KDM the new underclass in Umno’s Sabah Baru

Sabah is in the throes of a political crisis although it is publicly

denied by the Umno and Barisan Nasional leadership, whether state or national.

There is for instance a lot of play-acting over the shock abrupt resignation of Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat as Sabah Deputy Chief  Minister and State Tourism Minister on Friday, with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi fully endorsing the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Musa Aman, in saying that Chong’s resignation was “not really a loss” because it would not weaken  the Barisan Nasional state government.

In other words, although Chong was  Deputy Chief Minister and one of the key digits in the in the conspiracy and  strategy to establish Umno hegemony in Sabah in the early nineties, he is now completely irrelevant and expendable.

It is no surprise therefore that Chong had expressed his “hurt” at the Prime Minister’s dismissive comments about his resignation, telling  Oriental Daily News today that the Prime Minister’s comment had wounded his dignity and offended the people of Sabah and the Chinese.

Kah Kiat had maintained that he was quitting the Sabah Cabinet “as a matter of principle” — implying basic and fundamental differences with the Sabah Chief Minister.

The media have  reported that ties have been strained between the chief minister and his deputy for some time over numerous issues like Musa’s plans to develop Pulau Sipadan island off Sabah’s east coast, with Malaysiakini citing as ” the final straw” their differences over Chong’s proposal to build a huge statue of the Goddess of Mercy in Kudat as a tourist attraction.

It is clear however to astute political observers that Chong’s resignation is only the tip of the iceberg of what is politically wrong and even rotten in Sabah after Umno’s entry in Sabah and 13 years of Umno and Barisan Nasional control of the Sabah State Government and that the issues at stake are even bigger than Chong’s differences  over “principle” with Musa.

What is the cause of the Sabah malaise and crisis?  Umno has successfully made its foray into Sabah and established its  unquestioned political hegemony in the state in less than a decade, but in the process, it has broken every pledge it had made on entry into Sabah.

Umno had promised a “New Sabah”, promising political equality to the major communities in Sabah by rotating the post of Chief Minister among the three major communities.

In the 1994 Sabah state general election, Umno also spelt out the “highlights” of this  Sabah Baru –

	To reduce the poverty level in Sabah from 33 per cent in 1994 to zero in the year 2000;

	To eliminate illiteracy to zero in year 2,000;

	To eradicate corruption in Sabah;

	To give every Sabahan a house by the year 2,000;

	To resolve the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah.

The utter hollowness of the Sabah Baru was tragically illustrated last month when in desperation with life in poverty which gripped his family,  a 11-year-old Std. Five Dusun pupil of SK Kinarut, Donny John Dion committed suicide and hanged himself at home at Kampung Suangon in the Papar parliamentary constituency.

UMNO Papar has been shaken up by the unheard-of suicide of a 11-year-old boy because of abject poverty to help Donny’s surviving five siblings and mother, Hina Joloni — but do we have to wait until an  11-year-old boy in modern and developed Malaysia have to commit suicide to dramatically highlight the abject poverty of his family before some temporary aid is forthcoming from the very wealthy and powerful people in the country?

In fact, Donny’s tragic suicide is the most potent illustration of the violation of all the Umno promises of a Sabah Baru — as 13 years of Umno and Barisan Nasional rule of Sabah has created the shocking result  that the Kadazandusun and Murut (KDM) communities have emerged as the new underclass in Sabah like the Indians in Peninsular Malaysia — while UMNO and Barisan Nasional leaders waxed indecently rich.

In fact, in many instances, the  KDM hardcore poor are even worse off than the illegal immigrants, getting better care and attention from the authorities, including issuing them with false identity cards, voting rights, hospital and education facilities.

Lets have a quick checkoff of the “highlights” of the Sabah Baru marking Umno’s entry into Sabah over a decade ago:

1.	To reduce the poverty level in Sabah from 33 per cent in 1994 to zero in the year 2000

According to the Ninth Malaysia Plan tabled in Parliament in March last year, the incidence of poverty in Sabah in 2004 was the highest of all states in Malaysia, and was nowhere near zero incidence and higher than Kelantan and Terengganu.  The incidence of poverty of the various states in Malaysia in 2004 were as follows:

State 	 Incidence of Poverty (%)

Johore 	2.0

Melaka	1.8

Negri Sembilan 	1.4

Perak	9.5

Pulau Pinang	0.3

Selangor	1.0

Fed.Territory (KL) 	1.5

Kedah	7.0

Kelantan	10.6

Pahang 	4.0

Perlis	6.3

Sabah	23.0

Sarawak 	7.5

Terengganu	15.4

Sabah has also the worst incidence of hard-core poverty at 6.5% as compared the next three states with highest incidence, i.e. Terengganu 4.4% and  Kedah and Kelantan 1.3%.

Four years ago, in February 2003,  former Finance Minister Datuk Mustapha Mohamad who is now Higher Education Minister issued a blistering report card on Sabah’s 40 years in Malaysia — a dismal failure in development and nation-building!

Speaking at a public dialogue at Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Mustapha, who was at the time the  National Economic Action Council executive director and UMNO Information Chief,  admitted that the management of Sabah’s resources, civil service and political situation were among the factors contributing to the state’s lackluster economic performance, reducing a “once wealthy state … ..to a point of no return”.

In a most telling and cutting verdict, Mustapha said Sabah was “now in the same economic league as his native Kelantan”!

Four years after Mustapha indictment of the dismal  failure of the development record of Sabah, things have got worse instead of getting better — to the extent that a 11-year-old had to commit suicide to draw the attention of the authorites to the plight of the DCM poor!

The failure of the Umno’s development record to uplift the poor and backward stratas of society is all the more deplorable when contrasted with the obscene wealth accumulated by the political high-and-mighty in Sabah.

2.	To eradicate corruption in Sabah

When Umno entered Sabah,  the Prime Minister and Umno President Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad promised that Umno culture will be different from those of the Sabah political parties and promised to remove any Barisan Nasional  state leader who  was corrupt.  In the 1994 general election, campaigning under the pledge to eradicate corruption in Sabah, Sabahans were urged to reject corrupt leaders (referring to the PBS state government of Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan).

In the past 13 years, not only have all the “corrupt” Sabah leaders whom UMNO had  earlier urged Sabahans to reject have one after another joined Barisan Nasional, but not a single corrupt Barisan Nasional leader had been removed although corruption had never been more serious at any stage of its history.

Five years ago, there were the following  cynical comment in an   article in  the Sunday Star about the Sabah politics of musical chairs which should have been  the subject of a soul-searching by the relevant authorities  about public integrity and zero-tolerance of corruption in public life:

Ask politicians and journalists about the rotation system, and they will jokingly say: ‘One CM took the hills, one gave away the sea, one signed off the valleys and another bet on watery deals.’

They cannot help but compare what veteran politicians say about the Usno-Berjaya-PBS governments: ‘Usno took the meat of the timber, Berjaya the bones and PBS the crumbs with Barisan looking at leftovers.’

Everyone in Sabah knew what was meant by  the cynical comment that “One CM took the hills, one gave away the sea, one signed off the valleys and another bet on watery deals”  except for  the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), which seemed  to be the only one  ignorant about its implications.

That was five years ago, but today, under Musa Aman, corruption in Sabah has reached an even more rotten state, to the extent that a police report was recently lodged with regard to 25 serious corruption allegations against Musa by a former Sabah State Minister, Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan.

The 25 allegations of Jeffrey against Musa total malpractices running into billions of ringgit but up to now no serious attention has been given either by the Sabah Chief Minister, who said he was not bothered by them, or the Prime Minister or the ACA.

Sabah and Sarawak, under Chief Ministers  Musa and Tan Sri  Abdul Taib Mahmud, are now the two states with the worst problem of corruption and the Prime Minister must be prepared to deal with them courageously if his pledge of making anti-corruption  top priority of his administration is not to become a farce.

3. Rotation of Chief Minister among the three communities

When Umno entered Sabah, it promised equal political partnership in the state and in the 1994 Sabah state general elections, it pledged that  the post of Chief Minister would be rotated among the three major communities if Barisan Nasional toppled the PBS state government.

However, this had been violated in implementation — further proof of the political, economic and social marginalization of the KDM community.

The Sabah Chief Minister rotation-system had worked unfairly and inequitably against the KDM community  — producing four  UMNO Chief Ministers to represent the Malay community, two Chinese Chief Ministers but only “half” a Chief Minister for the Kadazandusun community, as Tan Sri Bernard Dompok was only Chief Minister for ten  months!

Now the Chief Minister is made permanent property of UMNO to reflect Umno’s political hegemony in Sabah.  Surely, before there is a change of the Sabah Chief Minister rotation system, the KDM community should have their  fair opportunity to complete two terms of the office. i.e. four years, as had been enjoyed by the Malay and Chinese communities.

4.	To resolve the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah

The problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah today is even  worse than more than a decade ago when the resolution of the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah was proclaimed as one of the pillars of Sabah Baru 13 years ago.

In the seventies, there were 100,000 to 200,000 illegal immigrants, which have mushroomed to some one million to 1.5 million at present, to the extent that there are Sabahans who warned that they have been outnumbered as to become strangers in their own country.

At the time when Umno leaders were promising a Sabah Baru to resolve the problem of illegal immigrants in the state, they were actively involved in the racket known as Project I/C to legalise the status of illegal immigrants by issuing them false identity cards to become phantom voters determining the political  destiny of Sabah.

The political turmoils in Sabah, which Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders have refused to acknowledge, must be admitted and corrected or they will undermine the international competitiveness both of Sabah and Malaysia.

What I speak represents the cries of the ordinary people of Sabah. Let it be fully heeded.

(Speech on the 2007 Supplementary Estimates  in Dewan Rakyat on Monday, 16th April 2007)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 16 April 2007, 3:48 pm and is filed under
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Forcible separation of Marimuthu from wife and six children – habeas corpus writ

DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh will file habeas corpus application for rubber-tapper
Marimuthu a/l Periasamy
 to be reunited with his wife, Raimah Bibi a/p Noordin and six children (Yogneswary 12,  Paramila 11, Hariharen 8,  Shamala 5,  Ravindran 5 and  Kuberan, 4) who had been forcibly separated from him for two weeks by Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS).

On 2nd April, 2007, seven officers from JAIS  came to his house in Kampung Baru Tambahan Ulu Yam Lama, Selangor and told him that his wife of 21 years was a Muslim and that she and the six children must be placed in a rehabilitation centre.

Marimuthu, 44, had no choice but to let the officers take his family away.

He said  an “ustaz” told him to convert to Islam or threatened to charge him for khalwat with Raimah.

Raimah, who returned to help him with the rubber tapping work two days later, told him that Jais had placed the family in the nearby Kampung Melayu Liga Emas, a Muslim Malay populated area, so that the neighbours can keep an eye on her daily activities and prevent her from meeting with any outsiders, particularly her Hindu husband.

Marimuthu said he felt threatened by the villagers’ stares when he attempted to visit his wife and children, and his wife was afraid and refused to come out and talk to him. Marimutu had no choice but to leave that village..

Raimah Bibi is an Indian who is a practicing Hindu. She was once adopted by a Indian-Muslim family when she was small. Her IC had never indicated that she was a Muslim until when she applied for her MyKad when  her name was changed to Rahimah Bibi bt Noordin and identified as a Muslim. Both Marimuthu and Raimah did not apply for correction with the National Registration Department (NRD).  Birth certificates of all Marimuthu’s children also indicate that Raimah is an Hindu Indian.

Marimuthu said that both of them were practising Hindus and they had got married in a temple according to Hindu rites and all their children were brought up as Hindus.

He said Raimah, who was adopted by an Indian Muslim family, cannot remember her adopted mother and her late adopted father had approved of their relationship.

It is most shocking that there is a lengthening list of cases of families being broken up by religious authorities like the case of Marimuthu being forcibly separated from his wife and six children in utter disregard of the sensitivities and rights of the multi-religious citizenry in the country.

When laws and religions are used to break up families, it is giving a bad name to laws and religions.

Noted constitutional lawyer and human rights defender, Malik Imtiaz have rightly commented on the Marimuthu family tragedy in his blog,
Disquiet
:

The law requires that the welfare of the children be the paramount consideration. The law also requires that all of us be treated equally. And yet, it would seem that those amongst us charged with the welfare of the nation and its citizens appear to think otherwise.

What justifies tearing a family apart, separating children from their parents? Islam does not. The law does not. How can we even begin to understand the anguish of the father, the mother and the children? How can we even begin to understand that some believe that the law countenances, warrants, such cruelty?

Someone has to be made accountable for this.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 17 April 2007, 12:32 pm and is filed under
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The NEP has been abused to help the rich

The NEP has been abused to help the rich

by Richard Teo

How long can the govt continue with its NEP policy? If the govt’s denial that ASLI’s report “of 30% bumiputra equity ownership had already been exceeded ” then it’s incumbent upon the govt to provide a clear official methodology as to how corporate equity is measured.

Earlier, the centre for public studies headed by Dr, Lim Teck Ghee had made a statement that its findings had established bumiputra equity ownership had exceeded 45%. In order to rebutt this findings by ASLI and to deny further credence to the findings that “corporate equity distribution was narrowly based, unrealistic and has resulted in an underestimation of the true volume and value of bumiputra equity”, the govt must reveal the official methodology to measure corporate equity. Based on its

calculation it must provide clear irrevocable proof that bumiputra’s equity has regressed to a lowly 18% in 2006.

At that time when the ASLI’s findings was published many UMNO leaders including the P.M called the report “baseless, inaccurate and irresponsible”. UMNO vice-President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin went even further and called it “rubbish”.

There was a beacon of hope to establish the truth when  DPM Najib gave an assurance that the methodology used to calculate the Bumi’s corporate equity would be publicly revealed.That assurance was given almost six months ago and it appears quite likely that the DPM has reneged on his word.

NEP in its present form has been abused and lost its initial noble objectives of helping the poor and the needy instead of the rich of one single race. Instead of affirmative action based on poverty it was exclusively based on a policy of helping just one race irrespective of the wealth of that person.

Hence we have a situation where a rich bumiputra is entitled to purchase a high-end property at a discount. What kind of logic is it? If he can afford to buy a high-end property surely he don’t need a discount.

The NEP must embrace the concept that there are poor Malays  Indians, Chinese, Ibans  and Kadazans etc. If the NEP is to have any meaning it must help those in need irrespective of their race and not because they belong to a select community.

If there is any defect in ASLI’s report, it is its failure to pinpoint the recipients of the 45% of bumiputra equity.The revelation maybe academic but the truth is maybe only 10% of the bumis benefitted from the 45% corporate equity distributed by virtue of the NEP.

As long as the govt refuse to accept this reality the longer it will be for national reconciliation.The inequitable distribution of wealth can only mean that the poor and the needy will continue to be deprived of govt assistance while the rich will continue to benefit from this skewed affirmative policy.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 17 April 2007, 6:05 am and is filed under
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Another din and pandemonium  in Parliament because BN Ministers/MPs cannot stand “hard” questions

Another din  and pandemonium in Parliament this morning during question  time simply because Barisan Nasional (BN)  Ministers and MPs cannot stand hard questions.

The original  question was from a BN Sabah MP, Edmund Chong Ket Wah (Batu Sapi) who asked the Higher Education Minister “to state that out of the 20 local public institutions of higher learning, how many are listed on the Academic Ranking of World Top 500 Universities”.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Higher Education Ministry, Datuk Dr. Adham Baba gave a tepid and colourless reply, who dared not address the problem of higher education in the country, failing to mention a single international university  ranking.

This was followed by two supplementary questions by BN  MPs which only enabled Adham to skirt the problem  of decline and fall of academic quality of Malaysian universities.

In my supplementary question, I said  that while Adham had said that Malaysia will use the National University of Singapore as a benchmark for public universities in the country, I pointed out that the University of Malaya had started out at par with the University of Singapore until the seventies in terms of international recognition for academic excellence and university quality.

However, Malaysia has slipped back to the international academic backwaters, as illustrated by the following international rankings:

	Omission from Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Ranking for 500 Top Universities;

	Omission from Newsweek’s Top 100 Global Universities;

	Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) QS World University Rankings — with University of Malaya falling from No. 89 in 2003 to 169 in 2004 and 192 in 2006; Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)  from No. 111 in 2003 to 326 in 2004 and 277 in 2006; Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia  (UKM) improving from No. 288 in 2005 to 185 in 2006 and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)  from No. 393 in 2005 to 292 in 2006;

	2007 Webometrics Ranking (WR) of 3,000 Premier Universities — where the best Malaysian university, USM is ranked No. 1,193, behind eight Thai universities and two Indonesian Universities. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia is ranked 1,317, Multimedia University 1,338, UPM 1,426 and University of Malaya 1,475.

The citation of these facts and figures was too unbearable for the BN MPs who created a din and caused a pandemonium — but that did not deter me from winding up my question, asking when the government was going to end its denial complex and restore full meritocracy as the precondition for academic excellence and university quality, and when the university search committees were going to result in the appointment of non-Malay Vice Chancellors in the public universities.

BN Ministers and MPs can only be used to “soft” questions but their din and pandemonium are not going to stop DAP MPs from continuing to field “hard” questions during Question Time.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 18 April 2007, 1:03 pm and is filed under
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Continuing family tragedy of trio forcibly separated in three different locations

LATEST –

Revathi Masoosai/Siti Fatimah’s 100-day detention for  Islamic rehabilitation which ends today has been extended by the Malacca Syariah Court for another 80 days.

Revathi’s husband, Suresh Veerapan was informed by Malacca Syariah Court officials  that her detention at the Faith Rehabilitation Centre in Ulu Yam has been extended by 80 days.

When Suresh Veerapan asked for the reasons, an official told him “she did not cooperate during the 100-day stay” which ended today.

His demand for a copy of the court order on the extension was denied. Revathi was not brought to the Malacca court from Ulu Yam in Selangor. Dozens of relatives were waiting to see her.

Revathi, who suffers from asthma, had told her husband last week that she was not taken to a doctor although she was sick.

It is sad and tragic that this heart-rending tale of the father, mother and baby girl being forcibly separated into three different locations by law and religion had not been resolved today, despite a memorandum by DAP MPs to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last week.

The following Associated Press report furnishes a backgrounder to this continuing tragedy:

Malaysia’s Islamic officials seize baby from mother who sought a Hindu life

The Associated Press

Published: April 6, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Islamic authorities took away the baby of a Muslim woman who is living as a Hindu in defiance of the law in the latest case of religious conflict straining ties in multiethnic Malaysia, officials said Friday.

Revathi Masoosai’s 15-month-old daughter was taken by the Islamic Religious Department in southern Malacca state on March 26 and handed to Revathi’s Muslim mother, said department enforcement officer Mohamad Imran Ahmad.

“The baby’s grandmother has custody of her for now,” Mohamad Imran told The Associated Press.

Revathi, an ethnic Indian, is being held in a rehabilitation center run by Islamic authorities for her religious transgression. The baby was with Revathi’s husband when she was seized. He has filed a police complaint, but it was not clear if he plans to take the case to court.

Meanwhile, the baby will stay with her grandmother. “When the baby’s mother is released, she can try to regain custody if she wants to,” said Mohamad Imran without elaborating.

The case, which was made public by the opposition Democratic Action Party on Thursday, highlights an increasing number of spats affecting the religious and family rights of the ethnic Indian and Chinese minorities.

Indians, who form about 8 percent of Malaysia’s 26 million people, are mostly Hindus while some are Christians, Muslims and Sikhs.

Activists say a string of recent disputes have ended in favor of Muslims — who comprise nearly 60 percent of the population — and strained ethnic relations in this multicultural nation, which has enjoyed racial peace for nearly four decades.

Revathi, 29, was born to Indian Muslim parents who gave her a Muslim name, Siti Fatimah. However, Revathi claims she was raised as a Hindu by her grandmother and changed her name in 2001, said Chong Eng, an opposition member of Parliament.

Revathi married Suresh Veerappan in 2004 according to Hindu rites. The marriage has not been legally registered because Suresh would have had to convert to Islam first.

Revathi’s official identification documents state she is Muslim because Malaysians who are born as Muslims cannot legally convert.

The Islamic Religious Department apparently learned of Revathi’s case after she gave birth. Revathi was detained in January and taken to a rehabilitation center in central Malaysia where she is expected to be held until at least mid-April to undergo religious counseling, Chong said.

“Separating mother and child … is inhuman,” Chong said in a statement.

A custody battle would be complicated because Islamic officials and Revathi’s mother would likely seek to try the case in Islamic Shariah court, which handles religious, family and personal law disputes involving Muslims.

Non-Muslims turn to civil courts to settle these issues. But the secular courts have generally avoided taking a position in such disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims, leaving it to the Shariah system, where verdicts have often favored Muslims.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 18 April 2007, 3:38 pm and is filed under
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Hishammuddin’s keris-wielding disqualifies him as a symbol of national integration

The Sun
is the only English and Bahasa Malaysia newspaper to report my questioning the Education Minister and UMNO Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussin for his infamous keris-wielding in Parliament yesterday.

Hishammuddin was answering the query during Question Time  on “the effectiveness of Students’ Integration for Unity programme since it was put into practice and whether the programme has achieved its objective”.

I had prefaced my supplementary question with the observation that Hishammuddin was “well-known” for his keris-wielding incidents in the context of extremist and communal demands in utter disregard of the rights and sensitivities of all races in a plural nation to the extent that he had been asked when he was going to use the keris, forfeiting his credibility and legitimacy as a symbol of national integration; and whether he would apologise for the keris-wielding incidents.

This set off a pandemonium in Parliament with Umno MPs creating a din to drown out my question, leading me to observe that UMNO MPs dared to defend the “keris-wielding” in the context of extremist and communal demands but dared not be questioned on the rightness of their actions in Parliament.

Sun’s report <
strong>”Keris-wielding gesture brought up again”  follows:

Keris-wielding gesture brought up again

KUALA LUMPUR (April 17, 2007): Months have passed but the controversy over Umno Youth chief Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein’s keris-wielding at the last Umno general assembly has not died down.

A shouting match between BN and DAP MPs erupted in the Dewan Rakyat today after Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) questioned the education minister’s credibility in answering a question on national unity.

“You are well-known for waving the keris and not sensitive of the feelings of the different races. As long as this matter has not been clarified, the minister has lost credibility to be a symbol of unity,” he said in a supplementary question to Hishammuddin.

Lim’s statement did not go down well with the BN MPs, who responded with boos.

“Waving the keris is something very normal in Malay culture,” Datuk Mohamad Aziz (BN-Sri Gading) shouted from his seat.

Datuk Idris Haron (BN-Tangga Batu), Datuk Alwi Che Ahmad (BN-Ketereh) and several other MPs also stood up.

Deputy Speaker Datuk Lim Si Cheng had his hands full trying to restore calm.

“Yang Berhomat, sit down!” he shouted several times before asking Lim to continue with his question.

Lim then posed his question to Hishammuddin: “Are you willing to apologise (over the keris-wielding) incident?”

His words immediately drew flak from the BN MPs again.

At this juncture, Datuk Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai) tried to invoke the standing orders to stop Lim from making further remarks but was stopped by the deputy speaker, who asked Hishammuddin to answer the question.

“Why did Ipoh Timur make a baseless allegation early in the morning? Maybe he wants to use this as material in the Ijok by-election,” Hishammuddin said.

“I want to advise you that you still lost although you and your counterparts had raised the issue in Machap (by-election). So even if you raise the issue in Ijok again, you will continue to lose,” he said.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 18 April 2007, 8:39 am and is filed under
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Ijok by-election: Khir Toyo arrested and charged for corruption if ACA independent

Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Khir Toyo would have been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and charged for corruption in connection with the Ijok by-election in Selangor if the ACA is an independent and professional body.

This is because even before the Ijok by-election nomination tomorrow, money politics to buy votes  have started with the announcement by Khir Toyo of
RM36 million
for various development projects in the Ijok constituency.

Instead, the ACA had acted “blind, deaf and mute” to such money politics and corrupt practices to buy votes in the  by-election.

This is what I said in Parliament this evening during the winding-up of the Prime Minister’s Department in the committee stage debate of the 2007 Supplementary Estimates.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Nazri Aziz disputed  my charges as being unfair to the ACA and openly asked the ACA officers on duty in Parliament to take note of my strictures. I stood my ground.

Earlier in my speech, I had expressed shock that Nazri could be “very satisfied” with the corruption situation in the country when after three years of the Abdullah premiership, corruption had got worse, as claimed by former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as well as testified by international corruption surveys like Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index which saw the country’s ranking falling from No. 37 in 2003 to No. 44 in 2006 and  the  latest Political and Economic Risks Consultancy (PERC) corruption survey in Asia.

In a written reply on Monday  to the Barisan Nasional MP for Lubok Antu on what had been achieved by the government in eradicating corruption, Nazri had said: “Kerajaan amat berpuashati dengan usaha-usaha yang dilaksanakan untuk menghapuskan rasuah di negara ini.”

In his reply, Nazri argued that he was not “mad” as to be “very satisfied” about the decline in the various corruption perception indices for Malaysia, stating that he was equally concerned. He said his “very satisfied” referred to the efforts made to eradicate corruption.

I challenged such perverse illogic, maintaining that when he said he was “very satisfied” with the efforts to fight corruption, it implied being “very satisfied” as well with  their outcome — the shocking deterioration  of the corruption situation on all fronts.

In my speech, I had reminded Parliament of Abdullah’s promise during the 2004 general election to be modern-day Justice Bao to eradicate corruption and spoke in Mandarin the first two sentences of the Justice Bao TV series theme song. I  rendered a rough translation in Bahasa Malaysia – “There is a Justice Bao in Kai Feng, Iron-Faced to differentiate between right and wrong”!

I asked where is Justice Bao in Malaysia after more than three years of Abdullah as PM  – when in fact, there are also none of the lieutenants of Justice Bao to carry out his mission of justice and integrity!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 18 April 2007, 7:07 pm and is filed under
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Marimuthu Periasamy files habeas corpus writ for release of wife and six children

Rubber tapper
Marimuthu Periasamy
, 43, has today filed
habeas corpus
writ for the release of his wife Raimah Bibi a/p Noordin and six children, Yoogneswary 12, Paramila 11,  Hariharan 8, Ravindran 5, Shamala 5 and Keberan 4 from detention by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department for the past 17 days.

Periasamy, who filed the action through DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh as counsel, is seeking to be reunited with his wife and six children who were forcibly separated from him on 2nd April 2007 on the ground that they were Muslims.

Periasamy has filed a supporting affidavit stating that he and his wife were at all material times of the Indian race and they practiced and professed the Hindu religion. They brought up their chileren in the Hindu religion and beliefs.

Their children were given Indian names and they had lived in peace without interruption even though they earn a modest living.

Things changed in the morning of 2nd April 2007 when seven officers acting on behalf of the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) raided their residence in Kampung Baru Tambahan, Ulu Yang, Selangor, detaining his wife and six children and forcibly took them away from their house.  Marimuthu was threatened with “khalwat” if he attempted to stop them.

He immediately lodged a police report with the Ulu Yam Police Station the very same day.

Karpal is seeking an early date for the hearing of Marimuthu’s habeas corpus application.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 19 April 2007, 5:54 pm and is filed under
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Abdullah must work trebly hard in next few months to have credibility to talk about Mission 2057

Yesterday’s
New Straits Times
front-page was completely  taken up by two quotes of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s speech on the National Mission for the next 50 years, viz:

“I have not forgotten about Vision 2020.  It is a target for us to achieve.  But why can’t we think beyond that?  We are well placed to envision a century of success… ”

“All those rumours that I’m resigning in July, who is saying this?  Some have said I am a one-term prime minister. We will see about that… “

I had three immediate questions when I saw the NST front-page yesterday.

Question 1:
 This was a speech which Abdullah had delivered as Umno President in a meeting with the “Umno political machinery and Umno psychological warfare unit”
(Bernama 19.4.06)
  at the Putra World Trade Centre last Friday.

Why was such a speech and message delivered to the Umno propaganda and psychological warfare unit aired on RTM1?  Is this an open and blatant  admission that RTM is nothing more than the propaganda and psychological warfare unit of Umno?

Is this further proof of Malaysia going further down the slippery slope where important distinctions among the three separate entities of government, political party and personal interests have been completely blurred and eradicated among those vested with public trust, whether government  power or charge of public funds — when the strict maintenance of such distinctions are the fundamental prerequsities to foster a culture of  national integrity and  to carry out a successful campaign against corruption?

The Machap by-election and the current Ijok by-election have seen such blurring and eradication of distinctions among the three entities of government, political party and personal interests reaching an unprecedented level in the past 50 years.

What better testimony than  the blatant vote-buying in Ijok where money politics to buy votes started even before nomination yesterday with the  announcement by Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd  Khir Toyo of RM36 million for various development projects to be implemented within the two weeks of the  Ijok by-election.

Today,  public-spirited voters of Machap Baru New Village took  out a newspaper advertisement expressing their gratitude to the DAP for participating in the Machap by-election  resulting in “overnight transformation” of life in the constituency, bringing basic infrastructure benefits which the villagers had never been able to enjoy in the past 50 years, with  “unprecedented allocations, benefits and treatment” including recreation area, upgrading roads, new street lamps, upgrading of drainage system, low-cost housing, clinic upgrade and   grants to the three Chinese primary schools in the constituency.
(Sin Chew  p31)

Question 2:
  Who is spreading the rumour that Abdullah will be resigning in July?  This is the first time I am hearing about it and Abdullah has RTM and the Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin  to thank for  disseminating  this rumour  throughout the country until it becomes a household rumour.

Qestion 3:
 why didn’t Abdullah come to Parliament instead of using “the gathering of Umno political machinery and Umno psychological warfare unit” to answer the question which I had posed in Parliament during my debate on the Royal Address on March 21.

In
my speech in Parliament
on March 21, 2007, I had referred to Abdullah’s announcement  a week earlier of  “Mission 2057”  to ensure continued development in all aspects since independence and after Vision 2020 had been achieved.     Abdullah, who had chaired a meeting of the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council, said “Mission 2057” (Misi 2057) would become the development guideline for another 50 years.

I said in Parliament that it was “a rather tall tale that the BN Supreme Council could meet to  take the policy decision to formulate Mission 2057, when  it is not only  dubious that Vision 2020 could be achieved but very clear that Abdullah’s Mission 2004 is heading towards a big flop”.

I had  said: “Before Abdullah trots out Mission 2057 about Malaysia in another half-a-century, he should deliver Mission 2004 which he had promised in the 2004 general election to lead an efficient, clean,  incorruptible, accountable, transparent, just, democratic and progressive administration which is prepared to hear the truth from the people”.

I had also highlighted  in particular three areas where Abdullah had failed in the past 40 months to  “walk the talk” of his reform pledge and agenda despite his unprecedented 91% parliamentary majority in the March 2004 general election.

These three areas are:

	The losing war against corruption;

	The losing battle against crime with Malaysians feeling even more unsafe in the streets, public places and the privacy of their homes than when Abdullah became Prime Minister.

	Abdullah’s failure to lead an open, accountable and transparent administration  — with a worsening cult of secrecy as illustrated by the refusal to make public all the privatization contracts, whether toll contracts, power  and water concessions, to put them in the public domain for the scrutiny of the Malaysian public.

His predecessor, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, had already passed a public verdict that corruption under Abdullah is  worse than during his 22-year administration.  As far back as May 2005,
Mahathir
said that  “corruption might be getting to a point of no return”, that it had  become a  culture in Malaysia with corruption almost at the “above the table” level and more and more people no longer trying to hide the fact that they were  corrupt.

Two days ago, Mahathir has upped the ante and lengthened the list of failures of the Abdullah administration  –
“that press freedom in Malaysia today is worse than during his time as prime minister”
 when speaking at the 6th Perdana Discourse Series entitled ‘Media and National Development’, organised by Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya on Wednesday.

Although Abdullah has not been denounced as
“Predator of Press Freedom”
as had happened to Mahathir by the international press organization, Reporters without Borders, Abdullah has no cause for complacency or sense of superiority as more and more Malaysians are feeling the tightening of the screw with all the institutional instruments of press control and censorship had been left completely intact in the past 42 months, with some of these  instruments being applied even more frequently than during the Mahathir era.

Abdullah should work trebly hard in the next few months  to honour his 2004 Mission before next general election if he is to have the credibility and legitimacy to talk about Mission 2057 or even Vision 2020.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 April 2007, 11:22 am and is filed under
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Democratisation in Burma – sanctions mechanism in new ASEAN Charter

At the end of March, a delegation of Members of Parliament from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore  including MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok and MP for Permatang Pauh Datin Seri Dr. Wan Azizah went to the Thai-Burma border to visit Mae La refugee camp and meet with some of those who have been forced to flee the abuses and the ravages of civil war in Burma.

For more than fifty years, civil war has cast its dark shadow on this beautiful country. In the course of the past ten years, about 3,000 villages have been destroyed in eastern parts of the country and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee. Burma is now the third largest producer of refugees in the world, after Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thailand has received the largest number of refugees and migrants from Burma. But an increasing number of Burmese are also coming to Malaysia. At the end of March, a seven year old girl, Dally, went missing in Cheras on the eve of the day she and her family were to leave for resettlement in the U.S.

Malaysia and other governments in ASEAN must take responsibility for the protection of refugees from Burma. They share in the blame for having allowed the situation to drag on for so many decades.

The Malaysian Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar calls on the Malaysian government to ensure that the authorities act promptly in the murder of Dally and to adopt policies and practices that will ensure that future crimes, not only of this nature, towards unprotected refugee children do not recur.

However, we all know that the root causes of the refugee and migration problems from Burma lies with the Burmese regime. If the junta does not stop its abuses, end the civil war and solves the country’s political and economic problems, refugees will continue to flee the country.

If we are to provide lasting protection to the people of Burma, this tragedy cannot be allowed to continue. We call on the Malaysian government to plan an active role in order for ASEAN to take strong steps at a regional and international level to stop the abuses that are forcing people to flee their homes and that are splitting up families.

In recent years, the international community has become increasingly aware of the atrocities committed by government soldiers against civilians in isolated parts of Karen State and other states in eastern parts of Burma.

As citizens of ASEAN, we are proud to have a Nobel Peace laureate in our midst. Aung San Suu Kyi is not only the beloved leader of Burma’s population.

We urge the Malaysian government to step up its efforts to ensure improvements in her conditions of detention and her immediate and unconditional release as well as that of Burma’s other political prisoners.

The road map initiated by the regime in 2003 and the constitution-drafting National Convention, due to wind up this year according to Burma’s foreign minister, continue to lack in inclusiveness and transparency. We have not been provided with a proper timetable for political reform. How long will it take for the regime to give space to Burma’s elected representatives to exercise their fundamental freedoms?

ASEAN has been patient for far too long. The road map remains a sham and the Burmese military needs to change its ways. Only meaningful and genuine participation by the opposition in the political process will gradually take the country down a better path.

After 40 years of existence, ASEAN has reached a critical turning point for its future existence. ASEAN is a regional organization that has made great advances in these forty years. But we have no assurance that ASEAN will remain the focal point of regional integration for the foreseeable future unless we are prepared to meet coming challenges. The coming ASEAN charter is key to ensure the continued relevance of the organization on the world arena.

ASEAN is now in the process of codifying a common set of values and standards for this region, which include an attachment to democratic values, good governance, respect for the rule of law including international humanitarian law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, if the new charter is not going to have a single sanctions mechanism, how do we expect recalcitrant members to abide by the new charter?

Burma, for one, is not living up to the standards that the region is setting for itself. Malaysia, as a leading member of ASEAN, cannot stand idly by and accept that a fellow member of the ASEAN club sticks to its old and stubborn ways.  ASEAN will continue to lack in international credibility unless Burma changes and unless we, as neighbours of Burma, are ready to play our part in taking responsibility for the well-being of the people of this country.

What is our government doing? Far too little: We recognise that the Malaysian government has stepped up its efforts to promote political change, but Malaysia is still far too passive in regional and international arenas. By not speaking out in international arenas, Malaysia is effectively contributing in protecting the Burmese regime rather than its people.

We are concerned that the recent vetoes against a draft resolution on Burma at the UN Security Council have effectively sent a signal to the regime that for the time being they are protected from too intimate scrutiny by the international community, and that this signal is making the Burmese regime less receptive to international demands for reform. Malaysia needs to stand up and tell the regime that this is far from being the case.

Malaysia must continue to play an active role in regional efforts to change the situation in Burma and must support attempts to bring the situation in Burma to the attention of the Security Council.

As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Malaysia is particularly well placed to take an active role in enabling the United Nations to embark on a more committed, forceful and  consistent approach to change the situation in Burma.

I am disappointed to learn of the stand taken by the Malaysian government regarding the special procedures at the Human Rights Council, notably the country specific mechanisms. These are the cornerstone of the human rights work being carried out under the aegis of the United Nations. I am also deeply disappointed by the failure of the Malaysian government to support the annual resolutions on Burma at the UN General Assembly.

Malaysia’s unhelpful position at the UN, in areas where it could have made a difference, will have a direct negative impact on the situation in Burma. International efforts to promote respect for fundamental human rights in Burma require the presence of the special rapporteur and the backing of country resolutions. The Malaysian government must work harder to ensure that the mandate of the UN Special rapporteur on human rights in Burma is retained. The people of Burma are paying a high price for the inaction of the international community. They cannot afford to wait any longer.

The current UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Professor Paulo Pinheiro, has not had access to the country for the past three years. His term will expire in June. The regime must be held accountable for its lack of cooperation with the international community. Will the June deadline be allowed to expire without a concerted effort by the international community to push for access? Are Malaysia and ASEAN ready to stand by and let the regime get things its way?

We are calling for a more people-centred ASEAN, and an ASEAN that is ready to meet non-traditional and trans-boundary challenges and crisis through regional and international cooperation. If we are serious about our call, we cannot shed our responsibilities for the welfare of the population of Burma.

Malaysia and ASEAN cannot afford to step back from our responsibility in encouraging an end to the civil war, genuine political reform and respect for human rights in Burma. Malaysia must have the courage to tell Burma’s generals that they need to change their ways and their mindset. They have lost the confidence of their populations as well as that of the region and the international community at large. Only fundamental change will restore the trust and confidence needed for Burma to move forward.

(Speech in Parliament on the Foreign Ministry during committee stage debate of the 2007 Supplementary Estimates on 19th April 2007)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 April 2007, 8:27 am and is filed under
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Subashini, Revathi, Marimuthu cases – Tunku will be most distressed if he  is still alive

I have today sent an urgent fax to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi asking for a meeting with DAP MPs and leaders on pressing sensitive issues of national unity, religion, family and human rights highlighted by recent heart-rending controversies like the Subashini, Revathi and Marimuthu cases.

There are great and increasing concerns in our plural society about inter-religious tolerance and harmony as  illustrated by the recent week-long prayers by Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Taoists to seek divine intervention to spread awareness of the importance of upholding the fundamental provisions of the Malaysian Constitution with regard to Article 11 on  freedom of religion and Article 4 on the Constitution as the supreme law of  Malaysia.

In a written reply to the DAP MP for Ipoh Barat, M. Kulasegaran on Wednesday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk
Nazri Aziz
said that the Prime Minister had an open attitude and discussed matters of religion with religious-based non-governmental bodies.  It is in this spirit that we are asking for this meeting with the Prime Minister.

Ever since the founding of the nation, Bapa Malaysia and the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, set the example of an  open, tolerant and accommodative attitude on religious rights and sensitivities  which had spared the multi-religious country from religious conflict, discord and even misunderstanding  in the best part of half-a-century of nationhood.

If Tunku Abdul Rahman is still alive, I am sure he will be the first to be very distressed by the spate of heart-rending cases affecting religion which  split up families — in the Marimutu case, the  couple had  been married for 21 years with seven children –  apart from causing inter-religious strain and national disunity as well as giving Malaysia a bad name internationally.

During the winding-up of the committee stage debate on the  2007 Supplementary Budget  on Wednesday,
Nazri
said that the Attorney-General is working on a mechanism to discuss contentious  issues relating to religion and conversion without affecting racial unity in the country.

He said such a mechanism was necessary because sensitive issues like religion could not be discussed “arbitrarily” as it involved religious sensitivity and the rights of ethnic groups. He said even Parliament was not the appropriate place to discuss sensitive issues.

He urged everyone to be patient and to wait for the mechanism that was being prepared by the AG’s Chambers.

If Nazri is serious about his call to everyone to be patient until the Attorney-General Chambers have come up with such a mechanism, he should take all necessary actions to ensure  that families which  had been split up by controversial actions of state religious departments could be re-united until such a mechanism is in place.

In
Revathi’s case
, her 100-day detention for Islamic rehabilitation at the Faith Rehabilitation Centre in Ulu Yam had been extended for another 80 days by the Malacca Syariah Court on the ground that “she did not co-operate during the 100-day detention”, prolonging her forced separation from her husband and 15-month baby daughter.

It is shocking that Malaysia has a new form of ISA-like powers of detention which could be extended indefinitely.

Nazri’s contention that Parliament is not the appropriate place to discuss these spate of issues impinging on religious rights and sensitivities cannot go unchallenged.

No one single Minister, even if he is  assigned to be in charge of parliamentary affairs on behalf of the Prime Minister, should decide what Parliament can or cannot do.  MPs and the country should be very wary about any proposal that a subject should be regarded as  sensitive and be removed from the ambit of Parliamentary debate.

Any decision that Parliament should not debate sensitive religious issues should only be made by a proper consensus of Parliament, not just majority of the Barisan Nasional MPs  but also with  the agreement  of Opposition MPs.

DAP MP for Bukit Mertajam Chong Eng
has given notice to move an emergency motion to debate the Revathi case on Monday.

Parliament should set an example to Malaysians that it is capable of debating sensitive issues concerning national unity, religion,  family unity and human rights in a sober, rational  and responsible manner

DAP MPs give a public undertaking that they will be sober, rational, responsible and unemotional in the debate in Parliament to address very real issues affecting Malaysians on religious rights and sensitivities, family unity and values, human rights and national unity — and we urge Barisan Nasional MPs to make a serious commitment likewise to prove that Parliament is  relevant to the people’s concerns and capable of rising to the occasion to have a responsible and mature debate on these sensitive issues.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 April 2007, 1:38 pm and is filed under
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The Machiavellis in Malaysian politics

The Machiavellis in Malaysian politics

Azly Rahman

Against my will, my fate,

A throne unsettled, and an infant state,

Bid me defend my realms with all my pow’rs,

And guard with these severities my shores .

– from Machiavelli’s The Prince, Chapter XVII

Another quote:

‘But it is necessary to know well how to disguise this characteristic, and to be a great pretender and dissembler; and men are so simple, and so subject to present necessities, that he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived. One recent example I cannot pass over in silence. Alexander VI did nothing else but deceive men, nor ever thought of doing otherwise, and he always found victims; for there never was a man who had greater power in asserting, or who with greater oaths would affirm a thing, yet would observe it less; nevertheless his deceits always succeeded according to his wishes, because he well understood this side of mankind.

‘Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and always to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to have them is useful; to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and know how to change to the opposite. – from, Machiavelli’s The Prince, Chapter XVIII

One of the best strategies to keep a political party in power is to keep the voters ‘educated’ only to a certain level of intelligence, and to give them enough goodies for them to want more at every cycle of election. Give them money, ‘kain pelika’t, ‘kain batik’, rice, cigarettes, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonalds, RM200 and instant ‘development packages’ — new roads, new playgrounds, new schools, new promises, etc, so that they will be happier voters. Let them corrode their own moral character and let the children of these voters learn that this are what democracy, politics, and elections is all about.

This is the structure of dependency. This is the systematic programme of the maintenance of the ‘welfare’ mentality — the ideology of the ‘hand that feed’. This, too, is the current paradigm and ideology of technology transfer from global corporations wishing to develop the Iskandar Development Region or the Multimedia Super Corridor. The advanced, industrialised countries will give aid and some help with technology to the industrialising countries so that the former will continue to control and manipulate while the latter will be continue to be controlled and be manipulated.

The structure of dependency constitutes ‘structural violence’. The paternal relationship forged structures the relationship between the giver and the receiver, the oppressor and the oppressed. This curriculum of totalitarianism is hidden.

Until voters are intelligent enough to understand this structure of dependency and are wise and ethical enough to reject the goodies from the ‘hands that giveth’, we will still see corrupt politicians installed to further transform the lives of others through development projects created so that it is not that the people that will benefit, but the few people that will make sure that they themselves will reap the benefits.

Far too much we hear the word ‘progress and development’ these days. We hear of our economy doing well. We hear of the ‘jihad’ against corruption and poverty being intensified. We hear slogans, rhetoric and ‘managed perception’. We do not know what is real and what is invention anymore. We see an intensifying effort to divide, subdivide, fragment, and dissipate progressive parties that are trying to bring about immediate and radical change.

Machiavelli, our guru?

Where do the powerful ones in our society learn how to control the mind and the body of the people governed? Perhaps through arrogant knowledge that advises rulers to be brutal, pretentious, hypocritical, and shrewd — as long as power is acquired, consolidated, maintained, and held on as long as possible. One can then rule for five, 10, 15, or even 22 or 35 years. One can even declare oneself dictator or emperor or ‘maharajah’.

One piece of arrogant knowledge that one must study, to understand how Malaysia as well as global politics work is The Prince by Nicollo Machiavelli, an essential treatise on the nature and manifestation of power.

We take too much from the teachings of Machiavelli. We use force to hold on to power. We let our leader use whatever means necessary for them to cling on to power.

In Machiavelli we can see the ideology of Islam Hadhari, slogans of ‘cemerlang, gemilang terbilang’, the Internal Security Act, The University and University Colleges Act, the fascistic ‘Surat Akujanji’ for civil servants, the Biro Tata Negara, the National Service programme, Media Prima, the Election Commission, the constant play and ‘sandiwara’ of race-based politics — all these and more in the overall Machiavellian scheme of realpolitik borrowed from the colonial masters. The ideological state apparatuses, German critical theorist Louis Althusser’s term, is employed to structure the pattern of dependency.

In fact, Malaysian politics these days, might be even worse than during colonial times — the oppressors have become invisible and have evolved into a system of thought control.

In the current ideology, neo-liberalism mystified in the term Islam Hadhari, constitutes a life support system to legitimise foreign domination, unequal distribution of wealth, perfection of subsidy and rent-seeking ideology, cultivation of mediocrity and blind loyalty even amongst the most highly-educated in our public universities.

Accounts of vote-buying illustrates a total mockery of democracy. Those giving money and make promises aplenty are charting their own destruction.

‘By all means necessary,’ said Malcolm X — is the ideology of Machiavelli.

In the world of Machiavelli we embrace, winning is everything. It is better to be feared than to be loved, as the author would say. In today’s world in which bloggers are now feared, it is better to be loved by projecting an image/perception of being loved, of being benevolent, pious, caring, and selfless so that power will be gently but surely acquired. It is also necessary to maintain such a perception so that one can still be remembered as a benevolent ruler even though one has plundered billions of ringgit; it is necessary so that one will not be prosecuted for such plundering.

What then must we do

We must educate ourselves to be well-informed voters and to help each other understand how power works through institutions and ideology that permeate the psyche and the physical landscape of society.

We need to engage in the establishment of a republic of virtue — one runs on the philosophy of virtue – and terror. Let our children learn that it is terrifying to be corrupt; such as to build palaces while the homes of the poor demolished. Let us teach them to vote with their conscience.

The current regime cannot solve the problems it creates. It must dismantle itself, die a natural death, destroy the symbols of power it has abused, and let a peaceful renewal take its natural course. The will to be corrupt will only intensify if we do not perform a frontal lobotomy of its source. The source is the locus of control — the center of power.

Beware, the multiplying and morphing Machiavellis amongst us. Let us design a programme of counter-hegemony so that we can play and wrestle with authority.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 21 April 2007, 5:31 am and is filed under
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Abdullah – stop the Mat Rempit culture of lawlessness in Ijok

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had condemned from Namibia the
fracas
 that occurred during nomination day for the Ijok by-election as “a stupid thing”, saying that “Such a thing should not have happened”.

Abdullah said he was referring to both parties, meaning Barisan Nasional and Parti Keadilan Rakyat, when referring to the incident where BN and PKR supporters hurled stones, sticks and bottles at each other, forcing police to intervene.

I fully agree.  To stamp out such unseemly incidents, leaders must set a good example to stop their members and election workers from getting out of control.

Leaders of both parties are blaming the supporters from the other camp of starting the fracas on nomination day.

However, there can be no doubt whatsoever as to who was responsible for the
ugly incident at Batu 8, Ijok
 at 2.40 pm yesterday, where some 20 people, including some in Pemuda BN uniform, roughed up PKR candidate Khalid Ibrahim and two freelance photographers — one of whom is well-known blogger Jeff Ooi, injuring the other photographer.  A police report had been lodged.

Abdullah is now back in the country. Is he  prepared to condemn the ugly assault  yesterday where Pemuda BN youths roughed up the PKR candidate  and injured a free-lance photographer, discipline the culprits  and issue clear instructions to end the Mat Rempit culture of lawlessness in the BN campaign in Ijok?

Jeff Ooi has given an eye-witness and firsthand-victim account on his
blog
 where he recounted:

Our casual attire for comfortable photographing also ensured that we are not to be wrongly mistaken as KeADILan’s cadre. We were there merely as men-at-work, photographers on assignment.

We were wrong. We were surrounded by over 20 rowdies, and the long and short of it, my colleague, who wound down his window to inch carefully his way out from the besieging scene, was smashed AT CLOSE RANGE with the sharp portion of the mineral water bottle (picture above).

He tried to evade but still broke his glasses, bleeding. Without the glasses, he drove the both of us out of the danger zone until some KeADILan members escorted us in another vehicle to safe ground in Ijok town centre. (Thanks Cikgu Li.)

We kept our cool and tried hard to avert any eventualities as we didn’t want this incident to be spun as an ugly chapter of over 20 Malay youths attacking two Chinese photographers in Malaysia.

Nevertheless, the unasked question must get answered some days when the fanatical election fever is over.

Abdullah must prove that he means what he says and come out strongly to condemn the ugly incident yesterday, taking action not only against the culprits but also holding their leaders responsible for such  lawlessness.

Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the Director of Operations of the Barisan Nasional Ijok by-election campaign  should unreservedly apologise for yesterday’s incident to Khalid, Jeff and the injured freelance photographer.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 22 April 2007, 2:45 pm and is filed under
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Altantuya – Najib should tell all instead of bits and pieces

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should give a full statement of what he knew about the Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu who was murdered and blown to bits with powerful high-security C4 explosive last October instead of letting out information in bits and pieces.

On the eve of Ijok nomination on Wednesday (18th April),
Najib
made his first comment when he said he was not afraid of allegations linking him to the case of the murdered Mongolian woman, that they were “merely lies to discredit him” and that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and the police “knew the truth”.

On
Ijok nomination
the next day, Najib said that he “would not take lying down” accusations hurled against him by the opposition in the Ijok by-election campaign and would “respond to the personal attacks to the fullest extent possible… in the context of the law”.

Last night, Najib released another bit of information when he said in Ijok that he had never met Altantuya.

He said:
“I have only seen pictures of her in the media.”

Najib owes it to the voters of Ijok and the 26 million people of Malaysia to give a full account of what he knew about Altantuya before her gruesome murder instead of being forced to release bits and pieces of information which only raises more questions.

For instance, was Najib aware of Altantuya’s activities and interests inside and outside the country before her gruesome murder and the circumstances of such knowledge and information — which is a completely separate issue from the case of her murder.

Furthermore, when Najib said that the Prime Minister, the  Attorney-General and the police “knew the truth”, what is this “truth” that he was talking about and are the Prime Minister, Attorney-General and the police prepared to publicly  corroborate Najib’s claim?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 22 April 2007, 11:26 am and is filed under
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Corruption investigations into Johari and Zulkipli – Nazri should make Ministerial statement

I fully support the call by Deputy Internal Security Minister
Datuk Johari Baharum
for public announcement of outcome of Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) investigations on RM5.5 million graft allegations against him in connection with the Emergency Ordinance (EO) “freedom for sale” scandal.

The ACA acting director-general
Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan
had said that ACA had completed its investigations on the graft allegations against Johari shortly after the deputy minister  was questioned by ACA officials on March 19 and that the investigation papers are now in the hands of the prosecution division.

Johari said he hoped that the Attorney-General’s Chambers would announce its decision quickly to clear his name.

If what Ahmad Said is true, then the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail should explain why the Attorney-General’s Chambers is taking more than a month to decide on the  ACA investigations papers into Johari in connection with the RM5.5 million “EO freedom for sale” allegations.

The outcome of police investigations into the serious corruption allegations made against the then ACA director-general Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor by former Sabah ACA director and whistleblower Mohamad Ramli Abdul Manan in June last year should also be made public.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan had told
Berita Harian
 on Thursday that the police had completed investigations into the corruption allegations against Zulkipli after taking statements from 30 persons and that the investigations papers had been submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

There is a lot of skepticism as to whether the different  agencies would be able to do a thorough and professional job in these two investigations and public confidence is not enhanced with a  continuing pall of silence and secrecy on the outcome of these two  investigations.

For this reason, Gani Patail should either step forward to announce the outcome of these two investigations or the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Nazri Aziz who is charge of the law portfolio should make a ministerial statement on these two matters in Parliament next week.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 22 April 2007, 12:13 pm and is filed under
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Lobby for a Malaysian to be next Commonwealth Secretary-General

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has  realized the
urgency
 of deciding whether Malaysia is interested in offering a candidate for the Commonwealth secretary-general post.

He said in Windhoek that Malaysia should not repeat an earlier case where it could not decide if it was interested in the chair of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, resulting in the country not getting all the support because other countries had already made up their decision on other candidates.

I do not know whether Abdullah had been misreported and he was referring to the defeat of the Malaysian candidate for the post of Secretary-General of Organisation of Islamic Conference in June 2004, with the Turkish nominee appointed to head the secretariat.

When I first raised the issue in Parliament last week  of a Malaysian candidate for the post for Commonwealth Secretary-General to replace the incumbent Donald C. McKinnon, the Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar admitted Wismaputra paralysis on the matter as it does not have a suitable name to be put forward as Tun Musa Hitam was not interested.

Is Malaysia so scarce of qualified, competent  and calibre material to be put forward for the post of Commonwealth Secretary-General, when Malaysia can chair the OIC and Non-Aligned Movement?

Are we so lacking in confidence in the  capabilities and qualifications of Malaysians to helm international organizations like the Commonwealth?

Having lost out once in putting forth a candidate for OIC, are we now afraid of another international rebuff in lobbying for a Malaysian to be the next Commonwealth Secretary-General?

I fully agree with the director-general of
Malaysia Think Tank London
,
Wan Saiful Wan Jan
, the first to advocate that a Malaysian should be appointed the Commonwealth Secretary-General, as the time has come for an Asian to head the organization.

The  previous secretary-generals have come from other regions, viz:

1.	Arnold Smith (Canada) 1965 — 1975.

2.	Shridath Ramphal (Guyana) 1975 — 1990.

3.	Chief Emeka Anyaoku (Nigeria) 1990 — 1999.

4.	Don McKinnon (New Zealand) 1999 — 2007.

In making his case for a Malaysian as the next Commonwealth Secretary-General,
Wan Saiful
said:

At a time when the world is faced with dire conflicts and serious developmental needs, there is a lot that Malaysia can offer. Religious intolerance, racial discord, income inequalities, social exclusion, problematic delivery of education, the need for economic development, inefficient healthcare, and many more, are problems frequently encountered in many Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries. And these are problems that we in Malaysia have had to deal, or are dealing, with. A Malaysian leading the Commonwealth Secretariat will be able to bring in the wealth of experience for the benefit of the wider Commonwealth family.

The challenges waiting the next Secretary General is vast and diverse. The Commonwealth needs to set itself as an international power capable of balancing United States’ domination of global politics. It needs to act as the bridge between East and West. It also needs to utilize its diverse membership such that it can be the bridge between the Muslim world and others – we should remember that twelve of the fifty seven OIC members are also members of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth should also make itself a beacon of decentralised power — showing how it is possible to respect national sovereignty and allowing each country to follow its own path, while recognising the imperatives of interdependence. And it should use its diverse membership to show how free trade between countries can catalyse economic development, social progress and technological advancement throughout its network.

Malaysia does not have much time to dilly-dally  on this issue as the decision of the next Commonwealth Secretary-General would be made  in six months’ time by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala, Uganda from Nov. 23-25.

The Cabinet must have confidence that Malaysia is not short of towering figures with the requisite experience, qualities and qualifications for the post.

For a start, an all-party   Parliamentary Select Committee on International Affairs should be set up before Parliament adjourns on Wednesday with the first task of  identifying the Malaysian candidate and lobbying for a Malaysian to be appointed  the next Commonwealth Secretary-General at CHOGM in Kampala.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 22 April 2007, 1:46 pm and is filed under
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Extended C-Band spectrum mess by MCMC

The Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications has recently created havoc among wireless broadband providers  with its proposal to violate the National Broadband Plan (NBP)  to revoke licences to broadband service providers to operate on the 3.4-3.6-Gigahertz (GHz) frequency — the extended C-Band spectrum.

Ten days ago, the Minister concerned, Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik said use of the extended C-band frequency by the wireless broadband providers was interfering with the operations of the Measat-3 communications satellite.

He blamed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) which had given out the licences for the predicament.

Seven FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) broadband operators i.e. Airzed, AtlasONE, eB Tech, Nasioncom, TTDotCom, Maxis Broadband and TM who are now operating between spectrum 3.4 — 3.6 GHz – the extended C-band spectrum licensed to them by the Regulator (MCMC) since 2003 –  are now seeing their total investment of over RM400 million  going  down the drain, threatening the ricebowls of some 400 workers, as well as  scuttling their investment plans for some RM300 million in the next 24 months!

These companies are operating mainly in Klang Valley. In a presentation with broadband industry players, MEASAT told them on 5th April 2007 that the continued use of the 3.4 –3.6 GHz band by FWA services will have catastrophic impact on the viability of the MEASAT-3 satellite, MEASAT and the wider Malaysian ICT industry.

MEASAT claimed that they had requested MCMC to clearly and promptly reconfirm the priority given to them in the 3.4 –3.6 GHz band, seek alternative frequency bands for FWA services and migrate these services to allow MEASAT to use the entire 3.4 –3.6 GHz band before Q4 2007.

MEASAT also claimed that MCMC had in 2003 assured MEASAT that the 3.4 –3.5 GHz extended C-band frequency band would be cleared of FWA services within 5 years (by Q4 2007) and will be given to MEASAT.

If MEASAT has its way,  then probably  all the seven FWA broadband operators will have to shut down their existing operations which are clearly against the public interest for four reasons:

1: regulatory and policy breach

This contradicts the National Broadband Plan (NBP) because NBP Section 2 Clause 7 has stipulated as ‘National Policy on satellite-based communications” that satellite networks will play the role as “complementing transmission medium” to provide “critical services reachable using satellite”, i.e. Satellite networks  will take up the balance of the market economically unreachable (mainly rural area) by the earlier conventional wired or wireless services.

The Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 Section 133 also stipulated that “A licensee shall not engage in any conduct which has the purpose of substantially lessening competition in a communications market”.

Since all the seven FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) broadband operators are operating in the  Klang Valley which does not need satellite broadband support by MEASAT, it will be illogical to require them to operate under a satellite system provided by MEASAT with a lower bandwidth.

2: losses of installed broadband investment

To-date, Airzed, atlasONE, eB tech, Nasioncom and TM have a total investment of RM 407 million and they have already planned to invest a total of RM 297 million in the next 24 months.

Requirement for them to operate under MEASAT will means that they will lose their RM 407 million investment and affecting the future RM 297 million allocations which are to be spent on their current broadband framework.  Furthermore, the ricebowls of some 400 workers are at stake.

3: broadband capacity reduction

To-date, Airzed, atlasONE, eB tech, Nasioncom and TM have managed to provide a broadband capacity totaling 6.8 GBps. With their planned investment for the next 24 months, their combined broadband  capacity will be increased by another 9.5 GBps.

They will not be able to do that if they were to switch to operate under MEASAT as MEASAT can only provide a mere  300 Mbps, which is not only of lower bandwidth capacity but have to be shared by Malaysia with the whole  continent of Africa, Southern China, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, etc with a total population of more than 2 billion people.

4: lessening of competition and price monopoly by dominant carrier (MEASAT
)

It is obvious that if these FWA companies were to operate under MEASAT, they will be charged a price higher as MEASAT as a dominant carrier will tend to monopolise broadband market in the country.

This is also in contradiction with NBP which encourage competition.

Industry players have been seeking clarifications from MCMC to clarify the confusion but  MCMC is still silent on the issue.

China and India have banned satellites from using the Extended C-Band reserving it for wireless broadband, which is the international trend.  Why are we going against the international trend?

(Speech in Parliament on Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications during 2006 Supplementary Supply estimates committee stage debate on 23.4.07)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 23 April 2007, 6:24 pm and is filed under
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Ijok money-politics and electoral corruption – worst in 50 years of by-elections

In a
Mingguan Malaysia interview
yesterday, the Election Commission Chairman  Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman challenged the general perception  that the Election Commission is not fair, independent and transparent in the discharge of its constitutional mandate to  conduct elections.

Rashid is defending the indefensible as the Election Commission’s record is a history  of unmitigated and abysmal failure to conduct free, fair, transparent and clean elections and the “sins” of the Election Commission are  long and ignominous.

How can the Election Commission claim to have conducted fair and transparent elections in the past and the present when such blemishes as the following continue unaddressed:

	Opposition parties not allowed to send polling agents to supervise the casting of postal ballots by members of the  police and security forces to ensure free and fair casting of votes.

	The huge presence of “phantom” voters.

	Inability to ensure a comprehensive and inclusive electoral roll with the highest possible percentage of eligible voters on the electoral register as there are at present 4.9 million eligible but unregistered voters.

	Prohibit unfair, dishonest and one-sided media coverage, whether print , radio or television during the election campaigns, such as  “below-the-belt” and unethical cartoons, write-ups, broadcasts  and telecasts  and the “fear and scare” advertisements against the Opposition.

	Prohibit money politics, not only by candidates but also by political parties.

	Prohibit abuse of government resources and funds during election campaigns.

	The short  election campaign period which is invariably decided by the Prime Minister when he dissolved Parliament, when this should be the exclusive responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure a “free, fair and clean” election.

	The abuses by the “caretaker” government in allocating funds and giving election promises with regard to development projects, or abuses of power  by Ministers of the “caretaker” government in misappropriating public funds for party election campaigning, such as  travelling and other misuse of public resources.

Electoral abuses, making a mockery of any claim to clean, free and fair elections, reach a new height in the recent Machap and the current Ijok by-elections, particularly in the tsunami of money politics to buy votes.

The Alor Gajah District Officer, Hashim Ismail, who was the returning officer of the Machap by-election, yesterday revealed that RM30 million of development projects were poured into the constituency during the two-week campaign  period.

With 9,623 voters in Machap, this worked out to RM3,000 of development benefits for each voter as a result of the by-election, although it will be worth a full investigation by the Anti-Corruption Agency as to the “leakage” of the RM30 million development funds — as to what percentage actually reached the voters and not hijacked by cronies and proxies, whether it is 50%, 60%,  70% or higher.

However, this   RM30 million channeling of development funds is not the sole item of expenditures for the Barisan Nasional candidate, as there were  also expenses incurred by the candidate and the astronomical sums incurred by the Barisan Nasional and its component parties.

The election law limits the maximum expenditure permissible for a candidate in a state assembly election to RM100,000, which had been exceeded by easily some 400 fold in the Machap by-election.

The Ijok by-election is even worse in terms of money politics with the Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Khir Toyo announcing RM36 million for various development projects for the constituency even before nomination.  With the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak acting as  Santa Claus announcing “freebies” all over the constituency everyday, the total development funds poured into Ijok  may double if not treble Khir Toyo’s initial announcement.

Together with the monies poured in by the Barisan Nasional and its component parties in the by-election campaign, will the total expenditures on behalf of the BN candidate  touch RM100 million — which would  break  by over 1,000 times  the law limiting election expenditure to  RM100,000? But again the pertinent question is what percentage of such RM100 million would finally reach the voters and not hijacked halfway by cronies and proxies?

Why is the Election Commission Chairman  keeping totally silent  with regard to such flagrant disregard of the  election law.  Ask any person or even a student will know that this is money politics to buy votes except  Rashid.  Is the Election  Commission prepared to establish its independence, professionalism and commitment to its constitutional mandate to conduct free, fair and clean elections by speaking out against the worst case of money politics in 50 years in the history of by-elections in Ijok?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 23 April 2007, 9:54 am and is filed under
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Ijok – BN transforms into “Bribery Nasional” with cornucopia of corrupt electoral practices

It speaks volumes that I was invited to the launching of the National Integrity Plan (NIP) by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi three years ago but I was not invited to the
third anniversary commemoration of the NIP and the Integrity Institute of Malaysia (ITM)
led by Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday.

I take this as a realization and admission  by the government and organizers of the third anniversary commemoration of the NIP that whatever their  public posturing  and speechifying, corruption has gotten worse in the past three years and the NIP has become quite a joke.

Even former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who is not famous for leading a government of integrity, could elicit  national and international approval when he said corruption under Abdullah  in the past three years is worse than during his 22-year administration.

As far back as May 2005, Mahathir had warned that “corruption might be getting to a point of no return”, that it had become a culture in Malaysia with corruption almost at the “above the table” level and more and more people no longer trying to hide the fact that they were corrupt.

Why is Malaysia becoming even  more corrupt than before when there was no National Integrity Plan, as testified by Malaysia’s seven-point drop in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index  (CPI) rankings from No. 37 in 2003 to No. 44 in 2006, and with all signs of heading further south in the 2007 ranking on the occasion of our 50th Merdeka anniversary?

What is the use of having a National Integrity Plan when there is even no integrity to admit that the NIP is a flop with regard to its most outstanding five-year objective to improve Malaysia’s TI CPI ranking to at least 30th position by 2008 — that we are going backward instead of forward in the battle against corruption?

I picked up on a comment on my blog and asked in Parliament yesterday whether BN has not become “Bribery Nasional” from  the blatant money politics and electoral corruption in Ijok by-election and most recently the Machap by-election?

The full transformation of BN into  “Bribery Nasional” in Machap and Ijok by-elections has made a total mockery of the third anniversary commemoration  of the National Integrity Plan and the Integrity Institute of Malaysia — and I can understand why I did not receive any invitation to it.

As I told Parliament yesterday that I demurred with the
Bernama
 report on Najib’s speech which headlined:
“Fighting Corruption Is A National Mission, Says DPM”
.  A  more appropriate headline would have been:
“Spreading Corruption is A National Mission”
.

Yesterday
, I asked why is the Election Commission Chairman keeping totally silent about the worst case of money politics and electoral corruption in 50 years of elections in the Ijok by-election?

Today, we must ask why the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) is mute and completely helpless about the worst case of money politics  and electoral corruption in half-a-century of nationhood, when it would have enough material and work to occupy an army of ACA officers for the next few years  to burn midnight oil to initiate investigations, launch  arrests and conduct prosecutions for the multitude of the corrupt electoral practices in Ijok as well as Machap.

But horror of horrors, if the Selangor Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohd Khir Toyo is right, the ACA had been roped into the “Bribery Nasional” chicanery in Ijok to give legitimacy to the multitude of corrupt electoral practices by both national and state BN  leaders.

We must also ask the Integrity Institute of Malaysia why it is keeping totally dumb about the cornucopia of corrupt electoral practices in Ijok and  Machap by-elections?

Najib was really replying to my criticisms in Parliament when he said in his keynote address yesterday  that “contrary to what some had believed, fighting corruption and improving national integrity had always been a serious matter not just for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi but the government as well”.

Najib said: “Let me remind everyone that this is not just the agenda of the Prime Minister. This is a part and parcel of the national mission and the government is firm behind the Prime Minister on this”

Why didn’t Najib  come to Parliament even once in the past three years to make such a declaration?  The answer is very simple — he would have no credibility whatsoever, especially with him spearheading the transformation of BN as “Bribery Nasional” in the Ijok and Machap by-elections!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 9:16 am and is filed under
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Maritmuthu’s habeas corpus application — hearing in Shah Alam High Court on 3rd May

Hearing for the habeas corpus application of rubber tapper Marimuthu Periasamy, 43, for the release of his wife Raimah Bibi a/p Noordin and six children, Yoogneswary 12, Paramila 11, Hariharan 8, Ravindran 5, Shamala 5 and Keberan 4 from detention by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) for the past 22 days has been set by the Shah Alam High Court for May 3, 2007 at 9 am.

DAP National Chairman and counsel for Marimuthu appeared before the Shah Alam High Court Judge, Justice Su Geok Yian at 2.30 pm after filing a certificate of urgency for the hearing of the application.

DPP Shoba Vengopal, who appeared for the Selangor Islamic Religious Department, asked for a month for JAIS to file affidavit but Karpal argued for earliest hearing as family unity and human rights are at stake, with Marimuthu seeking to be reunited with his wife and six children who were forcibly separated from him on 2nd April 2007 on the ground that they were Muslims.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 5:30 pm and is filed under
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“Pokkiri” film of violence and sex screened to pupils in school

Yesterday, I received a complaint on my
blog
  from Vimaleson Gunaratnam,  a parent of a seven-year-old pupil at SK Taman Hi-Tech, Kulim that non-Malay students in the school were separated from Malay students last Wednesday and Thursday for the whole morning session until recess time and shown a Tamil movie, Pokkiri, which is full of violence and sex.

He sent a letter of protest to the school principal and I read out his letter in Parliament a few hours later during the committee stage debate of the 2006 Supplementary Estimates on the Education Ministry, and asked for a full investigation by the Education Ministry.

This is Vimaleson’s protest letter which I read out in Parliament yesterday:

20hb April, 2007

Tuan Gurubesar,

SK Taman Hi-Tech,

Taman Hi-Tech Kulim,

Kedah.

Tuan,

PER: TAYANGAN GAMBAR TAMIL SEMASA WAKTU SEKOLAH.

Seperti yang dimaklumkan di atas, saya sebagai waris, ingin mendapat penjelasan daripada pihak tuan, rational mengapa gambar Tamil ditayangkan semasa waktu persekolahan baru-baru ini. Kejadian tersebut berlaku berturut-turut 2 hari pada 18 dan 19hb April, 2007. Pada masa tersebut pelajar-pelajar bukan Melayu diasingkan ke sebuah bilik.

Gambar yang ditayangkan bertajuk Pokkiri. Ia dibintangi oleh Vijay. Tahukah pihak sekolah yang gambar yang dibintangi oleh Vijay mempunyai unsur-unsur ganas and seks yang keterlaluan. Saya sebagai bapa tidak anak-anak saya menonton gambar di rumah saya, tetapi pihak sekolah telah membawa anak perempuan saya berumur 7 tahun untuk menonton gambar ini berturut-turut dua hari. Saya hantar anak saya ke sekolah untuk belajar ilmu, bukan belajar nilai-nilai yang tidak diingini.

Saya hendak pihak sekolah memberi penjelasan:

1. Kenapa tiada pengajaran untuk pelajar-pelajar bukan Melayu pada 2 hari tersebut?

2. Mengapa gambar ditayangkan semasa waktu pengajaran?

3. Mengapa gambar yang berunsur ganas dan seks ditayangkan?

Terima kasih.

Vimaleson is particularly incensed that the movie Pokkiri, (translated the meaning is “Thug”) starred by Vijay and which is full of violence, is shown in school when he would not allow such a movie at home.

He asked:  “What kind of values the school trying inoculate to the kids; violence, sensuality, etc?”

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 12:37 pm and is filed under
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