Poor have no shield from subsidy cuts, says Pua

By
Yow Hong Chieh
 | May 19, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 — Subsidy cuts will widen the gulf between rich and poor in Malaysia if the Najib administration does not cushion the impact of price hikes on lower income groups, DAP publicity chief Tony Pua has said.

He said the lack of measures to lessen the burden on the bottom 40 per cent of income earners would only worsen the already-high level of income inequality in Malaysia, which, according to the World Bank, was among the highest in Asia and close to South American levels.

Pua said despite repeated price hikes to key items like sugar, petrol and diesel, the government had yet to fulfil its pledge to implement programmes like a cash rebate for motorcycles under 250cc and cars under 1,000cc as well as one for those hit by reductions in food subsidies.

“It appears as if the government is trying to pretend as if no mitigation measure has ever been proposed in the hope that Malaysians will soon forget about it,” he said in a statement today.

He added that the increase in sugar price from RM1.45 to RM2.30 per kg, diesel price from RM1.45 to RM1.80 for “critical transportation companies” and the likely RON95 subsidy cut next month would lead to inflation and contribute to the income disparity.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak earlier this week reaffirmed his commitment to the gradual removal of subsidies — which he said was “like opium” — to help bring Malaysia’s budget deficit under control.

“Subsidies as a whole are like opium. Once you take opium it’s hard to kick the bad habit. Once you provide subsidies it’s hard to take them away without some political cost,” he told an audience at Oxford University’s Centre for Islamic Studies on Tuesday.

Just a day before, the government announced that the diesel super subsidy for nine categories of commercial vehicles would be abolished effective June 1.

The nine categories comprise prime movers, general cargo movers, Luton box vans, vans, rigid lorries for bottled beverages, rigid tanker lorries for flour transport, rigid lorries for refrigerated goods, water tankers and limousine taxis.

This followed a similar announcement last week that fuel subsidies for some 1,200 Zone C2 fishing vessels would be cut from the same date.

Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has also said prices of petrol product — including RON95 — would be reviewed next month.

Ismail Sabri had explained that while he earlier promised that petrol prices would not rise, he could not guarantee they would remain unchanged indefinitely as the government’s petrol subsidy cost was expected to more than double from RM8 billion in 2010 to RM18 billion this year.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 19 May 2011, 11:30 am and is filed under
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Reclaiming our truly Malaysian history

By
Centre for Policy Initiatives

Introduction by CPI

Below is the first in the CPI series on ‘Reclaiming our truly Malaysian history’.

The post provides readers with information on the meeting held in Petaling Jaya on May 15 to launch the national campaign on reforming the history curriculum and textbooks.

During the next few weeks and months, CPI will feature analysis and contributions from scholars and educators on the history reform issue so that the public and government are made aware of and fully understand the ramifications of education – in this case, the history curriculum and textbooks – being used as a political football by the powers that be.

*************

History curriculum creating katak di bawah tempurung
1

The campaign for a truly Malaysian history was launched on Sunday by a group of academics and notable NGO figures on the back of strong public support, particularly from parents of schoolgoing children concerned about our biased KBSM textbooks. (See
online petition
, poster in left sidebar).

It urges a review of the History curriculum which contains many shortcomings, including the overt and overly Islamic and Malay-centric slant, factual errors, half-truths, value judgments and politically motivated content.

The movement is pressing for an honest and transparent review of the syllabus in place of the current window-dressing exercise which will only serve to infuse the teaching of History with yet more propaganda. The existing textbooks need to be overhauled so that students will learn an accurate and well-balanced account of our country’s history.

Urgently requiring reform

During the campaign launch, historian Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi – a panellist on the movement’s watchdog committee – gave a presentation on aspects of our textbooks which are untruthful and not objective. (See follow-up in CPI tomorrow)

Furthermore, what Ranjit calls ‘value judgments’ in the History textbooks are printed in bold typeface and in a striking colour that stands out from the rest of the ordinary font. An example is page 255 of the Form Four textbook.

Here the textbook writers had imposed their own opinionated piece of fear mongering which reads:

“In short, the development and prosperity of Tanah Melayu succeeded in drawing the interest of the immigrants to come here and this situation is extended up to the present day. We should be proud that our country is the focus of pendatang asing due to our wealth and prosperity. Looking at it from another point of view, the local inhabitants should strive to be more industrious, display more initiative and be prepared to administer the wealth of this country, especially those who do not have a huge capital. If not, the orang asing who are always on the lookout for opportunities will capitalize on openings and take over our role, as has happened today.”

These alarming ‘Rumusan’ (conclusion) nuggets on the official moral of the story are redolent of the notorious Biro Tata Negara (BTN) brainwashing and scattered throughout the History textbooks.

Sins of omission

Ranjit also contends there is a “lopsided emphasis on Islamic civilization”. Ironically, words such as ‘wahyu’, ‘nabi’ and ‘rasul’ which are prohibited to Christians under the various state enactments with regard to Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation amongst Muslims) are, on the contrary, introduced to non-Muslim teenagers through the Form Four History textbook.

While the general public is now aware that a whopping five chapters (out of a total of 10 in Form Four) are devoted to Islam, few realise that the other religions are given short shrift with a passing mention of only three pages. According to Ranjit, the amount of text related to Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, all added up, total a mere 832 words (which is shorter than the length of this article).

Ranjit also brought up the fact how “undue emphasis is given to trivial matters and unimportant personalities which are of no historical significance” pertaining to the Islamic world. CPI found that in comparison, the Form Four textbook which deals with world history has shockingly omitted key developments such as the Hammurabi and Justinian codes of fundamental jurisprudence, and other civilization milestones.

Abu Lahab and Bilal bin Rafah are among the Islamic names cited by Ranjit as non-entities prolifically introduced to Malaysian students of history. On the other hand, given the pronounced trend of the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka authors to negate non-Muslim contributions to world history, you will no longer be surprised that notable figures such as Sima Qian, Kalidasa and Thomas Aquinas are missing from the Index listing.

On the Malay supremacy concept, Ranjit noted its appearance in the Form Three textbook (page 45) where Ketuanan Melayu “ditakrifkan sebagai semangat cinta akan apa saja yang berkaitan dengan bangsa Melayu seperti hak politik, bahasa, kebudayaan, warisan, adat istiadat dan tanah air”.

A joint report by the Centre of Malaysian Chinese Studies and Nanyang University Alumni Association found that the KBSM History syllabus has altogether 465 pages on the Malays (80%), 16 on Chinese and eight on Indians. (CPI will be featuring their power-point presentation on the report findings provided during the meeting in a later post.)

Most tellingly, there are zero pages on the Orang Asli. How can the original inhabitants of the land ‘mysteriously’ disappear from what purports to be the authoritative history of Malaysia?

Pity the students

A teacher who spoke at the event revealed that History is the subject his students hate the most. In Malaysian schools, the teaching of History is not geared towards enhancing deep learning but merely a form of rote memorization.

The format of KBSM History clearly does not foster critical thinking. Instead it encourages spoonfeeding students with, among other things, doses of xenophobia. They are explicitly warned against opportunistic foreigners and rapacious immigrants.

This ‘pendatang’ leitmotif that runs through the syllabus is a constant reminder that the Chinese and Indians only came to Malaysia – in the words of Prof. Ramlah Adam, a Perkasa council member-cum-deputy chair panellist on the government’s review board – as “investors and coolies”.

The government panel has been appointed to relook the History textbooks in order to incorporate a focus on building patriotism and national unity. There is a justified fear that this process will be abused by the powers that be.

Last year, Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had made a unilateral announcement at the Umno general assembly that by 2013, History will be a compulsory pass subject for SPM.

This move will result in students being force-fed the diktats of the Education Ministry and regurgitating the input just to pass their SPM. The dismal standards of formal education and the political agenda of the government will soon shrink the thinking capacity of our next generation.

Tomorrow: CPI will be uploading slides from Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi’s presentation on ‘Current History education: Major shortcomings’.

Other contributions in the CPI series on ‘Reclaiming our truly Malaysian History’ that will follow shortly:

    Dr Cheong Yuen Keong, Nandai/CMCS  report on ‘Perbincangan tentang buku teks Sejarah’

    ‘Campaign for a Truly Malaysian History’ blog posting by a campaign participant

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 19 May 2011, 11:50 am and is filed under
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History
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Teoh’s death IS about the MACC

The Malaysian Insider

May 18, 2011

MAY 18 — Datuk Seri Shafee Abdullah is right that that the public should focus on Teoh Beng Hock’s death but wrong to say that the blunders of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should not be in the picture.

That is part of the task given to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigating the cause and circumstances of the suspicious death of the Selangor political aide. But it is also performing its original mandate of reviewing the propriety of MACC’s interrogation methods and procedures.

Of course we want to know what happened to Teoh on the morning of July 16, 2009 but a critical element to reaching any finding will be the surrounding circumstances of the case and the behaviour of the MACC.

And these were not a few small mistakes as the veteran lawyer puts it. From Day One, the MACC probe into the so-called abuse of power/corruption of DAP reps was mala fide or done in bad faith.

It appeared that the MACC was working at the behest of its political masters rather than actually working to eradicate corruption.

The inquest and the RCI proved that the MACC officials were not only bungling and unprofessional but even more troubling to all Malaysians, sparing with the truth.

There was evidence of cover-ups and coaching of witnesses. Even the security guard was coached what to say as he was caught red-handed referring to a list of prepared answers.

The then Selangor MACC deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim — the man who appeared to have driven this probe — had lied nonchalantly before the RCI about the fact that there were a raft of reports against his officers of abuse.

And the most number of reports were against the officer who interrogated Teoh.

Shafee is representing the MACC and therefore must put his client’s best case forward. Any lawyer would do that.

He refers to the OJ Simpson case. Perhaps his point of reference is rather unfortunate because we all know that the antics and the overuse of race by defence attorneys led to what is widely held as a perverse decision by the jury.

The view held then and now is that the real killer got away.

If we follow Shafee’s thinking, the same could happen in Malaysia. The real killer of Teoh could get away.

After all, he died after overnight interrogation by MACC officers. We all need to know how and why that happened and if the blunders and missteps, the lies and stories that came out in the inquest and RCI had a hand in Teoh’s death.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 19 May 2011, 7:58 am and is filed under
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The future of the Arab uprisings

Joseph Massad 18 May 2011

AlJazeera

The US, with its allies, has already begun plans to subvert the Arab Spring to save its own regional hegemony.

A specter is haunting the Arab world – the specter of democratic revolution. All the powers of the old Arab world have entered into a holy alliance with each other and the United States to exorcise this specter: king and sultan, emir and president, neoliberals and zionists.

While Marx and Engels used similar words in 1848 in reference to European regimes and the impending communist revolutions that were defeated in the Europe of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there is much hope in the Arab world that these words would apply more successfully to the ongoing democratic Arab uprisings.

In the case of Europe, Marx ended up having to write the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon in 1852 to analyse the defeat of the 1848 revolution in France. He explained how revolutions could overthrow an existing ruling class but would not necessarily lead to the rule of the oppressed. He analysed the process by which Louis Napoleon was able to hijack the revolution and proclaim himself emperor, restoring monarchy to republican and revolutionary France, as his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte had done before him to the glorious French Revolution of 1789.

Since the end of World War I, European powers and the United States have appointed and removed Arab kings at will. Their actions were always taken to ensure the persistence of these dictatorial monarchies, rather than their removal, and to strengthen Euro-American control and hegemony over the region.

The only seeming exception to this rule was the French removal of King Faisal from the throne of Syria in 1919, ending the short-lived Syrian independence, only for the British to extend to him the throne of Iraq, which he assumed that same year, with the inauguration of British rule in that country.

This Euro-American power would include the granting of Abdullah the throne of Jordan in 1921 and the removal of his son King Talal from it, replacing him with his own son Hussein in 1952-53. The French would dethrone Mohammed V of Morocco in 1953 but would restore him again in 1955 when opposition to his removal weakened their control.

The British would remove Sultan Said bin Taymur in 1970 and replace him with his son Sultan Qabus, who was better able, with the help of the Iranian Shah, the Jordanian King, British and American military support, to quell the republican revolution in Dhofar.

Even the palace coup of 1995 by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani of Qatar to oust his father, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad al Thani, and replace him, received American support and enthusiasm, as it was carried out to strengthen, rather than weaken, the Qatari monarchy.

Imperialism and orientalism

Since World War II, but more diligently since the mid 1950s, the United States has followed two simultaneous strategies to exercise its control over the Arab peoples across Arab countries. The first, and the one most relevant to Arabs, was based on the early US recognition and realisation (like Britain, France, and Italy before it) that Arabs, like all other peoples worldwide, wanted democracy and freedom and would struggle for them in every possible way.

For the United States, this necessitated the establishment of security and repressive apparatuses in Arab countries, which the US would train, fund, and direct in order to suppress these democratic desires and efforts in support of dictatorial regimes whose purpose has always been and continues to be the defense of US security and business interests in the region.

These interests consist principally in securing and maintaining US control of the oil resources of the region, ensuring profits for American business, and strengthening the Israeli settler-colony.

Much of this was of course propelled by the beginning of the Cold War and the US strategy to suppress all forms of real and imagined communist-leaning forces around the world, which included any and all democratic demands for change in the region.

This strategy, which was formalised in the Eisenhower Doctrine issued in 1957, continues through the present. The Eisenhower Doctrine, issued on 5 January 1957, as a speech by the US president, declared the Soviet Union, not Israel or Western-supported regional dictatorships, as the enemy of the people of the Middle East.

To neutralise president Gamal Abd al Nasir’s wide appeal across the Arab world, Eisenhower authorised the US military “to secure and protect the territorial integrity and political independence of such nations, requesting such aid against overt armed aggression from any nation controlled by international communism.”

In contrast with its actual anti-democratic policies around the world, the US has always insisted on marketing itself as a force for global democracy. In line with this public relations campaign, the second strategy the US used to advance its anti-democratic policies in the Arab World was the importation of European orientalism, which acquired a central place in post-war US academia.

State Department funding assisted by funding from private foundations would solidify orientalist research that asserted that Arabs and Muslims were incompatible with democracy and that more often than not they love and prefer dictatorial rule and that it would be culturally imperialist for the US to impose democracy on them, leading to the conclusion that it would be best to uphold their dictatorial rulers whose repressive policies, we are told, are inspired by Islam and Arab culture.

Between the billions spent on repressing the Arab peoples and the millions spent to explain academically and in the American media the need to repress them, this two-pronged US strategy in the region since World War II has been coming apart at an accelerated rate since January 2011, a development that continues to cause panic in the Obama White House and manifests in the incessant fumbling of his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who is much despised across the Arab world.

If president Jimmy Carter infamously declared on the eve of the Iranian Revolution in December 1977 that the Iran of the Shah was “an island of stability in one of the most troubled areas of the world”, Hillary Clinton would declare Mubarak’s Egypt as “stable” days before he was overthrown.

Subverting democracy

The anti-democratic US campaign in the region started with the first coup d’état the US sponsored when it overthrew democratic rule in Syria in 1949 and was soon followed by the restoration of the Shah in neighbouring Iran in 1953 in a CIA-sponsored coup that overthrew the government of prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh and suppressed the democratic movement in Iran.

As the US was following similar strategies elsewhere in its expanding empire, especially in Guatemala where it sponsored an anti-democratic coup against the reform government of Jacobo Arbenz and unleashed a wave of terror that murdered hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans for the next four decades, it formalised its new strategy in the Arab world through the Eisenhower Doctrine.

Soon after, the US went into high gear suppressing democracy in the region, starting with intervention in Lebanon on the side of right-wing sectarian forces in 1957, moving to engineer the palace coup launched by the young King Hussein against the democratically elected parliament the same year in Jordan, and proceeding to help the Baath party assume power in 1963 in Iraq and massacre thousands in the process.

The defeat of Nasir in the 1967 war was followed by US support for the most repressive Sudanese regime ever under Jafar Numeiri and the suppression of the revolution across the Arabian Gulf in the early seventies with the assistance of the Shah’s forces and the Jordanian army, which stabilised the region for US oil profits and began the road to secure Israel’s supremacy.

In the meantime, the removal of Arab monarchies from power and replacing them with republics would take place through the mechanism of military coups, which, unlike Euro-American interventions, had much popular support. Beginning with the removal of King Farouk of Egypt in 1952 by the Free Officers, the removal of Arab monarchies would proceed with the overthrow of the Iraqi King and the Hashemite royal family in 1958, the Yemeni monarchy in 1962, and ended with the overthrow of the Libyan monarchy in 1969 by Gaddafi.

All other Arab monarchies have persisted, with massive American, French, and British financial, economic, military, and security support, despite a number of threats to these thrones over the decades. While only two monarchies survive outside the Arabian Peninsula, which only managed to lose its Yemeni monarch, all other Arab regimes have a republican form of government.

The US-Saudi axis

The ongoing uprisings in the Arab world today, as is clear to all observers, do not distinguish between republics and monarchies. Indeed, in addition to the republics, demonstrations have been ongoing in Morocco, Jordan, Oman, and Saudi Arabia (and more modestly in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates), despite the brutal suppression of the major Bahraini uprising by a combined mercenary force dispatched by the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council led by Saudi Arabia.

The situation in Arab countries today is characterised as much by the counter-revolution sponsored by the Saudi regime and the United States as it is by the uprisings of the Arab peoples against US-sponsored dictatorial regimes.

While the US-Saudi axis was caught unprepared for the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, they quickly made contingency plans to counter the uprisings elsewhere, especially in Bahrain and Oman, but also in Jordan and Yemen, as well as take control of the uprisings in Libya (at first) and later in Syria. Attempts to take control of the Yemeni uprising have had mixed results so far.

Part of the US-Saudi strategy has been to strengthen religious sectarianism, especially hostility to shiism, in the hope of stemming the tide of the uprisings.

This sectarianism targets not only Iran but also Arab shias in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and even in Oman and Syria, while simultaneously encouraging anti-Christian zealotry in Egypt. The Sadat and Mubarak regimes encouraged anti-Christian zealots for decades. Part of the ongoing counter-revolutionary efforts is to resuscitate these sectarian forces to break Egyptian unity and bring about chaos.

If the Eisenhower Doctrine insisted in 1957 that the Soviets, not Israel, were the main enemy of the Arab peoples, today the US insists that it is Iran and shiism who are their main enemy. With the US and Saudi-led suppression of the people of Bahrain, the hope is that this American-sponsored sectarian hatred and encouragement of sunni Arab chauvinism would in one swoop render Iran (and not the Arab dictators, their Israeli ally, or their US sponsor) the enemy of Arabs, if not the only enemy of Arabs, and delegitimise at the same time the uprisings in countries with a substantial number of Arab shiites.

The US sponsored this project several years ago with limited success. It would be best articulated by Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who warned in 2004 of a “shia crescent” threatening the region. The US and the Saudis are hoping that it could be more successful today.

The French and the British have continued to play important neo-colonial roles in the region, economically, militarily, and in the realm of security “cooperation”. They have strengthened their position by increasing their security and diplomatic “assistance” to their allies among Arab dictators.

The US-supported repression in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, and in the United Arab Emirates goes hand in hand with the Euro-American-Qatari intervention in Libya to safeguard the oil wells for Western companies once a new government is in place.

The hijacking of the Libyan uprising and the defection of Gaddafi’s governing elite of politicians overnight to the side of the “revolutionaries” not only casts more than one shadow of suspicion on those claiming to lead the Libyan uprising against Gaddafi’s horrific dictatorship, but also on the Western powers who were Gaddafi’s major allies in the last decade until their recent defection.

The situation today is one of a struggle between the formidable US-Saudi axis, which is the main anti-democratic force in the region, and the pro-democracy uprisings.

The US-Saudi strategy is two-fold: massive repression of those Arab uprisings that can be defeated, and co-optation of those that could not be. How successful the second part will be depends on how co-optable the pro-democracy forces prove to be.

While it is true that revolutionaries make their own history, as Karl Marx famously put it, “they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past.”

Guarding against the co-optation of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions is the hope of all Arabs today.

The US-Saudi axis will use every mechanism at its disposal to do so, not least of which will be the forthcoming elections in Egypt and Tunisia. The great Arab hope is that Tunisia and Egypt will write a new Revolutionary and Democratic Manifesto for the Arab peoples.

The concern and the fear remain, however, that we may end up with less of a Communist Manifesto and more of an Eighteenth Brumaire.

Joseph Massad is Associate Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University in New York.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 19 May 2011, 11:25 pm and is filed under
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Why I am thinking of leaving

The Malaysian Insider
 |
We asked readers to tell us why they migrated… or are even thinking of migrating. This is one of the stories.

MAY 19 — I would like to tell you first-hand why I am thinking of migrating in the future:

The salary base of Malaysian employees are low.

I am a trainee for a foreign bank and urban poor as I earn less than RM3,000 a month; compared to my counterparts who are currently working overseas (merely as a waiter/ barista), their weekly salary is equivalent to what I earn in a month.

The living cost is getting higher.

As you know, petrol price for RON97 just increased 0 sen, with the increase of this and the fuel surcharge by AirAsia, it’s a wonder how we can survive! Housing price is increasing, buying books at the local book store costs a fortune, transportation fee is getting higher, food and drinks are getting more expensive! Everything is going up, and nothing is going down. Buying a car or a house/ condo/ flat right now is suicide for me and many Malaysians, no doubt.

The injustice in the country.

With the many issues and injustice that are published (or not) in newspaper/Internet/mass media (for e.g. the Anwar trial, Teoh Beng Hock’s death and the recent Sarawak election), I would like to opt to have my children and my children’s children grow up in a place where nothing of this sort happens, where they know the difference between right and wrong, to learn and have known the importance of freedom of speech, and not to have their human rights violated.

Decline of university/education ranking in Malaysia.

I graduated from a local university and to be honest, the level of fresh graduates is appalling, as the majority of them (80-90 per cent) can’t even communicate efficiently in English, let alone form a simple sentence.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to find out the reasons why, but I digress, however, this is one of the many reasons that drives me to further my studies overseas in the future, while migrating there at the same time.

Not to mention, I do not want my children to be subjected in an education system where Math and Science is not taught in English and where “literature” books like Interlok are approved.

Word-of-mouth from friends and relatives who have migrated.

According to my friends and relatives who have migrated and are scattered all over the world now (eg. UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore), they have never regretted or looked back on the decision they made. Some of them have already settled down and have a family there. Once, I asked whether they would come back and work for Malaysia/ the government, the answer I got was a simple: “Hell no!”

These are the top five reasons that I have come up with for now, which I think would suffice, but the primary reason is that I don’t feel safe, physically (as the country’s crime rate in KL is one of the highest, where police/ ambulance/ public services are in a sad state), mentally (brain drain in Malaysia is happening as we speak, my creativity would be at risk), spiritually (as seen in the recent Al-Kitab incidents), and financially (as I would forgo the second best alternative by staying in the country, whereas I can use my time and resources to work overseas, thus earning extra and being happy without such pressures.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 19 May 2011, 1:04 pm and is filed under
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Why I work and stay overseas

By
A Bumi
 | May 19, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 19 — I am a Malay working overseas. I find working in Malaysia unattractive due to the following reasons. I don’t want to belabour the points, so I list them down in point form:

Chinese chauvinism/racism

• Most private organisations including TMI are dominated by the Chinese and/or their political agenda.

• Chinese people have a tendency to assign negative stereotypes on other races (especially the Bumiputera races).

• They exhibit cliquish, insular, secretive and calculating behaviour.

• Chinese people favour fair-skinned people even though fair skin is disadvantageous in Malaysia’s sunny climate.

• They admire China’s achievements, despite China’s oppressive regime.

• Malaysian Chinese use the Chinese languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien etc.) to isolate their discussion from others while in their presence.

• The Chinese are not honest about failures of ethnic Chinese leaderships in Philippines and Thailand.

• Tokenism is rife in Chinese companies.

• Chinese will use changing criteria to judge people of other ethnicities; one day it is academic merit, another day it may be “character.”

• The Chinese favour their own kind over others, even when other kinds are of equal stature.

• Malays fear to voice out against Chinese for fear of repercussions especially with respect to their employment prospects in the private sector.

• The Chinese still hold strongly to their ethnic heritage.

• They diminish the achievement of other races, especially the Malays.

• Harp on Bumiputera affirmative action even though Chinese people still continue to succeed at all levels of Malaysian life (even government).

• Any Malay who has strong academic background is denounced as attaining it due to “Bumiputera privilege”, even though he graduated overseas with his own money.

• Use their overseas Chinese connection to gain unfair advantage, but pretend the advantage is minimal.

• The Chinese always make unfair comparisons of Malaysia with other non-Muslim, post-industrial countries.

• Chinese people don’t recognise the special position Islam has in Malaysia.

• Enjoy talking bad about Malaysia (even when working/living overseas) as if Malaysia is on the same level as Zimbabwe even though Malaysia is far from it.

• Highly critical of institutions that are Bumiputera-dominated (ie. government), but non-critical of institutions that are Chinese dominant (like gambling).

• Show no desire to partake in patriotic activities (e.g. serve in army), but cry foul when other people point out their lack of patriotism.

• Show lack of understanding about Islamic religion, but enjoy taking Quranic verses out of context to further their argument.

• If pushed to think “outside the box”, the Chinese would favour Western ideals above Islamic ideals.

• The Chinese show lack of respect toward Malay leaders, but accord unnecessary respect to their Chinese community leaders, even though they hold no significant position in government.

• Always speak about “brain drain” but still keep Malaysian passports.

• Willing to spread disingenuous claim that Bumis have already achieved economic parity with the Chinese.

• Use Indians who have achieved to further their claim that Indian community is ahead of the Malay community.

• Comments in support of Chinese chauvinistic agenda are allowed to be posted in TMI, while others are censored.

• I can go on and on with more example, but I grow tired and annoyed.

PAS religionism

• Holds only their interpretation of Islam to be the truth.

• Willing to associate themselves with and be used by non-Muslims while creating enmity toward other Muslims.

• Use religion as a political tool to win arguments and foment discord.

• Ritualistic mentality.

• Have a simplistic idea/concept of the world and its affairs.

Umno nationalism

• Partake in bully politics.

• Enjoy seeing minor issues such as sexual improprieties take over the national discourse.

• Willing to give in to fervent Malay nationalism.

• Must “ampu” within Umno hierarchical structure to get to higher positions.

• Anti-intellectualism.

• Unwillingness to adapt and change to satisfy changing political climate.

Indian shiftiness

• Willing to change their allegiance due to changing political tide.

• Belief that Indian subcontinent will help them, like mainland China helps Malaysian Chinese.

• Dishonest about their caste and other internal problems.

 Malaysian culture as a whole

• No proper understanding of logic and reason.

• Has not understood to segregate religious thinking from secular reasoning.

• Lost sensitivities towards other religions/races.

• Still admire Western culture, without studying their obvious weaknesses.

• Always sidetracked by minor issues rather than seeing bigger picture.

• Media not mature to show all sides of the story, media is all very partisan.

• Partisanship is being promoted at all levels from the family microcosm to the national level.

 * A Bumi who chooses not to provide his identity, and who has worked in a China-man company as a token executive.

* We asked readers who have migrated to tell us in their own words why they left. This is one of the stories.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 19 May 2011, 6:26 pm and is filed under
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‘Save Utusan, long live the Malays’

By
Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
 | May 20, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Perkasa and Umno today urged Malays to protect Utusan Malaysia at all costs, claiming the broadsheet remained the only “true” voice for the Malay race.

Both groups attacked Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties for “unfairly” portraying Utusan as a racist paper and said the Umno-owned daily provided balanced reporting, unlike opposition papers and news portals.

“Utusan Malaysia is the official voice of the Malays, as long as Utusan lives, the Malays will live.

“Perkasa will defend Utusan to the very end, as the paper has served the interests of the Malay community well,” said Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali.

Syed Hassan warned “non-Malays” and PR leaders to stop targeting Utusan, saying the Malay rights group would not hesitate to mobilise its members to stage protests in defence of the Umno daily.

Shouts of “Save Utusan, long live the Malays!” were heard as 150-odd Perkasa and Umno Youth members marched to the Utusan headquarters to deliver a memorandum in support of the daily.

“Utusan is brave, it is speaking the truth about the Malays, we are warning those who attack Utusan… over our dead bodies, we won’t let it happen,” shouted a Perkasa member during the march.

Among those who were present today included former Perkasa Youth chief Arman Azha Abu Hanifa and Umno Youth secretary Datuk Megat Firdaus Megat Junid.

“We are here today to express our unequivocal support towards Utusan, because it is Utusan which had united the Malays before independence, and it remains the only avenue in which the concerns of the Malay community can be fairly addressed.

“The paper has done so much for us, we will not allow its reputation to be tarnished by lies,” said Megat Firdaus.

Utusan came under heavy fire recently over a controversial report entitled “Kristian Agam Rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?) in which it was alleged that DAP leaders and Christian priests were conspiring to take over Putrajaya, abolish Islam as the religion of the federation and install a Christian prime minister.

The report was based entirely on unsubstantiated blog posts by two pro-Umno bloggers, one of whom is currently under investigation by police. The second blogger has since deleted the entire contents of his blog.

Christian leaders and DAP members have denied the reports and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was also forced to host a meeting with the religious chiefs to solve the issue but Ibrahim insisted on Saturday that the report was true.

Utusan Malaysia’s Christian conspiracy report is currently under police investigation.

PKR Youth has postponed a protest against Utusan planned for today to avoid possible clashes with Perkasa and Umno Youth.

Perkasa and Umno Youth members who were present today dared PKR Youth members to show up, saying that the PKR wing’s absence showed that it was “afraid” of facing Perkasa and Umno.

“PKR Youth where are they now? Scared senseless they can’t even show up, they are cowards,” shouted an excited Perkasa member.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 5:55 pm and is filed under
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10 days in May (19)

Tweets
 @limkitsiang
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May7 Utusan “ChristianMsia” bogey – 2wks: no iota of proof; no word of remorse; no punitive action by authorities. Will Najib act on return?

Deputy IGP Khalid promised top priority 4investigations into Utusan “Christian Msia” bogey. Shd then take days not weeks or even months!

Sad. No moderate in BN cabinet who dare 2speak up agnst seditious/treasonous Utusan extremism. How then can Najib’s GMoM call take off?

1st building block of Najib’s GMoM (GlobalMovementofModerates) must be MMoM (MsianMovementofModerates). BN Ministers qualify 2be in MMoM?

Parliament (meet 13-28 June) shld officially support Najib’s call 4GMoM by convening MMoM. Test 4MMoM membership- censure Utusan extremism!

MMoM great vehicle 4moderates whtvr party (UmnoMCAGkanMIC DAPPASPKR) or race (Malay Chinese Indian Iban Kadazan) 2save Msia from extremists

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 8:56 am and is filed under
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10 days in May (20)

Tweets
@limkitsiang
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TBH RCI should have terms of reference expanded 2include what Najib promised 22/7/09 – full public scrutiny of MACC investigation methods

This was bcos of many allegations of torture/physical violence perpetrated by MACC officers http://bit.ly/yr4Br Did MACC lobyy agnst this?

W expanded terms of reference JamesFoong RCI can extend public hearing 2investigte customs officer Sarbani’s death – another case MACC death

Even more important re TBH death, RCI can zero in on Y MACC acted so unprofessionally in a cover-up conspiracy inquest/RCI 2suppress truth

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 11:43 am and is filed under
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10 days in May (21)

Tweets
@limkitsiang
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Bout of bad luck 4Najib? His Oxon speech on moderation fell flat after demo by Utusan extremists they ruled roost w “Christian Msia” bogey

Najib’s trip 2NewYork 2sell Msia as investment haven sabotaged when Msia fell 6 places in 2011 World Competitive Rankings from 10 to 16

But these are not result of Najib’s bad luck but bad politics – spending RM70m on APCO 2conceive 1Msia GTP ETP PTP w/o real transformation

Corruption less? Crime curbed? Poverty reduced? Education stds improved? Competitiveness enhanced? Ppl more united? No 1 believes x even msm

Najib’s credibility near Pak Lah’s in 2008GE. Who has real power? http://bit.ly/kkJzAD Perkasa: Najib ‘listened’ 2our MRT requests (TMI)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 3:01 pm and is filed under
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A few good men in Umno is needed

By Wong Mun Chee

Without pandering into the state of the present day UMNO, I really don’t care if UMNO wins or Pakatan wins but in fairness for all Malaysians, our elected representatives should ensure policies and governance implemented is able to ensure just and fair treatment for all Malaysian irrespective of their origin.

We had fair and wise leaders in UMNO’s yeterdayyears like Onn Jaafar, TAR, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak & Tun Hussain Onn yet what we face with the current bred UMNO of leaders are a neocolonialism of non Muslim Malaysians courtesy of Dr Mahathir. As for the PAKATAN faction who seems to enjoy their limited power seems all divided as preference is again their game plan to emulate UMNO.

They were leaders who took risks to effect the desired change, no matter how great the challenges at that time in fairness without playing the racial political game that we observe with the current UMNO breed.

A very resounding statement by Tun Ismail

Why did we fight for Merdeka? So that the different races can be divided? That can’t be the way, right? That can’t be why all these great Malay and Umno leaders fought for this … Something is wrong…

I hope the new discussions will start. Why are we building Malaysia? What Malaysia are we building? What kind of symbol is Malaysia supposed to be?

The power and money politics initiated by Dr Mahathir encouraging nepotism, bribery, corruption had totally paralyzed the nation from its true objective of impartiality for the citizenry of the nation since 1980. Absolute domination and unbalanced policies in the socio-development against certain segments of the society has brought about the uprise of HINDRAF, Orang Asli issues etc.

Dr Mahathir had to swallow his own pride when his own mismanagement of the nation led him to lose a divisional seat in 2006. He probably realized at that juncture that nobody seems to be invincible when nepotism, bribery, corruption is at play and realized that he had imbibed a culture of selfish leaders within UMNO who are focused on their personal wealth and well being as oppose to the development of the nation.

The recent uproar of PERKASA and UTUSAN MALAYSIA under the guidance of Dr Mahathir again is a dim reminder of the current mentality of the UMNO leaders who seem to observe silence with their tootless alliance unlike the originators of UMNO without fear or favor.

I am sure there is goodness in UMNO leaders or any leader for the matter if fair play is in place rather than one stroking farcical notion like what we have seen lately with PERKASA and Utusan Malaysia. We have seen this in the preceding Mahathir era UMNO leaders and I see no reason why the current crop of UMNO leaders cannot emulate their predeccesors.

UMNO or PAKATAN, it does not really matter as long as the elective legislators play their role in fairness without their typical melodrama and self interest but addressing the issues in hand for the betterment of the nation as a whole for all.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 12:00 pm and is filed under
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Bishop hails ex-cop’s exoneration of Christians

By
Terence Netto
 | May 20, 11

Malaysiakini

Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing said he found “greatly heartening” the comments made by former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim in a letter to Prime Minister Najib Razak that described Utusan Malaysia’s reports of a Christian plot to usurp Islam’s special status as “artificial” in nature.

The Jesuit-trained prelate who is bishop of the Melaka-Johor diocese and concurrently president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, said:

“Glad tidings in national affairs these days are few and far between, so the remarks made by this former senior police officer who appears to be on crusade for truth and justice exonerating Christians of sinister plotting against Islam are greatly heartening.”

Mat Zain, in a letter to PM Najib, among other things, described as “artificial” reports in the Utusan of a Christian plot to dethrone Islam as the official religion of the country.

Bishop Paul Tan said that in reading about Mat Zain’s exertions on behalf of issues flaring in the national arena, he was moved to recall philosopher Edmund Burke’s exhortation that “when evil men combine, good men must unite.”

“Christian humility prevents me from an avowal of my goodness but seeing Mat Zain Ibrahim’s exertions on behalf of some causes, he appears to range himself in favour of truth and justice, and I want to unite with him in that endeavour,” he commented.

‘Truth will set us free’

Bishop Paul Tan said he agreed with Italian poet Dante that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintained their neutrality.

“These are tumultuous times in the life of our nation, so I cannot stay aloof from the moral questions that are bound up with the issues combusting in the national arena.

“When I see a man like Mat Zain holding forth on some of these issues – to my mind, he is a good man and speaks the truth – I have to add my voice to it and welcome it.

“As I have said before, we are in greater danger from our negligence than from our ignorance. It is said in scripture that there’s no good in being lukewarm and tepid in morally challenging times.

“So I’m greatly heartened by what this man has said about those inflammatory reports in a once reputable paper and I hail him for speaking the truth. As always, it is the truth that makes us free.”

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 12:58 pm and is filed under
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Cops urged to issue permit for anti-Taib demo

Ang Ngan Toh

Malaysiakini

May 20, 11

The Sarawak DAP has called on the police to issue immediately permits to allow the people of the state to hold street demonstrations to force long-serving Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to step down.

“They have their constitutional right to stage peaceful street demonstrations and the police should not stop them,” Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said yesterday.

Peaceful street demonstrations should be allowed, he said, adding that DAP would consider joining the protesters if the police issued the permits allowing the people to assemble in the streets.

“We fully support the plans of the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) to hold peaceful street demonstrations to force Taib to step down,” the Bandar Kuching MP said.

Chong, who is also Kota Sentosa assemblyperson, said Taib and the BN have suffered the worst setback in the April 16 state election, losing 16 seats to the opposition.

“The BN’s share of the popular vote in the election has also declined by eight percent to 55 percent, while the opposition’s share rose to 45 percent.

“This means that only 55 percent of the voters supported Taib and his BN while the other 45 percent rejected them.

“Normally, under such circumstances, a leader would have to take responsibility for the setback by resigning from his position,” Chong said.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the BN could no longer consider Sarawak its “fixed deposit” state and therefore, “the call by MoCS for Taib to resign by Aug 13 is fair and just”.

‘Ridiculous to lodge police reports’
Chong said it was ridiculous of the Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) Youth members to lodge police reports against MoCS leader Francis Siah, who is leading the move to pressure Taib to leave office through the street protests.

“It is out of line and insane to lodge the reports against MoCS, which wants to hold peaceful demonstrations,” he said of the three police reports lodged by PBB Youth last Tuesday.

The reports were lodged in Kota Samarahan, Bintulu and in Kuching

PBB Youth exco member Wan Hamza Wan Paie, who lodged the report in Kuching, wants the police to place Siah under house arrest so that he would not be able to organise the street protests.

He said he had heard that Siah (above, left) wanted to bring in large numbers of people from outside Sarawak to take part in the protest.

Wan Hamza also accused Siah of getting funds from non-governmental organisations in the West to hold the street demonstrations.

Undaunted by police reports and calls for his arrest, Siah said he would not relent in his demand for Taib’s resignation.

“I am more determined than ever. The show will go on,” he said in a text message to friends who asked him what his next step would be, following PBB Youth’s demand that he be placed under house arrest.

Siah aims to mobilise some 200,000 people to hold peaceful demonstrations in various parts of Sarawak to force the ageing Taib, who has also been accused of corruption, to relinquish power.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 11:31 pm and is filed under
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DAP blames Putrajaya for scholarship mess

By
Debra Chong
 | May 20, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Lim Guan Eng blamed Putrajaya today for the annual uproar over public scholarship awards and urged a full investigation into the education saga which he claims is draining Malaysia of home-grown talent.

The Penang chief minister was responding to the recent idea floated by Education Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong as a stop-gap move to resolve the recurring problem.

Wee suggested examination top-scorers who failed to be funded for further studies to their choice universities accept first the offers made to them before filing an appeal with the Public Service Department (PSD).

Lim, however, called the idea “ridiculous”.

“Why should the people who have not done any wrong be the ones who have to appeal?” he questioned in a statement.

He pointed out the proposal compounded the perception of injustice as the beneficiaries of the problematic system appeared to be let off while the “victims” were punished for the red-tape error.

“This is exactly the kind of issue that has contributed to the growing national brain drain problem,” the opposition lawmaker for Bagan said.

The MCA had acknowledged the same after a recent UN report stated 57 per cent of Malaysians were in professional employment in neighbouring Singapore.

“How can the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) efforts to attract and retain human talent work when the federal government officials cannot even get it right the simple job of offering scholarships to the best students and instead awarding it to the worst?” the DAP secretary-general said, and demanded PSD officials be punished for their misconduct.

The award of public scholarships recurs annually following the announcement of the SPM results.

Wee had told reporters yesterday some 363 straight A+ students who deserved to be funded to study abroad had lost out to those with lower grades.

The MCA Youth chief added PSD — which decides on the scholarship awards — had offered the top scholars local matriculation or diploma programmes.

Wee said the issue would be raised at the Cabinet meeting next week.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 5:53 pm and is filed under
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DAP: BN opiates citizens to hide its sins

Malaysiakini | May 20, 11

The DAP continued to harp on the “subsidy opium” notion raised by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, saying the BN government has fed Malaysians with “opium” over the decades to hide the impact of its massive corruption, cronyism, leakages and maladministration.

National DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua described BN as the “drug pusher” that has fed “opium” to Malaysians in increasing doses over the years to mask the fact that the Malaysian economy has been unable to grow at the necessary pace and competitiveness.

“As a result, the people are unable to increase their income at a pace faster than the rapidly rising cost of living.

“Hence, the BN government uses ‘opium’ to keep the general populace in an artificial state of bliss and ignorance, so that Malaysians are stuck in a middle income trap and rising income inequality,” the MP for Petaling Jaya Utara (left) said in a statement today.

On May 17, Najib told an audience at Oxford University’s Centre for Islamic Studies: “Subsidies as a whole are like opium. Once you take opium it’s hard to kick the bad habit; once you provide subsidies it’s hard to take them away without some political cost.”

According to media reports, the government is mulling to increase RON95 petrol price and electricity tariff.

In his statement, Pua accused BN of weakening the nation’s economic competitiveness through inefficient and ineffective policies, hare-brained projects and rampant corruption, while the population was induced with a “feel good” factor over the past two decades.

He cited the multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone scandal and the RM888 billion capital flight out of the country from 2000 to 2008, which was announced by the US-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI).

Pua explained that the increasing production of oil and gas as well as rising international oil prices had allowed BN to deceive the people with subsidies all these years.

Plundering nation’s wealth the real problem

However, as a result of extravagant and unproductive government expenditure over the past two decades, the BN government now finds itself having difficulty reducing the budget deficit and feeding its cronies, while continuing to subsidise the people at the same time.

This subsidy phenomena, he said, was not the real problem faced by the Malaysian economy: the real problem is the plundering and pilfering of the country’s wealth by the BN government and its crony business interests.

“Therefore, even if the ‘opium’ addiction is removed, the plight of the economy will continue because all that’s saved from the ‘opium’ will still be pilfered away.”

The only way to revive the country’s economy, according to Pua, is for the BN government to place the interests of the citizens above that of its cronies and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its expenditures, as well as to take pro-active measures to improve transparency and accountability to reduce corruption and leakages.

“Without these key measures, removing the ‘opium’ addiction will only be a short-term measure that will not lead us to become a high-income nation,” he warned.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 6:24 pm and is filed under
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DAP wants advance voting open to scrutiny

By
Shannon Teoh
 | May 20, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — DAP said today that political parties should also be allowed to monitor the new advance voting process for the police and military to ensure that there is no cheating.

Secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that while it welcomed the abolishment of postal votes, there would be “no difference in ensuring a free, fair, neutral and independent election if political parties still do not have full access during the voting process.”

The Election Commission (EC) said earlier this week that advance voting would be conducted by commission officers without the presence of the police of military personnel’s superiors as practised in postal voting.

However, it said personnel posted at borders and remote operational areas, as well as diplomats serving in overseas missions, will continue to use postal votes.

Today, Bagan MP Lim said monitors from political parties and the EC must be present during the advance voting process to ensure there is no manipulation or cheating.

The Penang chief minister added that “postal voting is virtually conducted by the armed forces or police themselves.”

He said while the ballots are sealed in an envelope, they are accompanied by a form carrying the signature of the witness and other details.

“As a result, this obvious lack of transparency has given rise to suspicions that votes can be traced to the voter, which is unconstitutional,” he said in a statement today.

Opposition parties have long accused Barisan Nasional (BN) of abusing the postal voting system by coercing security personnel to vote for the ruling coalition.

The EC said that the new advance voting process would make votes by police and military personnel more transparent.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 3:08 pm and is filed under
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Half-baked Malaysian scheme is no solution

By
Graham Thom
 | May 20, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 20 —  As I stepped into Malaysia’s Lenggeng detention centre, I saw rows and rows of emaciated men crammed into a cage smaller than a tennis court. Nearby, women and children were also being held in a tiny cell, 24 hours a day, no bedding, nothing.

Standing there amid the stench of poor sanitation and steamy tropical heat, I could never have imagined that within months these centres would be hailed as the new “humane and safe” solution to Australia’s so-called asylum-seeker crisis.

I was there to help research an Amnesty International report, “Abused and Abandoned: Refugees Denied Rights in Malaysia”. We found people with skin infections and communicable diseases spread by rat urine, already responsible for deaths in the centres. We also documented the fact 6000 face judicial caning every year for immigration offences. This is no minor punishment, as the canes travel up to 160km/h, ripping into flesh and leaving deep scars.

More than 90,000 refugees live in Malaysia, the vast majority of them in the community. They live in constant fear of arrest or extortion, as they have no legal status under Malaysian law.

Despite some recent improvements, several top officials effectively maintain that refugees do not exist in the country.

In a 2009 interview, the secretary-general for the Ministry of Home Affairs, Datuk Mahmood bin Adam, was asked by Amnesty International what would happen if someone arrived at the airport and claimed asylum.

He replied: “He will be refused entry. We have not signed the refugee protocol.”

The fear refugees face in the community is very real, with even those already recognised as refugees frequently rounded up by a state-sanctioned militia group known as RELA.

Amnesty International’s report contains several disturbing accounts of refugees with UN High Commissioner for Refugees cards being detained.

A Rohingya man from Burma told Amnesty International last year: “I spent five months in detention even though I had a UNHCR card. I was beaten by RELA in front of the others.”

A Rohingya woman told us: “They beat me badly in detention. It was the police. I am a diabetic but when I asked for medicine they beat me badly. My children  approached UNHCR to get me out but no response.”

The report concludes: “For those refugees and asylum-seekers who are forced to flee their homelands in search of protection, Malaysia is an unwelcoming and dangerous place.”

While the Australian federal government has stated that the 800 sent to Malaysia will

not be treated any differently as other refugees and asylum-seekers there, they also insist that Malaysia has promised to treat them with “dignity and respect”. But how is this possible given the scale of abuses documented there, and the fact Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention?

The Australian government has failed to clarify how this guarantee would be

carried out in practice in a developing country already overwhelmed by more than one million illegal migrant workers in addition to the tens of thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers.

Again, Malaysian law makes no distinction.

It raises the question, what visa will the 800 be given to enter the country? A tourist visa? Or are they being sent to be “illegal”, in breach of Malaysia’s own migration laws?

Also, what level of force is Australia prepared to use to make people go to Malaysia? What lessons did Australia learn from the Oceanic Viking experience?

Amnesty International has welcomed the move to take 4000 refugees from

Malaysia. However, this should not be done for political reasons, and at the expense of those coming to seek asylum on Australian shores.

Linking the resettlement of refugees from Malaysia to a domestic political solution undermines the fundamental right to seek asylum for those fleeing persecution, as well as the targeted role resettlement should play in refugee protection.

As a signatory to the convention and as a Western country that receives a tiny proportion of the world’s asylum claims, Australia should be setting a good example to the region by processing requests in accordance with our international obligations.

What is particularly concerning about this “five for one” deal is that the asylum-seekers we send to Malaysia are likely to stand out, making them an easy target. Most refugees in Malaysia are Burmese, while the people we send there are likely to be from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

These highly visible groups will struggle to blend into the community and avoid being subjected to abuses by RELA agents or government officials, such as caning, beatings or extortion.

By disregarding these very real dangers, the government is playing politics with the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people: people who are fleeing persecution and who came here to ask for our help.

At best, they face living in limbo for many years.

At worst, they face beatings and disease-ridden camps — or even death.

There are already more than 100 recent arrivals awaiting deportation on Christmas Island. Amnesty International notes that the government has refused to detail any exceptions to the new policy for children, the sick or the elderly.

Under the UN refugee convention, Australia is responsible for these people. The government needs to explain just what will happen to them. — The Australian

* Graham Thom is Amnesty International’s refugee spokesman

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 6:17 pm and is filed under
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I am an unwanted step-child

By
Henry T.
 | May 20, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 20 — I am a Malaysian Chinese and please notice that I did not mention Chinese Malaysian as I feel that one should be a Malaysian first and a Chinese second. I love Malaysia and as a kid I had wonderful memories growing up in Penang. When I was 19, I went to Singapore for my university education as my Bahasa grade was not good enough to qualify for local university entrance.

I worked in Singapore for 20 over years, married a Singapore girl and in 2000 migrated to New Zealand and have been there for 10 years. Over the years, I truly appreciated my adopted countries of Singapore and New Zealand as they made me quite welcome. I never felt unwanted (which I sometimes do in Malaysia simply because I am Chinese).

I left Malaysia because of the following reasons in order of priority:

1) Better prospects overseas (and this is sometimes race related… no jobs for non-Bumis in the public sector and promotion only for Bumis).

2) Racial discrimination (look if I am unwanted I can contribute to other countries that appreciate me… e.g. I work as an educational IT consultant for groups of schools and colleges in Auckland).

3) Environment and weather… beautiful environment here in NZ (although certain parts of Malaysia in the old days could be just as nice but alas on my recent trip back some of these places have truly deteriorated due to bad maintenance).

In spite of all these reasons I still sometimes dream of going back to retire in Malaysia… why? I do not really know except that deep inside me I am still a Malaysian boy at heart if only the political and religious situation is more salubrious!

But things are not getting better. In fact it’s getting worst and the way things are developing there can only be one ending… racial chaos and bloodshed with possible military conflict with neighbouring countries and international condemnation of human rights violations. So heck no! I think my family and I are far better off staying put but I fear for my many friends and relatives in Malaysia.

So do I miss Malaysia. Yes, it is my country even though I am an unwanted step-child. Do I owe Malaysia anything? Maybe to the people but not the bigoted and corrupt system on both sides of the divide!

So all the best Malaysia. May I be wrong!

* We asked readers who have migrated to tell us in their own words why they left. This is one of the stories.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 5:46 pm and is filed under
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Incite (verb) – to stir up or provoke violence

Comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers

‘It is true that the standard of English has fallen to a new low – when you have a leader like H’ng who doesn’t understand the meaning of ‘incite’.’

Guan Eng accused of inciting Buddhists

Swipenter:
 “Even though Christians, and not Buddhists, are targeted by Umno and Utusan Malaysia this time, what is there to stop Buddhists and Hindus from being the next targets in the future?” said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Is that an inciting statement? Penang Gerakan Youth vice-chief H’ng Khoon Leng seems to think so and we do feel sorry for him that he could came to such a conclusion.

I wonder why he wasn’t making a police report against Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali’s direct call for ‘jihad’ against ‘ungrateful Christians’. H’ng claims to be a practicing Buddhist. What would he do and how would he react if a person starts insulting his religion?

Would he just let the person finish his/her insults and let the incident go or defend his religion even at the cost of his life? What did Buddha teach him about the three poisons – attachment, hatred and confusion?

Buddhism is about non-violence, love and compassion.

Changeagent:
 LGE merely highlighted the unfair media persecution of the Christians by religious zealots like Umno and Utusan Malaysia, and warned of similar treatment against other minority groups given the general apathy shown by the authorities in taking appropriate action.

There is nothing irresponsible or ill-intentioned in his statement at all, and it does nothing to jeopardise the relationship between rational Muslims and non-Muslims. That H’ng had so wrongly misinterpreted the meaning and intentions of LGE’s Facebook message shows that his own ‘england’ is not so ‘powderful’ after all.

Lover Boy:
 H’ng Khoon Leng, you claim to be a practising Buddhist and yet you make a report against LGE (Lim Guan Eng) claiming that his statement may cause trouble.

Core to all Buddhist beliefs is compassion, if you think LGE is wrong you should go to him and tell him so. By making a police report, you stirred up negative emotions. A practising Buddhist does not do that.

You just celebrated Wesak, and I suppose you must be one who kneel before the baby Buddha to give him a bath. It does not mean that you are cleaning the Buddha but you are suppose to cleanse your mind. In your case, it is unfortunate that nothing was cleansed.

Gary Nair:
 H’ng, thank you for your most stupid police report on LGE. With more people like you, Gerakan is finished. LGE has time and again proven that as the Penang CM, he is brave enough to take national issues heads on.

Lim, who is also the secretary-general of DAP, has shown that he has guts. He went to jail fighting for a Muslim girl, while you went to the police station to make a stupid report against him. What a hero you are.

Geronimo:
 H’ng must be a Rip Van Winkle, just awoke from a long slumber. If Umno, Utusan Malaysia, Ibrahim Ali, Yusri Mohamad, Nazri Abdul Aziz and Hishamudddin Hussein, do not bat an eye lid when putting the Christians in bad light, do you think for a moment they wouldn’t do it to the Buddhists, whose majority are Chinese?

Prior to this Christian state issue, the Hindus were the target. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess who will be next? Come on, when the chips are down and when trouble breaks out in the streets, do you think for one moment those pro-Umno, pro-Perkasa, pro-Pembela and pro-Utusan fellows are going to stop to ask every Chinese/Indian whether he/she is from Gerakan, MCA, MIC, PPP or SUPP?

LGE is just sounding out an alarm to all non-Umno Malaysians to do what is right, which is a direct response to Ibrahim Ali’s rhetoric of launching a crusade against the Christians. But instead of supporting his move, H’ng decided to do otherwise.

Ferdtan:
 It is true that the standard of English has fallen to a new low – when you have a leader like H’ng who doesn’t understand the meaning of ‘incite’. Did LGE called for ‘jihad’ against anyone? What Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa did: calling for ‘jihad’ – that’s incitement. You faham, H’ng?

Hello:
 That’s the trouble with these Gerakan guys who dared not voice their opposition to the statements made by the extremists in Umno during their governance of Penang. In fact, they had given way to Umno in all respects of policies that Umno was the virtual government of Penang.

This had given rise to a new nomenclature of another species of durians – ‘Koh Tsu Koon’ – whose special characteristics are ‘seedless’. Now this new generation of Gerakan is accusing people who are voicing their opposition to these extremists as inciting the Buddhists.

This farce has gone on long enough for the rakyat to stomach. It would be for the better good of the nation if these KTK durians just shut up and disappear from the political scene.

Anonymous_40a7:
 H’ng, I guess you have a really short memory. Remember last month Utusan attacked the Chinese Sarawakians and labeled them ‘ungrateful’ for not supporting BN during the state elections? Why didn’t you make a police report about it then?

By the way, you just wasted your time making a police report over this ‘issue’ – didn’t Nazri said recently such things are a ‘norm’ now?

Rom:
 H’ng sounds like a first-class idiot. At this rate, Gerakan truly will be history very soon. Listen, LGE was simply alerting ordinary Malaysians to the fact that if they don’t watch it, they will be the next targets of dangerous idiots like Ibrahim Ali, Utusan and the racists in Umno (and, of course, Umno’s bedmates like Gerakan).

H’ng, even if you want to become politically significant (I know it’s difficult for a simpleton like you), don’t lah scrape so low in the barrel. By the way, where was your ‘noise’ when Ibrahim Ali and Utusan made all those threats?

Myrights:
 Unbelievable! What’s wrong with what LGE has stated? It’s true and it’s a known fact that Perkasa/Utusan have already been specifically targeting Chinese after the Sarawak election. Now, they’re attacking Christians and if no one stops them now, they’ll attack all non-Muslims.

H’ng must just be doing the dirty job for Umno to make DAP look bad. Fortunately, we are not stupid nor ignorant anymore. We’re now fully aware of the shit that BN has been throwing at us and will make sure that BN will lose big in the next GE. These Gerakan idiots should know that the more idiotic noise they make, the more repulsive they become.

EugeneT:
 H’ng should check the dictionary and find out what ‘incite’ means before making a big fool of himself. It will only goes to prove that he, like certain Umno politicians, can only talk much but lack any substance. Have H’ng made a report against Perkasa for issuing threats against Christians?

NuckinFuts:
 H’ng, live with it!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 10:52 am and is filed under
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Is it wrong to speak of peace, asks Guan Eng

By
Susan Loone
 | May 20, 11

Malaysiakini

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has slammed certain quarters for miscontruing his Wesak Day message as an attempt to incite non-Muslims to anger against Muslims.

Lim, who is DAP national secretary-general, said he was perturbed that a message which contained elements of peace and harmony could be condemned.

On the other hand, a message that was full of hatred, like Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali’s recent ‘crusade against Christians’ outburst could be allowed, he added.

Lim denied that there were objections towards his Wesak Day message and speech delivered during a Malaysian Buddhist Association event in Penang on Tuesday.

He added that he merely asked everyone of a religious persuasion to stand together in peace and harmony as they could be the next target of Umno-owned Malay language daily Utusan Malaysia’s misreporting.

Lim was also quick to add that he also wanted the Muslims to come together to stand against extremism.

“If even that is wrong… then something must be very wrong,” Lim told reporters after chairing a meeting with the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism in Komtar today.

“People talking about having a crusade (against Christians) is not wrong but talking about peace and harmony is wrong?” he queried.

‘No one objected to it’

He stressed that his speech was in two languages – English and Mandarin – and none of the participants, who were Buddhists, had rejected it or voiced out their discontent over the message.

“Why don’t you ask the Buddhists who were present that day? Even an MCA leader and organising chairman of the event, Loh Hock Aun, was present at the event.

“They were happy and I was told it was a good speech,” he said.

“The master of ceremonies (MC) asked everyone to clap, and then they shook my hand and no one objected to it,” he added.

Lim was referring to a recent police report lodged against him by Gerakan Youth vice-chief H’ng Khoon Leng, who accused the former of inciting Buddhists and Hindus.

H’ng was then referring to Lim’s Wesak Day message which stated, among others: “Even though Christians, and not Buddhists, are targeted by Umno and Utusan Malaysia this time, what is there to stop Buddhists and Hindus from being the next targets in the future?”

H’ng demanded police action against Lim, although the latter has yet to be questioned by the force.

Lim’s message was based on the recent brouhaha over a May 7 front-page report in Utusan which alleged that DAP was colluding with a group of pastors in Penang to install a Christian prime minister and set up a Christian state.

The report angered Muslims groups, especially Perkasa, whose chief Ibrahim Ali threatened to launch a crusade against Christians who, he said, dared to usurp the position of Islam in the country.

Moving on to the now refuted and much-condemned Utusan report, Lim said that newspapers must uphold a certain standard of reporting the truth.

Freedom of speech, he added, should not give one the freedom to lie.

“If freedom of speech means one can call for a crusade or lie, something must be wrong there,” he quipped.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 6:33 pm and is filed under
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Lynas Review Panel must be reformed

SM Mohamed Idris

The Malaysian Insider

May 18, 2011

MAY 18 — On 14 May, the Minister for the International Trade and Industry (MITI), Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohammed announced the independent panel to review the proposed Lynas rare earth processing plant in Gebeng, Pahang.

Since the review involves environmental and public health and radiation safety issues, concerning a hazardous facility, it does not fall under the jurisdiction of the MITI.

We are thus puzzled why MITI was charged with announcing the review panel members, bearing in mind that a preliminary environmental impact assessment was submitted to the Department of Environment (DoE) in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in 2008.

We are also puzzled as to why an independent Malaysian authority was not responsible for the appointments of each of the nine members of the review panel. A more suitable and impartial body like the DoE should have helmed the selection process instead of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board which as it turns out, delegated the entire responsibility to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA’s main interest is to promote nuclear energy and its related activities worldwide. Whereas the DoE was set up to protect the environment and promote environmentally sustainable activities.

The public is told that the ‘independent panel’ members are experts in their respective disciplines but no information on the detailed competencies of each of the panel members is given. In any appointments to committees of such nature, it is standard requirement that individual CVs of members are provided.

However, a search on the profile of each member of the ‘independent panel’ has confirmed our worst fears that they are not really as independent as they have been made out to be.

Four (plus one) of the nine panel members are staff of the IAEA namely:

·         Dr. Tero Varjoranta (Finland), Director of the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, IAEA Department of Nuclear Energy. Dr. Varjoranta is head of the review panel.

·         Dr. Magnus Vesterlind (Sweden), Head of the Waste and Environmental Section, IAEA.

·         Dr. Horst Monken Fernandes (Brazil), staff member of the Wastes Technology Section, Division of Nuclear Fuel Cell and Waste Management

·         Ms. Hanna Kajander (Finland), Communications Officer, IAEA

·         Hiroko Ratcliffe (Austria), Administrative Assistant, IAEA

The five external experts are:

·         Mr Jan van der Steen (Netherlands).

Email:
[email protected]

Website: http://www.nrg-nl.com (http://www.nrg.eu/)   or http://www.nrg.eu/  (http://www.nrg.eu/)

An engineer by training, he was the Manager of Radiation and Environment Session at NRG, Arnhem. NRG (Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group) is the nuclear service provider in the Netherlands. From its website NRG states: “Our products and internationally renowned expertise are frequently called on by both governments and industries … Another aspect of our work is our durable focus on safety of nuclear reactors and attractive options for nuclear waste management, including recycling technologies. We are engaged in applied research enabling nuclear energy to become more sustainable. Examples include research into fourth generation nuclear energy systems, and nuclear fusion technology.”

At NRG, we believe that nuclear technologies are essential for a sustainable society. And we are committed to devote all our energy to it.’

·         Dr Leo M. Lowe, (Canada)

Email:
[email protected]

Website: http://www.senes.on.ca (http://senes.ca/)  or http://senes.ca/ (http://senes.ca/)

He has a doctorate in Nuclear Physics, and is Principal Consultant, Senior Health and Environmental Physicist, SENES Consultants Ltd. The company has worked with IAEA. “SENES clients have included uranium mining companies, uranium refineries, fuel fabrication facilities, nuclear power plants operators, numerous industrial clients, industry associations and federal and international agencies and regulators.”  http://senes.ca/radioactivity.html (http://senes.ca/radioactivity.html)

“SENES provides a broad scope of services related to the management of low-level radioactive wastes. These include: the conceptual design and assessment of disposal facilities; assessment of impacts on contaminated environments; design of remedial measures for contaminated sites; and supervision of contaminated material removal.”

http://senes.ca/radioactivity_low_level_waste.html (http://senes.ca/radioactivity_low_level_waste.html)

·         Dr PM Balagopala Pillai (India), he is a scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). He was Head, Health Physics Unit, Indian Rare Earths Ltd plants in South India. He has served as a consultant to the IAEA.

·         Dr Dennis Wymer (UK)

Email:
[email protected]

A mechanical engineer, he worked for the IAEA from 1993 to 2009. Prior to this, he was involved in the South African mining industry. In a paper in 2001 representing the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, he presented environmental monitoring data for the radiological impact from the gold uranium mining industry and its wastes. These data were used to calculate doses for members of the public. His paper states: ‘[…] It is concluded from these results that the impact of gold mining operations on the environment is small, and will not cause any member of the public to receive a radiation dose more than about 10% of the public dose limit. Current rehabilitation measures for tailings are mainly limited to vegetation and reworking of slopes. It is unlikely that the costs of constructing radon barriers would ever be justified on the basis of the minimal dose reduction benefits that could be achieved. Some measures to control surface water pollution may continue to be necessary but, from present knowledge, contamination of ground water is unlikely to be of concern. […]’ (excerpt from the abstract)   (Source: http://www.wise-uranium.org/udza.html (http://www.wise-uranium.org/udza.html)  )

·         Mr. Ulric Schwela (Finland)

Profile: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/ulricschwela (http://uk.linkedin.com/in/ulricschwela)

Currently Technical Promotion Officer for the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center (http://uk.linkedin.com/company/tantalus?trk=ppro_cprof) . Metals & Mining Consultant and Contractor, Radioactive Materials Transport Adviser, Blackpool, United Kingdom. He has a degree (BSc) in Chemistry, and has worked with the IAEA on projects.

Despite its international composition, the members of the review panel are all linked to the nuclear industry. They are trained in the physical and engineering sciences and have no known expertise in public health, radiation safety, environment and socioeconomic issues.

What is even more troubling, the external experts are consultants working for nuclear companies which exist for commercial purposes. The job of a consultant is primarily to bring in projects and profits for the companies he/she works for. Thus they are all proponents of the nuclear industry.

In the context of radiation safety, public health and the environment, it is imperative to involve individuals who are independent of nuclear establishments and nuclear related industries.

In the interest of transparency, accountability and credibility, we urge the Malaysian government to form a comprehensive and integrated review panel.

This review panel should comprise real independent experts on public health, radiation safety, medicine, environment, law and the social sciences.

* SM Mohamed Idris is the president of the Consumers Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 5:53 am and is filed under
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Major shortcomings in current History teaching

CPI Asia
 | 20 May 2011

Introduction by CPI

Under the Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah (KBSM), the History textbooks used in secondary schools are written by the Education Ministry and published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

The authors for the present KBSM History series are Ahmad Fawzi Mohd Hassan, Mohd Fo’ad Sakdan, Azami Man, Masariah Mispari, Johara Abdul Wahab, Ridzuan Hasan, Ramlah Adam, Abdul Hakim Samuri, Muslimin Fadzil, Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman, Mohd Yusof Ibrahim, Muhammad Bukhari Ahmad, Rosnanaini Sulaiman, Ramlah Adam, Shakila Parween Yacob, Abdul Hakim Samuri and Muslimin Fadzil.

Ramlah Adam’s name appears twice in the above list as she co-authored both the Form Three and Form Five textbooks. Ramlah, who is a Perkasa council member, is also the deputy chair of the government review board on the History syllabus.

CPI and others have noted that there is a conflict of interest for an author who has a vested interest to not only be sitting on the board but to also serve as its deputy chair.

Even more notably, Ramlah has gone on record to say in public that there is “nothing wrong” with the current history syllabus for secondary schools. She argued that “the history syllabus is well-balanced” and “the non-Malays do not understand this because they do not want to accept the concept of Malay supremacy (ketuanan Melayu).”

Any person holding such views surely would have the moral decency to decline serving in the panel.

The fact that the government has seen it fit to appoint her as the deputy chair, and her acceptance of the nomination, reveals the underlying political, racist and religious agenda in the entire exercise, in which the other panel members are likely to serve as token figureheads.

Below is Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi’s Power Point presentation made during his presentation at the ‘Reclaiming our truly Malaysian history’ campaign launch in Petaling Jaya on May 15. It points to the many shortcomings of the KBSM History textbooks in the form of sweeping statements, value judgments and selective interpretation.

While we are not hopeful that the government review panel will take into account these alternative points of views and other important perspectives reflecting the concerns of the larger society and communities, we will continue to highlight them to energize the public into demanding that the new curriculum and textbooks are reflective of our truly Malaysian history.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 4:40 pm and is filed under
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Nazri: Free speech for all, even Ibrahim Ali

By
Clara Chooi
 | May 20, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Standing by his decision not to haul up Datuk Ibrahim Ali for threatening a “crusade” on Christians, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz has pledged the same treatment for all similar transgressions in the future.

“It is not just the opposition politicians but also those in the Barisan Nasional (BN). In fact, anybody at all… bloggers and so on,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.

The de facto law minister said this was because the existence of the new media like blogs, Facebook and Twitter had forced the government to relax its control over an individual’s right to free speech.

“We cannot practise selective persecution. So if we were to act against Ibrahim, then we have to act against bloggers or newspapers or Twitter users. And yet, these people are also protected by the Bill of Guarantees (BoGs),” he said, referring to the government’s pledge not to censor the Internet under the 10-point BoGs of the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor.

Nazri stressed, however, that this did not mean he backed Ibrahim, whom he previously clashed with in the media, and called on all Malaysians to judge wisely statements made by any individual.

“The landscape has changed. Sensitive matters are now being discussed in the open.

“When something is mentioned all the time, it becomes less sensitive and this is a good thing because then things can be mentioned but people will not take offence to it,” he said.

Nazri pointed out that if Ibrahim had made a similar statement 40 years back, he would have likely triggered a riot among the country’s various races.

“But it has been days since he made the statement and yet, we do not see any riot on the streets. People are no longer as sensitive as they were before.

“Now, people just laugh at Ibrahim and call him a clown,” he said.

He said it was likely because PAS members, all of whom are Muslims, as well as Umno members, rejected Ibrahim’s views.

“So you cannot even say that Ibrahim’s words have caused the Malays to rise against the Christians.

“It is no longer a shock to Malaysians when these issues are raised because of the new media… we have been talking about it openly all the time.

“If you speak, for example, of Article 153, people are no longer as sensitive as before and is this not a good thing?” he said.

Nazri claimed that wielding the Sedition Act or any such legislation against an individual would be a difficult, saying it has to be proven in court that the person’s words or actions had led to violent circumstances.

“But in this case… how to prove? Did anything happen? None,” he pointed out.

Ibrahim threatened Christians nationwide during a rally in Gombak on Saturday with a crusade or holy war should they proceed with their purported agenda to usurp Islam.

The Perkasa president thundered to an audience of some 200 at Kampung Changkat here that he was willing to take the fall for his statement in order to defend the dignity of Islam.

Although he complained of fatigue from his nine rallies from Kelantan to Gombak since last Friday, the Pasir Mas MP also said his blood was boiling with rage and “hairs standing on end” following recent reports of a Christian conspiracy between religious leaders and opposition party politicians.

“In Kelantan earlier, I declared before the police, I told the security forces present that if they want to send my messages to Bukit Aman (police headquarters), please go ahead.

“Please record my words — if there is any party in Penang, especially the Christian priests who are being backed by the Penang DAP, should continue with their agenda which we already know, I would like to offer that if they want to hold a crusade, we can,” he charged.

Ibrahim was referring to the recent row over a controversial newspaper report in Utusan Malaysia entitled “Kristian Agam Rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?) in which it was alleged that DAP leaders and Christian priests were conspiring to take over Putrajaya, abolish Islam as the religion of the federation and install a Christian prime minister.

The report was based entirely on unsubstantiated blog posts by two pro-Umno bloggers, one of whom is currently under investigation by police. The second blogger has since deleted the entire contents of his blog.

Christian leaders and DAP members have denied the reports and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was also forced to host a meeting with the religious chiefs to solve the issue but Ibrahim insisted on Saturday that the report was true.

Utusan Malaysia’s Christian conspiracy report is presently under police investigation.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 10:49 am and is filed under
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Opium and walking stick

Lim Sue Goan

The Malaysian Insider

May 19, 2011

MAY 19 — For the very first time, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak described the fuel subsidy as opium. His remarks were shocking as the people have been enjoying subsidies over the past few decades and would it mean that they have taken opium for decades?

Long-term opium use would cause irreversible damage to health and even death. The Chinese used to be called “The Sick Man of East Asia” during the Qing Dynasty as opium taking was a trend at that time.

If subsidies are opium to the national economy, the country must then first go through a painful process of rehabilitation before it can recover. And whether it would succeed, it all depends on the people’s determination.

Subsidies had once stirred up the people’s spirit. However, after they have gradually adapted to the effects, they started to ask for more. As a result, they have taken in too much and become lazy and dispirited. Also, their competitiveness and productivity fell.

Therefore, removing subsidies is good for long-term national economic development. It can also keep the people free from being over-reliant on subsidies and help stimulate their creativity.

However, “opium” is not the only poison to the national economy. The walking stick and other policies are infecting the economy too.

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad described the habit of relying on government assistance as the “Tongkat (walking stick) Culture”. A man would forget how to walk on his own if he relies on the walking stick for a long period of time and when he encounters a rough road, I am afraid that he would need someone to carry him.

Approved Permits (APs) for imported cars, protection for domestic cars, subsidies for independent power producers (IPPs), housing discounts, assistance for F-Class contractors and other polices are all defective measures. They must be abolished to recover the national economic health.

In addition, over-reliance on foreign workers is another kind of drug to the national economy. The country will never be able to get out from the “middle-income trap” if it does not find ways to add values, automate production and get rid of foreign workers.

Management loopholes would also cause losses to the national treasury. For example, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) found that the country has been suffering RM108 billion of loss yearly but after the fatal fall of a Customs officer from a MACC building, we could hear no more about the development of the investigation.

All in all, there are too many factors causing the national economy to be unhealthy. If they wish to transform the economy, they must first eliminate the factors. If they can, the government could then save up to RM20.5 billion of subsidies and a hundred billion of subvention. The country would then be able to achieve financial surplus and no longer need to borrow money.

However, it is always easier to say than do, particularly when the next general election is about to approach. As the prime minister said, they have to pay a political price to cut subsidies.

If the general election is held at the end of this year, the price of RON95 would not be increased and the walking stick would not be removed in the coming 10 years.

Another factor to consider is, there are signs showing that economic downturn and inflation are worsening. The people’s incomes have not been raised and cutting subsidies at the moment would not help the economy to recover immediately.

Malaysians have been relying on opium and the walking stick for too long. It is indeed not easy to get rid of them! — mysinchew.com

                This entry was posted on Friday, 20 May 2011, 5:42 am and is filed under
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