

In another bad attempt to diminish her growing popularity, Dyana’s photo with her three-legged kitten Calico was photoshopped to show her embracing a puppy.

“The first time I was targeted, a few nights before the announcement of my candidacy, I was alone in Johor.  Some person – I don’t know who it was – created a Twitter account offering sexual services and published my number in the advert!” she said.

“After that, I received hundreds of Whatsapp messages and even some photos which I did not want to see. Even at three in the morning – I received messages and calls. But I didn’t cry at all. For the whole two weeks, I just laughed it off,” she said.

A strong support system and a strong presence of mind is what helps her maintain composure in the press of negativity, said Dyana.

“Whenever I got attacked or whenever an issue arose, (Penang Chief Minister) Lim Guan Eng or Lim Kit Siang would call me. They would ask, “Dyana, are you OK? Do you need anything?” I was just a regular member then, not even a political secretary but they called and emailed me – even (Seputeh MP) Teresa Kok who is our ‘big sister’,” she said.

“They always call and give moral support and encouragement. That’s one of the reasons I know I was in the right party.”

                This entry was posted on Friday, 26 September 2014, 9:58 pm and is filed under
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Muhyiddin should relinquish his portfolio as Education Minister as he had spearheaded the BN campaign and won the Pengkalan Kubor by-election in Kelantan at the expense of his duties to the future of  500,000 UPSR pupils

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has reasons to feel very proud as he can claim chief  credit for the Umno/BN victory in the Pengkalan Kubor by-election in Kelantan, winning with an even bigger majority than during the 13th general elections last May.

I don’t think there is another Cabinet Minister from outside Kelantan who had spent so many days and visited Tumpat  so many times as Muhyiddin during the 13-day by-election campaign period.

But this by-election victory for BN/UMNO has come at a heavy price – Muhyiddin’s abdication of his responsibilities as Education Minister and in particular his duties and responsibilities to the future generation of Malaysians as  since his return from the ASEAN Education Ministers’ Meeting in Vientianne, he headed immediately for Tumpat and his sole pre-occupation since then was  to win a bigger victory for Umno/BN in Pengkalan Kubor by-election instead of personally dealing with the outrageous educational scandal in the leak of UPSR examination papers.

During this period, Muhyiddin had only time for one meeting in the Education Ministry on the leak of  UPSR Science and English papers – on Sept. 15 when he chaired the special meeting to scrutinize the Standards Operating Procedures (SOPs) used for preparing the UPSR examination papers.

This special UPSR SOP meeting has become a great farce, as Muhyiddin did not appear to know at the meeting  that there had been leaks of more UPSR papers including Maths and Tamil, and the UPSR pupils, their parents and the Malaysian public were not informed until Monday on Sept. 22 that the UPSR Maths and Tamil papers had leaked and UPSR pupils are required to resit for these two papers on Oct. 9.

Did the UPSR SOP meeting on Sept. 15 chaired by Muhyiddin discuss the leak of the UPSR Maths and Tamil papers, and can Muhyiddin explain why the Education Ministry and the Examinations Syndicate had been so grossly incompetent as to take 13 days to announce the leak  in these two papers?

Or was Muhyiddin just too busy spearheading the UMNO/BN by-election campaign in Kelantan and just let things drift at the expense of the interests of the 500,000 Std. 6 pupils?

There should be a full investigation and public accountability by Muhyiddin for this serious lapse of responsibilility.

Yesterday, I called  for the scrapping of the re-sitting of the UPSR English Paper on Sept. 30 and the resitting of the UPSR Tamil and Maths papers on Oct. 9, as the 500,000 Std. 6 primary school pupils should not be made to suffer further trauma and enormous emotional stress and strain because of the shocking incompetence and lack of professionalism of the Education Minister, the Education Ministry and the Examinations Syndicate.

In fact, I will even call for the scrapping of the re-sitting of the UPSR Science paper on Sept. 30.

Muhyiddin, the Education Ministry and the Examinations Syndicate have created enough trauma and emotional stress on the 500,000 UPSR pupils this year.

As the UPSR examination does not affect school promotions, Muhyiddin should convene an emergency meeting of his Education Ministry and Examinations Syndicate officials to consider the scrapping of the UPSR Science Exam and resit of the English paper on Sept. 30 and Maths and Tamil papers on Oct. 9 and to allow the schools to rely  on the school trial examination results for this year.

Up to now, Muhyiddin studiously avoided mention of what has happened to the special task force set up last November to conduct “immediate investigations” into the leak of Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and UPSR examination papers.

Is this because Muhyiddin was too busy with the Pengkalan Kubor by-election to have time to find out what has happened to the investigations into the leaks of SPM and SPRM last year.

This is why Muhyiddin has little credibility as a competent, diligent and professional Education Minister when he seemed to be quite blur on so many important educational issues – which reinforces the case  that he should relinquish his portfolio as Education Minister to another Minister who is prepared to put his heart and soul into the education portfolio and not to take charge of it as a part-timer.

The time has also come for a full-scale investigation into the frequent occurrence of leaks of STPM, SPM and UPSR examination papers, which undermine public confidence in the integrity of the examination and education system – as these are signs of a system of corrupt governance which is getting from bad to worse.

Is Muhyiddin prepared to give serious consideration to the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry reviewing leaks of public examination papers in the past two decades at various levels of education?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 26 September 2014, 4:41 pm and is filed under
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Mystery priest ‘exists’, Utusan reporter in Kit Siang’s defamation suit tells court

By Ida Lim

Malay Mail Online

September 26, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 ― An Utusan Malaysia reporter who wrote an allegedly defamatory article against DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang defended in court today the existence of a shadowy priest figure quoted in her report, despite never having met or spoken personally to the priestly person known only as “Father Augustus Chen”.

Under intense questioning from the DAP leader’s lawyer, Kasthuri K. Manimaran insisted that the mystery man known only as “Father Augustus Chen” that was mentioned in an equally mysterious booklet ― which formed the basis of her report ― was real, based on hearsay from a handful of ex-DAP members.

But the reporter admitted that she did not know the real identity of the mystery man.

“I don’t know him,” the sole witness for the Umno-controlled Malay daily’s publisher, Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad, told the court.

“I never seen him so I don’t know if he is fictitious or not,” said the 31-year-old who has been working with Utusan for two years.

Last September, Lim filed the defamation suit against Utusan Melayu for printing the article, “Kit Siang Manipulasi, Pemilihan CEC” (Kit Siang manipulated the CEC election) in Minggu Malaysia ― which he said has damaged his reputation.

The contentious article published on August 18, 2013 heavily quoted a 16-page booklet, titled “Equity Report” by “Father Augustus Chen”, which claimed irregularities and vote manipulation allegedly to place cronies of both Lim and his son, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, on the powerful CEC, among other allegations.

On August 21, Lim as the plaintiff’s first witness had testified that the allegations were a “figment of imagination” and “blatant and outright lies”, claiming that the Utusan article was part of “a plot” against him and DAP leaders.

Today, Lim’s lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, questioned Kasthuri on her reason for writing the article despite knowing of his blog postings calling the booklet a “tissue of lies”.

In response, the Utusan reporter said it was because the public was interested in the contents of the booklet and the DAP CEC.

“It was public interest. I was instructed by my chief editor to write whatever is in the booklet,” she said.

She also disagreed that she had done nothing to verify whether “Father Augustus Chen” truly existed.

“No, I did speak to some of ex-DAP (members). In my interview, they did say he exists, but I could not locate or contact him. It’s not true to say that I didn’t do any homework,” Kasthuri said.

The reporter listed Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim, A. David Dass, Wee Choo Keong and Jenice Lee as the former DAP members she had spoken with, when asked by Utusan’s lawyer, Mohd Izral Khairy under re-examination.

“They are all no more in the party and according to them, Father Augustus Chen is YB Kit Siang’s good friend,” she said.

She added that there was a rumour circulating that DAP advisor for life, Dr Chen Man Hin, was Father Augustus Chen, which she said she did not cite in her article.

She admitted however that she no personal knowledge of the allegations in the booklet and could not justify them, also agreeing that she would not have written the article if she did not have the booklet.

Kasthuri also confirmed that she did not contact Lim before the publication of her article, explaining that DAP leaders in the past had never answered her phone calls or responded to her text messages.

She said she was not allowed to cover DAP events, saying that she was “chased out” of a 2012 press conference at the party’s headquarters and was told that “Utusan Malaysia was not allowed and was boycotted by DAP”.

But Kasthuri, a former reporter of DAP’s official newspaper The Rocket, disagreed with Gobind’s suggestion that she had penned the allegedly defamatory article against Lim because she was “upset and angry” over the 2012 event.

“I don’t have personal vendetta. I don’t have any vendetta. I’m just doing my job as I was instructed,” she told Gobind, later telling Mohd Izral that she did “not mean to jeopardise or damage” Lim’s political career but had merely based her article on the booklet.

She disagreed with Gobind’s suggestion that she had penned the article with “malice” and intention to “destroy” Lim, also confirming during cross-examination that she had not apologised to the politician for the article.

When Mohd Izral asked her why she had not included Lim’s statements in his blog in her article, Kasthuri said that he had merely dismissed the booklet’s allegations as lies without offering an alternative account.

“Because he did not answer, he only said this is lie but he didn’t counter with his own version why it was lying,” she said.

The hearing before High Court judge Datuk Yeoh Wee Siam resumes on October 3, with Chen Man Hin expected to show up as Lim’s final witness to reply to the allegation that he is Father Augustus Chen.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 27 September 2014, 5:56 am and is filed under
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Najib should move a motion when Parliament meets on Oct. 7 to condemn in unambiguous and unconditional terms the extremism, violence and barbarism of  ISIS

I commend the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his speech at the United Nations General Assembly unambiguously and unconditionally denouncing ISIS and his call on the global community to defeat violent extremism and religious intolerance.

In his speech, Najib condemned the violent extremists that have declared an Islamic state in Syria and Iraq, and destroyed lives and communities and destabilised fragile nations and threatened regional security.

Najib said: “They challenge the very notion of the state. They call our youth with the siren song of illegitimate jihad. And they demand all Muslims swear allegiance to their so-called caliph. That demand will never be met.

“We reject this so-called Islamic State. We reject this state defined by extremism. And we condemn the violence being committed in the name of Islam.

“Around the world, Muslims have watched in despair as our religion – a religion of peace – has been used to justify atrocities. We have turned away in horror at the crucifixions and the beheadings. We have mourned the sons who have been stolen, and the daughters sold.

“We know that the threat to world peace and security is not Islam, but extremism: intolerant, violent and militant extremism. The actions of these militants are beyond conscience and belief. They violate the teachings of Islam, the example set by the Prophet Muhammad, and the principles of Islamic law.”

Four days ago, I had given at least three reasons why Najib Razak should unambiguously and unconditionally denounce ISIS in his United Nations General Assembly speech yesterday, viz:

•	Firstly, his first reference to ISIL/ISIS on June 24  was quite laudatory and glorifying, exhorting UMNO to emulate what he described as the “brave exploits” of the ISIL/ISIS Islamist militants and extremists;

•	Secondly, the daily ISIS sadistic and horrific human rights violations, including targeted killings, trafficking, sexual abuse, abductions, forced conversions and beheadings which run contrary to the Global Movement of Moderates and Wasatiyah advocated by Najib to reject all form of violence and extremism, whether political or religious.

•	Thirdly, as Prime Minister of multi-religious Malaysia, with Islam as the official religion, Najib should speak loud and clear to lead the world, including Islamic nations, to condemn the terrorism and inhumanity of ISIS, not only as an affront and anathema to Islam as a religion of peace but for its crimes against humanity.

Najib’s speech at the UNGA yesterday has redeemed his reputation and that of the Malaysian government as a secret admirer of IS/ISIS/ISIL because of his foolish and ill-advised initial reference and  glorification of the Islamist militants and extremists.

It would have been better if Najib’s unqualified condemnation of the Islamic State militants and extremists had been made very much earlier instead of waiting for the UNGA yesterday, but it is better late than never.

A day before Najib’s speech at the UNGA, an international coalition of Muslim scholars  delivered a withering condemnation of ISIS by unpicking its doctrine in an open letter and declaring its existence “an offence to Islam”.

More than 120 Sunni imams and academics, including some of the Muslim world’s most respected scholars, signed the 18-page document which outlines 24 separate grounds on which the terror group violates the tenets of Islam.

The letter, addressed to the head of ISIS, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, is significant not only because of its signatories but also its detailed references to the Koran and other Islamic texts to counter the justifications offered by the extremists for their bloody rampage across a swathe of Syria and Iraq.

The closely-argued document singles the murders of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker David Haines, by saying the men were “emissaries” and their killings as “unquestionably forbidden”.

It also takes ISIS to task over its countless acts of brutality and massacres under the guise of jihad, or a holy struggle. While acknowledging to Al-Baghdadi that “you and your fighters are fearless” and ready to die for their cause, the scholars state their actions are “not jihad at all, but rather, warmongering and criminality”.

The documents cites multiple examples of atrocities committed by ISIS fighters, describing the recent murder of hundreds of ethnic Yazidis in northern Iraq as “abominable crimes” and describes its attitudes to women and children as morally repugnant.

The letter concludes: “You have misinterpreted Islam into a religion of harshness, brutality, torture and murder. This is a great wrong and an offence to Islam, to Muslims and to the entire world.”

The letter, whose signatories come from Sudan to Iceland and include the grand mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Shawqi Allam, and the mufti of Jerusalem and All Palestine, Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, is the latest from leading Muslims around the world condemning ISIS and its doctrine.

In Turkey, 126 Islamic scholars have come together to lambast ISIS and its ideology in the name of Islam through a joint declaration.

The declaration as a result of the meeting of the world’s leading Islamic scholars in Istanbul under the title “World Islamic Scholars Peace, Moderation and Common Sense Initiative” denounced all kinds of anti-Islamic acts that are surfacing in Iraq and Syria and thus defaming the good name of Islam.

It declared that “Islam does not condone the killing of innocent people, envoys and thus journalists.

“To declare people who have not openly rejected Islam as unbelievers, to mistreat Christians and those who believe in the Quran, to reintroduce slavery which was unanimously rejected by Muslims, to usurp the rights of women and children, to mistreat and humiliate deceased bodies [to sever parts of the body], to torture people, to attribute evil deeds to Allah, to ruin the graves of the prophet and his companions are actions disapproved by Islam and it is not permissible to declare a caliphate without the approval of the Islamic nation.”

In fact, the Global Movement of Moderates should be in the forefront of an international campaign to mobilise world opinion against the ISIS terrorists, as Najib had repeatedly made the clarion call in international fora, including twice at the United Nations General Assembly, for “moderates of all countries, of all religions, to take back the centre, to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalize the extremists”.

As Najib has repeatedly stated,  “the real divide is not between East and West or between the developed and developing worlds or between Muslims, Christians and Jews; it is between moderates and extremists of all religions”.

Unfortunately, the Global Movement of Moderates initiated by Najib is unable to rise to the challenge of the times to mobilise  national and international opinion against the violent extremism and religious intolerance in Syria and Iraq as it is desperately fending off attacks from extremists and intolerant right-wing groups in the country for being “seditious” as a result of a “white terror” spree by Najib’s government in the past six weeks through  a sedition dragnet to stifle freedom of speech and legitimate criticism and dissent – which ironically granted immunity and impunity to the extremist and intolerant elements in the country for serious violations of the law.

Najib must align his domestic policies with his international pronouncements or he would forfeit all respect and credibility, whether at home or in the international arena.

Just as Islam is not under siege internationally, it is not under siege in Malaysia, and those who use the name of Islam to justify extremist and intolerant outbursts and actions must be contained, not only internationally, but also nationally.

Two things Najib  should do to align his domestic policies with his international pronouncements on moderation and the Global Movement of Moderates are:

1.	to end the “white terror” spree in the past six weeks through malicious and selective prosecution and investigation under the Sedition Act, drop all Sedition charges, and empower the Global Movement of Moderates to launch national and international initiatives to promote moderation and reject all forms of violence and extremism in the face of the ISIS threat; and

2.	move a motion when Parliament meets on Oct 7 to condemn in unambiguous and unconditional terms the extremism, violence and barbarism of ISIS.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 27 September 2014, 12:50 pm and is filed under
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So what’s next for Pakatan?

by Faisal S Hazis

Co-editor, Aliran e-Newsletter

27 September 2014

Pas needs an overhaul; Hadi needs to be replaced; and the hegemony of the ulamas needs to be stopped, asserts Faisal S Hazis.

The ‘Kajang Move’ was a big flop. PKR failed to push its choice of Menteri Besar to lead the richest state in the country so as to propel Pakatan to Putrajaya in the next general election.

Although Pakatan Minus (with the exception of Pas) stood firm on their choice of candidate to the very last hours, the palace defied democratic convention by appointing someone else, Azmin Ali. Despite its resentment against the palace’s decision, the PKR and later the DAP endorsed Azmin’s appointment, thus sacrificing its principles and surrendering its power to choose the Menteri Besar. This spells trouble for the PKR’s already tainted and battered image.

The ‘Palace Move’ is not only going against democratic convention but it also calls into question the role of the constitutional monarch in our increasingly shrinking democracy. This should be a matter of concern not only to the opposition but also the BN since the ruling party’s prerogative in naming the prime minister and chief minister, as noted by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, would also be compromised. This spells trouble for democracy.

The Selangor crisis not only deepened factional fights in the PKR and Pas but it also amplified inter-party schism within Pakatan. Worse, the crisis exposed Pas’ true colors (i.e. its long obsession with the Islamic state agenda, its non-democratic culture via ulama control and a feudal state of mind) and its lack of commitment in upholding the spirit of Pakatan. Whatever happened to the notion of Negara Kebajikan Islam ,which was being touted by Pas in the last four general elections? This spells trouble for Pakatan.

So, what’s next for Pakatan? Is this the beginning of the end for the young coalition? Can Pakatan consolidate and regain the people’s trust in being a viable alternative to BN?

The future certainly looks gloomy for Pakatan Rakyat. Under the leadership of out of favour PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, the PKR, together with DAP and Pas, has a daunting task of putting Selangor back on the ‘right’ track.

The newly installed government needs to address all the issues associated with the Khalid leadership and fulfil Pakatan’s promises to the people of Selangor. If it can do this, Pakatan has a fighting chance in the next general election. However, inter- and intra-party factional fights are expected to continue plaguing Pakatan, thus distracting it from its goal of ‘fixing’ Selangor.

An even bigger challenge for Pakatan is to consolidate the coalition. The Selangor crisis shows that Pas is a liability to Pakatan. Its commitment to the coalition is in serious question. Its renewed call for the introduction of hudud and Islamic state is a betrayal of its electoral promise to moderate Malays and non-Muslims.

Hadi Awang’s actions in the Selangor crisis expose his lack of respect towards new politics and the spirit of the opposition coalition. Pas needs an overhaul. Hadi needs to be replaced. The hegemony of the ulamas needs to be stopped. The struggle for a welfare state, democracy and inclusivism should precede other agendas. If not, Pakatan has to cut its ties with Pas. Failing which, Pakatan would not even stand a chance to put up a credible challenge in the next general election.

Pakatan, however, has some breathing space because BN is equally hopeless. It fails to understand the impulse of the majority of voters in 2013 who wanted an inclusive, democratic and transparent Malaysia. But to form a government, Pakatan cannot rely on BN’s weaknesses only. Without a united coalition with a strong commitment towards change, Pakatan would only be a noisy opposition. Nothing more, nothing less.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 27 September 2014, 6:09 am and is filed under
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A dangerous precedent in Selangor

By P Gunasegaram

Malaysiakini

Sep 24, 2014

QUESTION TIME
 Most legal authorities and previous judgments on such issues are clear on one thing – the sultan/governor/Agong must choose the candidate who is most likely to command the support of the majority of the state assembly or Parliament for the post of menteri besar/chief minister/prime minister.

And where it is clear that a single candidate commands that majority support, there is no need for the titular head of state to ask for any other names to be nominated but he has to follow the constitutional duty of endorsing the candidate who legally commands the majority support.

This is what a constitutional monarchy is about, where the the head of state lies above politics, does not interfere in the administration of the state, and whose only role here is an important, non-partisan one of ensuring the person who commands the support of the majority of the assembly is the chosen one.

That is the essence of Parliamentary democracy and this must not be allowed to be played around with by any party as the will of the people is reflected through elections in the composition of the state assembly and Parliament. The role of the monarch is to ensure that the will prevails no matter what.

The sultan of Selangor had insisted on other names to be submitted for consideration, but this was not done by PKR, who said that they need to submit only one name. And indeed, according to most sane legal opinion, that is correct.

What happened in Selangor is a dangerous precedent because the candidate who enjoyed the majority support of the Selangor state assembly, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, as indicated in statutory declarations, was not even so much as considered for the position of menteri besar, let alone chosen.

Imagine if you will a situation in the next general elections: if BN wins, can the Agong demand that the coalition submit a few names for him to consider for prime minister? And if the Pakatan Rakyat coalition wins, can the Agong turn down the person who commands a majority in Parliament for prime minister when he satisfies all other conditions?

Yes, unthinkable. So what’s the difference now?

The issue is not that Dr Wan Azizah is Anwar Ibrahim’s wife or of nepotism, whether it exists or not. What matters is that, if she meets qualifying conditions, then she is entitled to become the menteri besar so long she commands the majority support in the assembly.

But PKR’s decision to name only one candidate was pilloried in the mainstream press which supports the BN, including one that is currently making a big show of endorsing bold and brave views towards moderation.

It was made to appear as if Anwar was being rude and even treasonous to the sultan, and Anwar uncharacteristically apologised to the sultan while gently maintaining that the decision to nominate one person was correct. Indeed it was.

Constitutional crisis?

PKR had its infamous differences with PAS over the issue. The way the whole thing proceeded, it threatened to take the nation into a constitutional crisis which promised to be long, drawn-out, and involve a series of battles in court.

But in what seems to involve backstage bargaining and posturing, the eventual person chosen as menteri besar, Azmin Ali (left), was not even on the list of candidates submitted to the sultan by PKR and PAS.

How can that be? And why are all parties so quick to accept a solution that goes so much against constitutional law in Malaysia? Why has PKR backed down on its insistence that just one candidate is all that it should nominate and now supports Azmin?

Perhaps for PKR, the consolation is that the new menteri besar is from PKR and is its deputy president. For BN and the sultan, the acceptance from PKR avoids a potentially damaging and embarrassing constitutional crisis whichever way the courts decide. And for Selangor and the nation, it means things can go forward.

The question that remains unanswered in this sad and sorry saga is this – why is Azmin, deputy president of PKR, acceptable as menteri besar, and why is Dr Wan Azizah, the president of PKR not? Especially when she commanded majority support of the assembly in the first place.

One more question – why is everyone now agreeing that Azmin be menteri besar? Expediency perhaps, political expediency. But this does not come without a cost.

The biggest loser from this prolonged crisis and its eventual unsatisfactory outcome is the rakyat because the people’s right to chose their leaders has been eroded. An incident like this one is only likely to encourage the palace’s greater interference in choosing the country’s leaders.

And in future, together with the politics of brinkmanship which Malaysia is increasingly heading towards, one wonders what this means towards a smooth transition of power according to the wishes of the people.

Democracy was the major loser in how the Selangor menteri besar was chosen, and by extension, the people whose right to choose had been curtailed.

P GUNASEGARAM is founding editor of business news portal KiniBiz. He, like most Malaysians, is extremely concerned about the way democratic rights are being eroded via a variety of mechanisms. This includes the use of the infamous Sedition Act of 1948 used by the British to curtail legitimate dissent during colonial times.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 28 September 2014, 5:36 pm and is filed under
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Jayalalithaa’s conviction shows that the law prevails

Mail Online India

27 September 2014

In a society submerged in corruption, a serving chief minister being stripped of her job for amassing wealth beyond her valid sources of income, brings a reassuring hope the law – despite being painfully slow – does apply to everyone.

Thanks to the court order, Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha will be the first elected chief minister to lose her post, as a result of which, she will not be able to contest elections.

Jayalalitha now joins powerful politicians like Lalu Prasad and Om Prakash Chautala to be imprisoned in a corruption case after being convicted by court.

A former Haryana chief minister, Chautala was jailed in a teacher’s scam but his party – the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is one of the front runners in the upcoming elections in the state.

The same is the case with former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad whose political fortunes look on the upswing despite his conviction in a corruption case.

For politicians, the people’s court seems to be working in their favour even when the court of law goes against them.

Despite this shortcoming, a conviction in the court at least brings to halt the free run of politicians in taking the system for granted.

The conviction of Jayalalitha has thrown open a question about the acceptance of politicians facing corruption charges. Jayalalitha’s AIADMK swept the Lok Sabha elections held in May this year winning all the seats in Tamil Nadu.

With 37 MPs, AIADMK is the third biggest party in Lok Sabha. However, allegations of corruption are now catching up even with parties who have the popular mandate.

That should make the DMK – the rival party to Jayalalitha’s AIADMK – pause and think.

The DMK which has been celebrating her conviction must realise their track record is just as bad, with former Union ministers from their party at the Centre in the UPA government, continuing to face charges in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

As far as Jayalalitha is concerned this is not the end of the road for her. But it remains to be seen if she can resurrect her political fortunes by successfully challenging the lower court order.

Till that time, a jail term and Rs 100 crore fine and four-year jail term has brought a major turn not only in Tamil Nadu politics but also at the national level.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 28 September 2014, 8:23 am and is filed under
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