What’s wrong for a Malay to join DAP?

Malaysiakini
 | 9:58AM Jun 16, 2013

YOURSAY ‘Why is Umno afraid of Malays holding important posts in DAP? Or is it that only Umno can speak on behalf of the Malays?’

UiTM VC denies calling Lim’s aide ‘pengkhianat’

Ynwa
: Only indolent people cannot accept the rise of Pakatan Rakyat and DAP. Without the opposition, we would all be paying more taxes as there would have been even more corruption and mismanagement.

We need to compete with the rest of the world and not among the various races in Malaysia, and this is what DAP and Lim Kit Siang’s new political secretary Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud are propagating. Keep it up Dyana, you are my heroine.

Jaguh
: People like Dyana are those who have a brain, compared to those who condemn her. She has seen the ‘light’ and without coaxing/hesitation, has joined the fight for justice, equality and meritocracy. And by the way, she is not alone.

Anonymous_5fb
: What’s wrong for a Malay to join DAP? Is there a law that forbids a Malay from joining DAP?

Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar is not fit to be the vice-chancellor (VC) of UiTM if it turns out he was indeed the one who tweeted the offending message.

Ourvotesdecide
: I have just read the Quran to find out if there is any verse therein that says every Malay or Muslims must support or vote for Umno. I doubt whether there is such a thing.

So what lies are these Umno fellows talking about? Shame on them. DAP and non-Umno political parties are, like Umno, legally registered parties under the same law.

In other words, DAP, PKR and PAS are legitimate political parties and it’s not a sin or a crime to support or vote for them.

The federal constitution guarantee us freedom to vote for these parties in elections. And our laws do not deem those Malays and Muslims not voting for Umno as traitors.

2LAN
: Why is Umno afraid of Malays holding important posts in DAP? Don’t they want DAP to listen to the Malays in order to serve the community better? Or is it that only Umno can speak on behalf of the Malays?

Minahkerang
: If the Malays are friendly with DAP, they are traitors and apostates, but if Malays are friendly with MCA and Gerakan, what would you then call them? That’s the level of mentality of Umno.

Rick Teo
: Dyana, you are a rare breed. Brave to go against the trend and courage to stand up for what you believe is right. Umno deliberately plant the seeds of hatred against DAP because they know that DAP fights against corruption and greed.

Abasir
: Malaysians must remember that Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno created and placed thousands of half-baked, parasitic, extravagantly titled order-takers in places like UiTM to do their bidding.

All of them share some common characteristics: an amazing ability to spout inanities in bad English, mindlessly repeating Biro Tatanegara-coined phrases like ‘penghianat bangsa dan agama’ and when cornered, deny everything they have said or claim to be misquoted or in this case, account hacked.

While these fellows are hopelessly pathetic and deserve the scorn they always receive, they do serve a useful purpose. They provide comic relief for entertainment-starved Malaysians.

Moontime
: I don’t know why but there seems to be a distinct stench of familiarity with the way certain Umno supporters behave. They love to spout pathetic words like ‘pengkhianat bangsa’ ‘maruah bangsa tergadai’ and ‘siapa sokong DAP dialah pengkhianat bangsa’.

I deem these kind of people imbeciles of the highest order. Their brains have been washed by Umno’s brand of soap that they fail to look at things objectively and rationally.

If the UiTM VC really tweeted those insulting words, he should have the magnanimity to apologise. He claimed that his Twitter account was hacked but doesn’t seem to be too concerned, or want to do something, about it.

I pity some Malays who are still stuck with the old mindset that to support DAP means to betray the Malays. Don’t you realise that the very party that you support have betrayed the Malays time and again?

To name a few, remember the Bank Bumiputra and Perwaja scandal? How many jobs were lost and lives ruined because of the greed and arrogance of the Malay leaders then?

Pemerhati
: We have seen that when BN ministers and their other high-ranking public officials are caught with their pants down, they will usually say that they have been misquoted or that the statement was taken out of context.

Now they can also say that they did not write anything and someone had hacked into their account and wrote those nasty stuff.

Now, if an ordinary person were to say something on Twitter and gets charged with sedition, can that person also give the excuse that his or her account had been hacked? The chances are further investigations would be carried out to ascertain the truth.

Would a similar investigation be done on this VC?

AngryBird
: “Malay Muslims who join the DAP are confirmed to have identity and akidah (faith) issues,” Umno Youth exco member Tun Faisal Ismail said.

So Malay Muslims who join corrupted Umno have no identity and akidah issues, Faisal? This is most idiotic comment from the most idiotic person.

ACR
: Who is Tun Faisal to talk about others’ akidah? When you can say next to nothing about blatant corruption and racism in your own party, you are talking about the akidah of others?

Pahatian
: So according to Tun Faisal, all those who join Umno do not have identity and akidah issues. Yes, they are saints.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 17 June 2013, 12:56 pm and is filed under
DAP
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Lessons from Turkey: An Open Letter to Muslim Democrats in Malaysia

– Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa

The Malaysian Insider

Jun 17, 2013

The Islamic Renaissance Front observes the protests in Turkey very closely. We believe there is much at stake in how AKP (The Justice and Development Party) will engage with the demonstrators at this point, especially with regards to the relationship between Islam and Democracy.

It is well known that the AKP, under the leadership of Reccep Tayyip Erdogan, rose to power with ideas for a modern and inclusive balance between politics and Islam. Despite its official ideology as a conservative party, it has nonetheless assured the Turkish people and the international community that it will abide by principles of transparency and openness in governing.

But we can discern some regressive trends after three terms. For one, Erdogan’s refusal to engage with the demonstrators, while blaming social media for stoking unrest, shows how far he has clearly strayed from his democratic ostentations.

The state driven regulation of personal life has also increased to reach concerning levels. All this is occurring alongside the rapid neo-liberalization of the economy, risking greater inequality between the haves and the have-nots and further devastation of the environment. Turkey too, currently has the highest amount of journalists imprisoned among all member countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

All this, needless to say, proves that contrary to initial high hopes, the Erdogan led AKP has not embodied the ideals of good governance founded on the Islamic principles of equality, justice and freedom.

Lessons for Malaysia

The Turkish example shows that the task of establishing a moderate and enlightened vision of political Islam only begins once in power. In this the challenge and priority is not to add more cosmetic Islamic policies and laws, but to educate the public of the virtues and values of democracy, justice and equality in a complex world towards harmony and prosperity for Malaysians of different cultures and religions.

Expectations are often higher for Muslim leaders who are not among the common stock of politically ambitious ulamas. They are assumed to be more flexible, or at the very least, less beholden to rigid interpretations of Islam which many with good reason feel cannot survive the dynamism and openness required for any democracy to flourish.

It goes without saying that such Muslim leaders are few and far between in Malaysia. And for that reason, they are therefore entrusted with far more responsibilities to help realize a more inclusive nation. For it will not only be Muslims who will be turning to them with their aspirations: Non-Muslims too will hope to be represented in the process.

However, given Malaysia’s linguistic, cultural and structural complexities, Malaysians are willing to be patient with these democrats as they work their way through the obstacles before them. Here, we wish to remind our Muslim democrat friends that the patience of Malaysians should not be used as a pretext for further superficial Islamization, which is often the more tempting route, given the conservatism that pervades Malay-Muslim political culture.

The goal for any Muslim democrat leader in Malaysia, first and foremost, is to ensure democracy. We wish for our Muslim democrat friends and allies to heed this lesson from the current struggle in Turkey.The Islamic Renaissance Front observes the protests in Turkey very closely. We believe there is much at stake in how AKP (The Justice and Development Party) will engage with the demonstrators at this point, especially with regards to the relationship between Islam and Democracy.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 June 2013, 6:17 pm and is filed under
Islam
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The Opposition’s new mandate

By
Nurul Izzah Anwar
 | June 18, 2013

The Malaysian Insider

JUNE 18 — Thousands of Malaysians voted abroad during the 13th general election. Many more returned from Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, London and Taiwan, traditionally places with large numbers of Malaysians, to exercise their right to suffrage on May 5th.

This is a peculiar phenomenon.

Why do Malaysians who have found greener pastures abroad feel compelled to return to the country to cast their ballot? This certainly goes against the thesis of Albert O. Hirshman — who argued in a famous treatise in 1970 that when people have the chance to leave, they will, especially if they have found the entity to be increasingly dysfunctional and inefficient.

Malaysia, or rather its government, over the last few decades, has certainly manifested such features.

Concurrently, those who decided to ‘stay back’ would attempt to improve the country by voicing out. Be that as it may, those who have left the country are not expected to express their voices anymore let alone to vote. Yet, vote they did.

The quick and short answer to the above phenomenon is that they care. Indeed, not only do they care about the future of their immediate and extended families still in Malaysia, but they care about Malaysia, period.

And that is where Malaysia draws its greatest pride from — Malaysians and their sense of belonging, of camaraderie.

Beyond caring, they also know, through their collective exposure in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, if not as far away as United Kingdom, Japan and Australia, that Malaysia has been back-pedaling, especially on issues like corruption and crime let alone in building a vibrant democracy.

Take corruption, for example. The national debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio at 54 per cent, it is one per cent shy of the constitutional limit; and this figure is a conservative estimate. When one lumps in the debt of the government linked companies (GLCS), often with the element of corruption still at work, the ratio is easily in the range of the mid-70s.

While many do not like to use the B word (i.e. bankcruptcy), the next generation is expected to foot the financial profligacy of the present one. Malaysians abroad share the same concern and anxieties with those at home.

Not surprisingly, up 75 to 85 per cent of the voters abroad, almost without fail, voted for the opposition according to exit polls.

Like the 51 per cent of the people in Malaysia, they chose to throw their lot with Pakatan Rakyat, this despite the fact that Pakatan Rakyat did not have any offices or representatives outside the country.

In fact, one may even wonder if they did so purely to register their disgust with Barisan National, rather than due to any objective attachment to Pakatan Rakyat; a trend that was discernible across all racial groups in urban areas from 2008 onwards.

Even in rural places ostensibly ‘won’ by the government, the establishment is not out of the woods, if ever they can be, due to their indulgent attitude to corruption and sheer exploitation of the natural resources that impacts rural communities directly.

My PAS colleague, Dr Dzukefly Ahmad, noted in a Malay op-ed that of the 11 constituencies with Dayak majority in Sarawak, all of them had experienced a dip of 10 per cent or more in the votes for the government.

 This is unprecedented in areas that are customarily the vote banks of the state government. Thus, if Sabah and Sarawak are the ‘fixed deposit’ of the government, the yield is only decreasing, not enlarging.

Yet, this election, has allowed a minority government to be in Putrajaya, the seat of the Malaysian government. Like many in the country and abroad, the opposition is not so much shocked as it is outraged by the ‘enforced limitations’ of the electoral system; some of which are now being legally challenged by Pakatan Rakyat.

The limitations were ‘enforced’ because the Electoral Commission, which was under the Prime Minister’s Office, failed to reform the electoral system in the more than four years available ahead of the recent 13th general election, the ‘disappearing’ indelible ink fiasco included.

Electoral reforms were all the more imperative after repeated rounds of feedbacks from non-governmental groups like Bersih I, II, III, Tindak and Transparency International. But, whether by design or default, they chose to sit tight indifferent to the loud calls for free and fair elections. Even to the extent of allowing tainted electoral rolls to remain on the register, especially in my constituency that is Lembah Pantai.

In moments like these, it is easy to hate the arbitrary nature and high-handedness of the ruling government too. This is all the more the case when the ruling establishment, once again, is showing signs of attempting to remain in power on the sly.

Instead of seeking ‘national reconciliation’ advocated by the Prime Minister, the very first things that the Ministry of Home Affairs and Inspector General Police did was to arrest opposition figures and dissidents. A dragnet was imposed on those who spoke out against the unfairness of the election.

Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, the co-chairperson of Bersih, was right to affirm that “the government has been using words (such as national reconciliation), which it doesn’t even understand”; this when the Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is also a patron to a Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMMF) whose rhetoric is not even echoed by his own immoderate party at home.

But Malaysians near and abroad must not fall into the temptation of blind hate, just as I am reminding myself too. To do so would be to stoop to the level of extreme jingoistic and mirror the narrative of such rabid malicious press like Utusan Malaysia – the UMNO mouthpiece.

On the other hand, Pakatan Rakyat’s demand for substantive action such as the immediate removal of the Election Commission’s leadership before participating in the Prime Minister’s offer of a Parliamentary Select Committee to manage the Election Commission, which now falls under the Prime Minister’s Department will test the government’s readiness for reforms.

Indeed, revamping the Electoral Commission is urgently needed, especially on boundary redelineation which have to be completed over the next two years which once again will determine the next election’s fairness.

Beyond electoral petitions and all, the opposition has to govern well  in Selangor and Penang, too, without which they would not be able to arrest the growing skepticism of politicians emerging through out the country.

Pakatan Rakyat will continue to push for legislative reform in Parliament, as we have done since Malaysians gave us their mandate. The opposition mandate is to stay vigilant, alert and efficient, even as it is confronting a set of legal electoral challenges. Failure is not an option in the face of an increasingly hawkish and change-resistant minority government of Barisan National.

Indeed our march of history towards democracy will go on even if it is slightly bumpy, facing temporary roadblocks. For a mandate is still a mandate and should be the fodder for continued fortitude, determination and sacrifice for greater democracy in Malaysia.

* Nurul Izzah Anwar is the MP for Lembah Pantai and a PKR vice-president.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 June 2013, 10:20 am and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
,
PAS
,
PKR
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Umno Baru is not invincible

Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini

Jun 17, 2013

A schoolchild knows that when conducting scientific experiments, a definite conclusion cannot be made if the analyses and observations are based on flawed data. In a post-mortem of GE13, it is a fallacy for experts or analysts to report on trends, when their assumptions are based on a set of doctored evidence.

Anyone who is foolish enough to believe that BN won 47 percent of the votes in GE13 is seriously deluded. If allegations of cheating have been recorded in one constituency, then doubt is cast on the entire voting process.

The rakyat has long been aware of wholesale fraud and blatant gerrymandering in previous elections, but they allowed Umno Baru’s intransigence to browbeat them into submission. Under pressure, Malaysians capitulated easily to Umno Baru’s weapons of apathy and fear.

Successive years of apparent electoral successes, won by blatant fraud and cheating, have given rise to the perception that Umno Baru is invincible. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Umno Baru cheats the rakyat before, during and after every election. The groundwork is laid to thwart the opposition with gerrymandering, the registration of foreigners as citizens, violent mob attacks on ceramahs and the denial of access to national media.

On polling day, vote-buying, intimidation, blackouts and low-quality indelible ink clinch the deal. Some voters discovered that their votes had already been cast, by an imposter.

After GE13, the Election Commission (EC) has continued to deny the allegations of cheating and refused to take responsibility for the mass electoral fraud.

The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, claimed that “divine intervention” helped BN to win.

“… Pakatan has won the popular vote, statistically speaking, but BN has the support of ‘takdir’ (fate) that helped it won the recent 13th general election.  In short, fate and God’s will determines everything…” (sic).

Who is Rahman Dahlan to express God’s will? Is he a self-proclaimed prophet?

A desperate Najib Abdul Razak, the Umno Baru leader who is himself facing a leadership challenge, is aware of the devastating impact of the ‘Black 505’ rallies. He has tried to refute the claims about the squadrons of aeroplanes bringing Bangladeshis to vote.

He said, “I, as the BN chairman, strongly refute that there was cheating by BN (in the GE13) as alleged. The general election was conducted in a fair manner and in accordance with the law and regulations.”

Umno Baru leaders have called for reform within their party to reflect the changing societal and political landscape; the Alliance party morphed into Umno and later became Umno Baru.

Mentality cannot be altered

Will Umno Baru politicians appreciate that the mentality of its leaders and their supporters cannot be altered, as easily as changing one’s underwear? You cannot just slap a clean nappy onto the bottom of a heavily soiled baby, without first removing the muck and stench from his posterior. A new Umno Baru identity cannot remove the rotten core lurking under the facade.

Law and order have broken down in Malaysia. As conditions worsen and the rakyat finds it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, only ‘people power’ will instigate change.

Large-scale public rallies get attention and maintain the rakyat’s will to improve. The ‘Black 505’ marches have highlighted the rakyat’s disgust of the EC’s role in perpetrating fraud.

Many powerful, ruthless leaders have been toppled by non-violent civil mass resistance. Countries which successfully replaced authoritarian regimes, like Chile, Philippines and South Africa combined mass rallies with other forms of resistance, like strikes and boycotts.

In apartheid South Africa, black South Africans refused to patronise the white South African shops. When the white traders faced financial ruin, they eventually became the blacks’ most powerful ally and lobbied strongly for change.

Boycotts work. Many people, including women and children are able to participate without risking violent beatings or arrest. The rakyat should consider a boycott of Umno Baru crony companies. Perhaps, a nationwide boycott could start simultaneously with the June 22 ‘Black 505’ rally in Kuala Lumpur and continue until the objectives are fulfilled.

In a boycott, no one is breaking the law. People are merely withdrawing their purchasing power.

People power successfully brought down repressive regimes in countries where people once believed that resistance was impossible. Umno Baru thrives on image, but the street marches and demonstrations portray a government which has lost control and is incompetent.

A combination of marches, boycotts and strikes will doubtless disrupt public life and cause mayhem. Sometimes, small sacrifices must be made for the good of all. Surely, giving up fast food is not too great a sacrifice to make. What would you rather have? A few chicken nuggets this year, or a better education for your children?

Many people believe that Umno Baru did not cheat in GE13. Al David once said, “One lie has the power to tarnish a thousand truths”.

So, does the wife of a serial philanderer believe her husband when he says he is late home again, because of overtime? Will the husband of a compulsive gambler believe his wife when she demands more housekeeping money? Should the girlfriend of an abusive boyfriend trust him, when he says he will not beat her again? Can the kleptomaniac be trusted to handle money? Should Malaysia be encumbered with another 56 years of Umno Baru?

The young people of Malaysia are spearheading change and are not seduced by Rahman Dahlan’s simplistic and childish notion that BN’s win was ‘takdir’ and fated. Former PM Mahathir Mohamad has manipulated the Malays and used policies which have created a fatalistic and feudal mindset in Malays.  He keeps reminding Malays that the government knows best.

A party which controls Malaysia with an iron hand, which alters the goalposts, which refuses to enforce the law, and which treats it natural wealth, its financial institutions and its people as tools to achieve its own ends, will never relinquish power. Not now, not in GE14.

The action of a united rakyat

Only the action of a united rakyat will conquer Umno Baru. This action should consist of marches, strikes, boycotts, pressure by NGOs and religious groups. We must engage the international community and foreign media to help the rakyat gain freedom. Violence by the rakyat is not an option, but persistence and commitment are.

Umno Baru will never agree to a re-election because they will then be scrutinised carefully. Moreover, their benefactors cannot squander more billions of ringgits on another election, when the last attempt failed so miserably.

The irony is that Umno Baru wants to keep the goose which lays the golden eggs, but they keep the goose in intolerable conditions, which will eventually kill her.

A nationwide, year-long boycott of a fried chicken firm could begin now and would not only hurt the crony owner but would gain media coverage in America. When even a small part of the American economy is threatened, they react!

——————————————————————————–

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 June 2013, 7:26 pm and is filed under
Elections
,
Najib Razak
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Utusan merrily digging Umno’s grave!

 – Ahmad Mustapha Hassan

The Malaysian Insider

Jun 17, 2013

At one time Malaysia enjoyed a free press. The printed media then competed to let readers know the truth of what was happening in the country.

None was directly or indirectly aligned to any political interests or groups. The reports were not biased or tilted to favour any one group. It was a real pleasure and joy to read the newspapers then. The news was never manipulated to please anyone.

The owners of the papers did not interfere in the editorial policies of their papers as the editors running the editorial departments were all professionals in their approach towards news writing. They reported what happened without fear or favour.

The venerable Straits Times of course, during the colonial era was very much pro-British but it was done in a very subtle manner. Readers would know that certain stories were written as being pro-British but not done in such a crude manner as to create animosity towards any quarter.

The editors were well experienced and even though the writings were slanted towards protecting British interests, they still maintained some decorum in the style and manner of writing.

And as for the vernacular papers, Utusan Melayu was one of the oldest that came into being. It was established in the late 1930’s by highly motivated personalities who wanted to nurture nationalist feelings among the Malays. And it was established in Singapore, a British colonial settlement or the Straits Settlement as these Malayan British colonies were known.

Its first editor-in-chief was Yusoff Ishak who later became the first President of independent Singapore. Journalists of great calibre helmed the paper, including the likes of Rahim Kajai, Ishak Haji Mohammad and Samad Ismail. The paper played its role very well and backed all Malay groups towards establishing a major political party.

The culmination of the role played by Utusan was the establishment of Umno in 1946. There was one well known Malay daily in Kuala Lumpur known as Majlis. It was established in the 1930’s but was not a daily. It was more leftist in nature as most of the editors had leftist tendencies like Ibrahim Yaacob and Osman Kalam. They did not mince their words in condemning the British. They supported the Malay Nationalist Party, the first Malay political party which was banned by the British.

The paper did not survive and thus only Utusan remained as the main news provider. Eminent journalists like Said Zahari, Melan Abdullah, Osman Abadi and Mazlan Nordin were at one time editors-in-chief of the paper. They set very high standards of professionalism.

Said Zahari, in fact, opposed the paper from being the tool of Umno but finally Umno came to own Utusan. But still the journalists at that time were not influenced by partisan politics and the paper never showed outwardly that it was pro-Umno or that it was the mouthpiece of the party.

A newspaper needs to be credible in its reports so that truth stands out. Readers need to know what actually happened so that they would be able to reach their own conclusions as to the state of the matter.

Journalism in it itself has its own code of ethics. In a nutshell, this code involves truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability. Only when these principles are practiced, would the paper enjoy the confidence of the readers.

Papers can support certain groups or parties but they must balance their reports by incorporating these rules to ensure fairness and objectivity.

British papers are known to support either Labour or the Conservatives but their reports are not crude as to cast shame on their journalistic ethics.

Utusan, after having been bought by Umno, had in the beginning performed with much credibility as the journalists helming the paper at that time still observed the journalistic ethics.

But when new editorial teams took over they started going overboard by trying to prove to Umno that they were in full support of the party. They thus discarded all the noble values of objective reporting that was required to make the reports newsworthy and trustworthy. They had become completely an “HMV”, his master’s voice.

Thus, they no longer practiced good and proper journalism. By twisting the news like their recent report on the reduction in the price of cars it has cast untold damage to the paper.

This is not the only case. Utusan had also been summoned on numerous occasions by those who felt that there had been misreporting about them. And Utusan had lost quite a number of suits against them.

The original Umno had died in 1986 and the present party is Umno Baru. The way the current editorials and news reports are put out by Utusan will not do any good at all to the party. It will simply backfire and the more Utusan twists and creates news to favour Umno, the more harm it will do to Umno Baru.

If Utusan still wants to practise this kind of journalism, it only means it is helping to dig Umno Baru’s grave. Utusan helped in the birth of the original Umno but the current Utusan, from the looks of it, is helping to bury Umno Baru.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 June 2013, 9:50 am and is filed under
Media
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Whether IPCMC or EAIC matters as IPCMC was proposed to deal specifically to end police custodial deaths while EAIC was established to neuter the IPCMC proposal and to avoid police accountability

The Najib government seems to be making a plausible case when its new media spokesman, the Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, says that when it comes to custodial deaths and abuses of power, what is important is “stern action” and not which agency – whether IPCMC or EAIC.

He said the rakyat want “stern action”, whether from an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) or whatever agency.

He stressed that a strengthened Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC), if it could conduct speedy and thorough investigations into custodial deaths and abuse of power, would do just as well.

Khairy’s glib and slick defence of the government’s preference for EAIC instead of IPCMC would be plausible if the scourge of police custody deaths is a new one and not a problem of over a decade, or the government is a new one and not one where the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has entered into his fifth year of premiership!

Or is Khairy admitting that for the past four years, despite the Prime Minister’s boasts of a very successful Government Transformation Programme (GTP), Najib and his Home Minister for the period, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, had failed miserably in addressing and resolving the issue of police custodial deaths?

Neither Khairy or any government spokesman can deny or ignore the fact that the IPCMC was proposed specifically by Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry in 2005 to end the outrage of high police custodial deaths while the EAIC was established specifically to neuter the IPCMC proposal and to avoid meaningful police transparency and accountability.

When the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry submitted its report in May 2005, it reported police statistics of 80 deaths in police custody in the five years from January 2000 to December 2004, or an annual average of 16 deaths in police custody in those five years.

With 222 deaths in police custody from 2,000 to now, which means 142 deaths from Jan 2005 to June 2013, this works out to a higher annual average of deaths in police custoday in the past 8 ½ years, i.e. 16.7 deaths.

The argument put forward by Khairy – that what matters is that “Stern action vital, whether it is IPCMC or EAIC” in order to end high police custodial deaths – might be plausible in 2005 when the country was deciding whether to implement the Dzaiddin RCI recommendation to set up IPCMC, but is now completely unacceptable and discredited as after more than eight years, annual average of police custodial deaths are even higher and the EAIC in the past four years have dismally failed to address the problem of police deaths in custody until the recent nation-wide furore.

For this reason, the Cabinet should not indulge in any new form of procrastination to avoid immediate action to end the scandalously high incidence of police custodial deaths, and it should live up to its “Transformation” brand  by taking the policy decision tomorrow  to establish the IPCMC in the first meeting of the 13th Parliament beginning next Monday.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 June 2013, 5:21 pm and is filed under
Police
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The issue has never been whether a Chinese can be PM but whether the country has a PM for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or socio-economic status

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Shahidan Kassim thought he was doing the Chinese in Malaysia a great favour and service when he gratuitously advised them  to break away from the “extreme racism” indoctrinated by the DAP, so that “Malaysia would one day have a Prime Minister of Chinese ethnicity”.

Shahidan could not be more wrong, as he committed two fatal errors, firstly in falsely alleging that DAP had “inculcated”  the Chinese in Malaysia with “extreme racism” and secondly, the issue whether a Chinese could become a Prime Minister in Malaysia was never on the political radar of any Malaysian Chinese.

For the edification of Shahidan Kassim, the issue has never been whether a Chinese can be Prime Minister but whether the country has a Prime Minister for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or socio-economic status.

Furthermore, DAP had never indoctrinated or inculcated the Chinese in Malaysia with any “extreme racism” as right from our formation 46 years ago in 1966, our message to all Malaysians is to forge a Malaysian identity and consciousness, transcending racial, ethnic, cultural and regional differences – and this is why in the 46-year history of DAP, we have never called for any Chinese unity, Malay unity, Indian unity, Kadazan unity or Dayak unity, but the unity of all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region in pursuit of a common Malaysian Dream, never a Chinese Dream, Malay Dream, Indian Dream, Kadazan Dream or Dayak Dream.

In an exclusive interview with Sin Chew Daily on Monday, Shahidan said: “If the Chinese are willing to step across racial boundaries, fully integrate into this multi-racial Malaysian society together with other races, and practise power sharing, I believe Malaysia would one day have a prime minister of Chinese ethnicity.”

Shahidan’s interview with Sin Chew has exposed two things: firstly, the extent of the influence of Mahathirism on his thinking; and secondly, the depth of his lack of understanding of Chinese and non-Malay aspirations, raising the question whether he is only a Malay or a Malaysian Minister.

For Shahidan’s information, DAP had right from the beginning stood for integration and against assimilation as the basis for Malaysian nation-building to weld together the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures into one unique Malaysian mosaic.

It is clear that Shahidan is one of Mahathir’s disciples  who takes every word of Mahathir as gospel truth, including Mahathir’s most irresponsible and reckless blog recently, entitled “Racial Polarisation” on 6th June, where the former Prime Minister was guilty of more lies and falsehoods than the nine paragraphs of his blog.

Yesterday, Mahathir called for less freedoms if the people want to build a better Malaysia.

Reason?  Mahathir’s explanation is that “too much freedom means more opportunities for irresponsible parties to misuse and exploit those freedoms, thus causing instability” with “sensitive racial issues being mentioned more and more nowadays because stern laws like the Internal Security Act (ISA) are no longer in place”.

It is both ironic and  tragic that the person most guilty of irresponsible misuse and exploitation of freedoms by relentlessly raising incendiary,  inflammatory,  sensitive racial issues before, during and after the 13GE is none other Mahathir himself – but he  seems to enjoy both immunity and impunity for breaking the laws of the land in committing the offence of sedition in his relentless incendiary and inflammatory racist incitements in the past few months.

Is Mahathir prepared to submit himself to an independent commission of inquiry to probe my charge that Mahathir had been most guilty of misusing the freedoms and the law  to make not only inflammatory, incendiary, seditious statements but to pit one race against another – before, during and after the 13GE?

Mahathir’s nine-paragraph blog on “Racial Polarisation” would be one excellent example of such inflammatory, incendiary, seditious Mahathirish statements to pit one race against another, based on lies and falsehoods.

Among other canards, the lies and falsehoods Mahathir is guilty of in this blog include:

•	Accusation that DAP “whipped up” hatreds of the Malays;

•	That the black 505 ceramahs throughout the country to protest 13GE fraud and malpractices were manifestation of “Chinese racism” despite the presence of Malays as the majority in many of these black 505 ceramahs; and

•	The dastardly lies that DAP rejected the concept of Malay/Chinese/Indian “kongsi” alleging: “The DAP wants the Chinese who already dominate the economy, to dominate Malaysia’s politics as well. It is clearly racist and reject inter-racial sharing of power and wealth as advocated by the BN.”

Equally racist, irresponsible, reckless, incendiary and seditious were Mahathir’s racist fulminations in the run-up to the 13GE where he spewed racist lies and falsehoods that I was contesting in Gelang Patah because I want:

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

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

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

How can a person who was Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years be so irresponsible as to plumb the depths of such irresponsible, reckless and seditious racism?

Abuse of the freedom speech and expression by Mahathir, because of the immunity and impunity he enjoys despite his reckless, irresponsible, inflammatory, seditious racist utterances cannot be an excuse for a  clampdown on freedoms for all other Malaysians.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 June 2013, 9:34 am and is filed under
Crime
,
DAP
,
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
nation building
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Election Commission Chairman, Deputy Chairman and five other Commissioner should all resign as they have forfeited public confidence which is the most important  constitutional criteria of their appointment

The Election Commission Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz bin Mohd Yusof, Deputy Chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad bin Wan Omar and the five other Commissioners should all resign as they have forfeited public confidence in their failure to conduct a free, fair and clean 13th general elections, which is the most important constitutional criteria for their appointment and continued service.

Article 114 of the Constitution provides that the Election Commission shall be appointed by the Yang di Pertuan Agong after consultation with the Conference of Rulers and that in appointing members of the Election Commission, the Yang di Pertuan Agong shall have regard to the importance of securing an Election Commission which enjoys public confidence.

After the 13GE, electoral management became a major controversy because of the failure of the Election Commission to carry out its constitutional mandate under Article 113 to “conduct elections” in the 13GE, which I have consistently argued in Parliament since the 70s that this constitutional duty  implicitly connotes  the conduct of “clean, free and fair elections”.

This is where the Election Commission has failed, whether in the very delible “indelible ink”;  an electoral roll which is disreputable, unclean and not comprehensive; an election campaign marred by the worst electoral offences and corrupt practices in nation’s history in particular the blatant, flagrant and unconscionable last week of the general election campaign in Penang when Penangites did not have to cook with the week-long feast of free food, free drinks, free entertaintment and free lucky draws of very expensive gifts just to topple the Pakatan Rakyat state government; the one-sided printed media slant against Pakatan Rakyat and the shameless abuse of government 3Ms, media, machinery and money!

For the first time in the nation’s 56-year history in 13 general elections, the Election Commission has produced  a general election result which has caused the  appointment of the Prime Minister whose legitimacy is powerfully questioned, as reflected in the nation-wide Black 505 rallies since the 13th General Elections and even up to now, some seven weeks after the 13GE.

There can be no question that the Election Commission has come out of the 13GE with its reputation dimmed and stature diminished, and the present Election Commission members, led by its Chairman and Deputy Chairman, have failed to secure public confidence to justify their continuation in office.

Abdul Aziz, Wan Ahmad and the other five Commissioners should in all humility and as  acts of  patriotism submit their resignation, which will allow the country to have a new start to revamp the election system so that Malaysians can stand tall in the world as having an electoral system which can be model of all other countries in  ensuring clean, free and fair elections.

At present, the Election Commission has three constitutional duties to  firstly, conduct of elections; secondly, prepare the electoral register through the registration of voters; and thirdly, the redelineation of constituencies.

The splitting of all these constitutional duties under three separate authorities, as is done in other countries, will be one way to restore public confidence in the electoral management in the country, whether in  the membership of the Commission or the electoral system and laws in the country.

Let us have an Election Commission which is solely tasked with the responsibilities of conduct of clean, free and fair elections, with all the necessary powers to ensure that all these electoral criteria are met, including  prosecuting offenders or even  suspending elections which run afoul of the relevant electoral  criteria.

The other two functions, registering voters and preparing the electoral register and the other important ask of redelineation of electoral boundaries should be carried out by two other separate agencies or authorities through  fair, efficient, accountable and transparent processes.

(Speech at the first of Malaysian Dream series forum organized by the DAP Gelang Patah DAP Parliamentary Office on “Malaysia Post 13thGE – Challenges and Opportunities” held at 11@Century Hotel Johor Baru on Wednesday 19th June 2013)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 20 June 2013, 3:41 pm and is filed under
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Former ministers do not fade away — they get appointed to plum positions

— The Malaysian Insider

Jun 20, 2013

Former tourism minister Ng Yen Yen is expected to take up her position as the chairman of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) despite her party, the Malaysian Chinese Association’s (MCA) avowed stand not to take government posts due to their poor election results.

The Sun Daily reported today that the MCA politician appointed herself to the position just after the dissolution of Parliament and while she was still the tourism minister.

Her appointment is likely to become a bone of contention and the source of ridicule. Already, opposition politicians have been actively tweeting about Ng’s new position.

Ng did not defend her seat in Raub which as expected, fell to the DAP. Her tenure as the tourism minister was pockmarked with controversies over payment of RM1.6 million to set up a few Facebook pages.

Also enjoying a new lease of life after the elections is Datuk Jamaluddin Jarjis, much criticised head of Barisan Nasional war room.

He and members of his strategy team have been blamed for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s unsuccessful attempt to regain two-thirds control of Parliament, with critics saying their predictions had little connection to the pulse of the voters.

Jamaluddin is now a special advisor to the PM with ministerial status. He is also the chairman of PR1MA, the company set up to build affordable houses for those in the middle-income category.

Former Minister of Economic Planning Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop is now the deputy chairman of Khazanah Nasional while former Information Minister Rais Yatim is in the running for a top overseas posting.

Several other former Barisan leaders are also expected to take up positions in various government agencies, in what is seen as a reward for their contribution to Malaysia.

These leaders never fade away, but continue to be part of the public sector with heftier pay checks and not much of the responsibilities of their former posts.

Politics pays, for a long while.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 20 June 2013, 7:10 pm and is filed under
Elections
,
MCA
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Protests and Political Change

 – Khoo Ying Hooi

The Malaysian Insider

June 20, 2013

Saturday 22 June marks the 15th Black 505 rallies since the May 2013 polls. One of the key aims of the protest is to press for the resignation of Election Commission members following the alleged irregularities and rampant electoral fraud during the 13th General Election. Just recently, the Co-Chair of Bersih, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has also conceded that perhaps taking to the streets could be the only way left in order to fight for electoral reform in this country should its extensive campaigns through legal channels to clean up the electoral system fails.

Bersih as the pioneer in electoral reform has so far held three massive protests in the past since 2007. Although the protests had drawn international attention and condemnation to the current administration, but the actual reforms have yet to be seen. For example, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform (PSC) that was established in 2011 was seen as a good move, however there is no follow-up mechanism for the lengthy 22 recommendations.

This time around, regardless of the numerous warnings issued by the police including possible arrests under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, the organizer has decided to go on with its plan. By taking to the street again, it shows that there is a serious lack of public confidence from the citizens to the governmental institutions. The persistence of protests such as the 505 rallies, even in the face of state repression, indicates that the ruling regime fails to respond to the popular demands.

There have been on-going debates on the protests and the rule of law. Peaceful protest is a vital part of a democratic society. For centuries, protest is the channel that people who have a beef with authority figures have been getting attention from. Protestors should of course do what they can to behave in a lawful manner, but they should not be denied of their rights to do so.

During the 2011 Egypt uprising for example, protestors have created a 26-page pamphlet called “How to Protest Intelligently”. As the social media sites were shut down, so the protestors circulated the copy via e-mail or in the form of hard copy. The pamphlet began with a listing of six goals for the country, followed by strategic goals and general ways the protestors could take action. The pamphlet also contained practical advice, such as the suitable attire and equipment that a protester needs.

Noam Chomsky, the influential and outspoken American political philosopher has recently expressed his support for the Turkey protestors via video with a banner saying that; “I am also a çapulcu in solidarity.” Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan branded the protestors as çapulcu, or looters.

While many questions the effectiveness of protests, it is rather narrow to assume that protest activity is problematical in nature, just because it does not lead to immediate reforms or obvious consequences. History demonstrates the relevance and impacts of protest actions. Protests do matter simply because that is the way to get their voices heard and potentially to have impacts on the varied audiences.

The outbreak of political protests signals to the incumbent leaders that the regime faces a crisis of legitimacy, however confronting the status quo is a difficult business. Therefore the success of a protest lies on its capacity to actually boost institutional reforms and bring about new political alternatives. Otherwise, there is a risk that once the protestors grow tired and losing the momentum, those in power will tend to revert to their comfortable status quo.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 20 June 2013, 7:27 pm and is filed under
Elections
,
Human Rights
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Bring the army to a rally? Let’s dial it down, shall we?

 – Lionel Morais

Managing Editor

The Malaysian Insider

Jun 21, 2013

Federal Internal Security and Public Order director Datuk Saleh Mat Rasid hit a raw nerve yesterday when he said that the army will help the police, if necessary, at the Black 505 rally tomorrow.

He was roundly criticised and rightly so.

Use the army against unarmed Malaysians at a rally? Unbelievable!

These are just people fighting for what they believe is right. They are not the Sulu terrorists and this is not Ops Daulat II.

So what exactly is it that anybody thinks the police cannot handle?

There have been about a dozen protest rallies since the May 5 polls and not one turned violent or chaotic.

Why? One reason is that the police allowed the protestors time and space to do their thing.

But it also says something about the true nature of us Malaysians. We are not a violent or mean nation.

Members of the public are no longer perturbed about these rallies.

They know tomorrow’s will end peacefully if the police restrict their duties to traffic control and ensure smooth passage into Padang Merbok.

There is already a track record on this. Look at what happened at the Kelana Jaya stadium on May 8.

More than 100,000 protestors turned up and the only problem reported was traffic congestion.

It was the same at the other rallies across the country.

So, if the protestors are willing to brave the haze and heat tomorrow to voice their grievances in a peaceful manner, why the need for the authorities to talk so tough?

There is no need to turn this into some acid test for the new IGP or undermine public confidence in the police further by talking army. Let’s keep the peace.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 21 June 2013, 9:19 am and is filed under
Elections
,
Human Rights
,
Police
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Malaysia should convene emergency meeting of Environment Ministers of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia for urgent common ASEAN  action to deal with haze emergency choking three nations

Malaysia should convene an emergency meeting of the Environment Ministers of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia for urgent common ASEAN  action to deal with the haze emergency choking the three nations.

The haze condition in Johore state in general and in Johor Baru in particular continues to be in hazardous condition with the air pollutant index (API) readings in Kota Tinggi and Pasir Gudang reaching  314 and 323 at 11 am  respectively.

Malaysians can still remember they were told that the government would declare a state of emergency once  the API reached 301, but there seems to be a singular lack of seriousness whether by the National Disaster Relief Management Committee or the Ministry of Environment with the current haze emergency although hundreds of schools in Johore have been closed in the past few days because of the haze emergency.

Who should be the Malaysian “czar” in the war against haze in the current environmental disaster – the new Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the National Disaster Relief Management Committee or the Environment Minister? Is it Datuk Shahidan Kassim or Datuk Seri G. Palanivel?

Nobody knows, as there has been deafening silence from both the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the National Disaster Relief Management Committee and the Environment Minister, as if the haze emergency currently choking the people of Johore is the least of their problems!

The time has come for both these Ministers to break their silence, not only to inform Malaysians what contingency plans they have to deal with the deteriorating air quality  particularly in Johore, but what  common action they propose to take with the Indonesian and Singapore governments to control and end the peat and forest fires in the Riau district of central Sumatra, including exposing the identity of errant companies which originate from Malaysia responsible for the slash-and-burn fires for the sake of quick profits at the expense of the  health and environment of citizens in three countries.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 21 June 2013, 2:33 pm and is filed under
ASEAN
,
environment
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Conversion of minors: No justification

P Ramakrishnan

Aliran

21 June 2013

The Federal Court was wrong in its judgment in 2008 about the conversion of minors, says P Ramakrishnan.

A lot has been said that Islam is a just religion, a religion of peace and compassion. All this is true. In keeping with the virtues and values of Islam, Islamic adherents are under a solemn obligation to give meaning to this by what they do and practise.

In other words, the Islamic faithful cannot be indifferent to the fate of someone who is of a different religion. They cannot deny the rights of these people nor can they be dismissive of the suffering when one Islamic faithful leaves his former family in the lurch after converting.

As a human being, he is expected to provide for his wife and children notwithstanding his embrace of Islam. If he fails to discharge this responsibility that is expected of him, should Islam embrace him? Should a man who betrays the trust of a family and abdicates his responsibility be welcome into Islam? Should such people be allowed to bring disrepute to the religion?

Unfortunately this is what is too often happening today. Secretly, the man converts, and all hell breaks loose for the family. He is not bothered. He compounds the misery of his wife by unilaterally converting his children to Islam. He shatters the life of a mother; and claims refuge in Islam. There is a moral question here.

One would expect religious authorities to guide him in the path of righteousness before he is allowed to convert. He should be advised to exemplify Islamic virtues by displaying compassion and discharging his responsibility to his family before he can find a place in Islam.

The religious authorities contribute to the family break-up when they convert his children without the knowledge or consent of their mother. By so doing, they add to the suffering of the helpless mother. Is this fair?

In a recent case, it is reported that a husband abandoned his wife from Jelebu in February last year without providing for her welfare, and converted to Islam. In April this year, very quietly and without the knowledge of his wife, he converted both his children aged five and eight.

These children were not born Muslims. Is it right to convert minors who have no knowledge of Islam? Having been brought up in the Hindu faith, how do they reconcile their conversion to Islam?

It is wrong for Negeri Sembilan State Islamic Affairs Department director Datuk Johani Hassan to insist that “when one parent embraces Islam, the children can be automatically converted. … The law does not say that we need the consent of both parents before we can convert their children.”

The Federal Court might have erred when it ruled that the word “parent” in the Constitution meant a singular person and therefore a single parent could convert the child. But the phrase “consent of the parent” could not have meant that. If that was the intention of the framers of the Constitution, they would have expressed the intention as “consent of either parent”.

This contention must be correct. Malaysian Bar president Christopher Leong had pointed out that “Article 160 of the Federal Constitution explains the rules of interpretation. … It is stated that words importing the masculine gender include females and words in the singular includes plural and vice versa.”

How this important point could have been overlooked is a mystery to me. According to Mr Leong, “Until 2002, the Bahasa Malaysia version, as published by the Government Printers, translated ‘parent’ as ‘ibu bapa’. However, in the 2002 edition of the translated Federal Constitution, the word ‘parent’ was translated as ‘ibu atau bapa’,” he added.

For the word “ibu bapa” to be changed to “ibu atau bapa” would require an amendment to the Federal Constitution. But from what can be ascertained, there was no such amendment. The original intention of the Constitution must remain unaltered.

That is crystal clear. The Malaysian Bar must move to have the Federal Court decision reviewed. Otherwise, a great injustice will be perpetuated.

In this unpleasant and worrying controversy, why is the Cabinet not speaking up especially when a decision was made in April 2009? It was then decided that children of parents where one of them opts to convert must continue to be raised in the common religion at the time of marriage.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department at that time, Datuk Seri Nazri, said it was decided in the Cabinet meeting that a spouse who has converted into Islam would also have to fulfil his or her marital responsibilities according to civil marriage laws.

“Religion should not be used as a tool to escape (marital) responsibilities. Conversion is not a ground for the automatic dissolution of a marriage,” he said at a press conference at Parliament building on Thursday (23 April 2009).

“The children should be brought up in the common religion. For the spouse who intends to convert into Islam, he or she would also have to come clean,” he said.

This is a fair and just Cabinet decision. Why is the Barisan Nasional government not enforcing this decision? Why is the Prime Minister allowing this unnecessary controversy to drag on? Our nation should not be embroiled in this issue.

Please speak up, Mr Prime Minister.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 22 June 2013, 8:16 am and is filed under
Human Rights
,
Religion
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Environment Minister Palanivel sleeping on his job when Malaysians particularly in Johore are suffering from haze hazards

I am both impressed and dejected – impressed by the professionalism of the Singapore National Environment Agency (NEA) in recording and posting on its website the hourly Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) to provide accurate and timely information about air pollution levels in the island republic; dejected by the contrasting failure and lack of professionalism of the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE) to provide prompt readings on its website  of the Air Pollutant Index (API) from its 52 Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS) locations in the country, although the API readings are only provided thrice a day at 7am, 11 am and 5 pm.

I was checking the 11 am API readings on the DOE website,

http://doe.gov.my/apims/
, but the results only appeared after more than two hours, i.e. after 1 pm.

In contrast, when I checked the
PSI readings of the Singapore NEA
, its 1 pm reading promptly appeared at 1 pm sharp.

I can understand that with 52 API readings from 52 APIM locations throughout Malaysia, it is not practically possible to post the latest API readings for all the 52 locations on the dot of time, i.e. results for 11 am posted immediately at 11 am, but surely, it does not have to take more than two hours to post the latest API readings on its website.

Is it being unreasonable to expect the latest API readings to be posted within 10 minutes of the given time, i.e. 7 am, 11 am and 5 pm,  if the system is efficient and professional?

Furthermore, why is it not possible for the DOE to post its API readings hourly?

This is an example where the new Environment Minister Datuk Seri S. Palanivel is sleeping on his job when Malaysians particularly in Johore are suffering from the haze hazards.

From the 11 am API
(*)
 readings, Muar air quality deteriorated swiftly in the four hours from 7 am when it was “very unhealthy” with  API 276 worsening to the hazardous level of 373, while the other three APIM locations in Johore continued on the higher side of the  “unhealthy” levels, viz:

Location

7 am

11 am

Kota Tinggi

191

187

Larkin Lama

175

170

Muar

276

373

Pasir Gudang

192

190

It is regrettable that despite the haze emergency in Johore, the Department of Environment has failed to set up more APIM locations in the state to monitor the air pollution readings – such as Kulai, Pontian, Batu Pahat, Kluang,  Segamat etc. This is  another example of Pananivel sleeping on his job as Environment Minister.

Other critical areas with “unhealthy” API readings at 11 am today are:

Malacca

176

178

Bukit Rambai

189

182

Nilai

119

113

Port Dickson

156

141

Seremban

106

109

Port Klang

118

139

* The Department of Environment lists API levels from 51 to 100 as moderate, 101 to 200 as unhealthy, and 201 to 300 as very unhealthy. Levels above 301 are dangerous.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 22 June 2013, 2:08 pm and is filed under
environment
,
Johore
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib should make special visit to Jakarta to meet with Indonesian President Yudhoyono  to highlight gravity of current  haze emergency to millions in three ASEAN countries, and in particular the three states of Johore, Malacca and Negri Sembilan

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should make a special visit to Jakarta to meet with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to highlight the gravity of the current haze emergency to  millions of people in three ASEAN  countries, in particular to  the three states of Johore, Malacca and Negri Sembilan in Malaysia, and the need for urgent common Asean action to bring the perennial transboundary emergency under control.

The Singapore Environment Minister Vivian Balakrishnan  flew to Jakarta yesterday and met with his Indonesian counterpart Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya on the haze emergency, with a letter from the Singapore Prime Minister to the Indonesian President.

In contrast, the Malaysian Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel is only going to Indonesia to meet with Indonesian government officials next Wednesday, more than a week after the outbreak of the latest haze emergency which have been posed serious health and environment threats to the people in Johore, Malacca and Negri Sembilan, resulting in the closure of some 700 schools.

Why is the Malaysian Environment Minister so slow and tardy in rising up to the  challenges of the latest haze emergency afflicting Malaysians?

May be there are two reasons: Firstly, the Federal capital have so far been spared from the “very unhealthy” (API 200 – 300) and “hazardous” (API  > 300) Air Pollution Index readings, which have so far affected the three states of Johore, Malacca and Negri Sembilan and the workings of the “Federal Capital complex” that unless the federal capital is affected, there is no national emergency needing immediate attention of the Prime Minister and the Federal Cabinet.

Secondly, the appointment of an Environment Minister, Datuk Seri G. Palanivel  who is probably the most “lightweight” Environment  Minister in the nation’s history.

When Palanivel is facing problem asserting his authority in MIC, how can we expect the Environment Minister to speak and act with authority not only in the Malaysian government but in ASEAN forums?

No wonder Palanivel can only talk about asking the National Security Council to activate the haze management co-ordination committee in view of the haze emergency, but not the authority to influence the immediate activation of the committee.

Where is the sense of responsibility and urgency by both the Minister for Environment and the National Security Council on the latest haze emergency when the haze management co-ordination committee has not been activated yet?

This has made a visit by Najib to Jakarta to meet with Indonesian President Yudhoyona on the haze emergency all the more imperative, as Najib should go beyond tweets and facebook to provide leadership both Malaysian and ASEAN  to deal with the latest haze emergency afflicting three ASEAN countries.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 22 June 2013, 10:31 am and is filed under
environment
,
Johore
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Redefining the Malay Agenda: Another View

Koon Yew Yin

22nd June 2013

Zaid  Ibrahim’s latest effort at redefining the Malay agenda is an interesting exercise coming as it is just ahead of the UMNO general assembly meeting.  Although directed at UMNO leaders and members, I am sure that he intends to provide food for thought for everyone.

Like him, I hope it also opens the door to an honest, open and transparent appraisal of not just the party’s role in leading the Malays but also of where the Malays would like to go from their present situation and what needs to be done to help the Malays succeed in their aspirations.

Let me summarize what Zaid has written.

Firstly, he reminds that Chinese or Indian bashing – whether about the election results or the failure of Malay youth to be gainfully employed or for any Malay problem – is a waste of time and misplaced. I cannot agree more. In fact, I would use stronger words to condemn race hatred and baiting wherever it stems from and whoever it is aimed at.

Secondly, he scolds the nuttier ones within the party (and I assume this refers to the party’s leaders too) who seek a strengthening of Islam and the Malay rulers as if more power for the ulama and rulers are the magic bullets that would bring about the salvation for the Malays.  A turn towards a religious or return to a feudalistic future would be to the detriment of the great majority of Malays, though the leaders of the old order would welcome it.  As Zaid succinctly puts it: “If Malay leaders could be honest enough to admit it, they would recognise that giving more power to the Malay Rulers and “strengthening Islam” (whatever that means) will not solve [their] problems.”

Thirdly, Zaid is on the same page as many others in recognizing that the Malay bureaucracy is a major source of inefficiency and corruption.  However in calling for UMNO to address this problem, he conveniently omits to mention that UMNO itself is the starting as well as end point of much of the petty and grand corruption found in the country.  No Malay bureaucrat would dare to engage in selling licences, permits or other favours for personal gain without the support of their political patrons in UMNO.

Much of what Zaid has opined is not new or original. Neither are the solutions that he has proposed such as for UMNO not to be fixated by the numbers game in education through pushing for even higher quotas for Malays in higher education. As he correctly points out, churning out hundreds of thousands of poor quality graduates through the public universities is a pointless exercise when they are not able to meet the demands of a competitive market place.

Even worse for UMNO, these unemployed or under-employed youth are a ticking time bomb that could bring about the demise of the party. In his words which are useful for the Minister of Higher Education to ponder on: “just to increase the number of graduates so we have more than the Chinese is a silly strategy unless the standards are high and employment is assured. Learn from Singapore where they limit the number of graduates as a proportion of their population. Unemployed graduates and especially the unemployable ones are ripe for street marches.”

While there is much that is thoughtful from Zaid’s opinion post, my main concern is in his unwillingness or inability to be fully honest with the delegates and party chiefs that he wants to reach out to. The following are some inescapable home truths that need to be elaborated as reminder to UMNO’s  leaders and apparachik.

1.	Malays control and dominate in the political, administrative and social sphere of life in the country. They form the majority in parliament, judiciary, army and police, the MACC and all other important political bodies. In the socio-economic and educational sphere, they control the public universities; civil service; etc. For UMNO to blame the lack of progress of the Malays on the non-Malays is engaging in delusion of the highest order.

2.	Due to UMNO and Malay domination, the Malays have made tremendous strides since the 1970s in the economic sphere too.  For example they control Bank Negara and all the major banks (except for Public Bank); all the GLCs; Petronas; as well as comprise the majority in the top professional and best paying occupations in the private sector. It would not be incorrect to say that the Malays also call the shots in the running of the economy.

3.	UMNO and Malay leadership of a country blessed with natural and human resources during the past 50 years has greatly benefitted the Malay and non-Malay elite such as Zaid and the UMNO party leaders. Millions more Malaysians could have also become beneficiaries if not for Dr Mahathir’s squandering of thousands of billions of our petro dollars in his projects of superficial grandeur and his support of cronies, many of whom he helped with expensive bailouts.  UMNO’s delegates went along with Dr. Mahathir as he allowed the systematic looting of the country’s treasury and tolerated the culture of leakages, wastage and inefficiency.   Zaid has lamented this but fails to point the finger of responsibility towards those who are guilty.

Despite all his wrong doing Dr Mahathir is still considered the king maker. He recently said that Umno’s top two posts should not be contested to avoid internal party squabbles and most likely UMNO’s delegates will accept his opinion.

The measure of the worth of political parties and their leaders is if they can learn from their mistakes and not repeat them.  One is that past policies benefitting the Malays must not be at the expense of the non-Malays. For example, educational and employment policies favouring Malays have led to the exodus of some of the brightest and best non-Malays in the past thirty years.  This out-migration has been a national tragedy as they could have helped build a better future for all Malaysians, especially the young Malays needing better jobs.  Today, we have a ridiculous situation of the BN Government belatedly recognizing the folly of racial exclusionary policies and attempting to attract Malaysians to return to help create jobs for our young.

But can or will UMNO learn? Will Zaid’s sensible view be the prevalent one in the coming General Assembly or will the extremists in the party become the dominant voices yet again? I am not holding my breath on what is the likely outcome.

Finally, let me remind that Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia, soon after the GE13, published an inflammatory front-page article titled ‘Apa Lagi Cina Mahu?’ (What else do the Chinese want?), taking aim at the Chinese for their apparent ‘ingratitude’ of the ruling coalition.  My response is ‘Apa Lagi Bumiputeras Mahu?’

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 22 June 2013, 12:37 pm and is filed under
Elections
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Redefining the Malay Agenda

– Zaid Ibrahim

The Malaysian Insider

Jun 19, 2013

Some of my friends have been somewhat critical of my tweets and blog posts lately, simply because I have been commenting on UMNO and even praising Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The less sophisticated have interpreted this as my way of trying to get back into the UMNO fold. But the truth is it’s UMNO season and whatever happens in the party will affect all of us, whether we like it or not. Given that, I write with the hope that some of what I say can, in some small way, influence the delegates and the party chiefs.

Uppermost in the UMNO vocabulary is the expression of the Malay Agenda, a potpourri of rights and entitlements that the party claims is fundamental for the Malays. This will be the main thrust of the party leaders’ speeches during the upcoming UMNO General Assembly. With the results of GE13 and the Chinese and Indian communities’ rejection of UMNO/the Barisan Nasional, it’s natural to expect that everyone will have a wild time bashing the Chinese. Some nutty ones will ask for the Treason Act to be enacted—they will want the Chinese to be sent back to China and Islam and the Malay Rulers to be strengthened. These are the kind of steps the unthinking Malays in UMNO will be clamouring for, but all that will lead to is yet another show of misplaced anger and another round of wasted time.

It would be far more constructive if they were to instead talk sensibly about why   the Malay/Bumiputera community has been steadily leaving UMNO. It’s no use ridiculing them for being “ungrateful”; instead, focus on the plight of young voters and how to overcome their concerns. To get these young voters back, party leaders have to offer more than just slogans and speeches laden with racial overtones. They need to address corruption, abuse of power, the wastage of resources and mindless bureaucracy. If Malay leaders could be honest enough to admit it, they would recognise that giving more power to the Malay Rulers and “strengthening Islam” (whatever that means) will not solve these problems.

To be useful, the Malay Agenda has to be introspective. UMNO can continue to take the easy way out and just blame the Chinese, the ungrateful Malays and everyone else, but one of the most cited reasons why people are not supporting the party is the corruption of its leaders. Corruption denotes a system where those with money are able to overcome any policy or rule because the leaders are corruptible. So UMNO can shout “Hidup Melayu” loudly and clearly, but if the decision-maker, who is invariably Malay, can be bought then no policy or special privilege will save the Malays. Prime Minister and UMNO President Dato Sri Najib Razak mistakenly describes this as a perception problem, when it is all too real. To continue to deny this is a sign of weakness and unwillingness to address the future of his own people.

Then look at education; if Umno thinks they should get more Malays to the universities because they can increase the quota then think again;  these unemployed or unemployable graduates will be the ones who will pull them down in the next election. Its better to have  Malays / Bumiputras skilled  at the highest level by  giving them proper training  in business and technical know how   than sending them to universities .Just to increase the number of graduates  so we have more than the Chinese is a silly strategy unless the standards are high and employment is assured. Learn from Singapore where they limit the number of graduates as a proportion of their population. Unemployed graduates and especially the unemployable ones are ripe for street marches.

Getting some  Malay Rulers involved in political controversy  is rampant lately . This is another silly strategy. The  cause of Malay backwardness ; or even the lessening of Malay political power  if true ; could not be  resolved by resorting to  emotional and symbolic  posturing. Hard decisions have to be made to empower the Malays and the Bumiputras and its best Malay political parties avoid getting entangled with the institution they  could not criticize. The lessons of the 90’s when Dr Mahathir had to face those issues should not be lost on the present leaders.

The Malay bureaucracy is a clear source of inefficiency and corruption and it’s time UMNO addresses these issues. The more licences and approvals are needed in order for business to be carried out, the more opportunities rich Malays and non-Malays have to excel. The man on the street does not have the resources to pay for such opportunities.  Some people say Najib  is better equipped to modernise and industrialise the country further and his plans to bring Malaysia to developed nation status by the target date is more realistic. Still, we need to know the details. Where will Malaysians who are less educated and who have less capital at their disposal—particularly the Malays—be under Najib’s plans? Can they afford to live in their own country or will they be forced to move to Sumatra where their ancestors came from? These are wide-ranging issues that can be discussed among UMNO members, resulting in the kind of constructive conversation that can rejuvenate the party.

This is the time for party members to debate and discuss extensively the direction UMNO should take. It is in this context that I am advocating a leadership contest. You cannot rejuvenate the party and inspire the confidence of young voters unless the leaders articulate more progressive policies and showcase the talents they have in order to assume the country’s leadership. Najib and his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have different approaches to leadership and it would be enlightening to see where they are different, both in terms of their ideology and management style. More importantly, such a contest would allow a party that is clearly going south to take stock of itself and make some big decisions. Which leader is better equipped to tackle the mother of all scourges, corruption? This is one of many worthwhile element of the new Malay Agenda that is now worth pursuing.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 22 June 2013, 10:23 am and is filed under
Elections
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Husam’s two-day remand must be condemned by all right-thinking Malaysians as it constitutes a gross abuse of power

The two-day remand of PAS Vice President Husam Musa by the police on grounds of investigations under Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948 must be condemned by all right-thinking Malaysians as its constitutes a gross abuse of power and proof that nothing has changed as far as “transformation” to restore  the independence, impartiality and professionalism of national institutions is concerned.

Malaysians are asking why the police have not even questioned, let alone remanded, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who had been guilty of making a series of seditious statements before, during and after the 13th General Elections, utterly reckless of the damage he was doing to inter-racial harmony with his racist lies and falsehoods.

Similarly, Malaysians also want to know why the former Court of Appeal judge, Mohd Noor Abdullah had not been questioned, let alone remanded in a police lock-up, for making the most racist and seditious speech in the country in the past four decades when he warned that the Chinese Malaysians must be prepared for a backlash from the Malay community for their “betrayal” in the recently concluded 13th general election.

With Husam’s two-day remand, Malaysians are being told that the days of selective prosecution, discriminatory treatment and abuses of power by those in authority continues to be the order of the day.

Husam is not going to be a fugitive from the law, and the police authorities have no reason to believe that the PAS leader would not co-operate with the police with regard to the police investigations.

For this reason, Husam should be released immediately.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 23 June 2013, 4:53 pm and is filed under
Crime
,
Law & Order
,
PAS
,
Police
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


With state of emergency declared for Muar and Ledang, and probably for Bukit Rambai and Malacca town  with API 428 and 415 respectively at 11 am, time has come for Najib to fly to Jakarta for emergency meeting with Yudhoyono on haze

Having declared emergency status for Muar and Ledang because the Air Pollutant Index (API) readings there have reached the dangerous level of 746 at 7 am today,  and probably also for Bukit Rambai and Malacca town with API 428 and 415 respectively at 11 am, the time has come for the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to fly to Jakarta for an emergency meeting with President Yudhoyono on the haze catastrophe choking millions of people in the three ASEAN countries of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Top of his agenda with the Indonesian President must be the Indonesian ratification of the Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution 2002 which provides for a ASEAN Regional Haze Action Plan with provisions on monitoring, assessment, prevention, scientific research and technical co-operation as well as lines of communication and simplified customs and immigration procedures for disaster relief.

Although the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution have been ratified by nine ASEAN member states, Brunei, Cambodia,  Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia has not ratified it.

With the declaration of emergency status in Muar and Ledang, and the possibility of the extension of the status of emergency to other areas severely hit by the haze catastrophe, it is imperative that Najib should take this issue to the highest levels between the two ASEAN countries to find a solution to a perennial problem threatening the health and quality of life of millions of people in ASEAN.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 23 June 2013, 4:16 pm and is filed under
environment
,
Johore
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


A hazy climate: Will anyone do the right thing?

 – Daniel Murdiyarso and Luca Tacconi

The Malaysian Insider

June 23, 2013

We write with a strong sense of déjà vu. Over 10 years ago, one of us published a letter in The Jakarta Post titled Fires: stop blaming others, just start acting! The cause of the haze that is affecting Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore has not changed since then; it is clear: Plantation companies deliberately light fires in degraded peatland areas on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.

They use fire because it is the cheapest way to clear land. But, in particularly dry years, the peat below ground also catches fire and it continues to smolder for months, generating thick and noxious haze. It can quickly cause headaches, nausea and respiratory problems, particularly in children and the elderly.

In that letter, we identified that fire was being used not only as a tool to clear land cheaply but also as a weapon to claim property ownership when Indonesia’s governance system was more centralized than it is today.

The recurrence of fire and trans-boundary haze was then, and remains today, not only a problem but also a symptom of complex governance issues.

Indonesian politicians and bureaucrats say that fire is a natural phenomenon, like recent major outbreaks of fire in Australia and the United States. It is true that Indonesia’s peatl ands experience fires that go out of control in severe El Niño events.

But most of the fires of past decades were deliberately lit by companies or their agents to clear land for the development of plantation crops.

Like they did over ten years ago when we first wrote about this, those politicians and bureaucrats are asking for collaboration in putting out the fires and prosecuting those responsible. However, a commitment to action seems not to persist beyond the haze itself. Indonesia has prosecuted relatively few companies during the past two decades for lighting the fires that choke its own citizens and those of neighboring countries.

There are two clear starting points for Indonesia to demonstrate that it is serious about addressing these fires.

First, it should prosecute the companies that lit the fires; Indonesia has the technology and the enforcement capacity to do so.

Second, it should ratify the ASEAN treaty on trans-boundary haze; its neighbors have been waiting patiently for this over the past twelve years.

Singapore and Malaysia, where many plantation companies operating in Indonesia are based, should also be holding their companies accountable.

By not adequately addressing the issue of fires in peatlands, Indonesia is undermining a commitment made by President Yudoyono to reduce carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2020.

Peatland conversion accounts for about 40 percent of Indonesia’s total annual emissions. These emissions are caused not only by fires like those currently burning in Sumatra, but also by the slow decomposition of peat in millions of hectares of degraded areas, which have been drained for different reasons over past decades. Rehabilitating those areas is the best way to prevent fires and peat decomposition, because wet peat does not burn or decompose.

That is a truly major and challenging task, which requires international cooperation, targeted research, innovative practice and a commitment of resources.

One of the first initiatives to address this challenge was supported by Australia, which has been supporting peatland conservation and rehabilitation by funding the Kalimantan Forest Conservation Partnership (KFCP) in an area that was worst affected by the haze of 1997–1998.

This project was intended to demonstrate how to conserve peatlands and rehabilitate degraded ones by blocking a series of canals that had drained the peat for a failed agricultural development project initiated by former President Soeharto

Unfortunately, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) will be closing down and withdrawing from the project without having had sufficient time and opportunity to demonstrate how to block even a single canal.

This is despite the fact that the engineering plans had passed all the regulatory approval steps (including the environmental impact assessment and extensive community consultation processes), the tenders for the work had been issued, and the relevant Indonesian ministries had asked AusAID to continue the project.

This premature termination of KFCP, prompted by political opposition to the project by some Australian politicians, means that the basic field research necessary to reduce future haze events is likely to be lost. It also means that Indonesian policy makers, land managers and peatland communities are left without practical strategies for rehabilitating cleared peatlands. Perhaps the visit next month of Australia’s Prime Minister with Indonesia’s President will offer Indonesia an opportunity to ask Australia to review that decision.

Transboundary haze is a transboundary issue. Each of Indonesia and its immediate neighbors have important roles to play in addressing it. We hope they will do so more effectively now than in the past. – June 23, 2013 – The Jakarta Post

                This entry was posted on Monday, 24 June 2013, 1:14 am and is filed under
environment
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Don’t scold neighbours, fix problem instead

– Koran Tempo

The Malaysian Insider

Jun 24, 2013

It is very sad when officials have yet to really learn about how to act when facing a haze disaster like right now. The haze problem is a routine disaster, happening every year. Yet, when the dry season comes, they are still confused about how to overcome the haze.

Those of sound mind will shake their heads looking at the minimal action taken by the government. This is especially so when we see Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Agung Laksono getting worked up and angry with Singapore’s frustration at seeing the haze, and saying “the neighbouring country’s action is childish”.

Mr Agung’s attitude is not helpful at all, and in fact shows how rotten government policy is in dealing with the haze. The disaster this time is fairly severe.

The Standard Air Pollutants Index owned by PT Chevron in Dumai showed a reading of 400, meaning the air quality was very hazardous. In Malaysia, the pollutants index reached 383.

The result is that thousands of students in Malaysia and Singapore were sent home. Former Singapore prime minister Goh Chok Tong even said “the child is being suffocated”.

Mr Agung insists Jakarta has been very serious in stopping land-clearing by burning forests. As evidence, the government had issued a notice to stop this, and gazetted Law Number 18 Year 2004 on plantations, and Government Regulations Number 45 Year 2004 on forest protection.

With these, individuals or companies that burn protected forests would get 10 years’ jail and a fine ranging from 10 billion rupiah to 15 billion rupiah ($1.3 million to $2 million). Mr Agung pretended to not know that fines and regulations alone are not enough to stop the burning of the forests.

The fact is, the regulations are sluggish. The police and regional authorities, who should be ensuring that the law is being enforced, seem to have closed their eyes to the burnings. Also, not all provinces have gazetted the law against the burning of the forests. Only a few provinces, like Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and Riau, have these rules. Even then enforcement has been perfunctory. The proof of this – the practice of forest burning is being repeated every year.

Local governments are one of the weakest links in this matter. Regional autonomy places the greatest responsibility for forest burnings on local governments.

Following the rules of the game, it is only when the number of fiery hot spots generating haze has increased and disturbed neighbouring countries, as is happening now, that the central government would take over.

The burning incidents continue every year. There have never been fundamental steps to overcome the burning of the forests. Heavy penalties should have been meted out to those who burn the forests as a reminder of the horrible effects of the polluting haze. Transportation and educational activities have also been affected.

Just as important is to have a monitoring system to prevent forest fires. The Indonesian Regional Disaster Management Agencies should anticipate haze disasters. If we cannot do it ourselves, Indonesia should be able to seek help from our neighbours. Putting on airs to refuse help from Singapore and yet not take any serious action – that’s what deserves to be called a childish attitude.

* This article was published on June 22, 2013, in Koran Tempo, an Indonesian newspaper.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 24 June 2013, 6:44 pm and is filed under
environment
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Haze now heading north to KL and PJ and beyond

By Trinna Leong and Kimberly Yeo

The Malaysian Insider

June 24, 2013

Sibu and Bukit Rambai are the latest areas where the Air Pollution Index (API) has been flagged as unhealthy as the haze from Indonesia moves northwards.

With this, a total of 21 areas have been rated as unhealthy.

In the capital, Kuala Lumpur’s API increased to 198, just slightly short of the very unhealthy level.  Many people are now wearing face masks. Petaling Jaya is almost as bad at 193.

Authorities told The Malaysian Insider that strong winds blowing towards the northeast from the southwest of Peninsular Malaysia means the haze is clearing up in Johor.

Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan saw its API reading improve slightly, moving down to 292 from 335 this morning. Port Klang also saw a slight drop from 296 to 288.

Muhammad Helmi Abullah, the director of Central Forecasting Office, confirmed that “the winds are blowing the haze further up north”.

“As the country is in the middle of a dry season which will last till June, the southwest of the peninsula is currently experiencing hot and humid weather compared with the northwest.”

Meanwhile, Professor Datuk Dr. Azizan Samah, a meteorology expert from University Malaya, said  as the southern wind blows, it will push the haze to the north, causing the northern part of peninsula to experience the same problems experienced by the south.

“The moment you smell something burning, it shows that the level of concentration of the smoke is quite high. You can only hope for a fast wind to lessen the smoke concentration,” said Azizan. – June 24, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 24 June 2013, 3:56 pm and is filed under
environment
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Haze (Smog) Causes Not Just Discomfort, It Kills

by Chee-khoon Chan

23rd June 2013

In 2002, Narayan Sastry, currently a professor of demography at the University of Michigan published a paper entitled “Forest Fires, Air Pollution, and Mortality in Southeast Asia” in the February 2002 issue of the journal Demography.

The smog of 1997 coincided with an El Niño year which intensified the seasonal mid-year drought. The land clearing and forest fires in that year burned an estimated 2-3% of Indonesian land area, mostly in Sumatra and Kalimantan but also affecting sizeable tracts in Irian Jaya, Sulawesi, Java, Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Wetar as well as areas in Sarawak and Brunei.

Sastry obtained daily mortality statistics from the Department of Statistics in Malaysia and correlated these with the daily Air Pollution Index (API) readings from the Malaysian Meteorological Department, in order to analyze the acute mortality in Kuching and Kuala Lumpur following upon days of high air pollution (defined as days when PM10 > 210 ug/m3). (The API is largely based on PM10, the concentration of suspended particulates of size 10 microns and below).

For a fifteen-day period in September 1997, the API in Kuching reached or exceeded 850. The highest API reading recorded was 930, and visibility was down to about 10 metres.  In Peninsular Malaysia, API readings hovered in the 200-300 range during the same period.  One shudders to imagine what the situation would have been like in the affected areas closer to the hot spots.

The salient findings were reported thus in Demography:

“a high air pollution day associated with the smoke haze increased the total all-cause mortality by roughly 20%.  Higher mortality was apparent in two locations –  Kuala Lumpur and Kuching (Sarawak ) – and affected mostly the elderly.  In Kuala Lumpur, non-traumatic mortality among the population aged 65-74 increased about 70% following a day of high levels of air pollution.  This effect was persistent; it was not simply a moving forward of deaths by a couple of days (a “harvesting” effect).  This finding suggests that there were real and serious health effects of the smoke haze… one implication of these results on the short-term effects of the smoke haze in Malaysia is that the effects in Indonesia itself are likely to have been tremendous.  The presence of significant mortality effects in Malaysian cities that are several hundred miles away from the main fires strongly supports this notion.  Unfortunately, there are no appropriate health or mortality data for Indonesia to study this issue directly.”

In plain language, the acute (immediate) death rate among elderly people (excluding deaths due to accidents or violence) increased by 70% when API readings exceeded 210.

We are rightly concerned about the long-term health effects of recurrent exposures to these seasonal smogs.  But we already have strongly suggestive evidence that the immediate effects of smogs such as we experience now go beyond temporary distress and discomfort – they can kill.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 24 June 2013, 1:26 am and is filed under
environment
,
Health
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.