Malaysia’s 8TV pulls ‘racist’ Ramadan adverts

BBC News

3 August 2011

A Malaysian TV channel has withdrawn a series of public-service messages about the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, after viewers complained they were racist.

One of the adverts showed an ethnic Chinese girl acting in a rude manner towards Muslims, followed by a message saying: “Do not be loud or obnoxious.”

In another of the adverts the girl is wearing a vest-top and is told: “Do not wear tight and revealing clothes.”

The station, 8TV, apologised for any “inconvenience or uneasiness” caused.

“It is with much regret that there were misinterpretations in the PSA [public service announcement] that were meant to serve only as a message of respect for the Ramadan month,” the channel said in a message on its Facebook page.

“The message was not meant to offend anyone, race or creed in any way. This is an honest mistake involving a very small amount of humour that was misinterpreted which led to concerns.”

The station, which aims largely at Malaysia’s sizeable Chinese minority, pulled the messages from its schedules and also moved quickly to delete them from video-sharing websites.

Its Facebook page was inundated with critical messages.

One web user, Jules Yap, said the channel had shown “disgusting, arrogant behaviour”.

“Can’t believe how arrogant the higher-ups in 8TV are, coming out with a defensive, insincere ‘apology’ which at the same time blames the viewers for misinterpreting the offensive PSA ads, when the ads are clearly in poor taste,” he said.

Boon Hun said: “Gosh, you keep using the word misinterpretations, like it’s our fault!”

Ethnic Chinese make up about one quarter of Malaysia’s population.

They often complain of being discriminated against by the country’s laws, which give ethnic Malays preferential treatment.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 4 August 2011, 10:36 am and is filed under
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Mubarak pleads ‘not guilty’ at Cairo trial

Al Jazeera

03 Aug 2011

Former Egyptian president maintains innocence over charges that include corruption and unlawful killings of protesters.

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s ousted president, has denied charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters at the start of his historic trial in Cairo.

At his first court appearance on Wednesday, Mubarak spoke from a hospital stretcher where he lay inside a cage for defendants.

“I categorically deny all the charges,” Mubarak said.

The proceedings, in a temporary court at the Police Academy in Cairo, was shown live on state television.

Ahmed Refaat, the presiding judge, later adjourned the trial, announcing that it would resume on August 15.

Mubarak’s trial had been one of the key demands that has united protesters since February 11, the day he was toppled.

The charges he faces includes premeditated murder, the killing of protesters, the failure to use his power to stop abuses against civilians, and his collusion with other individuals in the misuse state funds.

Mubarak’s two sons, Gamal and Alaa, who are also on trial for corruption, denied the charges against them as well.

They accompanied their father inside the metal defendants cage, both wearing white prison uniforms.

Mubarak was flown to Cairo for the trial from Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort where he has lived since his removal from power.

In the courtroom, a prosecutor read the charges against Mubarak.

“Yes, I am here,” Mubarak said from his bed, raising his hand slightly when Judge Refaat asked him to identify himself and enter a plea.

‘Looking very alert’

Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros, reporting from outside the court, said: “Mubarak was looking very alert. He has dyed his hair black as we normally see him.

“He is in a bed of course, but I think it will come as somewhat of a surprise to everyone – especially given the reports of his deteriorating and ailing health – that he does look so well and alert at this trial.”

Mubarak’s lawyer Farid el-Deeb, made a number of requests to the court, notably that he wanted to summon a total of more than 1,600 witnesses including Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak’s long-serving defence minister.

Such a proposal has the potential to turn the trial into an interminable exercise.

“[El-Deeb] asked for Tantawi – who is also the defence minister and effectively the person running the country right now – to become a witness within this trial,” our correspondent said.

“He said it was Field Marshal Tantawi who has been in control of this country since the 28th of January.”

Terming it an “important development”, Al Jazeera’s Tadros said: “I think it raises a lot of questions about  the proceedings of this trial, how many others serving still – within the government, within the authority, within that structure – are going to be implicated in what is going on”.

More than 800 people were killed and about 6,000 wounded in the 18 days of protests that eventually toppled Mubarak’s regime.

As well as Hosni, Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, other former regime officials also face court charges.

Habib el-Adly, Mubarak’s former interior minister, and six senior police officers are being charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with those killed during the uprising.

Rival groups

After Wednesday’s session, Judge Refaat said Mubarak would be moved to a Cairo hospital and would have to attend the next session of his trial.

He said the court would reconvene the next day in el-Adly’s case.

Outside the heavily secured court site, a screen was erected to show the trial, and crowds gathered to watch the proceedings. Pro- and anti-Mubarak protesters faced off, some hurling stones.

Hundreds of police tried to calm them down. The state news agency said 53 people were injured in the clashes.

At a small pro-Mubarak rally, people chanted “Oh Mubarak, hold your head high” and “We will demolish the prison and burn it down, if Hosni Mubarak is sentenced.”

Counter-chants of “Raise your voice, freedom will not die,” rose from nearby group hostile to Mubarak.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 4 August 2011, 12:22 am and is filed under
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Selangor regrets church raid, asks Jais for report

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 04, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has asked the state Islamic authorities today to justify their raid on a multiracial dinner at a Petaling Jaya church last night, adding he regretted the incident that has caused a public outrage.

A group from the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) raided the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) building during a dinner and had questioned a few Malay guests based on an unspecified complaint.

Khalid said today he had called DUMC’s senior pastor Daniel Ho to personally express his regrets regarding the incident.

“I told him that the state has instructed JAIS to provide a full report detailing the incident, including their justifications for their actions that night. I hope to meet the pastor again once the report is completed,” said the Mentri Besar in a statement this evening.

He also assured the people of Selangor that the state government fully respects freedom of religion and the rights of religious groups to manage their affairs.

In the statement, Khalid sought to contain growing outrage over the incident by saying that “the state is always open to engagement and dialogue regarding the harmonious and mutually respectful coexistence of different religious communities, and appreciates the efforts of all who seek to build a more united society”.

In a statement today, DUMC’s senior pastor Ho related how a group of 20 to 30 of Selangor’s religious police had entered its rented premises at the Dream Centre in Petaling Jayan without a warrant and intimidated invited guests, including Muslims, at its private dinner celebration last night.

“They have subjected all guests at the Thanksgiving Dinner to undue harassment,” he said, noting that not all the enforcement group were in uniform and had failed to produce a copy of the complaint when asked for the reason for the raid.

Ho stressed that the dinner was non-religious in nature but held to celebrate the work of non-profit organisation Harapan Komuniti in helping women, children, HIV/AIDS sufferers and victims of natural disasters.

“We call on all Malaysians not to condone this breach of freedom of assembly and association as provided by provided Article 10 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, but to live in mutual trust and love, to promote peace, harmony and unity in the true spirit of 1 Malaysia,” he said.

The pastor told The Malaysian Insider last night that the thanksgiving dinner organised by Harapan Komuniti was attended by between 100 and 120 guests of all races.

“This is a dinner for people to come in the 1 Malaysia spirit,” Ho said, adding they were mainly Christian although he admitted there were “there were about 15 or so Malays.”

Last night’s raid in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state came after Malaysia sealed formal ties with the Vatican last month, seen as a high point in religious relations where Muslims are the majority.

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Set up a national education reform consultative council

Toh Kin Woon
 | Aug 3, 11

Malaysiakini

LLG Cultural Development Centre is highly concerned about the announcement by the Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin in mid July that the ministry was readying a study on a complete revamp of the existing education system.

The report is to be submitted to the cabinet for approval end of this year.

Education reform is of paramount importance. Any country proposing to review its national education system as a whole, will inevitably have to study thoroughly the shortcomings of the current education system, and to consult the opinions of various stake holders in relation to education reform.

We urge the Education Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry to make public details of the proposed education reforms such as the guiding thoughts, principles, objectives, strategies and implementation in the course of undertaking such reforms.

The proposed reforms must be carried out in a transparent manner, allowing people and education organisations to take part in the process. This is to ensure that the true spirit of democracy will prevail, particularly in this area of utmost importance to all the people.

We hold the view that the government should set up a national education reform consultative council, comprising representatives from various education organisations.

These representatives should be involved in the process of brainstorming, idea contribution, planning, implementation and monitoring of the education reforms.

LLG Cultural Development Centre contends that the education reform ought to incorporate four principles as follows:

1. Democracy in education decision
-making The government should reform the highly centralised decision-making process in the education system.

The government should also dismantle policies which prohibit strictly certain education providers, particularly those providing vernacular education, from acting as education providers.

In fact, the government ought to decentralise its educational decision-making power to the state governments, municipal governments and even down to the community, allowing the community people to participate in the planning of education.

If the people decide to increase the numbers of Chinese schools, Tamil schools, national schools or any other linguistic schools in their community, the respective governments must seriously consider implementing the proposals.

In short, the government should not suppress primary, secondary and higher education provided in the various mother tongues as medium of instruction. In fact, the federal government should provide educational resource to support these efforts.

2. Equitable provision of education resources.
 The government must recognise the equal status of all schools by ensuring the fair and equal distribution of education resource for all the schools.

If the government maintains the discriminative education policy and subject tax payers who send their children to Chinese schools and Tamil schools to unfair treatment, the education reform will lose its progressive meaning and is a contradiction to the concept of ‘people first’ as advocated by the prime minister.

To ensure equality, we propose the adoption of an Education Equality Act that stipulates clearly that the government must treat all schools fairly. To us, this act is an important cornerstone of any education reform.

3. Academic Independence.
 The most worrying issue for higher education in Malaysia is the lack of academic independence.

The vice chancellors of universities are taking orders from politicians, as witnessed by the recent parking of riot police trucks in university campuses, something that would be taboo in countries that observe strictly the principle of university autonomy.

The universities and politicians have been working hand-in-hand to manipulate campus elections. Academicians with critical thinking have been sidelined and denied promotions by the authorities.

The promotion of academicians is not based on merit but nepotism and ethnic identity.

The University and University Colleges Act suppresses the freedom of thought and movement of students, nurturing graduates who follow uncritically the thoughts and ideas propagated by state elites.

The education reform must abolish all these problems if higher education is to be intellectually strong, creative and vibrant.

4. Elimination of racism.
 We are extremely worried about the escalating racist mindset in university campuses and schools.

For instance the indoctrination of racist thinking by the Biro Tata Negara, the use of history text books that have been severely distorted and imbalanced, the adoption of the Bahasa Malaysia text book ‘Interlok’ that instills the idea of Malay supremacy, and the hiring of teaching staff who insult students with racist statements, and the like, are some such examples.

The government must dissolve Biro Tata Negara, abolish all practices that promote racism and seriously punish teaching staff who make racist statements.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 4 August 2011, 1:08 pm and is filed under
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West’s mid-life crisis points to power shift east

By
Kristina Cooke and Emily Kaiser

Reuters

Aug 3 2011

NEW YORK/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The world’s industrialized nations, burdened with aging populations and deeply in debt, face years of slow economic growth that could speed the shift of economic clout to the East.

The United States has no coherent plan to pay for supporting a retiree pool that is about to overflow with the so-called “babyboom” generation, and lawmakers missed an opportunity to address that during the debt debate that dragged the country to the edge of default this week.

Its economy is too weak to create enough jobs for young people on whose shoulders the debt will ultimately rest.

In Europe, economists warn of a “lost generation” as youth unemployment soars as high as 40 percent in some countries. The average public debt of the 27-nation European Union stands 20 percentage points higher than it did before the financial crisis struck in 2008.

Across advanced economies, the average debt per person is $29,600 in 2011 and is expected to reach $40,400 in 2016, said Brookings Institution economist Eswar Prasad.

For Americans, the debt burden per capita is $34,200 in 2011 and will rise to $49,100 by 2016. Japan’s is projected to hit $85,000 per person in 2016, the highest in the world.

Some of today’s fiscal trouble is a consequence of the 2008 financial crisis, which drove millions of people out of work — some of them permanently — and shifted an enormous private debt burden onto the public sector.

The crisis struck at the worst possible time: at the leading edge of a retirement wave that will drive up healthcare and pension costs across virtually the entire developed world.

If public debt is not lowered to pre-crisis levels, potential growth in advanced economies could decline by more than one-half percent annually, the International Monetary Fund estimates. Project that out over a decade or so and it is easy to envisage both the United States and Europe limping through decades of Japan-style stagnation.

It does not have to be that way. Germany cut spending on welfare and jobless benefits in the 1990s which helped revitalize the country as the powerhouse of Europe. Canada and Belgium also offer examples of how to turn around debt-heavy industrialized nations.

Nonetheless, the challenges look immense. The U.S. economy nearly stalled in the first half of 2011. Data on Tuesday showed consumer spending fell in June for the first time in nearly two years. It is not clear what will generate healthier growth in the future.

In Europe, despite cuts in spending and tax hikes, concern is acute about the ability of countries to tackle debt. Italian bond yields hit their highest level in the euro’s 11-year lifetime on Tuesday, prompting emergency government talks.

With interest rates at or near record lows in the United States, Britain and the euro zone, policymakers have limited options to spur faster growth.

Reuters posed a crystal-ball question to economists and political scientists around the world: what happens if the 20th Century powerhouses can’t pull their weight?

“Our society is in a mid-life crisis,” said Allen Sinai, president of DecisionEconomics in Boston. “The jury is out whether we, as a nation, can come to grips with what is needed to find our way out of this in a reasonable way.”

Three themes carried through the conversations:

* Debt burdens will weigh on economic growth in the United States and Europe for years to come, and Washington is still far from addressing the root causes of its fiscal problem.

* Emerging markets have the growth prospects and the public savings to start to supplant the United States as the world’s consumer of last resort, driving the global economy. What they lack is the political will and experience to set the agenda, which means the West won’t merely fade into the background.

* It will take a long time to clean up the fiscal mess.

“Assuming both the U.S. and Europe can have multiple years of sound fiscal management, which is a huge assumption, it will still take probably the majority of the rest of my career — and I’m not that old — for them to bring debt levels down to stable levels,” said Kenneth Akintewe, a portfolio manager with Aberdeen Asset Management in Singapore.

U.S. BUDGET BATTLE

The U.S. budget battle was symptomatic of a country deeply divided over the role of government, its responsibility to its citizens, and who should pay for which benefits.

Until those questions are answered, lawmakers cannot and will not address the long-term fiscal strains, which come primarily from rising retiree healthcare and pension costs.

Social Security and Medicare will gobble up an estimated $1.3 trillion this fiscal year and $2.3 trillion by 2021. In 10 years, those programs will account for 9.6 percent of gross domestic product, more than defense and discretionary spending combined, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The U.S. deficit reduction package, which was signed into law on Tuesday, includes $2.1 trillion in cuts over the next decade, far short of the $4 trillion many economists say are needed to stabilize the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio.

Yet if lawmakers had used a sharper knife, they might have inflicted more damage on the economy in the short term. Just as over-tightening of monetary policy is blamed for prolonging the Great Depression in 1937, some economists see a risk that deep budget cuts now will trigger a double-dip recession.

“Those demanding spending cuts now are like medieval doctors who treated the sick by bleeding them, and thereby made them even sicker,” Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times.

In April 2009, at the depths of the global recession, President Barack Obama put the world on notice that it could no longer rely on “voracious” U.S. consumers.

A look at second-quarter growth shows the United States is far from fully achieving that goal. Exports and domestic investment accounted for virtually all of second-quarter growth, but a drop in non-defense government spending erased a third of that gain, underscoring the short-term economic cost of cutbacks.

EUROPE’S LOST GENERATION

European countries entered the 2008 financial crisis with higher government spending levels than in the United States, and will emerge with a smaller public sector, fewer civil servants, higher retirement ages, and elevated unemployment particularly among the young and old.

The region was already headed for slower growth because the baby boom generation, born in the years after World War Two, is hitting retirement age and life expectancy is rising.

There are fewer working-age people to support those retirees. Only France and Britain boast growing populations among the biggest European economies.

Indeed, the demographic numbers are problematic across advanced economies. In 2008, there were 4.2 working-age people per retiree in the 34 countries that make up the OECD. By 2050, that figure will be cut in half.

The financial crisis cut Europe’s economic growth potential by an estimated one percentage point from about 2.5 percent to 1.5 percent due to unemployment, cutbacks in public spending and investment and the shrinking of the financial sector.

In the hardest-hit European countries, youth unemployment is now around 40 percent of the 16-25 age group.

“Youth unemployment is becoming a huge social and economic problem. We are facing a lost generation,” said Andrew Watt of the European Trade Union Institute.

By force or by choice, European countries are paring back government spending even further. Not surprisingly, bailed-out Greece underwent the most radical adjustment and suffered the deepest recession.

Many European countries are ahead of the United States on the austerity path and have dared to raise taxes as well as cut spending, something that was beyond the politically riven U.S. Congress even though tax levels, especially on rich Americans, are lower than the European average.

Europe offers a glimpse of the battles that could come as Washington rewrites its social contract. Credit rating agency Moody’s warned last year that the budgetary decisions facing advanced economies may “test social cohesion”.

An angry mood of “why should we pay for them” has dominated the response to the Greek, Irish and Portuguese fiscal crises in northern European countries, particularly Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria.

CAN IT BE DONE?

History provides a handful of success stories when it comes to repairing severely damaged public finances. In the early 1990s, Belgium’s debt hit 137 percent of its GDP, and it faced the prospect of not qualifying for euro zone entry. It cut spending and raised taxes to hit its target.

Canada faced a similarly daunting task in the 1990s, exacerbated by the Mexican peso crisis, which sent the Canadian dollar tumbling.

“I went out for more than a year talking to Canadians so they could see how difficult the choices were and that everyone had to take part in the sacrifice,” said Paul Martin, who was Canada’s finance minister at the time.

He told Reuters his strategy was to try to ensure there were no winners or losers. He made a point of not meeting with special interest groups individually.

“People also have to see there is an end point in sight, that their sacrifices are not in vain,” he said.

U.S. policymakers have options for tackling longer-term fiscal issues without too much pain, such as raising the retirement age to 67 and they must invest more in research and higher education, said Sharyn O’Halloran, a professor of political economy at Columbia University.

“If you are not investing wisely in your infrastructure and your people you are undermining your ability to compete globally,” she said. “We still have the most creative computer technology. You still have Googles and Apples in the U.S. rather than elsewhere.”

STACKING UP THE BRICS

For Asia, the prospect of two of its best export customers trudging through decades of slow growth is not as problematic as it might have been just five years ago.

Although exports to the United States have soared in recent years, for most countries in the region it represents a shrinking share of the economy.

In China, for example, the exposure through U.S. exports has roughly halved since 2006 even though the dollar value of shipments has risen by 27 percent. For a graphic showing Asia’s trade exposure to the United States, see link.reuters.com/xem82s

As for Europe, the bulk of Asia’s trade exposure flows to Germany, where growth has held up well.

The best hope for Asia’s sustained growth lies within Asia itself. Household income is rising in emerging markets, creating a burgeoning middle class that can consume at least some of the goods the United States or Europe no longer want.

China’s latest five-year economic plan included provisions to raise the minimum wage by some 84 percent by 2015.

Per capita average income is still far below Western norms but adjusted for purchasing power, private consumption demand in the “BRIC” economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China is already 93 percent of the U.S. market, said Deutsche Bank global strategist Sanjeev Sanyal.

“Emerging markets as a whole and Asia in particular can now generate consumer demand on a scale that can compensate for stagnation, albeit not a collapse, in advanced countries,” Sanyal said.

China has already replaced the United States as the world’s largest automobiles market, Sanyal noted. China and India combined boast a movie industry that rivals Hollywood by some measures. In sports, the Indian Premier League for cricket is the second-highest paying sports league in the world, behind only the U.S. National Basketball Association, Sanyal said.

Emerging Asia has only begun to tap its potential. China’s consumption accounts for just a third of its gross domestic product, less than half the level in the United States.

China showed off its potential in 2008, when it quickly ramped up a large stimulus program to counter the global recession, said Pieter Bottelier, a professor of China studies at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. Not only did its economy come roaring back, it was credited with helping to restore global growth.

“I was one of those who predicted prolonged unemployment” in 2008, Bottelier said. “I was dead wrong.”

But China’s current strength may be its longer-term weakness. The wage growth that lifts its consumption potential makes it less competitive as the world’s low-cost factory. Even its population advantage is fading as the one-child policy adopted 30 years ago means it may begin facing labour shortages within five years.

The big emerging markets have so many domestic challenges that they are not yet prepared to take the lead on politics or policy. When the IMF sought a new leader this year, emerging economies could not agree on a candidate from among their own.

China’s reaction to the U.S. debt crisis showed it does not relish the idea of a fallen superpower. State-run news agency Xinhua chided the United States for dallying with default and reminded its big trading partner that others would be hurt by inaction.

“Developing economies would suffer a traumatic blow, and the world economy would plunge into yet another recession on the heels of the one that struck in 2008, and (which) also originated in the United States — only the mess could be much nastier this time,” Xinhua said.

(Additional reporting by Paul Taylor in Paris and Saeed Azhar in Singapore; editing by William Schomberg)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 4 August 2011, 2:09 pm and is filed under
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Between fictitious and true unity

by
Hafiz Noor Shams

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 05, 2011

AUG 5 — There is a strong emphasis on unity in Malaysia.

It is easy to rationalise why this is so. The country has been diverse from the very beginning of its modern history. Each group largely lives differently. While difference and diversity can be sources of strength, it is also a source of conflict.

Some believe that race relations nowadays are worse than they were in yesteryears, but the worst race riot of the country happened in Kuala Lumpur in May 1969. Another big race riot happened in Singapore in July 1964. Conflict between the races was part of the reason why Singapore was expelled from the federation in 1965.

Those conflicts have left behind a deep scar in Malaysian society, even as many Malaysians today never witnessed a race riot first-hand. These old fears are becoming irrelevant but it is still part of what describes our society. So entrenched is the fear of history repeating itself that many are mindful of the tiniest possibility of a race riot.

To the mindful and those who are trapped in the 1960s and 1970s still, they believe in the narrative of unity. They believe in unity being the answer to Malaysian divisiveness.

As the wisdom goes, if everybody is united, there would be no reason to quarrel with each other. Nobody would say anything hurtful to the collective ethnic consciousness. In a united Malaysia, everybody would laugh together while waving the Jalur Gemilang happily.

On the surface, the unity narrative is appealing. The ideal provides a stark contrast to the chaotic Malaysia of the 1960s and the period of time after that. Yet, scratch the skin and it will reveal a rotten core.

Their particular unity narrative ignores differing viewpoints. At best, it considers differing positions as being foreign. “It is not part of our culture,” so the typical response goes. Malaysians holding differing ideals are accused of having their minds colonised by outsiders. Imagine in these times of globalisation, one still talks of neo-colonialism. One has to be either paranoid or stuck in time.

When differing viewpoints become too intellectually challenging for the simple narrative, threats are issued. When there is nowhere to go within the realm of pure reasons, talk of feelings. File a police report when feelings are hurt. In the unity narrative, one is not supposed to hurt anyone else’s feelings.

And some fly the flag because the government demands so. The government even threatened to do something to remedy the failure to fly a piece of cloth back in 2006. In Ipoh in 2010, businesses had to fly the Jalur Gemilang if business owners wanted to renew their licences.

One can see how pretentious that unity is.

See how it belligerently pushes aside liberty.

It seeks monotony. It rejects colours. It is either you are with us, or against us.

Unity is not mutually exclusive of liberty, of course. In fact, true unity can only come up under a free environment, where every person is free. It will be hard to achieve unity under such a set-up because individuals in a free society will have differences but if ever dialogue and understanding overcome the differences, then everybody will unite of their own free will.

That is the route to true unity. It is tough but it is the unity that is sincere.

The proponents of unity who are trapped in the 1960s possibly know this. They probably realise the tough road to true unity. Too cowardly to trust in individual effort to bridge the gap perhaps, they choose the ersatz version.

That version of unity is one that is shown only because there is a big stick somewhere, waiting to be taken out if someone dares to say, no, I am different.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 August 2011, 11:54 am and is filed under
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Bungling Najib making opposition stronger

Syed Jaymal Zahiid | August 5, 2011

Free Malaysia Today

A former minister says the crackdown on the Bersih 2.0 rally had made the NGO into a giant and strengthened the opposition.

SERI KEMBANGAN: Former minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s poor handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally had made the polls watchdog a potent force and strengthened public support for the opposition.

Kadir, a former tourism minister during the time of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said Najib could have easily minimised the Bersih threat if he had engaged the NGO instead of resorting to force, which, he added, had boosted the group.

“The government had built it up to become a big giant,” he told FMT in a recent interview at his office here, agreeing with the opinions of various party leaders who believed it would have been better to engage the polls watchdog in discussions than resorting to repressive measures.

“I would have allowed the procession right from the beginning… then there will be no noise at all… Bersih would have had only two days of publicity,” said the Umno veteran who described Bersih’s demands for electoral reforms as valid.

The suppression of the July 9 rally drew widespread condemnation from home and abroad.

Nearly 200 people were arrested ahead of the rally, and almost 1,700 more were detained on July 9 when Kuala Lumpur was virtually locked down.

No two-thirds for Najib

Despite the efforts to prevent the rally from taking place, tens of thousands converged on the capital city in a march for free and fair elections.

The protest, which the government had earlier declared illegal, turned chaotic when police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the huge crowd.

Observers believe Najib’s strong-armed tactics had strengthened the opposition and is likely to blunt his drive to regain a two-thirds majority in the 13th general election tipped to be held early next year.

Kadir agreed that it would now be hard for Najib, who took office not through a general election, to win a stronger mandate.

“It’s not a secret. They (Umno leaders) themselves have admitted that it would be hard to regain the two-thirds majority,” said an Umno member.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 August 2011, 12:07 pm and is filed under
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Bursa firms shed RM26b amid global markets bloodbath

By
Lee Wei Lian

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 05, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 — Today’s global market sell-off wiped an estimated RM26 billion from the KL stock exchange as investors took the cue from the regional meltdown following the rout on Wall Street yesterday.

Trader terminals were a sea of red today as losers vastly outnumbered gainers 934 to 60 while the broad-based Emas index shed 1.89 per cent to hit 10,478, a level not seen since May.

The benchmark FBMKLCI slipped 1.45 per cent to 1524, also its lowest level since May.

“If the Dow has another down day, things won’t look too good,” said Chris Eng, head of research at OSK Research.

One trader told The Malaysian Insider that the US jobs data report that was to be released today and was expected to see the unemployment rate in the world’s biggest economy remain unchanged, could send more jitters through the US market.

“Luckily we are off for the weekend,” he said.

The KL market has traditionally been seen as a defensive and “boring” market due to the dominance of government institutional funds, which causes a lack of liquidity.

This likely means that government-linked investment funds such as EPF and

PNB had a high exposure to today’s massive selldown.

Eng said that given the outlook for the global markets, any slight rebound from today would be an opportunity to sell.

All eyes will now be on August manufacturing data, traditionally a time when production picks up to cater for orders for the year-end holiday season.

If the August manufacturing data does not show an improvement over July, fund managers could be spooked into thinking the global economic recovery has stalled.

“If that happens, today’s tailspin is just the start of a possible bear market after three years of a stock market rally,” said the trader.

The Dow and the S&P index fell over 4 per cent yesterday due to recession fears in the United States and that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis could spread to Italy and Spain.

Asian markets were dragged down after panic set in due to the sell-off in the US.

Regional bourses were more badly hit, however, due to the defensive nature of the KL bourse.

About A$55 billion (RM173 billion) was wiped off the Sydney stock exchange, while Indonesia’s sharemarket fell 4.86 per cent, Singapore 3.61 per cent and Bangkok 2.73 per cent.

Northeast asian markets were also badly hit, with Shanghai down 2.2 per cent, Hong Kong 4.3 per cent, Japan 3.7 per cent, Taiwan 5.6 per cent and South Korea 3.7 per cent.

Reuters reported this evening that US$2.7 trillion (RM8.13 billion) was wiped off the value of world stocks this week.

After the sell-off today, the KL share market is down an estimated RM34 billion from Monday.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 August 2011, 7:27 pm and is filed under
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Hassan Ali’s public defence of JAIS gatecrashing of multiracial dinner at DUMC shortly after Khalid Ibrahim’s expression of regret an act of breaking ranks

The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) gatecrashing of a multiracial dinner at the Damansara Utara Methodist Church on Wednesday night is most deplorable as it is most detrimental to efforts to build an open, tolerant and harmonious plural Malaysian society.

The Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s swift response expressing regret for the raid and his assurance that the Selangor state government fully respects freedom of religion and rights of religious groups to manage their affairs and that “the state is always open to engagement and dialogue regarding the harmonious and mutually respectful coexistence of different religious communities, and appreciates the efforts of all who seek to build a more united society”  is both timely and appropriate.

What is a matter of concern and must be viewed seriously is the public defence of the JAIS action by the State Executive Councillor Datuk Hassan Ali issued shortly after Khalid’s statement  expressing regret for the raid and asking JAIS to submit a full report on the incident – as it is an act of breaking ranks in the Selangor state government.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 August 2011, 11:35 am and is filed under
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Kit Siang: Hasan Ali breaking ranks with Selangor

By
Clara Chooi

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 05, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 — Lim Kit Siang today accused Selangor executive councillor Datuk Hasan Ali of breaking ranks with the state government, after the latter issued a statement conflicting with Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s over Wednesday’s church raid.

The DAP party advisor said Hasan’s open defence of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) should be viewed seriously, as it came immediately after Khalid expressed regret over the incident.

“What is a matter of concern and must be viewed seriously is the public defence of the Jais action by Hasan, issued shortly after Khalid’s statement expressing regret for the raid and asking Jais to submit a full report on the incident — as it is an act of breaking ranks in the Selangor state government,” he pointed out in a statement here.

Lim added that Khalid’s response had been “timely and appropriate” as the raid was “deplorable” and detrimental to efforts to build a more open, tolerant and harmonious plural Malaysia.

Jais enforcement officers swooped in on a dinner function at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) late Wednesday night after receiving an unspecified complaint, bringing with them a team of policemen.

Hasan claimed there was proof Christians were proselytising to Muslims at DUMC. — file picIn an immediate response, Khalid called on Jais to furnish the state government with a full report on the purpose of the raid, and gave his assurance that the state government fully respects freedom of religion and rights of religious groups.

But Hasan, a Selangor state executive councillor, then spoke up in defence of Jais, alleging that the words “Quran” and “pray” were used in the presence of the 12 Muslims at the dinner function.

He claimed this was evidence that Christians were proselytising Muslims.

Hasan’s party colleague, Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, immediately sought to distance PAS’s state leadership from its former chief by saying it was “not Selangor PAS’s stance”, revealing a deep and continuing rift between the Islamist party’s liberal and more hardline factions in the state.

PAS’s national leadership also stepped in today, telling all parties to refrain from issuing “provocative” statements over raid despite the conflicting views expressed by leaders within its own ranks.

The party’s National Unity Committee chairman Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa issued a statement here expressing fear that the sensitive issue may be exploited to further endanger interreligious harmony in the country.

“I call upon all to restrain from making provocative statements regarding the issue and respect the month of Ramadan in observing sincerity and abstain from spreading falsehood,” he said.

Mujahid, who is also PAS central working committee member and Parit Buntar MP, added that interpretation of the raid on the DUMC has so far been “gray” as details of the incident have yet to be revealed.

Among others, he said it was important to ascertain the basis of the raid; its legality; if a warrant had been issued prior to the raid; and the exact events that transpired on Wednesday.

“Jais must explain to the public what actually happened and do not let the gray area be interpreted by ill-minded racist and religious fanatics. Worse is when the media sensationalises the whole issue to the whims and wants of racist political parties,” he said.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 August 2011, 7:41 pm and is filed under
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Penang voters increase by 32,000 in three months

Susan Loone | Aug 4, 11 4:18pm

Malaysiakini

Following the allegations that over 1,500 permanent residents were allowed to be registered in the latest supplementary electoral roll, Penang Pakatan Rakyat today claimed that the state saw a sudden surge of 32,000 voters in just three months.

A staggering 1,400 postal votes were inserted into Batu Maung state constituency, currently held by state exco member Abdul Malik Kassim from PKR.

Between 2008 to 2010, the Malay-majority seat only saw an increase of 2,200 voters.

The influx of voters was revealed today during a press conference called by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, attended by Abdul Malik and Deputy Chief Minister Mansor Othman.

In the past, said Lim, there would usually be increases of about 10,000 new voters, but the triple jump in figures was “suspicious” and raised concerns “that there may be fraud”.

“(The) general election is approaching. If the increase in voters is about 200-400, it is acceptable, but now there is an increase of three times (the amount). How to win?” he queried.

Ghosts hungry for votes

Lim said the hike in voter figures happened in three months, and recounted recent allegations surrounding ‘Mismah’ and more than 1,500 permanent residents were registered as voters.

“In this world, we have instant noodles, but in Malaysia, we have instant voters,” Lim joked.

“This month is the hungry ghost month for the Chinese, but what we are more afraid of is phantom voters,” he added.

Lim condemned the Election Commission for its reluctance to investigate the cases or take action.

Such tactics could probably be in line with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s (right) call for BN to do whatever it takes to win the coming election.

Lim further criticised the EC for providing the Pakatan Rakyat with the electoral roll (in a compact disc) a day before the deadline to the protest period.

Despite this, he said, the component party will continue to write to the EC to oppose the unusual findings.

He expressed disappointment that the CD was provided late to Pakatan parties, as this prevented them from being able to screen the details thoroughly.

“The EC seem to want to hide something, they do not want us to reveal more malpractices…that is why they are so afraid of Bersih.”

Phantom voters

He added the BN tried to use undemocratic methods to win the elections, and mobilise phantom voters to deny the rights of genuine voters.

At the same press conference, Malik said that the additional postal votes were inserted into his state constituency in the past three months.

He added that he was only able to detect them a day before the deadline to protest the EC’s electoral roll.

There are only two military camps in Batu Maung – Sungai Ara and Bukit Gedong.

“There are indeed quarters in Sungai Ara but in Bukit Gedung, there is only an administrative centre, and two or three bungalows for general level officers,” said Abdul Malik, who is a Penang exco member.

“But now, 1,400 soldiers and their families are using the address, this is a place where no one is living, then suddenly, there is a drastic increase,” he added.

Mansor, who is Penanti assemblyperson, said he had found several “suspicious identities” in his constituency, and would be revealing more details soon.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 August 2011, 7:51 pm and is filed under
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The Jais raid

—
Azrul Mohd Khalib

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 05, 2011

AUG 5 — The recent Selangor Religious Department (Jais) raid of the Harapan Komuniti event held at the Damanasara Utama Methodist Centre should be condemned by all Malaysians.

This dinner, which was organised to commemorate and honour the work of this non-profit organisation as well as its supporters and beneficiaries, is demonstrative of how we are united in a common concern and care for those living on the margins of society and who are less fortunate than us, regardless of their ethnicity and religion.

The high handed and overzealous manner in which the raid was conducted by the Jais officers over an unspecified complaint, and the disrespect shown towards the sanctity of a house of worship speaks volumes of the tendency towards the lack of respect for other religions, unaccountability and a culture of impunity.

Let us be clear: The embarrassing actions of the Jais officers appear to be the acts of a bully. It was bad enough that the so-called complaint was not substantiated, but the officers were not even able to produce a copy of the actual complaint.

Refusing or being unable to produce a warrant, especially when entering private property and religious places, is unacceptable. Just as we ask that non-Muslims should respect the sanctity of our places of worship and the practices of our religion, we as Muslims must always do the same.

It is disappointing that Selangor executive councillor Datuk Dr Hasan Ali has defended the raid by saying that 12 Muslims had participated in the dinner event on the church premises, and that this was proof of proselytising.

So what if there were Muslims at the dinner? This is proof of nothing other than they were there to show their appreciation to Harapan Komuniti, an NGO that is involved in charitable community work.

I too have attended weddings, discussions sessions and dinners several times in churches, temples and mosques. The prime minister himself met the Pope in the Vatican. Is that proselytising?

We are reminded again of the 2006 incident where the spread of unsubstantiated wild rumours through SMS concerning the supposed conversion of Muslims in Perak, resulted in 1,000 angry protestors gathering outside a church in Ipoh. It was later revealed that the church was not converting Muslims but was instead holding its Holy Communion service for 98 Catholic children.

That incident, which implicated the state Mufti, as well as the behaviour of journalists from the Al-Islam magazine who desecrated a communion wafer in 2010, were due to the same paranoia and phobia that have been used to justify this raid: The conversion of Muslims.

These incidences are eggs on the faces of moderate Malaysians regardless of whether they are Muslim or not, especially when the self righteous actions are later proven to be based on wild and unsubstantiated allegations, paranoid delusions or simply irrational fear due to ignorance. We end up looking foolish and being terrified of bogeymen.

Incidences such as these could be read as harassment, bullying, intimidation or, worse, evidence of religious tyranny or the denial of the right to religion.

There is an urgent need to increase the quality of oversight and accountability of the state religious departments.

Who are the religious authorities accountable to? Where is their check and balance? We must begin to dispel the perception that the religious authorities are a law unto themselves.

I am glad that Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has immediately expressed his regret over the incident. Indeed, the Selangor government must acknowledge that it is also responsible and take the relevant persons to task as religion is a state affair under the Federal Constitution.

There are many fears, false beliefs and misunderstandings that are born from the shallow and ignorant understanding of other religions.

The best way to begin to remedy this is to address the ignorance and make a serious effort to learn and educate each other. I suggest we start with ourselves and the Jais officers.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 August 2011, 5:41 pm and is filed under
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A morning session with The Oracle of Syed Putera

—
Sakmongkol AK47

The Malaysian Insider

August 06, 2011

AUGUST 6 — Once again, I have the pleasure to share with readers, the current thoughts of the Oracle of Syed Putra.

To refresh the minds of readers, the Oracle is the alter ego of Tun Daim Zainudin. You can almost say what the Oracle says is what Tun Daim thinks. It seems now, whatever Tun Daim says is carefully analyzed. And Tun Daim is a dangerous seer. In 2008, he predicted the loss of BN in 5 states. The UMNO generals were up in arms. They vilified him, describing him with all sorts of disrespectful terms. Daim is a pensioner. Daim is out of touch. Daim is irrelevant. When the results came, what Daim predicted was generally true. So how does Daim see the future?

According to the Oracle, it’s a grim future for Umno and BN. the country has no leadership. Announcements were made continuously without understanding what were said. The PM reads the budget in parliament but when it comes to Q&A, Nor Yaakob does the answering. Some people prepare the text and PM who has no time to understand the context, will just read it.

The Oracle related the many occasions when Tun Daim answered he doesn’t understand what the New Economic Model or the various economic initiatives are all about. He only understands basic business models- 2+ 2= 4.

Now if a wily business man like Daim doesn’t understand Najibnomics, what chance do common folks have? Civil servants complained to Daim about having to implement policies which they have no part in giving inputs.

Our economic models are prepared by consultants under the commissar-ship of people like Omar Ong or Idris Jala. The PM’s rating says the Oracle has been sliding precipitously since the Bersih Rally. He handled that one badly. The NGO was already declared an illegal one, yet he allowed them to have an audience with the Agong.

The man who was instrumental in brokering Ambiga’s audience with the Agong was Pak Lah, the former PM. When asked the PM said Pak Lah wanted to help out, but that kind of help hastens his plummeting rating.

The Malays have a saying for this — sokong membawa rebah. All is not well with our country. The majority of the Chinese are not going to vote BN. Moving from one Chinese based party (MCA) to another( DAP) presents no mental hurdle for the Chinese. They are businesslike in their decisions. One, the Chinese are aware that Chinese interests are better looked after by a more aggressive political party.

Two, stepping out from Umno’s shadow offers some satisfaction for the Chinese because doing so, remits a form of punishment to their cocky big brother. The Chinese have long wanted to teach MCA a lesson. MCA will not be able to stop this rising disenchantment. Most important of all, the general economic independence of the Chinese gives them the luxury of choice. They can choose and Umno and BN don’t appear on their radar screen. MCA will probably be left with 5 parliamentary seats. MIC will be completely annihilated. It will be reduced to another PPP and IPF and operates on the same level as Nalakaruppan’s party. The more pragmatic Indian parties will chose to work with whoever comes into power for the sake of the Indian community. The Indian parties do not have friends. They have only permanent interests.

But let’s see what the Oracle says are Daim’s prognosis about my party, Umno. It seems Umno people continue to enthrall themselves into believing that all is still well. They have no inkling that the next GE will be the most formidable fort them.

Some commentators in my blog say, the Pakatan people can never influence the Kampong people. What keeps the kampong people loyal at the moment are the reasonably good prices of rubber and palm oil. They couldn’t care less about the quality of BN and Umno’s leadership. They are worried about the roofs over their heads, food on the table, schooling for the children, jobs for them.

The bumper years of good rubber and palm oil prices are slowly and painfully being cancelled out by the rising cost of living. The price of essential goods keeps in rising while incomes remain stable. Once that tenuous balance is dislodged, then the full wrath of the people will be seen.

So don’t go on banking on the steadfastness of kampong people. Their own political perceptions are continuously being leavened and moderated by those of their more socially and politically conscious children. Sons and daughters come back to kampongs to debrief parents.

The younger generation’s views are shaped by the new media of the internet, twitters and Facebooks. They tell a different story from those which parents are accustomed to. The new stories the children bring demolish the once captive minds of the older generation- minds that were once shaped unchallenged by the old tired and boring media.

The Oracle has been away for quite some time. He has been with Daim on an extended overseas trip. So when I asked the Oracle yesterday (Thursday) where has he been — all he said was somewhere out of Malaysia. I asked why? Nothing to do here in Malaysia. But were you keeping abreast of what’s happening in Malaysia? Of course I do. What’s your thinking on the current political and economic situation? So here are some of the things he said. Najib’s personal rating has plummeted since the Bersih March. It has plummeted alarmingly. Suddenly people realise that Najib is all poster boy, long on popularity, unfortunately short in ability. His handling of the Bersih march was done in a very whimsical way. You can say, the quality of the person handling the Bersih case is like the leadership of a pengerusi JKKK.

A year ago when Najib took over Pak lah, the general perception was that Najib is much better than Pak Lah. He has the looks and better articulation. A few months ago, the Oracle told me, Najib is slightly better than Pak Lah. Now, the perception is Najib is even more terrible than Pak Lah. The PM must be having some communications problem with the Agong.

I was told that Daim recommended the PM speak to Agong before the Bersih event. How the recommendation got transmitted, I am not privy nor did I asked the Oracle.

He (Najib) should have advised the Agong at that time to declare that the King is ready to meet up with Bersih reps and received the memo. While at that, the King could have advised Ambiga and others, as responsible and law abiding citizens that maybe no rally was necessary as now the memo has been received. Or if the march were to be allowed even after an audience with the King, make Amibiga and others responsible for the conduct of marchers.

The police could simply be ordered to step out of the way, save for those looking out after traffic management. Then if anything disorderly did take place, the organisers of the rally will be held accountable.

But the problem is, Najib has too many advisers. They don’t have the political savvy. Their responses are the kind you take directly out from the textbooks read mostly by 3rd world despots. Rally marchers? Use teargas and batons. Get physical with them! Jail them! But the problem here is we no longer lived in a bordered world. It’s now border-less.

If FBC dishes out sycophantic and pandering rendition of events, other media practitioners are more critical and more believable. Najib may say with a poker face about minimal force being applied and while talking to Defterious, scenes depicting actual physical altercations and teargassing are being shown worldwide.

That would make Najib looked like a liar. To be continued……………….how many states will fall. — sakmongkol.blogspot.com

* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman (2004-2008).

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 August 2011, 11:56 am and is filed under
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Bersih: NRD’s Mismah-gate clarification unacceptable

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | Aug 5, 11 1:35pm

Malaysiakini

The National Registration Department (NRD)’s explanation of the ‘Mismah-gate’ is unacceptable as it fails to address the public’s concern, said Bersih 2.0 chief Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Therefore, she supported Pakatan Rakyat MPs’ call for an emergency parliamentary sitting this month in order to seek answers for the many questions the scandal’s raised.

“We haven’t actually had any meaningful answer… there has to be accountability on this issue,” Ambiga (left) told Malaysiakini during an interview yesterday.

“The answer that they have given us so far is really quite unacceptable.”

In a statement on Wednesday, NRD director-general Jariah Mohd Said explained that Mismah, a name found in the latest supplementary electoral roll draft, was granted permanent residency on July 17, 1982, and later citizenship on Jan 31, 2011.

However, the statement failed to shed light on the question of how the NRD online verification system could have categorised Mismah as a permanent resident on Tuesday morning but ‘upgraded’ her to citizen four hours after a Malaysiakini report.

Jariah was also silent on the PAS allegation of there being 1,597 such cases nationwide.

Ambiga said that Bersih 2.0 had received similar complaints prior to the expose but had not managed to have it proven until the Malaysiakini report was published.

“What I would have expected from the authorities is for them to say ‘we think this is serious, we think it must be investigated and we will come back to the public on the issue’, but unfortunately all those who have spoken appeared to be defending the indefensible.”

Misgivings over biometric system

 Ambiga described the issue as something that requires urgent attention and transparency from the NRD, failing which the affair could largely undermine the introduction of the biometric system by the Election Commission (EC).

“It was one of the reasons why we have misgivings about the biometric system, because if we can’t even get the database at the NRD right, and there are questions about its integrity, then I really don’t know how it can progress to a biometric system.”

The issue coupled with the failure of the authority to provide a satisfactory answer, has deepened the confidence crisis faced by the government, warned Ambiga.

“Trust is something that they have to build and the way they can build trust is by being honest with us, it is really quite simple, and by being absolutely transparent with the public.”

She reiterated that the EC has to involve the public at every stage of the implementation of the biometric system and keep them updated throughout the process.

“In today’s Malaysia, it is not enough for the authority to say ‘just trust us’,” she stressed.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 August 2011, 12:51 pm and is filed under
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Christian groups demand proof of converting Muslims using aid

By
Boo Su-Lyn

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 06, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — Christian groups are calling for evidence behind two Malay dailies’ allegations that they are trying to convert Muslims through welfare aid.

Berita Harian and Harian Metro reported today that certain Christian organisations were hiding behind the guise of welfare aid by offering monthly cash allowances of at least RM1,000 to hard-hit Muslims and their families in an attempt to turn them into Christians.

The pro-Barisan Nasional newspapers’ allegations came after the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and the police raided a multiracial dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya last Wednesday night, based on a report that the Christian-majority crowd was allegedly proselytising to Muslim guests.

“If you’re saying that Christians give RM5,000, now you convert, show the proof,” Council of Churches of Malaysia general secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri told The Malaysian Insider today.

“By making this statement, they’re trying to disrupt the good relations between the religious communities in the country by taking on the Christians,” he said.

Umno-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia recently accused Christians of plotting to take over the government and claimed that the July 9 Bersih rally was funded by Christian organisations.

The controversial Jais raid has increased religious tension in the country, where churches were fire-bombed last year and Christians were barred from referring to their god as “Allah”.

Shastri pointed out that Muslims also did welfare work.

“As a result, some are being converted to Islam because they see the good work of the Muslims,” he said.

“If a person gives RM10,000 and you convert, that’s wrong. But if person is often in a home, then leaves the home, is impressed by Catholic sisters and becomes Catholic, what’s wrong with that?” asked the pastor.

National Evangelical Christian Fellowship chairman Rev Dr Eu Hong Seng stressed that Christians gave aid regardless of race or religion.

“We will help anybody and everybody and we don’t expect anything in return. Just because I help you doesn’t mean I want you to convert,” he said.

The pastor pointed out that he has yet to see someone converting to Christianity after receiving welfare aid from Christian organisations.

Berita Harian quoted a woman — who was detained during the Jais raid — as saying that Muslim participants were forbidden to believe in Prophet Muhammad, but were asked to follow Jesus’ teachings through talks and songs during the dinner.

“The church has got weddings, funerals. You mean, in my funeral songs, because a Muslim comes to pay respects to his friend who died, I must stop singing hymns? You come to my place of worship, that is what we do lah,” said Eu in response.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 August 2011, 9:08 pm and is filed under
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DAP raps MCA for carping about church raid

By
Boo Su-Lyn

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 06, 2011

PUCHONG, Aug 6 — The MCA has no right to denounce the DAP over its purported silence on the state religious Islamic authorities’ raid on a church as the Chinese party has been powerless when non-Muslims’ rights are threatened, Teresa Kok said today.

The Selangor DAP chief pointed out that her party has expressed its “dissatisfaction” with the Selangor Islamic Religious Department’s (Jais) Wednesday late-night raid on Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC).

“MCA is a party that is least qualified to talk about political courage,” Kok told reporters today.

“Umno has done so much nonsense against MCA and the non-Malay community, yet MCA still sticks as Umno’s partner,” added the Seputeh MP.

The Star reported today MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek challenging the DAP to show political courage by condemning the raid.

Kok said, however, that the MCA banned its members from joining the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally after the polls watchdog was outlawed, despite knowing that people were unhappy with the “unfair” electoral system.

“Whatever Umno announces, they just support and follow all the way,” she said.

Kok also pointed out that DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang has decried the Jais raid and called it “deplorable”.

Jais enforcement officers swooped in on a dinner function at DUMC late Wednesday night without a warrant based on an unspecified complaint, bringing with them a team of policemen.

Between 100 and 120 people, including several Muslims, attended the non-religious event to celebrate NGO Harapan Komuniti’s success in helping women, children, HIV/AIDS sufferers and victims of natural disasters.

Kok stressed that she opposed the raid, repeating her remarks — which she made before the Selangor government issued a gag order on state executive councillors — that were reported in Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily today.

“Jais shouldn’t just raid non-Muslim places of worship because this is a violation of freedom of assembly and freedom of belief,” said the senior state executive councillor.

She also lambasted her colleague, Datuk Hasan Ali, for defending the raid. “He shouldn’t have issued a statement defending Jais that contravened the state government’s stand,” said Kok, as quoted in Sin Chew Daily.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said on Thursday that he regretted the incident and asked Jais to justify its raid.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 August 2011, 1:08 pm and is filed under
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More ‘irregularities’ found in electoral roll in Penang

Susan Loone | Aug 5, 11 4:30pm

Malaysiakini

The Pakatan Rakyat government in Penang continues to reveal “irregularities” in the supplementary electoral roll, claiming there was a sudden surge in more state seats in the first quarter of this year.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said today that the surge in votes in certain areas within the three months has exceeded the increase of votes since 2008, or 33 months (two years and nine months).

He said he cannot help but be suspicious over the matter and blamed the Election Commission again for dabbling in “dirty” tricks in the voter registration process.

“Something is simply not right,” he told reporters at a press conference in Komtar today.

Lim then pointed out two other state constituencies where he felt there was a “suspicious” surge in number of voters – Padang Lallang and Paya Terubong.

In Padang Lallang, there was a 19.8 percent increase in votes, from 1,794 (in the fourth quarter of 2010) to 3,958 (in the first quarter of 2011), he said.

In Paya Terubong, there was a surge in votes of 10.2 percent, from 2,826 (fourth quarter 2010) to 3,178 (first quarter of 2011), he added.

Yesterday, Lim claimed that the state saw a sudden surge of 32,000 voters in just three months.

However, today, Lim clarified that the actual figure was 26,000 as the remaining 6,000 has been dropped from the list due to change of address and death.

“But the impact is still the same,” he added.

State exco member and Batu Maung assemblyperson Abdul Malik Abul Kassim also revealed yesterday that a staggering 1,400 postal votes were inserted into his state constituency.

Between 2008 to 2010, the Malay-majority seat only saw an increase of 2,200 voters.

‘Strange’ increase of votes in second quarter

Meanwhile, Lim drew the attention of reporters to the increase of votes in the second quarter of this year, which he also found ‘strange’.

Constituencies which saw high surge in votes (from new registration and those who registered a change of address) include Telok Ayer Tawar (1,050), Seberang Jaya (1,004), Machang Bubok (1130), Tanjung Bungah (1,439), Paya Terubong (1,338) and Batu Maung (1,880).

Telok Ayer Tawar and Seberang Jaya are under Barisan Nasional (Umno) while the remaining seats belong to Pakatan.

When asked if this could be due to the active registration of new voters programme by political parties such as the DAP and Umno, Lim said the figures could not be that high.

“I don’t see many political parties doing the new voter registration as much as DAP and Umno, so (the figures) could not be that high,” he added.

Asked if the state government would be meeting with the Penang branch of the EC, Lim could not confirm the matter.

He added that the state would continue to write and point out the irregularities in the supplementary electoral roll to the election body to voice out their protest.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 August 2011, 11:25 am and is filed under
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The wrong worries

—
Paul Krugman

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 06, 2011

AUGUST 6 — In case you had any doubts, Thursday’s more than 500-point plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the drop in interest rates to near-record lows confirmed it: The economy is not recovering, and Washington has been worrying about the wrong things.

It is not just that the threat of a double-dip recession has become very real. It is now impossible to deny the obvious, which is that we are currently not and have never been on the road to recovery.

For two years, officials at the Federal Reserve, international organisations and, sad to say, within the Obama administration have insisted that the economy was on the mend.

Every setback was attributed to temporary factors — It’s the Greeks! It’s the tsunami! — that would soon fade away. And the focus of policy turned from jobs and growth to the supposedly urgent issue of deficit reduction.

But the economy was not on the mend.

Yes, officially the recession ended two years ago, and the economy did indeed pull out of a terrifying tailspin. But at no point has growth looked remotely adequate given the depth of the initial plunge. In particular, when employment falls as much as it did from 2007 to 2009, you need a lot of job growth to make up the lost ground. And that just has not happened.

Consider one crucial measure, the ratio of employment to population. In June 2007, around 63 per cent of adults were employed. In June 2009, the official end of the recession, that number was down to 59.4. As of June this year, two years into the alleged recovery, the number was 58.2.

These may sound like dry statistics, but they reflect a truly terrible reality. Not only are vast numbers of Americans unemployed or underemployed, for the first time since the Great Depression, many American workers are facing the prospect of very-long-term – maybe permanent — unemployment. Among other things, the rise in long-term unemployment will reduce future government revenues, so we are not even acting sensibly in purely fiscal terms. But, more important, it is a human catastrophe.

And why should we be surprised at this catastrophe? Where was growth supposed to come from? Consumers, still burdened by the debt that they ran up during the housing bubble, are not ready to spend. Businesses see no reason to expand given the lack of consumer demand. And thanks to that deficit obsession, the government, which could and should be supporting the economy in its time of need, has been pulling back.

Now it looks as if it is all about to get even worse. So what is the response?

To turn this disaster around, a lot of people are going to have to admit, to themselves at least, that they have been wrong and need to change their priorities right away.

Of course, some players won’t change. Republicans won’t stop screaming about the deficit because they were not sincere in the first place: Their deficit hawkery was a club with which to beat their political opponents, nothing more — as it became obvious whenever any rise in taxes on the rich was suggested. And they are not going to give up that club.

But the policy disaster of the past two years was not just the result of GOP obstructionism, which would not have been so effective if the policy elite — including at least some senior figures in the Obama administration – had not agreed that deficit reduction, not job creation, should be our main priority.

Nor should we let Mr Ben Bernanke and his colleagues off the hook: The Fed has by no means done all it could, partly because it was more concerned with hypothetical inflation than with real unemployment, partly because it let itself be intimidated by the Ron Paul types.

Well, it is time for all that to stop. Those plunging interest rates and stock prices say that the markets are not worried about either United States solvency or inflation. They are worried about US lack of growth. And they are right, even if on Wednesday the White House press secretary chose, inexplicably, to declare that there is no threat of a double-dip recession.

Earlier this week, the word was that the Obama administration would “pivot” to jobs now that the debt ceiling has been raised. But what that pivot would mean, as far as I can tell, was proposing some minor measures that would be more symbolic than substantive. And, at this point, that kind of proposal would just make US President Obama look ridiculous.

The point is that it is now time – long past time – to get serious about the real crisis the economy faces. The Fed needs to stop making excuses, while the President needs to come up with real job-creation proposals. And if Republicans block those proposals, he needs to make a Harry Truman-style campaign against the do-nothing GOP.

This might or might not work. But we already know what is not working: The economic policy of the past two years — and the millions of Americans who should have jobs, but don’t. — The New York Times

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 August 2011, 11:34 am and is filed under
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Time for CSL and MCA Ministers to declare whether they agree MACC and MACC officers must be held responsible for TBH’s death

The time has come for the MCA President Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek and the four MCA Ministers to end being “dumb and deaf” and declare whether they agree with the Bar Council that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and MACC officers must be held responsible for Teoh Beng Hock’s (TBH) death at the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009.

The Bar Council submission to  the TBH Royal Commission of Inquiry made public yesterday had recommended that five MACC officers be investigated under Section 304A of the Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the death of TBH, viz: former Selangor MACC deputy chief and “mastermind” of the massive and unlawful 33-men MACC operation which resulted in Beng Hock’s death, Hishamuddin Hashim; Selangor MACC investigations chief Hairul Ilham Hamzah; investigation officer Mohd Anuar Ismail, interrogation officer Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus and Klang MACC assistant enforcement officer Zulkerfly Aziz.

The five should also be  investigated under Section 304A of the Penal Code for causing Teoh’s death by negligence.

The Bar also want the authorities to investigate 10 MACC officers for criminal conspiracy in the cover up of TBH’s death under Section 120A of the Penal Code, the five named and the  other five being Bulkini Paharuddin, Effezul Azran Abdul Maulop, Arman Alies, Raymond Nion and Mohd Nadzri Ibrahim.

These ten should also be investigated for abetment or attempting to abet in Teoh’s death and its cover-up.

The 10 and other MACC officers should also be investigated for giving false evidence and fabricating evidence under Section 191 and 192 of the Penal Code as well as for destruction of, tampering with, causing the disappearance of evidence, and framing incorrect records or writing with intent to save a person from punishment with respect to the death of TBH, i.e. ss. 201 to 204, 218 and 464 of the Penal Code.

In its submission, the Bar Council had called on the Royal Commission of Inquiry to send a strong and clear message to all law enforcement agencies in Malaysia that:

•	Abuse of power will not be tolerated.

•	Human dignity of suspects/witnesses must be preserved and respected.

•	Perjury and/or concealment of facts will be severely punished.

•	Law enforcement agencies have a duty of care to persons in their custody.

•	Law enforcement agencies bear the burden to explain death in custody or suspicious death of suspects/witnesses.

The James Foong RCI failed miserably in sending out these five messages.

What is the MCA President and the four MCA Ministers doing in Cabinet and the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council to remedy the failings of the TBH RCI to ensure that Beng Hock did not die in vain?

The next question is what all the Cabinet Ministers, regardless of race, religion or political party,  propose to do about the glaring failings of the TBH RCI Report if the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan is really meaningful to Malaysians.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 August 2011, 4:23 pm and is filed under
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Umno claims can win Selangor with big majority

By
Clara Chooi

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 06, 2011

KUANG, Aug 6 — Umno is confident that Barisan Nasional (BN) will trounce Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in Selangor in the coming polls with a whopping 20-seat majority, allowing the pact to form a strong government in the frontline state.

Selangor Umno infomation chief Abdul Shukor Idrus told The Malaysian Insider that this time, BN will win in at least 38 of the state’s 56 seats, in comparison to the 20 it won in the 2008 election when PR captured the country’s wealthiest state.

He attributed BN’s pre-empted victories to a significant increase in Malay voter support from about 50 per cent in 2008 to an estimated 65 per cent, saying it was fuelled by a growing disenchantment with the current PR-led state administration and feverish ground work by Umno leaders humbled by their shocking losses in 2008.

“So although we cannot say that we are extremely comfortable yet, we are confident that we can win Selangor,” he said when met at his service centre here this week before the state Islamic affairs department triggered a controversy by raiding a Petaling Jaya church.

The Kuang assemblyman however said the 38 seats only covers the state’s rural and suburban areas where he claimed the electorate has less access to the Internet, social media tools and the alternative media.

“The big issues and all that are centred in the cities but they have less influence in the rural areas. In the cities, everyone uses the Internet. But outside, a lot just read the papers… they read more Utusan (Malaysia),” he said, smiling.

The first-term assemblyman said certain national issues often played up by PR leaders would only affect Selangor’s more urban electorate, particularly those living in constituencies within the city areas where PR’s influence is deemed the strongest.

Abdul Shukor said Umno has identified 18 such seats, categorised as “black areas”, which the party admits would be close to impossible to win. Among some of the seats identified are Subang Jaya, Bukit Lanjan, Bukit Tunku, Balakong, seats within the Petaling Jaya Utara and Selatan parliamentary constituencies and seats contested by PR bigwigs like PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

Abdul Shukor said although BN has not given up on these “black areas”, it would only focus its efforts in the 38 seats identified as winnable.

Of the 38, he said, it is hoped that MCA can contribute between four and seven seats while MIC has expressed confidence in two seats — Batu Caves and Ijok. The remaining seats are to be snapped up by Umno.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the ruling party will field candidates in 35 seats and has identified 25 seats as guaranteed wins, up seven seats from the 18 it won in Election 2008.

Abdul Shukor said Indian community support for the Najib administration has also seen vast improvement, particularly because of Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu’s decision to step down as MIC president late last year and the appointment of two MIC leaders to ministerial posts.

He also claimed that Chinese support has increased, albeit marginally, purportedly because of certain grouses among the business community towards the PR government.

For the Malay votes, Abdul Shukor said Umno party leaders have been working hard on the ground to campaign for votes through hosting constant community programmes, doling out financial aid to the needy and keeping the electorate constantly engaged.

“We go house to house, we give out to aid single mothers, the poor. We even fix roofs and broken drains… even toilet repairs,” he said.

As an example, Abdul Shukor said that he has made it a point to visit at least 20 homes every Friday since he was elected.

He stressed that only local and hardworking candidates who have put in enough time will win Selangor for BN, particularly in the suburban and rural constituencies.

“Here, they do not care about the national issues… things going on in KL, for example. They are more concerned about the individuals they are voting for. They want someone who they know, they like and who can look after their needs,” he said.

Abdul Shukor said that Umno’s improved service to the electorate was because of the 2008 tsunami, which saw the ruling pact lose its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament and five states to the opposition.

“In the past, even our members voted against us because of the leadership’s arrogance and the big rift between elected leaders and the people. But now… we have become the people, we don’t wear our bush jackets or coats, we go and drink with our voters in the stalls, we visit homes, we bring them aid and we get to know them,” he said.

BN’s loss of Selangor, the most modern and richest state in Malaysia, to PR in Election 2008 was seen as the harshest blow to the Umno-led BN pact.

BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak is bent on recapturing the state, a feat deemed crucial for the prime minister as he attempts to seek fresh mandate amid increasing public dissent against his leadership over issues like subsidy hikes and escalating living costs, Bersih 2.0, the two controversial deaths under MACC custody and the Scorpene submarine issue.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 August 2011, 11:49 am and is filed under
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1988 state law allows Jais to act against non-Muslims

By
Clara Chooi and Debra Chong

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 07, 2011

PETALING JAYA, Aug 7 — The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had likely acted within the law when it raided a church here, as a controversial enactment passed by a Barisan Nasional (BN) state government in 1988 allows action against non-Muslims.

Malaysian Bar Council chief Lim Chee Wee pointed out, however, their being empowered also meant the religious authorities can only act within the confines of the Islamic laws, highlighting that the words allegedly said to prove Christians were proselytising to Muslims at the event — “Quran” and “Pray” — did not fall within the religious enforcement’s context.

“Whilst Jais may have the legal power to enter the premises, it must do so on a proper legal basis that there has been an offence committed. From the presently available facts, there is no basis for its intrusion,” he told The Malaysian Insider in an email.

Lim said there were four existing state Islamic legislation that give the authorities wide powers to act on religious matters, namely:

•  Enakmen Jenayah Syariah (Selangor) 1995 (“Enakmen Jenayah”);

•  Enakmen Ugama Bukan Islam (Kawalan Pengembangan di Kalangan Orang Islam) 1988 (“Enakmen Ugama Bukan Islam”);

•  Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003; and

•  Syariah Criminal Procedure (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003.

Selangor’s Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment, which outlines offences deemed as acts of proselytisation by non-Muslims towards Muslims, grants the religious authorities powers to launch investigations and arrest individuals without producing a warrant.

Some offences include the persuasion or incitement of Muslims to convert, to receive instructions or to participate in any activity for the benefit of any non-Islamic religion; if non-Muslims communicate with a Muslim for the purpose of subjecting the latter to any speech on a non-Islamic religion; if a person uses certain prohibited words to describe any belief pertaining to any non-Islamic religion, and others.

The Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) was raided by Jais on Wednesday after it received a complaint that Muslims were present at a dinner function there, leading to suspicion that Christians were attempting to proselytise Muslims.

Section 11 of the enactment also describes the offences as “seizable offences”, which, under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), does not stop the police from raiding private spaces, like DUMC’s rented premises here.

The Malaysian Insider understands that DAP lawmakers had raised hue and cry when the enactment bill was tabled in the Selangor state assembly in 1988, arguing that the legislation would encroach the rights of non-Muslims.

But despite the furore, the bill was passed and gazetted into law by a BN-dominated House, after it earned the blessings of even non-Muslim lawmakers, including those from MCA.

DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang confirmed the controversy, saying that the enactment had been deemed “far-reaching and unreasonable”.

“I cannot remember specifically the details of the Bill but DAP strongly objected it,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.

Lim would not comment, however, when asked if this meant that blame for Jais’ highly-criticised raid on the DUMC should be heaped on MCA and BN, instead of the present Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Selangor government.

“At this point, we still do not know for certain on what basis Jais had conducted the raid so there may be a leap in reasoning to say who was right or wrong. Let us wait for (Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri) Khalid Ibrahim to make a statement on this first,” he said, reiterating that he could not remember details of the 23-year-old enactment.

The PR state government came under fire immediately after news of the church raid on Wednesday hit the headlines, with MCA leading the chorus of disapproval on the incident.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek also lambasted PAS state executive councillor Datuk Hasan Ali for defending Jais, and warned Selangor Muslims against the Islamist party’s hardline Muslim stance.

Hasan, in his defence of Jais, had explained the raid was conducted based on a complaint that said Muslims were among those attending a dinner function at the church’s rented premises here.

He said the words “Quran” and “pray” were used in front of Muslims and claimed there was also proof of efforts to proselytise Muslims during the function. Those involved, he said, could face punitive action for insulting Islam under Section 10 of the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1995.

Hasan is due to face his party’s central working committee (CWC) today to explain the Jais raid. The Islamist party’s lawmakers have taken pains to voice their disappointment over the raids and explain circumstances where enforcement authorities can take action.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 August 2011, 9:28 am and is filed under
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A morning session with the Oracle of Syed Putera (Part 2)

— Sakmongkol AK47

The Malaysian Insider

Aug 07, 2011

AUG 7 — I am repeatedly asked about the identity of the Oracle. I shall have to decline the request to reveal his identity. The identity of the oracle is not important. It should remain anonymous for as long as it can be. Then I will be able to share information which is spoken candidly and in full candour.

I had a good laugh when someone suggested that the Oracle is Sanusi Junid. That someone commented I was lucky to be an intimate acquaintance of the illustrious Sanusi. That is not possible. Sanusi, as many of us know, has just survived a quite serious heart attack. The Oracle recounted the day Daim Zainuddin receiving a text message a few weeks ago informing him that Sanusi was critically ill.

Happily, he is doing well now. We wish him a speedy recovery. He is an estimable combatant and a worthy opponent. The Oracle told me, he and Daim rushed over to the hospital to see how Sanusi was faring. I am happy to be told by the Oracle that Sanusi is Sanusi, weakened but indomitable in his unrelenting criticisms on how Najib Razak is handling this country.

Here is the problem, said the Oracle. The low estimation of Najib as prime minister and Umno president is no longer just confined to the man in the street ,whose opinions may be justifiably dismissed as idle talk of the chattering class.

The same opinions are being said and repeated by Umno luminaries, people of some significance, indicating a very serious perception problem. Opinions of people of influence can snowball into a movement. And Sanusi is also a committee member of the Penawar NGO, whose members are made up of past Umno MPs. It’s led by a former political secretary of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and a Mahathir loyalist, Aziz Shamsudin.

But the Oracle isn’t ready to concede any consequence to the group led by Aziz Shamsudin. Precisely because it’s led by Aziz Shamsudin.

I thought Aziz is a Mahathir major domo? Mahathir’s dogsbody?

 No, you are not quite correct, said the Oracle. Aziz has proven himself to be a man of all seasons. He was with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, then switched allegiance to Mahathir. After Mahathir, to Pak Lah. And now?

Penawar hasn’t got the impact potential. Not at the moment anyway. Unless the Old Man throws his weight into the ring.

I haven’t updated myself on this Penawar grouping, having just come back from overseas following Daim. I will know more when we meet up with Mahathir.

The Oracle wasn’t even aware that the PAS Ttiwangsa MP, Dr Lo’ Lo’ Ghazali has passed away.

Many of us have fond memories of Sanusi for 1,001 reasons. He can be comical at one time, deadpan serious at another. Sanusi used to regale many of us with his caustic remarks aimed at disarming Najib or discrediting Najib as it were.

He related his many conversations with Tun Razak and how Tun Razak was sighing about how Najib can’t cut his teeth on politics. Sanusi would let out a half smile when he tells us of the moment when he cheekily asked, why Tun? Too much skirt chasing, came the answer.

Look, said the Oracle, there are growing divides among the Umno president, Umno ,and the Malays. What is he doing now? He’s seen as busy finding ways to find money for Chinese National Type schools and that alienates the Malay voters farther. He’s seen as appeasing non-Malays more and more. It seems to me his way of solving problems is by paying his way through.

Yet the Umno warlords from whom Umno and its president depend for political power are not amused. They have NOT received projects for their areas. The Umno leaders in Kedah are complaining, for example. They are asked to set the agenda to retake Kedah , yet they are not given resources to go into battle.

Speaking about Kedah, I interjected, what’s your take on the 3M grouping of Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir?

I wouldn’t give much credence to the 3M thing.  For what purpose? For Muhyiddin to ascend to the PM’s post? He can do that by other means at his disposal. He is enjoying better credibility with his Malay first, Malaysia second attitude with the Malay hoi polloi.

To prop up Mukhriz so that Mahathir will lend his weight to Muhyiddin? That, possibly. But how long can Mukhriz survived in politics by hanging on the coat-tails of the father? It’s like you said about Najib being cornered to come out with his last resort defence when attacked on his policies. All he could muster was that he is Tun Razak’s son. How long can you sell that?

We all have to admit Mahathir somehow refashioned Malaysia after his dynamic personality. But that is soon going to be history as the new generations of voters are more comfortable at accepting the general level of development which we are now enjoying, for granted. Who was behind our country’s drive to modernisation isn’t as significance as we of the older generation hold it to be.

So, no, Mukhriz isn’t going to last long banking on the popularity of his father that is beginning to diminish now.

So why should Muhyiddin be a party to declining forces?  The estimation of Mahathir is fading, while the son hasn’t sunk his presence onto the local stage. Muhyiddin isn’t as stupid as he looks.  So the 3M thing is perhaps just another red herring to disguise some sort of power struggle within Umno. It could even be something the Najib camp is manufacturing to justify isolating Muhyiddin.

Personally, said the Oracle, I think Najib is politically finished. He is isolating himself with a band of highly self-opinionated advisors. He has this habit of abandoning friends and dismissing advice and frank criticism. He prefers the advice and company of greenhorn advisors. They may be clever people, but haven’t got the political wisdom and savvy.

Who does Najib have for advisors as Mahathir had? Mahathir had Daim, Anwar Ibrahim (then), Sanusi, Megat Junid as his operatives. They did the ground and underground work so that Mahathir can do what he does best, which is projecting himself as an unrelenting crusader to about almost anything on earth. Why was he able to do that? Because he had a team of sewer workers. Najib hasn’t got people who will want to do the dirty work for him.

He’s got who? Jamaluddin Jarjis?  If it comes to the US, maybe JJ can do something about it. What about the opinions of others? You look at the issue that is going to explode in France soon. Najib handled that badly.

That French lawyer who was deported? He will soon be cause celebre in Paris. And world attention will be drawn to Malaysia and, in particular, to Najib. If it were during Mahathir’s time, the issue would have been neutralised by his operatives who would have probably spent time in France defusing the situation. Najib is inept at these things. Somehow, he has lost the plot.

He came upon the scene sending positive vibrations that things are going to be exciting and different. Over the months, that positive note quickly turned out of tune as he made repeated misjudgements. He promised a smaller Cabinet and broke that promise by coming out with an even bigger Cabinet.

Now his Cabinet is more known for being filled up with unelected politicians. You have Idris Jala who seemed to have added even the PM as an admiring fan, Koh Tsu Koon, Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, Shahrizat Jalil, and many others.

You want to know what the MCA ministers are doing. They are busy making money. All of them. The mocking phrase of Yen Yen Jalan Jalan Curi Makan is not without substance you know. The market knows it.

How many states? Thousand apologies, another article. — sakmongkol.blogspot.com

* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman (2004-2008).

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 August 2011, 6:48 pm and is filed under
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Bishop Paul decries vilification of Christians

Terence Netto | Aug 6, 11 7:36pm

Malaysiakini

Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing said today he was not surprised that “hard upon accusations by Jais of Christians proselytising Muslims comes unsubstantiated print media stories seemingly validating those claims.”

“Need we be surprised?” asked the head of the Catholic Church in the Melaka-Johor diocese, who is concurrently president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia.

“It’s depressing – this continuing trial of Malaysian Christians by innuendo and insinuation,” sighed the Jesuit-trained prelate in comments to Malaysiakini on the stories in today’s editions of the Berita Harian and Harian Metro that quote a couple of Muslims claiming that they have been targeted by Christian groups as potential converts.

“I’m not surprised the stories in those papers do not have anything more than hearsay to back them,” said the bishop.

“Those papers are owned by the powers-that-be who only recently elected to establish diplomatic ties with the Vatican.

“I don’t know whether to laugh out in scorn or cry out in pain at their duplicity and the naivety of those who help them think that publicly expressed good intentions are a sufficient proof of sincerity.”

Use the power of your vote

The prelate advised Christians to press for proof by Jais (Selangor Islamic Affairs Department) that Christians are targeting Muslims for conversion, and that if such proof is not proffered soon, to act on what that implied at the next general election.

“Only through the ballot box can we bring this continuing vilification of Christians in Malaysians to a shuddering halt.

“Christians should press for proof and, if and when, it is unavailable, express clearly their disgust at the next general election,” said Bishop Paul Tan.

“The days of Christians in Malaysia being supine objects of the machinations of duplicitous politicians are over,” he thundered.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 August 2011, 9:49 am and is filed under
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