Malaysia deserves a new Education Minister who is fully committed to resolve the national education crisis with a practical and  achievable action plan to transform the country from a mediocre to a world-class education system

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is trying to minimise the enormous damage caused by the three-week-long thunderous silence of the Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to the “triple whammy” of relentless erosion of educational standards in the country, viz

* 2011 TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study);

* 2012 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment); and

* World Bank’s adverse Malaysia Economic Monitor themed “High-Performing Education”.

In his Facebook post yesterday, Najib said Malaysia is capable of providing the best education system for all with the co-operation of all stakeholders, i.e. parents, educators and students themselves.

Describing the issue of education as closest to his heart, he also acknowledged that various efforts had to be taken to empower the national education system which “encompasses all aspects of human capital development inclusively as well as bridges the education gap between the urban and rural students”.

He said: “We can only produce excellent human capital through a holistic education system. Therefore, I support any education development effort, such as that formulated in the National Education Blueprint.”

The education system is another infamous example of the breach of Najib’s promise of “Janji Di Tepati”.

The Prime Minister has made a valiant attempt to salvage  public confidence in the national education system and in particular the 13-year Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) to transform the Malaysian education system from a mediocre one stuck in the bottom third of the countries  into a world-class quality system.

But Najib’s effort is a totally inadequate response to the national educational crisis  when he has an Education Minister who has shown utter unconcern,  indifference and disinterest to Malaysia’s deteriorating educational standards as Muhyiddin has not said  a single word on the “triple whammy” on deteriorating educational standards in the past three week.

Neither Muhyiddin nor Najib has been able to explain the “unique character” of our national education system, where year after year Malaysian students make great strides in their educational quality and  standards according to local examinations like SPR and PMR, every year achieving increasing hordes of students scoring straight As in all their subjects,  but at the same time suffering serious erosion of educational standards and quality according to international educational assessments like the quadrennial TIMSS and triennial PISA.

For instance, when Malaysia first participated in TIMSS  in 1999, our  scores on both Mathematics and Science (519 and 492 respectively) were above the international average, with a ranking of 16 among 38 countries in Mathematics and 22 in Science.

In 2003 TIMSS, Malaysia’s performance was similar to that of 1999. The Science score actually increased, remaining well-above the international average, while the Mathematics score dropped somewhat but also stayed above the international average and the country’s rank actually improved to 10th place among 45 countries.

However, the 2007 and 2011 TIMSS showed a significant deterioration in performance for Malaysian students as compared to their peers in other countries.

By 2011, the Mathematics score had dropped to 440 points (26th position among 42 countries), while the Science score benchmarks fell to 426 points (32nd among 42 countries).

In the four TIMSS 1999-2011, Malaysia is the country which suffered the biggest drop in scores among all participating countries for both maths and science: in maths dropping by 79 points from 519 in 1999 to 440 in 2011; in science, dropping by 66 points from 492 in 1999 to 426 points in 2011.

Neither Muhyiddin nor Najib has been able to offer a cogent and acceptable explanation for such deplorable deterioration of educational stadards in our schools, whether TIMSS or PISA, in the past decade.

Neither can the Prime Minister nor Deputy Prime Minister explain how the government and the Education Ministry could spend RM20 million to get foreign consultants to prepare the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) with a “fairy tale” objective which requires Malaysian students to perform three miracles in the Three Waves of the 13-year blueprint to catapult from the bottom third to the top third of the PISA and TIMSS system – a “double quantum jump” in educational standards which no other country on earth had ever achieved!

When I had repeatedly asked Muhyiddin whether he is serious and thinks that it is practical, achievable and do-able for Malaysian students to set a world record of catapulting from the bottom third to top third of the PISA and TIMSS systems in 13 years, there was complete silence not only from Muhyiddin and the Malaysian education planners in the Education Ministry, but most interestingly, also from McKinsey & Co, the foreign consultants who were paid RM20 million to prepare the MEB!

Malaysia deserves a new Education Minister who is fully committed to resolve the national education crisis with a practical and  achievable action plan to transform the country from a mediocre to a world-class education system.

If Muhyiddin still  thinks that he is a good Education Minister, then he should welcome and ensure the convening of a  special meeting of Parliament in January on the national educational crisis to prove his mettle and worth as the education czar in the country.

Otherwise Najib should take the opportunity of the imminent Cabinet reshuffle to appoint a new Education Minister who can do justice to the country and future generations as the quality of the  education system of a country is intimately and intricately linked with its economic future.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 12:48 pm and is filed under
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Support for Barisan will drop further if it ignores rising cost, says varsity survey

The Malaysian Insider

December 24, 2013

Support for the Barisan Nasional administration will drop further if it fails to deal with the rising cost of living experienced by Malaysians, another study has found today.

At the same time, the study by the Universiti Malaya’s Centre for Democracy and Elections (UMCEDEL) showed that 61% of respondents disagreed with the Government’s plan to introduce a goods and services tax in 2015.

The study showed that only 20% of those polled agreed with the initiative.

UMCEDEL director Prof Datuk Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman said that the rise in electricty and petrol prices had a severe impact on those polled and that 52% of them felt that the Government’s BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid) handouts were inadequate to deal with rising prices.

Of the 1,676 respondents in the peninsula, about 42% were concerned with the rise in petrol prices, while 34% said they felt the effect of the rise in the price of goods and 24% felt the the hike in electricity tariffs would impact on them.

The survey was conducted between December 6 and 8.

Last week, a Merdeka Center survey found that concerns over the economy, particularly rising costs and inflation, rose to its highest ever level, up to 67% of all respondents.

The survey found that 55% of voters in the peninsula said that they also did not understand the impact of the GST on their lives.

Additionally, 54% of respondents reported that they did not believe in statements by government leaders about the country’s economic situation.

The people had also lost faith in schemes, such as BR1M, to mitigate the higher cost of living and its role in increasing  support for BN, the survey showed.

It added that 47% of rural dwellers said that BR1M had no bearing on their support for BN while 46% of respondents admitted that the handouts did not change their party support.

Redzuan said: “After BR1M’s first handout, BN support was at 49%. But by the time the fourth BR1M handout came along, BN support went down to 42%.

“The wow factor is gone by the time the subsequent handouts were given to the people.”

The introduction of the GST was also unpopular among a large segment of the public. The Government was faulted for its poor handling of GST information, said political analyst Shaharuddin Badaruddin from UiTM, who was also present at UMCEDEL today.

“The opposition’s message on the GST has been more successful than the Government’s own message. Even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s explanation failed to shift people’s perception.

“The Government has failed to explain that the GST would not alter the price of goods and services. It now has to prove that prices would, in fact, be lower after GST to convince the public of its adoption.”  – December 23, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 3:56 pm and is filed under
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Malays should be less dogmatic

 – Hafiz Ahmad

The Malaysian Insider

December 24, 2013

The recent series of racial and religious polemics have caused a big storm in our country. It is worse when some politicians take advantage of these issues to become heroes so that people will applaud them as true Islamic/Malays protector. In return, they expect to get more votes in the next election.

They know that the Malays easily become irrational when it comes to racial and religious issues. The Malays have been trapped in a dogmatic circle for too long thus preventing them from thinking rationally.

I am truly impressed with Mujahid Yusuf Rawa’s effort, organising a dialogue to strengthen the bridge between Islam and Christianity; others, including the ulama and ustaz and those in Islamic institutions such as Jakim and Jais, have failed to do it.

The Malays are terrified with a lot of imaginary enemies then suddenly Mujahid came up with an idea to have a dialogue with this “imaginary enemy”.  I feel such a relief when knowing there is at least one politician with thoughtful idea. This is the true Islamic teaching and understanding.

All these years, Malays have been filled with dogmatic values throughout various religious occasions. They believe and are convinced by every single thing preached by their ustaz or ulama, without taking little effort to think it over and verify things said.

The outcome is that there are lot false Islamic values spread among Malays, which subsequently give wrong the impression about Islam from non-Muslims.  Words like “progressive” becomes so strange to them. When someone comes up with new progressive idea that is different from their dogmatic values they embraced all these times.

They quickly labelled as liberal, deviant, Western agent. This is what happened to Mujahid, Khalid Samad and several progressive leaders in PAS.

One thing I hate about dogmatic people is that they like to judge others. When they see a Muslim that does not follow Islamic dress codes, they simply assume that particular person is going to hell. In Islamic teaching there is always forgiveness for those who commit sins; they just have to ask for it directly from Allah without any

intermediary. Allah opens the door of forgiveness at night for His servants, those commit sin at daylight. They have failed to portray the true attributes of Allah Almighty. Malays can easily escape themselves from dogmatic circle by simply use their brains given by Allah. – December 24, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 25 December 2013, 6:25 am and is filed under
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Najib – Time to prove he is a moderate by deed and conviction not a political chameleon who alternates between moderation and immoderation in his speeches depending on the crowd and occasion

The speeches by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday – one delivered by him at the national-level Christmas Open House in Penang and the other read out for him in Kuala Lumpur by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low, at the Christian Federation of Malaysia’s Christmas Hi-Tea – should have been received in elation by all reasonable and moderate Malaysians but this time, they failed to evoke such a response.

Why? Is it because men and women of reason and moderationn in Malaysia have become extremists rejecting the sentiments of moderation, harmony and co-existence preached by Najib in his two Christmas speeches yesterday?

This cannot be so and it is not so.

In his address at the National Christmas Open House celebration in Penang, Najib said both Christianity and Islam have common roots and are Abrahamic religions.

He noted that the Muslims may not be able to accept the Christian interpretation on the concept of God and vice versa for the Christians.

“So, rather than choosing this path of fighting over these differences, it is better that we find a common ground to preserve the peace, harmony and stability of the country.”

He told both groups to understand the sensitivities of each others’ religions so as not to offend one another.

“Muslims should not hurt the feelings of Christians and likewise, Christians should not hurt the feelings of Muslims.”

Very correct and commendable sentiments. Why should Malaysians be divided by an issue which had not been a cause for contention, dissension and division for the first half-century of the nation’s life?

In his speech prepared for the Christian Federation of Malaysia’s Christmas Hi-Tea, Najib said that a moderate and rational approach was needed to keep Malaysia peaceful and harmonious.

“I always believe that differences in religious faith is not a weakening factor in our society, but rather a strong element in nation building for it serves as a constant reminder that we have so much to share in common, the values which are universally accepted like patriotism, peace, love, kindness, helping the poor and needy, social justice and so on.

“We may differ in our faiths, but we are not divided.”

Men and women of reason and moderation have always been guided by these sentiments and values expounded by Najib yesterday, and they should have been very relieved that the Prime Minister is on the same page with them on the need for national policies to be guided by these principles.

Why then have the reaction to the two Najib speeches yesterday been less than adulatory, if not highly suspicious?

This is because the time has come for Najib, in the second term and fifth year as Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister, to prove that he is a moderate by deed and conviction and not a political chameleon who alternates between moderation and immoderation in his speeches depending on the crowd and occasion.

For instance, when Najib took aim at politicians accused of stirring controversy for political gain and without regard for peace and harmony, Malaysians of reason and moderation fully agree with him – except they would disagree on the identity of the “irresponsible politicians” being referred to.

Najib said that he is aware of disagreements due to misunderstanding on certain issues among the people.

“Time and again, these have tested our resolve to remain a tolerant and peaceful nation. Like all tests that have come before, we have been exercising restraint in our responses yet resolute in defending our moderate and harmonious way of life.

“Irresponsible politicians who only seek short-term fame at the expense of harmony, will constantly evoke the sensitivities and fault lines to portray oneself as a hero for political mileage.

“I have always frowned upon such irresponsible conduct and I trust all citizens will view this conduct nothing but a folly.”

To Malaysian men and women, these “irresponsible politicians” described by Najib are mostly to be found in UMNO, and on a number of ocasions not excluding Najib himself, which are clearly not the people the Prime Minister has in mind.

This illustrates the wide gulf between the thinking and perceptions of the Prime Minister and Malaysians of reason and moderation.

How can Najib be the national and even international spokesman of moderation when he has to prove to Malaysians of reason and moderation that he is one of their number?

Najib has said that he is not interested in winning an argument or in winning a legal argument as his main concern is on pursuing harmony, peace and stability for the country.

This is a good basis for the ending of the recent worsening religious fault lines in our plural society and I fully endorse the proposal by the Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri Murphy Pakian urging the Prime Minister to cement his own call for an end to Muslim-Christian hostility by withdrawing Putrajaya’s legal challenge against the Catholic Church’s use of “Allah”.

The ball is in Najib’s court to act on the message of moderation, harmony and co-existence of his two Christmas speeches yesterday. Will he or won’t he?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 26 December 2013, 10:14 am and is filed under
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National shame that foreign bodies like World Bank more concerned about Malaysia’s educational crisis and deteriorating educational standards than even the Education Minister himself

Since the publication of the 2012 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results more than three weeks ago, the World Bank has come out with a special report themed
“High-Performing Education”
 in its latest issue of Malaysian Economic Monitor, organised a forum in a local university presenting the World Bank report zeroing on the question whether Malaysia can develop a high-performing education system to support our high-income aspirations and featured in several online and printed, local and foreign, media reports (including Wall Street Journal on Christmas Eve) quoting World Bank officials from its Bangkok office attributing the cause of Malaysia’s poor performance in international educational benchmarks to inefficiencies in the Malaysian education system in the allocation of resources for education in the country.

The World Bank’s
“Malaysian Economic Monitor:High-Performing Education”
 is an indictment of the Education Ministry and the national education system for failing to provide access to quality education to Malaysian schoolchildren 56 years after Merdeka as Malaysia has one of the most inefficient Education Ministries and education systems in the world although the Education Ministry has been allotted RM54.6 billion in Budget 2014, highest for any sector.

As a result, the World Bank Monitor in Chapter of its report states (para 90):

“Malaysia’s performance in standardized international student assessments is below what would be expected of a country with its income per capita or level of educational expenditure, and well below the performance of the high-income economies that Malaysia aspires to compete against for innovation and knowledge-based investments. Moreover, performance appears to have deteriorated over the past decade.”

It is a national shame that foreign bodies like the World Bank is more concerned about Malaysia’s educational crisis and deteriorating educational standards than even the Education Minister himself.

Malaysians cannot fathom the continued thundering silence of the Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to Malaysia’s poor performance in the 2012 PISA, the 2011 TIMSS and the World Bank indictment on the low quality of Malaysian education system as compared to its peers in other countries.

Muhyiddin has kept mum on the subject of low and deteriorating educational standards of Malaysian students for over three weeks in the month of December. Is he going to continue to avoid the subject for the whole of next year?

Muhyiddin does not seem to mind being dumped as among the most inefficient Education Ministers in the world, which has not barred from going to Western capitals to boast about Malaysia’s education system and the “fairy tale” Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (MEB) expecting Malaysian students to do the impossible – performing three educational miracles in 13 years to make the “double quantum jump” from the bottom third to the top third of PISA and TIMSS systems by 2021.

The “fairy tale” MEP is another proof that the Malaysian Cabinet, in the words of former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, continues to be a “half-past six” Cabinet.

Having a “starry-eyed” Education Minister who could present a “fairy-tale” MEB, and having to pay RM20 million to get foreign consultants totally unrelated to the education field to write it, is bad enough.

But it is completely unthinkable that there is not a single Cabinet Minister who is sufficiently awake in the Cabinet to realise and point out that the MEB is totally unrealistic, unachievable and will make Malaysia a laughing stock in the educational world – as no country has achieved the MEB objective of making the “double quantum jump” of catapulting from the bottom-third to top-third of the PISA and TIMSS systems in a matter of 10 years.

In fact, the real challenge for Malaysia is whether Malaysia’s 15-year-old students can get out of the bottom-third of PISA and TIMSS system into the middle-third (and not top-third) bracket, come 2021!

Having one of the most inefficient Education Ministers in the world, and a “half-past six” Cabinet which could endorse Muhyiddin’s “fairy-tale” MEB are grounds enough for the convening of an emergency meeting of Parliament to redeem Malaysia’s international reputation in the world of education.

Are there any Cabinet Ministers who are brave enough to own up to their lapses in giving blanket approval to the MEB and to support the convening of an emergency session of Parliament next month?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 26 December 2013, 10:05 am and is filed under
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Agenda Lebuhraya PLUS: DAP sudah dedah sejak 1987

RoketKini

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 DISEMBER: Perjanjian kotor kerajaan demi mengkayakan kroni dalam pemberian kontrak projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan (PLUS) 26 tahun lalu akhirnya terbukti menyusahkan rakyat.

Dalam risalah bertajuk ‘Skandal Lebuhraya Utara Selatan’ terbitan 1987, Ketua Parlimen DAP, Lim Kit Siang pernah mendedahkan kemungkaran UMNO yang dilihat mempunyai kepentingan kepada saham konsesi lebuhraya itu, namun sehingga kini masih diam membisu.

Antara yang dipertikaikan beliau adalah peranan syarikat pelaburan UMNO iaitu Hati Budi Sdn Bhd yang menguasai United Engineers Malaysia (UEM) Bhd.

Hati Budi ketika itu dikaitkan dengan pimpinan tertinggi kerajaan iaitu Tun Daim Zainuddin (Menteri Kewangan ketika itu) dan Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

UEM merupakan syarikat utama mendapat kontrak pembinaan PLUS dengan tempoh konsesi daripada 1987-2017 yang akan mengutip tol berjumlah RM54 bilion dalam tempoh 30 tahun.

“PLUS adalah projek yang menelan belanja RM3.4 bilion. Pemberikan kontrak kepada UEM menjadi satu persoalan yang tidak terjawab.

“UEM jelas tidak mempunyai ‘track record’ sama sekali dalam pembinaan jalan raya berbanding syarikat lain yang berpengalaman dan memohon tender sama seperti Pilecon serta Hashbuddin dengan kadar jauh lebih rendah.

“Ia jelas pemberian kepada UEM adalah semata-mata disebabkan pertalian unik Hati Budi dengan Daim dan Mahathir,” katanya dalam risalah itu.

Kit Siang yang juga Ahli Parlimen DAP Tanjung ketika itu turut menggesa Menteri Kerja Raya, Datuk S Samy Vellu mendedahkan identiti UMNO di sebalik syarikat Hati Budi.

Namun Samy Vellu tidak mahu membuka mulut dan hanya menyatakan fakta terbabit boleh didapati di Pejabat Pendaftar Syarikat.

“Saya telah menghantar orang untuk memeriksa fail syarikat itu, tetapi ia tidak boleh didapati.

“Persoalannya apakah ‘track record’ kewangan yang dimiliki UEM adalah sebuah ‘insolvent company’ sehingga boleh menawar untuk mendapat projek PLUS yang begitu besar?

“Satu pemeriksaan dilakukan ke atas Hati Budi menunjukkan bahawa pada 1984, ia cuma sebuah syarikat yang ditubuhkan dengan modal RM2 dan mempunyai dua pemegang saham.

“Adakah benar Hati Budi tidak perlu mengeluarkan sebarang wang tunai untuk membeli saham UEM kerana mendapat pinjaman bank OCBC sebanyak RM25 juta atas persefahaman bahawa UEM akan dapat kontrak PLUS dan beberapa kontrak lain?,” soalnya. – Roketkini.com

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 December 2013, 1:57 pm and is filed under
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Ministers and police chiefs have done a great disservice to the nation trumpeting to the world about a “fairy tale”  plot on New Year’s eve to “topple the  government” as if Malaysia is a “basket case country” on the verge of political and economic collapse

Cabinet Ministers and police chiefs have done a great disservice to the nation in the past ten days trumpeting to the world about a “fairy tale” plot on New Year’s eve to “topple the government” as if Malaysia is  a “basket case country” on the verge of political and economic  collapse at any moment.

The whole “topple government” caper was started by of all persons the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar  who should have shown greater professionalism and gravitas instead of shocking the country ten days ago with the flighty announcement that a planned gathering on New Year’s eve at Dataran Merdeka to “topple government” was “a national threat”, vowing action under the Penal Code and  SOSMA – Security Offences (Special Measures) Act – and threatening that any person guilty of the offence of activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy can be jailed for a maximum of 15 years.

Even Cabinet Ministers like the Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek got into the act to present to the world the spectacle of Malaysia as a “basket case country”, although warning that the December 31 rally is “to divert the people’s attention from the lies spread by the opposition after failing to capture Putrajaya in the May 5 general election”.

Pakatan Rakyat parties of PKR, PAS and DAP are even accused by UMNO mass media and cybertroopers of masterminding the New Year’s eve “plot” to topple the Najib government.

There were arbitrary arrests, an NGO activist Muhamad Azan Safar and a Sarawakian,  for allegedly implicated in the “topple government” plot.

But nobody really believe that there was such a New Year’s eve “plot”.

Neither the Pakatan Rakyat nor the DAP are in any way involved with such New Year’s eve “plots”.

I can confirm that no New Year’s eve programme, including the alleged “topple government” rally plot, was ever raised or discussed at any Pakatan Rakyat leadership or DAP meetings and whatever being planned for New Year’s eve has nothing to do with Pakatan Rakyat or the DAP.

It is clear however that the Najib administration, which has promised to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world”, has to learn to live with a more awakened democracy with a more active and outspoken citizenry and civil society, and if there are Malaysians who want to demonstrate their grievances and opposition to the the string of price hikes, whether sugar, petrol, power or toll, the government must accept such human rights of freedom of  expression without tarring them with the brush of  being anti-national elements or  traitors.

Furthermore, the Najib government must learn to live in  an information society brought about by the advent of Internet, and should not regard the expression of individuals on the social media, whether on facebook, twitter or blogs as a national conspiracy against the state.

Shabery may be right about a conspiracy to divert the people’s attention – but it is the Barisan Nasional government which is guilty as it has many skeletons in its cupboards in Putrajaya which it is trying to hide from the knowledge and inquiry of the Malaysian citizenry.

The latest skeleton to be exposed is the secret that the Najib government had been funding the activities of  the extremist and racist Perkasa while the Prime Minister present a front of being a moderate in national and international forums.

Malaysians are entitled to know the total amount of taxpayers’ money which had been funnelled to Perkasa by the various government agencies from the establishment of Perkasa and to demand that Perkasa  refund every sen it has improperly received from the government for its anti-national activities disseminating the politics of hate, intolerance and  division in the country.

Is it because the Najib administration has many skeletons like the secret funding of Perkasa that Ministers and police chiefs are trying to  distract public attention with fairy-tale stories about New Year’s eve conspiracy to “topple government” – without realising that they are in fact committing  a most anti-national act and  doing a great disservice to the nation by spreading the notion worldwide that Malaysia is a very fragile and unstable country?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 December 2013, 6:22 pm and is filed under
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Najib should intervene immediately to restore publication licence to The Heat before it becomes the tipping point to plunge Malaysia’s 2014 Press Freedom Index to the lowest point, even below that of Myanmar

Before the end of the year of 2013 in five days’ time, there is another pledge that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should honour – his pledge to make Malaysia the “best democracy in the world”.

Nobody whether in Malaysia or outside really believe Najib would transform Malaysia into the “best democracy in the world” but the least they expect Najib to do is not to backslide on his specific promise of democratic reforms.

The suspension of the weekly, The Heat, would be one such unacceptable instance of Najib reneging on his specific promise of democratic reforms to unshackle the press from authoritarian restrictions of the Mahathirish past.

In fact, Najib should be moving forward to repeal the Printing Presses and Publications Act altogether to remove the requirement for the licensing of publications.

The Home Ministry has claimed that Najib is not behind the suspension of The Heat and that the suspension is not related to the report in the weekly titled
“All eyes on big spending PM Najib”
 published for the week of November 23-29.

Nobody really believes in the Home Ministry’s denial and clarification but let us move on.

Najib should intervene immediately to restore the publication licence of The Heat before this incident becomes the tipping point to plunge Malaysia’s 2014 Press Freedom Index to the lowest point in the nation’s history, even below that of Myanmar.

Malaysia already plunged last year to a historic low of No. 145 ranking out of 179 countries in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index – the worst since the start of the annual index by Reporters Without Border (RSF) in 2002.

Malaysia fell by 23 rungs last year, as it was ranked at 122 in the 2011/2012 Press Freedom Index.

This was because of Malaysia’s “sorry record” of the government’s repeated effort to censor information with access to information “becoming more and more limited” as well as the government’s campaign of repression as in the authorities’ “heavy-handed crackdown on the Bersih rally” in April 2012.

As a result, ASEAN neighbours Brunei, Thailand and Indonesia outperformed Malaysia at 122nd, 135th and 139th place respectively.Cambodia stood at 143, two rungs higher than Malaysia despite sliding down 26 spots from the previous year. Other ASEAN countries that had less favourable performances are the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, and Vietnam, which were respectively ranked at 147, 149, 168 and 172.

Noteworthy was Myanmar which was ranked 151, six pspots behind Malaysia, after jumping up 18 places – the second year it had improved its rankings.

Is Malaysia heading towards the nation’s lowest ranking in the history of the Press Freedom Index, even lower than Myanmar, for the coming new year in 2014?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 27 December 2013, 9:29 am and is filed under
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After The Heat freeze, Malaysian Bar calls for PPPA repeal

By Boo Su-Lyn

The Malay Mail Online

December 28, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — The Malaysian Bar urged Putrajaya today to abolish the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 and to establish a Media Council instead, amid an indefinite suspension of The Heat weekly.

Malaysian Bar president Christopher Leong criticised the recent suspension of The Heat that was ordered shortly after the paper reported on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “big spending” nature in its November 23 to 29 issue, calling it an “unwarranted attack” on press freedom, as well as on freedom of speech and expression.

“Action against The Heat is merely the latest event in a long list of state actions to suppress the press,” Leong said in a statement today.

“Other instances include incidents during which the minister of home affairs harassed a Malaysiakini journalist who was asking him questions, and threatened to shut down newspapers that reported his speech in Malacca the following day; and the physical assault and abuse of media professionals by the police during the Bersih 3.0 public assembly in Kuala Lumpur on April 28, 2012,” he added.

Leong stressed that the PPPA should be repealed as it is an “archaic” law that violates the right to freedom of speech and expression, as enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

“The Act has been used and abused to influence, bully, intimidate, threaten and punish the press. Such legislative and governmental control of the press, including licensing regimes, should end,” he said.

“A free press is a fundamental feature of a vibrant and accountable democracy. An independent press acts as a disseminator of information, and as a check and balance of elected representatives and government,” added Leong.

The lawyer pointed out that the Court of Appeal had dismissed last October the Home Ministry’s appeal against a High Court judgment that allowed news portal Malaysiakini the right to be issued a publication permit.

“It is time that Malaysia provides for independent regulation of the press media,” said Leong.

“Complaints regarding objectionable press stories and material should be dealt with by an independent Media Council to be established — consisting of journalism practitioners and civil society representatives, and with minimal or no government representation — or, alternatively, a Media Ombudsperson,” he added.

The Najib administration amended the PPPA last year to remove the requirement for the print media to apply for annual permits, but the law still gives the home minister the power to suspend a publication.

“There should be a clear separation between the role and purview of owners of media, and professional journalists and management. There should be no pressure or interference by owners of media in the management of editorial and news content of any publication,” said Leong.

The lawyer pointed out that the press could be held accountable through defamation laws, for example.

“Malaysia needs, and Malaysians deserve, a free and independent press, as well as a press that is ethical, responsible and fair,” he said.

Malaysia fell 23 rungs to a historic low of 145th out of 179 countries in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index released earlier this year by Reporters Without Borders, an international press freedom non-profit organisation, which cited increasingly limited access to information in the country.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 28 December 2013, 2:24 pm and is filed under
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Gov’t’s history of silencing media on ‘technicalities’

Nigel Aw

Malaysiakini

Dec 28, 2013

Media activists have poured cold water on the Home Ministry’s explanation that news weekly The Heat’s suspension was due to its failure to comply with technical provisions under its publishing permit.

At a forum in Kuala Lumpur last night to show solidarity with The Heat, Malaysiakini chief editor Fathi Aris Omar bluntly called the explanation “bulls**t”.

Fathi pointed out that the government has had a history of indefinitely suspending publications on technical grounds when upset with their contents.

“An example was a political news weekly Ekslusif, published by KarangKraf  which was closed down in April after the 1999 General Election with the reason that its licence had lapsed and now renewed,” he said.

Adding on, political cartoonist Nor Afendi Ramli (above) said other publications such as Tamadun, Detik, Al-Wasilah were similarly “suspended indefinitely” on technicalities and never allowed to resume.

“The Home Ministry can use any technical reason for suspension.

“In the case of Al-Wasilah, the reason given was because the name of the publication had ‘Al’ in it but the fact was because of its contents,” said Afendi, who is better known by his pen name, Ronasina.

He added that “suspension” was merely a nicer sounding word but often times in the past it has been as good as “closure”.

“Another example is in 1987, when the Malay language political tabloid was popular with a circulation of 60,000 to 70,000… it was critical of both the government and opposition.

“It similar received the same fate (as The Heat) with a ‘suspension’ but for Watan, it was in fact a ‘closure’,” he said.

The Heat is the most recent victim of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 after the Home Minister suspended it indefinitely.

The action came shortly after the news weekly published a front-page story entitled “All eyes on big spending PM Najib” which highlighted the premier’s and his wife’s Rosmah Mansor’s costly overseas trips and expensive consultants.

The Home Ministry has denied the controversial story was the cause of suspension and instead attributed it to “violation of publishing permit provisions”.

The forum in Kuala Lumpur last night was organised by Gerakan Media Marah (Geramm), a loose coalition of journalists, editors and activists, prompted by The Heat’s suspension.

‘Call to action’

Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan (right) said journalists themselves were partly to be blamed over the lack of press freedom in the country and called on them to take action against The Heat’s suspension this time around.

“I think we have not done enough (for press freedom). We have collectively failed the millions of Malaysians who look up to us to at least help bring about change.

“I can understand why many journalists prefer not to rock the boat, especially those in the mainstream media.

“But if we stand together, we can defy the tycoons and political parties that own much of the media today,” he said.

He added that a strong opposition, a vibrant civil society and an independent media were the three key ingredients to “change” but the last element was evidently missing.

Gan pointed out that the opposition had boosted its parliamentary seats five fold to 89 since the 1999 general election while forces such as Bersih and Hindraf had emerged in the civil society.

However, even though there was the emergence of the online media outfits and newer titles recently, the overall media environment remained the same.

“The government knows this very well which is why it is keeping a tight leash on at least one of this force (the media) as it has already lost control of other two forces.”

Meanwhile, Reporters Without Border representative Hata Wahari (left) urged the audience, mostly young journalists, to adopt a more hardline stance against attacks on press freedom.

Hata, who was sacked as a senior journalists by Utusan Malaysia for critical remarks against his own company when he was National Union of Journalist (NUJ) president, said forums and petitions alone will not be taken seriously by the Home Ministry.

Yesterday’s forum titled “Free the press: Dare to defy” was attended by mostly young journalists clad in red as a sign of protest and accompanied by supporters from civil society, including Bar Council president Christopher Leong.

‘Legal support’ pledge

Organisers at the forum also announced a “Red Pencil” protest on Jan 4 in Kuala Lumpur as a follow-up to calls for tougher action in response to the Home Ministry’s suspension of The Heat.

Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) advisor Eric Paulsen, who was among the audience, also urged journalists to take action and pledged legal support.

“I urge all of us to band together on this issue, you have a legitimate cause and this is something that you cannot lose the moral high ground.

“This initiative must be journalist driven and if you get into trouble, LFL is right behind you to provide free legal advice.

“If you want to demonstrate, let us know and we will come, if you get charged, we will defend you and if you want to sue them, we will do it for you,” he said.

Other speakers at the forum moderated by FZ.com editor Zakiah Koya were Free Malaysia Today chief reporter G Vinod, Centre for Independent Journalism executive director Masjalizah Hamzah and The Malaysian Insider assistant news editor V Anbalagan.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 28 December 2013, 2:39 pm and is filed under
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Muhyiddin’s Malaysian Education Blueprint knocked out of kilter by the adverse 2011 TIMSS and 2012 PISA results and needs to be revised and downwards

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, must break his month-long  “inelegant silence” on the Malaysia’s deteriorating educational standards and state whether he supports the convening of an emergency Parliament in January to debate the national education crisis and the formation of an Opposition-headed Parliamentary Select Committee on Education to provide direct and constant parliamentary oversight over educational policies and measures in the country.

These two initiatives are urgent and imperative as Muhyiddin’s Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 to spearhead educational transformation in the next 13 years have  proven to be unrealistic, impractical and Utopian –  overtaken by the adverse results of Malaysian students in the 2011 TIMSS (Trends in International Maths and Science Study) and 2012 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment).

The MEB was formulated to deal with the adverse performance of Malaysian students in the quadrennial 2007 TIMSS and triennial 2009 PISA, resulting in the policy statement that the 13-year MEB will catapult  Malaysia in a triple “hop-step-jump” from the bottom-third to the top-third of PISA and TIMSS systems by the turn of the next decade, viz:

*Wave 1 (2013-2015) to  achieve a “turn-around” of  the system of deteriorating educational standards;

*Wave 2 (2016-2020) where  Malaysia’s performance will be at par with the international average of PISA and TIMSS benchmarks; and

*Wave 3 (2021-2025) where  Malaysia’s performance on PISA and TIMSS will be in the top third of PISA and TIMSS assessments.

However, far from preparing the national education system for a “turn-around” so that Malaysia can be at par with the international average of PISA and TIMSS systems in Wave 2 and jump to the top third of PISA and TIMSS systems in Wave 3, Malaysia has fallen further down the grades in the 2011 TIMSS and 2012 PISA.

In fact, Malaysia suffers the ignominy of being the country which suffered the biggest drop in scores among all participating countries for both maths and science in the series of four TIMSS in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011: in maths dropping by 79 points from 519 in 1999 to 440 in 2011; in science, dropping by 66 points from 492 in 1999 to 426 points in 2011.

Although the latest PISA scores showed improvement in maths, the scores for science and reading  fell in the 2012 PISA compared to 2010. Evidence also suggests that English proficiency has deteriorated over time.

As a result, Malaysia’s current educational standards are at an even lower level than that assumed by the MEB, making its objective to catapult Malaysia from the bottom-third to the top-third of the TIMSS and PISA systems in a decade an impossible task.

The question is not whether Malaysian students can catapult from the bottom-third to the top-third of TIMSS and PISA systems, but whether Malaysian students can achieve the TIMSS and PISA international averages by the end of the MEB, i.e. medium  ranking of the middle third of TIMSS and PISA – which is still many school years behind their peers in the  top-performing nations in the international educational benchmarks like Shanghai, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.

This  is why I describe the MEB as a “Miracle Education Blueprint” in asking Malaysian students to do the impossible – as performing three educational miracles in a decade –  something no country has ever achieved before.

For the first time in Malaysian educational planning, the government spent RM20 million to commission foreign consultants McKinsey & Co., who is not an acknowledged authority in the field of education, to prepare the MEB.

The MEB must have set a world record of a kind, as  within a few months of its official launching by Muhyiddin in September this year, it is now proven that its objective to catapult Malaysian students from the bottom-third to top-third of international educational benchmarks, i.e. in  2021/2024 PISA and 2023 TIMSS, are entirely utopian and not achievable.

Is Muhyiddin going to be humble and professional as an Education Minister and admit that the objective of MEB to catapult Malaysian students from the bottom-third to top-third of PISA and TIMSS systems by the turn of the decade has been completely knocked out of kilter by the adverse 2011 TIMSS and 2012 PISA results and needs to be  revised downwards.

This is why there should be an emergency session of Parliament next month not only to debate the MEB which has been knocked out of kilter in less than three months of its launching but the overall national education crisis in Malaysia.

Or  is Muhyiddin waiting for the next Education Minister to admit the impractical and utopian nature of the MEB?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 28 December 2013, 9:13 am and is filed under
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Religious without religion

– Muhammad As’ad

The Malaysian Insider

December 28, 2013

To be a religious believer we have to follow certain strict rules which cannot be violated. For instance as Muslims we believe that Allah is the only God and the Prophet Muhammad is His messenger; we must regularly observe the five daily prayers, zakat, fasting during the month of Ramadhan, and the haj at least once in a lifetime — all these are the five pillars of Islam. As Muslims, we cannot evade those five pillars except for some specific exceptions.

Another important step is to make religion a part of our life. The number of Muslims in this country is remarkable. How can we say that we are not religious?

However, Transparency International’s 2012 Corruption Perception Index showed that Indonesia was ranked 118 out of 176 countries; worse than in 2011 when Indonesia was ranked 100. The Indonesia Ulama Council (MUI) even issued an edict in 2000, stating that bribery, corruption and gratification are forbidden.

Nonetheless, these rules fail to deter corruption. For instance, the treasurer of MUI, Chairunnisa, who is also a lawmaker of the Golkar party, was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) along with the former Constitutional Court chief Akil Mochtar. We probably have religious piety but we certainly do not have social piety.

In terms of religiosity, we are quite remarkable. We can see many Indonesian people celebrating religious activities, rituals and commemorations. Nevertheless, this religiosity does not seem to influence our life.

Recently I was invited by the Japan Foundation to an intellectual exchange program. Japan resembles a nation that religious people might think and imagine as a religious country. Everything is well ordered, the streets are clean even in a rural area like Fudai, a village in Iwate prefecture where I visited. We could say that the Japanese people are very religious, through their adherence to a moral code of conduct in daily life.

However the World Values Survey in 2010 showed most Japanese think religion is not important. Only 9.9% said that religion was very important. Interestingly, this proportion is decreasing over time.

Apparently religious rituals are not an important factor in determining the good progress of a country particularly in the Japanese case.

In comparison one could refer to an article published in the Berkeley-based Global Economy Journal in 2010, on “How Islamic are Islamic countries?” It measured the degree of Islam in some countries especially in the field of economy, education, corruption, financial systems and human rights.

Interestingly, most Islamic countries including Indonesia ranked low. Most of the high ranks were occupied by non Muslim countries; New Zealand came first, followed by Luxembourg. This fact once again shows that many developed countries are already religious even though some of them claim to be non-religious countries.

I am not saying that we have to copy most of those countries, leaving behind our religious rituals and focusing on social piety. We can do better than those who think that religion is not important.

We have to implement our religious values so that they are embedded in everyday life, by helping to stop corruption, for instance, or not lying to ourselves. By applying our religion we can contribute to making our country better. – Jakarta Post, December 28, 2013.

* The writer is the director of the Pesantren Tebuireng Social Fund (LSPT) and a participant in the 2013 Invitation Program for Young Muslim Intellectuals in Southeast Asia.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 28 December 2013, 11:59 pm and is filed under
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Right about Islam, Christianity’s common ground, but who seeks to keep Allah exclusive?

NEWS ANALYSIS BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

December 26, 2013

Faith in Malaysia has become a trickier issue in the past few years, first with the authorities insisting that the word Allah is exclusive to Muslims, and finally that Muslims must be Sunni, and not Shia.

The preoccupation with faith and the policing of it is perplexing to say the least when it has never been a bone of contention for the most part of the country’s independence. If anything, the economy and the salaryman’s pay packet has always been a greater issue.

But the usually taciturn Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak finally broke his silence on Christmas Day to speak about Islam and Christianity amid the Government’s battle to keep the Arabic word Allah only for Muslims.

He spoke of common origins for both religions and called for mutual respect, saying “Although in terms of faith, we have our differences, for example, the concept of God. In Islam the concept of God is quite different.

“But if we are always quarrelling on this, then we will be distancing the Muslims from the Christians.”

He is right, of course. Except that it has been the Government that has been quarrelling about this and finally coming up with its Solomon-like ruling that Christians in Sabah and Sarawak can use Allah but not in the peninsula.

Perhaps, the Kuala Lumpur Catholic Church Archbishop emeritus Murphy Pakiam put it succinctly when he said yesterday, “What did he say? Even if the world talks and laughs about this ‘Allah’ issue, Malaysia will not allow (its use by non-Muslims), we (Government) will defend the exclusivity of its use.

“This is not a man who was educated in our Catholic school. By talking like that, you are just a bickering politician. I am praying that Allah will enlighten him to become a statesman.”

The Government’s directive to the Church’s weekly, Herald, to refrain from using the word in its Bahasa edition has been the subject of a court case that saw a 2009 High Court decision to allow the usage, only for the Court of Appeal to overturn the ruling last October.

The latest ruling and Putrajaya’s opposition to a new appeal has caused outrage among the country’s Christian community, particularly those who worship in Bahasa. Christians form 9% of Malaysia’s 29 million population.

“You think I am not angry? But he is the prime minister, so I have to pray to God to please help him do his duty for the whole country and not just Umno,” Pakiam said at the Christian Federation’s Christmas Day celebrations where a minister represented Najib.

The anger is palpable for Christians who feel the prime minister has pretended to be moderate and reasonable on a world stage, but is nothing like that when he returns to government business in Malaysia, pandering to the Malay far right, which seeks economic and religious dominance.

But at least the likes of Malay rights group Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali and controversial lecturer Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah are straight about their aims.

With the two of them, it is what you see is what you get. They do not pretend to be champions of multiracial politics, unlike the prime minister and politicians from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN).

This includes the Christians who choose to remain as ministers, deputy ministers and MPs in the Najib administration – while making polite noises to their community but remain silent in government – being just grateful that there is some financial aid or extra holidays for the festivities.

As DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said today, Najib has to prove he is a moderate by deed and conviction and not be a political chameleon who alternates between moderation and immoderation in his speeches, depending on the crowd and occasion.

The thing is, Najib and BN have constantly hammered Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for being a political chameleon. But the reality is this: Anwar and many Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders are secure in their faith as Muslims, and have not played politics on the Allah issue.

In the run-up to the election, Anwar supported the right of Christians to continue using the word Allah, stumping Terengganu and other Malay-belt states.

The same cannot be said for Najib and his ministers who have been chameleon like in their dealings with other communities, especially on religious issues. The Shia are now feeling the heat although Malaysia has cordial ties with Iran, the world’s most populous Shia nation.

If anything, the only Malaysian prime minister with religious credentials has been Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, although it was under his time that Putrajaya began enforcing the exclusivity of Allah for Muslims.

Yet, he was also the man who signed the Amman Message that agreed Sunni and Shia are legitimate branches of the faith.

For Putrajaya however, politics come first rather than interfaith harmony even if the prime minister did say, “I had mentioned before that I am not interested in winning an argument. I’m only concerned about preserving peace, harmony and stability in this country. This is my responsibility as Malaysia’s prime minister.”

That peace, harmony and stability means he needs to keep his vote bank happy. With the next election years away, he and BN have dropped their act of being good to every community, focusing only on one.

After all, the Allah appeal was only decided after the general election. And in time, perhaps people will forget that, and even forget prices only rose after the polls.

But there is no reason to despair.

Just understand that this man is just a politician, not a leader or statesman.

Just another politician. And they all come and go. Right? – December 26, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 28 December 2013, 4:05 am and is filed under
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Cat out of the bag – Perkasa is the unofficial 14th member of the Barisan Nasional coalition with greater heft and more influence than “7-11” MCA and the other 12 BN component parties combined

The cat is out of the bag. The extremist and racist Perkasa is the unofficial 14th member of the Barisan Nasional coalition with greater heft and more  influence than “7-11” MCA and the other 12 BN component parties combined.

We must thank the Perkasa President Ibrahim Ali for his hubris at the annual general meeting of Perkasa a week ago getting much too big for his shoes for this expose of this top Umno/BN secret for the past four years.

Clearly relishing the idea of being Prime Minister of Malaysia one day, Ibrahim toyed with the possibility of a political “reverse take-over” when he offered Perkasa as an alternative to UMNO, asserting that Perkasa is the “most structured political party in the country with 500,000 members”.

Claiming that Umno and BN will not be able to win in the recent general elections without Perkasa’s assistance, particularly in Perak and Kedah, Ibrahim said that although Perkasa supported BN during the last general election it is not guaranteed who it would side with in the future.

This prompted the riposte by UMNO veteran, former Minister and Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar and currently  Felda Chairman Mohd Isa Abdul Samad who asked: “We protected Perkasa and it received plenty of benefits from us. How will it replace us?”

This led to the spilling of the beans that Perkasa had been receiving government funds with the Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali admitting receiving funds from government agencies such as the National Security Council (MKN), National Civic Bureau (BTN) and Special Affairs Department (Jasa) and the Selangor Perkasa chief Abdul Bakar Yahya saying these funds were intended to help BN in the 13th and 14th general elections.

The revelations about the secret government funding of Perkasa has raised numerous questions about the accountability, transparency, integrity and credibility of the Najib premiership as well as about his commitment and credentials as a moderate and to his 1Malaysia signature policy as Perkasa stands in total opposition to the 1Malaysia policy (with full backing from Perkasa advisor Tun Dr. Mahathir) with its strident and unashamed Ketuanan Melayu stance.

Malaysians are entitled to immediate information as to when the Najib administration started funding Perkasa, who was the person who authorised it, whether the former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir was responsible for the decision, whether  apart from the National Security Council (MKN), the National Civics Department (BTN) and the Special Affairs Department (Jasa) there are other government agencies involved in funding Perkasa  and the total amount of funds disbursed to Perkasa by each such government agency all these years.

Most important of all, whether Ministers and leaders from MCA and the other 12 BN component parties had given their approval for the secret government funding of Perkasa or whether they were kept completely in the dark about the BN/UMNO government’s secret funding of Perkasa.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 29 December 2013, 5:44 pm and is filed under
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Farewell To 2013

by Teck Ying & Allan Goh

As we sing the Olde Lang Syne,

To history this year consign,

We thank fate, and Almighty,

For surviving our frailty.

To all friends and relatives,

A ‘Thank You’ superlative!

Forgive us our short-coming,

And uncalled for transgressing.

Yours is the inspiration

For this year’s exaltation.

Thank you for all the kindness,

That softens the year’s harshness.

To you a Happy New Year,

And everyone to you dear!

May 2014 be best

For your health and every quest.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 29 December 2013, 10:01 pm and is filed under
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Stop harassing Rafizi – Malaysian Police should conduct itself as a mature, efficient, professional and world-class police force fully mindful of its primary task of “democratic policing” and liberated from the obsession of “upholding the regime” to  oppose democratic change  at all costs

The Malaysian Police force has presented a sorry spectacle of itself recently, undermining its professional image as an independent, efficient and world-class police force, but what is worse, tarnishing the international image of Malaysia by trumpeting to the world as if Malaysia has become a “basket case country” on the verge of political and economic collapse.

And the person who led the charge to undermine the professional image of the police and the international image of the country is none other than the country’s No. 1 policeman, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, who shocked the country and the world with the wild and reckless “fairy tale” two weeks ago of a plot to “topple the government” on New Year’s eve.

Neither the IGP nor the police force have been be able to produce any evidence of a “topple government” plot on New Year’s eve, as Khalid was only acting on a “hunch” or  brainwave (planted or inspired by Umno conspirators), and I cannot think of a more “anti-national” act than this to end 2013.

Yesterday, the Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief Datuk Amar Singh Ishar Singh said that the police had received 588 reports nationwide in protest against  the New Year’s eve rally to “bring down the government”, alleging that four NGOs  were out to “create chaos” in Dataran Merdeka and would be bringing various weapons, including grenades and gas mark to stir up a commotion.

My first reaction to the 588 police reports (probably the 600 mark would be crossed by now) is the amount of wasted national energies provoked by the IGP’s “fairy tale” plot to topple the government – or was this the whole intention of the IGP in the first place?

Are there no better, more useful and productive things for Malaysians to do than to lodge 588, or over 600, police reports on a “fairy tale” plot?  No wonder Malaysia is losing her competitiveness in the global marketplace.

Secondly, the false impression given by the police as if a “plot to topple the government” with grenades and explosives thrown in could be hatched in Malaysia  any minute like a  common magic trick – which cannot be good in assuring international community whether investors or visitors about the political and economic stability and direction of the country.

It is not that the police had not come out with such “cock-and-bull” stories in the past to justify police over-reactions, as in the run-up to  Bersih 2 rally on July 9, 2011, when the police claimed to have found parangs and Molotov cocktails, and the Bersih 3 rally on April 28, 2012 which the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak alleged as a Pakatan Rakyat “coup d’etat” attempt to overthrow the Barisan Nasional government and the subsequent acknowledgement  by the then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, in Parliament that “salt, water bottles, handphones” were dangerous weapons during Bersih 3,  capable of “toppling” the elected government of the day!

But should the  Malaysian police force continue to be haunted and hounded by such “imaginary enemies” just to prop up the existing regime against democratic empowerment of the people?

The Malaysian Police in the first decade of the 21st century  should conduct itself as a mature, efficient, professional and world-class police force fully mindful of its primary task of “democratic policing” and liberated from the obsession of “upholding the regime” to  oppose democratic change  at all costs.

The police have summoned the PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli for questioning this morning, allegedly over allegations by UMNO cybertroopers that he is planning to plant bombs in certain locations in Dataran Merdeka on New Year’s eve.

These are serious and heinous charges and the police action is utterly ridiculous and outrageous.

This is why I had tweeted this morning that the police should have hauled up the UMNO blogger and not be harassing  Rafizi as in  other countries where there is proper respect for the rule of law, the police would have arrested and prosecuted the UMNO blogger if he is unable to produce evidence for such irresponsible and incendiary posting.

In Najib’s “Malaysia Boleh”, however, the victim suffers the double jeopardy of a defamatory and seditious allegation as well as being hauled up the police to prove his innocence, in blatant disregard of the principles that “one is innocent until proven guilty” and the person who makes an allegation has the onus to adduce evidence to prove it.

The police should stop harassing Rafizi and should take action against the UMNO cybertroopers responsible for the reprehensible posts of lies, hatred and incitement with regard to the New Year’s Eve countdown at Dataran Merdeka.

The Minister for Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Datuk Seri Hassan Malek has said that the failure by Malaysians to officially complain of price increases caused by government measures indicated their approval for the policies.

Hassan cannot be more wrong, ill-advised and misguided.

In the circumstances, the police should not stand in the way of Malaysians who want to peacefully demonstrate their objections and opposition to the pile of price hikes whether sugar, petrol, power,  toll or house assessments and the long list of other  price hikes to come,  so that Ministers and Barisan Nasional leaders have a proper and correct understanding of the real voices and aspirations of ordinary Malaysians on these issues.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 29 December 2013, 11:36 am and is filed under
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BN/Umno government secret funding of Perkasa the most abominable government con-job in nation’s 56-year history

Two months ago, former Cabinet Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim urged the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to dissociate himself from the extremist, racist and Malay supremacist group Perkasa because of its “toxic ideas” and “warmongering”, warning that Europe made the same mistake in the Nazi era which had taken a world war to correct.

Zaid had blogged:

“Even if Perkasa has a prominent patron, the organisation should not be allowed to run amok. Its very existence is an embarrassment to the country, especially to the Malays. The issues this group champions are just plain ridiculous, and there is nothing in Perkasa’s struggle that merits serious consideration. It has continued to cause consternation and fear among both Malaysians and also potential investors, and the Prime Minister should categorically denounce Perkasa and its allies for its disruptive politics and warmongering. After all, there will be no General Election until 2017-2018.

“The Government cannot maintain a cavalier attitude towards Perkasa, hoping that its toxic ideas will disappear and have no effect. Europe made the same mistake in the Nazi era and it took a World War to correct it.”

But truth is stranger than fiction. Who would have imagined that in actual fact, while Najib was strutting the international stage to launch his “Global Movement of Moderates” and present himself as a model for  moderates in the world to emulate, his government was funding Perkasa to carry out its  extremist,  intolerant, racist, religious and seditious campaign including attacking Najib’s  own signature policy of moderate and  inclusive  1Malaysia.

The Umno/Barisan Nasional  government secret funding of Perkasa in the past four years must rank as  the most abominable government con-job in the nation’s 56-year history which stinks to high heavens and must be condemned and deplored by all decent, reasonable and patriotic Malaysians.

I have ten questions for Najib, the Ministers and leaders of Umno/Barisan Nasional with regard to this “most abominable government con-job in the nation’s 56-year history”, viz:

1.	When did the government secret funding of Perkasa begin, in what form and under whose authority? When was approval by Cabinet given or was the secret government funding of Perkasa so secretive that the Cabinet was completely kept in the dark.  If the Cabinet was denied knowledge, who were  the Ministers and Umno/BN leaders who were let into the secret about the surreptitious government funding of Perkasa?

2.	What was the rational for the government secret funding of Perkasa? Was Najib armed-twisted by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, adviser to Perkasa, to provide government secret funding to Perkasa? Malaysians are entitled to know what was Mahathir’s full role in the government secret funding of Perkasa.

3.	What was the “deal” which Najib reached with Perkasa in providing government secret funding to Perkasa?

4.	Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali admitted receiving funds from government agencies such as the National Security Council (MKN), National Civic Bureau (BTN) and Special Affairs Department (Jasa). What were the various and total funds provided to Perkasa by MKN, BTN (both of which were under the Prime Minister’s Department) and Jasa (under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia) in the past four years and the specific objectives of each funding.  What were the justifications for MKN, BTN and Jasa providing funding to Perkasa?

5.	Were there other government agencies, whether by the Federal government or BN-controlled State Governments, which provided funding to Perkasa in the past four years, furnishing full details.

6.	What were the other extremist and racist NGOs in the country which had been given “immunity and impunity” like Perkasa in the past four years to conduct criminal and seditious campaigns in the country including repudiation of 1Malaysia Policy and were granted government secret funding, providing full details of government agencies involved and amounts of funding in the past four years.

7.	How did the government secret funding of Perkasa and other NGOs, through an assortment of government agencies, evade the notice and audit of the Auditor-General in the past four years? The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) should give top priority to this serious lapse by the Auditor-General in the past four years, calling up both the Auditor-General and the heads of the various government agencies providing secret funding to Perkasa and other NGOs in the past four years so that a  special PAC report on this matter could be tabled in the March meeting of Parliament.

8.	Was the Attorney-General aware of the secret government compact with Perkasa resulting in Perkasa leaders enjoying immunity and impunity from arrests and prosecutions for a series of criminal activities, including seditious statements and speeches by Perkasa leaders stoking and inciting racial and religious tensions and hatred, threatening another “May 13”, a “holy war” against Christians and making insensitive and sacrilegious attacks on Hinduism as well as open breaches of the law acting like thugs and gangsters in public.

9.	Did  Ministers and leaders of “7-11” MCA and the other 12 BN component parties give approval for the secret compact reached between Umno and Perkasa resulting in the government secret funding to Perkasa and why they took no action to ascertain from the Prime Minister the real relationship between the BN government with Perkasa?

10.	In the 2013 general elections, the UMNO/BN candidate in Pasir Mas gave way to the Perkasa President Ibrahim Ali who was contesting as an independent while Perkasa Vice President Zulkifli Noordin stood as an UMNO/BN candidate in Shah Alam.  Although both were defeated, the question remains as to the role of MCA and other BN component parties in endorsing  their candidature on behalf of BN.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 30 December 2013, 12:22 pm and is filed under
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Ini Kali Lah! Press for Freedom!

By Kee Thuan Chye

news.malaysia.msn.com

28.12.2013

The public forum ‘Bebaskan Media/Free the Media’, organised by Gerakan Media Marah (Geramm) and held in Kuala Lumpur last Friday, packed a full house and signified something positive – the coming together of journalists to speak up for media freedom. What is now needed from this talk is an action plan.

It seems to me that the crux of any action to be taken would be to fight for the repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA). And the time to take action would be now, amidst the white heat generated by the Home Ministry’s suspension of the news weekly The Heat, under the provisions of that Act.

This suspension is, however, done without good reason, and has thus provided journalists with a just cause. For The Heat has indeed broken no laws to deserve such punishment. And as such, journalists must show up the ministry’s whimsical use of power and expose the insidious implications of the PPPA, and strive once and for all to break the Government’s tyranny over the media.

To do so, however, they must be united. And the fight must involve journalists from the print media as well as they are the ones directly affected by the PPPA. Not only that, these journalists should hail from publications of all the main language streams.

Unfortunately, their presence was sorely missed at Friday’s forum. Of the six speakers, none was a print journalist. Three of them came from the online media, which is not subservient to the PPPA. In fact, the online media is free from censorship, thanks to a promise made by the Government years ago that it would not censor the Internet.

One of the speakers explained that print media personnel are generally wary of expressing their views against Government dictates publicly for fear of reprisals by their company bosses. This is true. These days, too, a print journalist posting comments on Facebook that are critical of the Government may indeed be hauled up by their editorial superiors and told to stop it. Even a show of sympathy for causes like Bersih seeking free and fair elections is discouraged. It is as if these journalists are not recognised as free citizens who are entitled to their own political opinions, outside of their work.

Thus, an unhealthy schism divides the media fraternity. Those print journalists who are in the higher echelons of management – of which the editor-in-chief is at the apex – are unwilling to rock the boat, not even for the sake of editorial integrity, professional ethics and the freedom to do their work like journalists should. They are the beneficiaries of the system and have therefore no wish to lose their chauffeur-driven BMWs, high salaries, stock options, connections to the people in high places from which they can derive other perks, and what-have-you.

But whatever idea they may have of possessing power is merely an illusion. In reality, they are beholden to the political masters who own the newspapers they work for. In my 21 years at the Umno-owned New Straits Times, I have seen how editors-in-chief came and went as the party changed presidents, and how some could be dropped if the president felt they were not giving 110 per cent support.

I have also seen how the PPPA tightened its knot around the testicles of editors-in-chief, metaphorically speaking, such that they ended up being experts at self-censorship, second-guessing what would please or displease their political masters, becoming puppets who received instructions from higher up on what to print or not to print.

And yet they will be the last to fight for the repeal of the PPPA. They will say privately that they are dead against it, and they may write an article or two in their regular column paying lip service to the need for more liberalisation of the media, keeping the idea of liberalisation as vague as they can, going only as far as their inappreciable guts will allow them to. But when it comes to the crunch, they will side with the Government instead.

Be that as it may, they must nonetheless be part of the fight for media freedom if it is to gain any chance of succeeding. If they do not take part, if they do not at least give their blessing to their subordinates to take part with the reassurance that no punishment will be inflicted on the latter for doing so, the Government will not take the fight seriously. It will not be shaken to repeal the PPPA if only online journalists are clamouring for it.

So, much as Friday’s forum marked a positive step forward in the direction of media freedom, it also highlighted the colossal difficulty of achieving it.

I asked from the floor why the editorial big shots of the print media were not present. Where were Wong Chun Wai and June Wong of The Star? What about Syed Nadzri Syed Harun of New Straits Times? Abdul Aziz Ishak of Utusan Malaysia? Mahfar Ali of Berita Harian? Mustapa Omar of Harian Metro? Siew Nyoke Chow of Sin Chew Daily? I asked if these people would get involved.

Someone else asked, “Who will lead the fight?”

To me, it should be the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), since it represents print journalists. But no representative from the NUJ executive committee was among the speakers.

The president of the NUJ, Chin Sung Chew, has, to his credit, publicly commented on the suspension of The Heat and said it “contradicted what a true democratic government would uphold and stand for”, but he should have been at the forum. He should be leading the charge. If he does so, it will be a signal to NUJ members to stand up and be counted, regardless of what their editorial bosses think.

In fact, the NUJ could call for a strike. When was the last time it called for one? Surely, something as important as the freedom of its members to do their work without fear or favour is worthy of such action?

Furthermore, it’s very clear that the Home Ministry has not done the right thing in suspending The Heat. On December 21, two days after it gave the suspension order and after facing considerable public pressure, the ministry eventually declared its reason for the suspension. It said the weekly had violated provisions in the printing permit. But on December 23, The Heat came out to clarify that the ministry had actually approved its application since September to change from being a publication in the “Economy/Social” category to the “Current Affairs” one, so there was no violation of any provisions. So who is lying?

In any case, the editor-in-chief of The Heat was also summoned to Putrajaya and told to tone down the weekly’s reports. Why should this be so if the suspension was related to category-changing? How is the tone of The Heat revelant to that?

The ministry also claimed that it had sent The Heat two show-cause letters but received no reply to either. In response, however, The Heat said it did reply to both letters. So, again, who is lying? Would The Heat dare to lie and jeopardise its chances of getting reinstated?

Anyway, The Heat also said the ministry had assured it that the appeal to lift the suspension would be considered in a “fair and prompt manner”. From this, I think chances are the ministry will lift the suspension pretty soon. Partly because of the public pressure. But even if this happens, the fight for media freedom must continue.

Journalists from the print, online and even broadcast media must come together and revive that rallying cry that many Malaysians subscribed to at the last general election – Ini kali lah!

Yes, indeed. Ini kali lah! There’s no time but now to fight for media freedom. So strike while the heat is hot!

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the book The Elections Bullshit, available in bookstores.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 30 December 2013, 5:43 am and is filed under
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Let parents have bigger say in tweaking our half-century old education policy

— BH Toh

The Malay Mail Online

December 29, 2013

DEC 29 — More than fifty years ago, Malaya achieved independence through cooperation among the various races. Native Malays formed the biggest ethnic group. Besides many other smaller indigenous groups, the Chinese and Indians were the second and third largest racial group at time.

Given the highly complex and diverse racial mix with each group speaking mainly their own respective mother tongues without a common language, our leaders at that time must have, after careful and cautious considerations, prudently decided that it is best to accommodate the mother-tongue language demands of the larger racial groups. Chinese and Indian vernacular schools were allowed to continue alongside mainstream schools that were mostly English medium ones legacy of the British era.

Eventually, all those English medium schools became Sekolah Kebangsaan, using our National Language as the main medium of instruction. While these vernacular schools struggled along at times, they managed to survive and some are actually doing quite well today in terms of enrolment.

This leads to our present day scenario with the argument that Malaysian Chinese and Indians are the most privileged lots in the world as no other country allowed such an arrangement. Without first hand experience of the tough social environment and reasons for such decision at that time, it is all too easy for some to call for an end to such schools, despite guaranteed of their continued existence in our constitution.

However, spoken languages among us have changed considerably since our independence. While racial composition remained as diverse with Malays, Chinese and Indians still forming the three major racial group, we now have a significant proportion of Malaysians of various ethnicity who use English daily as their first language, both at home and socially. To them, English has become their mother tongue, a group that hardly existed in the early days of our country. Thus, we must re-tweak our education policy decided about half a century ago, to the current environment.

Our country has an advantage and we are obviously very proud of our diverse racial mix and should expand our education system further to enhance this advantage. Instead of the current soft-landing, we ought to allow PPSMI to continue indefinitely in selected Sekolah Kebangsaan to met the demands of parents.

Alternatively, the present arrangement of having some classes conduct PPSMI in most school can be a permanent feature. Concerned parents and educational NGOs are still making time and effort gathering together to voice their preference.

Conduct a nation-wide referendum on the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science. Let parent instead of politicians decide if their children should use English or Bahasa Malaysia for these two critical subjects. In a highly competitive and borderless world today, it may not be even a bad idea to consider bringing back English Medium schools in addition to our national and vernacular schools!

These re-tweaking are surely in line with UNESCO’s recommendation. It is also well within the demands of language nationalist groups (and that of some opposition parties) who often argue that young children learn best in mother tongue.

This UNESCO recommendation was one of the reasons given by our Education Minister to abolish PPSMI when it should in fact be reason to have PPSMI continue infinitely alongside MBMMBI policy. Ironically, our children whose first language is English are now the casualties of our education policy with some struggling to cope in STEM subjects.

For too long, politicians have been dictating our education policies and we can all see where our still deteriorating education level is at now. Many countries that once trailed us economically and in education are now ahead and will probably continue to surge further. It is not too late. Parents are willing stepping forward and it is time we have a dominant say in determining the direction of our education policies.

With the New Year just a few days away, it is our hope that our leaders no longer pay lip services but start listening to parents and implement the necessary policy changes.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 30 December 2013, 8:54 am and is filed under
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Through my aging eyes – a gift from Rocket

By Dr Edwin Bosi, DAP ADUN for Kepayan

Samparita is famous for a wrong reason. The village is home to a teenage girl Norikoh Saliwa who was brutally murdered and dumped on the side of a road in Kota Marudu on 25th November 2012. How could I forget as her date of death is my date of birth? Norikoh who was only sweet sixteen was in town in search of a part time job in a furniture store. A Pakistani man is now charged with her murder and will soon know his fate when the case is up for mention in the High Court.

This is a high profile case because it involves a local girl and a foreigner. As DAP Secretary, I took the time to visit her parents and family at Kg Samparita to listen to their story (not just from the media), and also to convey our condolence and to hand over a little donation. Norikoh’s parents are down to earth simple folks, with a very simple house with basic necessity. She on the other hand had high hope to address this issue. She ventured and pursued her study in Kota Kinabalu and had a bright future for herself and to uplift her family from their present situation. Then the tragic accident happened and now we can only hope for justice to come her way. This is one murder case that must see the light of justice.

When DAP Malaysia mooted the program called “Impian Malaysia” and later extended to “Impian Sarawak” and “Impian Sabah”, I was a little taken aback when it was revealed that the first program of impian Sabah would be in Kg. Samparita Laut. The word “Samparita” rang a bell and that brought me back to the time my team and I visited Norikoh’s parents. When I got hold of the local newspaper upon returning from KL, I saw and read that her case will be up for mention in a few weeks time.

About 22 volunteers came to complete the task of assembling and commissioning a 3km gravity pipe system for the village of Samparita Laut. It took them 18 days to complete the project. There are at least 13 households that would benefit from this clean but untreated water yet the best for this community. Impian Sabah has given them a gravity pipe that will adequately satisfy the water needs of the villagers. It is a Christmas gift from the Rocket.

There are already more than 350 volunteers registered with impian Malaysia, and they come from all walks of life from students to working executives. For now, the majority of the volunteers are from West Malaysia. This is basically the true spirit of impian Malaysia, a brainchild of Sdra Lim Kit Siang where West Malaysians not only talk and sympathise with the level of development and progress in Sabah and Sarawak but they are coming over to help to do whatever that can be done to alleviate the sufferings and miseries of the people of Sabah and Sarawak especially in the rural areas.

On a straight line, Kg Samparita Laut (N06⁰ 54395’, E116⁰ 97442’) is about 23.5km from Kota Marudu. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the village by road and in this case a 4WD is required as some stretch is impassable to other vehicle. I saw electricity poles are hurriedly planted.

I took time to visit Kg Samparita Laut with MP for Batu Kawan Sdri Kasthuri P Patto a day before the launching of the gravity pipe on 20th December 2013 by Sdra Lim Kit Siang. I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the project leaders Kar Lye and Lilian and their volunteers who were able to sleep on mattress-less floor and some without mosquito nets. I was also impressed with how they handled themselves with the lack of proper bathing and toilet facilities. I saw some of them with their legs “ravaged” by insect bites while one of them came down with Malaria. Yet, during the launching they were able to show the bright side and high spirit with laughter, excitement, singing and dancing with the villagers.

The climax was when Sdra Kit Siang opened the tap and water started to sprinkle out of the pipe. A job well done, the people were so happy. Sdra Kit Siang must be hoping that the wish lists that the children have written on the flipchart papers could be realised too. Their wishes are about boat with engine, nice house, bridge, good roads, electricity and good education. Despite the DAP flags flying all over the village, I still wonder if the majority of the folks even realise that it is the DAP that has successfully provided them with a gravity piping system! I am certain however that DAP has made an impression upon them as one of their leaders has told Sdra Kit Siang that he wanted to open a DAP branch in Samparita Laut.

When I arrived at Kg Samparita Laut my thought went back to the time when I visited my grandparents at Kg Kiranau in Penampang. That was about mid 60s. The houses are made of timber and some are still made of bamboo. My grandparent house was made of timber with bamboo flooring and I can still remember the sight and bites of the bed bugs. They somehow disappeared as soon as the insect spray became commercial.

Here, I realised that a dugout log becomes their boat or sampan. They looked so small and clumsy indicating the small size of the timber found in this area. During low water, crossing the river is done with a boat with one person or even two holding both end of the boat and guiding it. I noticed bamboos are plentiful along the river and that surprised me they are not keen to make a raft that can help them cross the river more efficiently. It only takes a good wire cable and ropes to get a raft working. That was my grandparents “ferry” to get across the Moyog river then.

Samparita Laut folks are simple and predominantly Christian SIB living on a 5-acre village reserve perched high up on a hill. They have settled here in the 60s and have applied for land but like many of their native counterparts in various parts of Sabah, their applications have not seen the light of day. Then they were given a shock when a company started logging and planting oil palms just north to their village. According to the villagers, the company even bulldozed their ancient graves and pollute the river. There is totally no respect for NCR. I have a special officer dealing with NCR application and she would be back to assist them and prepare to take back their NCR land.

The folks at Samparita laut are planting hill padi, tapioca and rubber trees to sustain and survive. For now the river is still providing them with fish. I saw a fair number of small-size village pigs and chickens roaming freely in the village. The pigs are fed with tapioca and kangkong. I noticed a woman chipping off the tapioca to feed her chickens. With the pigs, chickens, dogs and cats roaming freely, anything edibles on the ground are gone when they are within sight. The river and the jungle backdrop are so beautiful. Kg Samparita has a huge tourism potential.

The impian Sabah water gravity project has not only provided them with water but at least for the pass 18 days there are lots of human activity with the presence of the volunteers. The best and most memorable for the village folks and volunteers alike is the presence of Malaysia’s iconic politician Sdra Lim Kit Siang. During the start of the project, MP Tony Pua was at Kg Samparita Laut to flag off the project.

Never before a rural village such as Samparita Laut see so many lawmakers in their village. This date 20th December 2013 will go down in history for Kg Samparita Laut where four MPs (Sdra Lim Kit Siang, Sdra Jimmy Wong, Sdra Stephen Wong and Sdri Kasthuri P Patto) and three ADUNs (Sdra Dr Edwin Bosi, Sdra Chan Foong Hin and Sdra Junz Wong) were presence to witness the launching of the impian Sabah water gravity project.

Picture shows Kg Samparita Laut perched on a hill.

Picture shows the slippery and muddy road to Kg Samparita Laut. MP Batu Kawan Kasthuri P Patto (left) is not amused with this road.

Picture shows a common uncovered bathroom, and two houses still walled with Bamboo.

Picture shows Sdra Kit Siang and Sdra Stephen Wong crossing the river in a boat assisted by two villagers.

Picture shows Sdra Kit Siang, Dr Edwin Bosi and Stephen Wong appreciating the “wish list” from children of Samparita Laut.

Picture shows the beautiful scenery at Kg Samparita Laut.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 30 December 2013, 1:47 pm and is filed under
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