On my 75th birthday, my only  wish is to see a realignment of progressive political forces to save Malaysia and to keep faith with the Malaysian Dream of an united, inclusive, moderate, democratic and prosperous Malaysia.

Dear classmates, comrades, relatives and friends,

I thank all of you who have come from far and wide to do me  honour on the occasion of my 75th birthday.

My classmate Michael Ong emailed from Canberra his apologies for not being able to be with us.

He said: “The spirit is willing but the body is weak. With increasing painful left knee joint and painful feet, not to mention forgetful ‘Seniors moments’ I am not confident in my ability to travel alone. Judith too is getting frail.”

A timely reminder in particular to all my classmates of the frailty and brevity of life.

Michael continued:

”Anyway woke up early and composed the following acrostic for the occasion. If  I may say so, it seems to me that your political struggle is like a love affair with the country and reminds me of a love poem learnt during schooldays –
“Life In a Love”
 by
Robert Browning
.”

This is the acrostic – i.e. a series of lines or verses in which the first letters when taken in order spell out a word –
“LKS Duty Before Self”
 which Michael penned:

LKS Duty Before Self

L
im Kit Siang serves and strives to

K
eep faith with a daring dream dreamt

S
ince schooldays for all Malaysians

D
efiantly devoted despite personal pains you

U
nflinchingly undertake

T
he struggle to achieve a Malaysia

Y
et to be born fearlessly fighting the good fight

B
edevilled and berated by enemies and

E
ven erstwhile temporal fellow travellers

F
allen for fishy fame and luring lucre

O
vations sought nought in your oratory but

R
esisting a repressive regime

E
mbedded in its corporate corruption

S
till you soldier on relentlessly

E
ven in the evening of your life

L
eading and challenging all citizens to

F
ind fulfilment in a new Malaysia

I am humbled by Michael’s acrostic. Michael is right. My ups and downs, trials and tribulations in the past 50 years were a labour of love – of a Malaysian patriot answering the national call to help realise a united, harmonious, democratic, progressive and prosperous Malaysia that can be an example to the world for our success in multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural nation-building and capable of world-class  political, socio-economic and educational achievements.

These were the  aspirations of my  classmates who left High School Batu Pahat after Form V in 1959.

It was this call to make Malaysia a nation all Malaysians can feel proud that was the motive power why I ended  my journalistic career in Singapore to return to Malaysia to begin my political work to achieve the Malaysian Dream.

That was 50 years ago. My political work is as long as the life-span of the Democratic Action Party, which was formally registered on March 18, 1966 although it sought registration more than five months earlier on Oct. 11, 1965.

The 13th General Elections, the 11th contested by the DAP, is the highwater mark of DAP – where DAP secured 38 MPs and 95 State Assembly seats out of a Pakatan Rakyat total of 89 MPs and 229 State Assembly seats. These figure do not include the 12 State Assemblymen and women DAP won in the 2011 Sarawak State General Elections, which will bring the total number of State Assembly representatives to 107 – a figure we would never have dared to visualise when we started 50 years ago.

But the hope of Malaysians for political change was not realised in the 13th General Elections although Pakatan Rakyat won 53% of the popular vote, and two years after the general elections, the hopes of the people were crushed when Pakatan Rakyat ceased to exist.

However, in the past six months, Malaysians can again hope and root for political change and the realisation of the Malaysian Dream with formation of Pakatan Harapan with  the coming together of DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara.

The year 2015 had indeed been an “annus horribilis” for Malaysia.

But the events of the past 50 days portend  that the year 2016 will overshadow 2015 as an even worse “annus horribilis” for Malaysia.

In the sixth decade of our nationhood since the achievement of Merdeka in 1957 and the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Malaysia has lost its way.

In the heady days of Merdeka in 1957, the people in the country had high hopes and aspirations.

When Malaysia was formed 53 years ago in 1963, our country was second in Asia after Japan in terms of economic development, prosperity and per capita income, wealthier than other Asian countries including South Korea and Taiwan which were poorer and more backward at the time.

But over the decades, Malaysia lost out in the race of economic competitiveness and educational excellence and by the nineties, Malaysia had been left behind with the emergence of the Asian economic tigers comprising Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan while Malaysia could only aspire to be the next Asian tiger.

But these hopes of Malaysia to become the next economic tiger were never realised with the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s – and today, Malaysia is even further behind the economic tigers as well as at  risk of  being overtaken by other countries  in Asia, Africa and South America.

Our only “accomplishment” appears to be  in the field of corruption, where Malaysia is named third in the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015”, dropped four places in Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2015, and at risk of being overtaken by China and Indonesia in TI CPI within a decade.

Today, bogged down with a multitude of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crises which had been described as the making of a “perfect storm” to hit the country, Malaysians have lost the self-confidence to re-make the world that we had displayed in earlier decades.

When I saw the film “Ola Bola”, what struck me most was that we have lost the national unity, togetherness, cohesion, solidarity and  oneness which had united not only the football team, but all Malaysians, in the quest for a place in the Olympic football finals in 1980.

This also brought back memories of the outpourings of the national spirit when we ruled the world in badminton in the fifties and sixties.

These national celebrations over our sports accomplishments have not only become few and far between over the past few decades, marking another serious Malaysian decline in another field of human endeavour, with Malaysia falling from a top football nation in Asia half a century ago to be ranked No. 171 in the FIFA rankings – 38 places away from the rock bottom in the FIFA rankings of 208 members.

Malaysia today  has instead  become more polarised than ever on race and religion, causing of low national  achievements and accomplishments in every field of human endeavour.

I agree with Datuk Nazir Razak that corruption and racism have undermined Malaysia’s nation-building efforts.

Or as former Minister, Datuk Paduka Rafidah Aziz recently posted in her Facebook, lost were the years when Malaysians went in groups to each other’s houses, and there was no hang-ups about our multiracial society, when we respected each other’s religion and sensitivities and no one injected into our lives the notion of being different.

Malaysia must get out of this rut we have been stuck in the past few years, which the twin mega scandals have combined to pull us down deeper and deeper into the abyss.

Malaysians must find and restore our self-confidence to compete with the rest and the best in the world. We must rediscover our greatness as Malaysians.

On my 75th birthday, my only  wish is to see a realignment of progressive political forces to save Malaysia and to keep faith with the Malaysian Dream of an united, inclusive, moderate, democratic and prosperous Malaysia.

I want to thank my wife, Neo Yok Tee and my family now with seven grandchildren, and in particular  my two sons, two daughters and two daughters-in-law, Guan Eng and Betty, Hui Ming, Hui Ying, Guan Choon and Siew Swan, for their solid support – despite hardships and travails – in my half a century of quest for an united,  harmonious, plural, democratic, progressive and prosperous Malaysia!

I want to end by also  thanking all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region who have supported this quest in the past half a century and I invite all to let us   jointly journey on  in this quest for a Malaysian Dream.

(Speech at his 75th birthday dinner at Equatorial Hotel, Penang on Saturday,20th February 2016 at 10 pm)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 February 2016, 9:27 pm and is filed under
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Class of ’59,  High School, Batu Pahat grieves the loss of another classmate with the passing Dr. Hee Tien Lai in Penang early this morning after attending my 75th birthday reunion last night

(Condolence Message at the death of former Deputy Speaker (MP for Ayer Itam), Datuk  Dr. Hee Tien Lai at Lam Wah Ee Hospital on Sunday, 21st February 2016)

The Class of ’59, High School, Batu Pahat grieves the loss of another classmate Datuk Dr.Hee Tien Lai from heart attack in Penang early this morning, after attending my 75th birthday reunion last night.

Tien Lai was former Deputy Speaker of Malaysian Parliament in 1982 and three-term Barisan Nasional  MP for Ayer Hitam in Johore.

The Class of ’59 produced three Members of Parliament, Tien Lai, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad former Minister, Ambassador  and MP for Sri Gading and myself.

Tien Lai later migrated to Australia and carried out a very successful medical practice, especially after he immersed himself in Chinese medicine, particularly acupuncture.

Deepest condolences to Datin Loke Siew Chin, another product of Batu Pahat, at the loss of her husband  as well as Tien Lai’s three daughters, who are successful professionals in  Melbourne, and his eight grand children.

Tien Lai, Rest in Peace.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 February 2016, 4:21 pm and is filed under
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From greatest hope to scandal-ridden, a look at Najib’s 40 years in active politics

by Sheridan Mahavera

The Malaysian Insider

21 February 2016

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak commemorates 40 years in politics today but the milestone comes at the toughest period in a career, which has seen him go from being the hope of Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) to one now besieged with allegations of financial scandals.

Besides a growing rebellion among ordinary Umno members demanding he resign, the party’s sixth president is running a country where in the last general election, 52% of voters rejected the coalition he leads.

Najib’s own ambitions of being a reformer or “transformer” is in tatters after becoming embroiled in two financial scandals – 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) “political donation” that flowed into his personal accounts.

He has also been forced to face an almost decade-old controversy when a recent Al-Jazeera investigative documentary on the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu exhumed alleged connections between the victim, the man who was convicted of the crime, and Najib himself.

The Malaysian Insider looks back at some milestones in Najib’s political career, beginning with the great expectations placed on him, his promising start as prime minister and his current quagmire.

The great Umno hope

It seems that having great expectations and hopes pinned on his shoulders is a common theme of Najib’s career going by his personal biography in NajibRazak.com and Wikipedia.

The economics graduate was thrust into politics at the age of 22 and became the country’s youngest Member of Parliament.

When his father, second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, passed away on January 14, 1976, the party banked on Najib to take up his father’s parliamentary seat of Pekan.

Najib won uncontested in a by-election that was held five weeks after Razak’s death. In his first year as an MP, he was made a full Cabinet member in charge of telecommunications, energy and postal services.

Then after the 1982 general election, at the age of 29, Najib was made Pahang menteri besar, again one of the youngest Malaysians to occupy such a post.

Twenty-seven years later, Umno would call on Najib to revive flagging public support after his predecessor and former party president Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi resigned following disastrous losses in the watershed 2008 general election where the ruling BN, long entrenched in power since Independence, was denied its two-third majority.

In between, Najib rose up the ranks as Umno Youth chief, Supreme Council member, vice-president and deputy president.

According to a party insider, Umno lore dictates that a leader must serve in three Cabinet portfolios – education, defence or home and finance – before he can be considered as a prospective party president and prime minister.

Najib has served in all three, with finance being his shortest stint starting in September 2008 under Abdullah.

He took over the reins from Abdullah in April 2009.

Enthusiastic start

After Najib took over from Abdullah, he pledged deeper and more ambitious reforms to the country’s laws and economy in order to turn Malaysia into a “high income nation” and “the best democracy in the world”.

To achieve the first aim, he came out with the New Economic Model (NEM), of which some of the main aims were to reduce income inequality, boost productivity and wean the economy from oil and gas products.

The NEM was also supposed to make the private sector, instead of the government, the main driver of the economy.

Since it was going to replace the New Economic Policy (NEP), the NEM also wanted to reform the latter’s Bumiputera affirmative action initiatives.

Najib also carried some degree of political reform such as repealing the Internal Security Act and making it easier to hold political assemblies and rallies.

He also created a Cabinet portfolio on integrity in order to create better governance and fight corruption.

“The NEM was warmly welcomed by progressive Malaysians but was resisted by narrow and conservative political forces,” said economist Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.

Analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan said initially, despite the huge criticism he faced, Najib succeeded in getting through painful but necessary economic reforms.

These included abolishing blanket fuel subsidies, introducing a consumption tax (the goods and services tax) and reducing the role of government in the market through government-linked companies (GLCs), said Wan Saiful, who heads the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).

Some of those moves have put Malaysia in a better economic position than it was when Najib took over in 2009, said Navaratnam of the Centre for Public Policies Studies (CPPS).

“But the reforms have stalled. We have succumbed to the parochial short sighted forces of protectionism and race and religious politics… We could have done better if we had adopted more of the NEM model,” said Navaratnam.

A cloud over his record

The halt in reforms coincided with Najib’s failure to do better than his former boss Abdullah in the general election.

Despite the huge hopes pinned on him, Najib lost seven more parliamentary seats than Abdullah while BN’s popular vote dropped from 51% in 2008, to 47% in 2013.

But perhaps more critically, said Wan Saiful, Najib succumbed to the temptations of the flawed system that he inherited instead of rising above to change the system itself.

Instead of sticking to his plan of getting the government out business and instituting better corporate governance, Najib allowed the creation of 1MDB which then went on to spawn its own scandals.

Instead of committing to more democratisation, Najib put in place new laws such as the National Security Council Act or amended old ones – the Sedition and Multimedia Acts – to clamp down on public criticism.

The Anti-Corruption Agency was reformed under Najib’s watch in 2009 into the more independent Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

But when it investigated how funds flowed into Najib’s accounts last year, its officers were hauled up by the police or transferred.

“Good governance is going down and our institutions are under greater strain,” said Navaratnam, adding that there was growing risk of “state capture” where powerful individuals use corruption to change a country’s laws for their own interests.

The end result is that now, when people think of Najib, they no longer think of the NEM or the many policy initiatives he introduced in his more than 20 years overseeing the country’s education and defence.

Instead, there is only 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion political donation.

“It has created a cloud over all the good intentions and initiatives that he had made,” said Wan Saiful. – February 21, 2016.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 February 2016, 10:38 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia murder sets off explosion of intrigue

by Amanda Hodge

The Australian

FEBRUARY 20, 2016

Ten years ago the murder of a glamorous Mongolian translator with links to Malaysia’s highest political office set off a chain of events that is now reverberating uncomfortably through Australia’s halls of power.

On October 19, 2006, Altantuya Shaaribuu, a translator and 28-year-old mother of two, was abducted by two Malaysian police commandos from outside the Kuala Lumpur home of her former lover, Razak Abdul Baginda, a close confidante of then defence minister Najib Razak and a key mediator in a multi-billion-dollar submarine defence deal.

Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, both bodyguards with an elite protection force for Malaysia’s top leaders, drove Shaaribuu to the Shah Alam forest on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, where she was shot twice in the head and her body blown apart with C4 explosives.

At his trial in Malaysia, Sirul — who is now being held in Sydney’s Villawood Immigration Detention Centre after fleeing to Australia — insisted he had no personal motive for wanting Shaaribuu dead and was acting under orders. “I am a black sheep who has to be sacrificed to protect unnamed people,” he tearfully told the court.

Shaaribuu’s murder has become one of Malaysia’s most notorious crimes thanks to the political intrigue and murky networks of patronage and corruption it has always threatened to expose.

Australia’s role in this case remains largely under-investigated and the government has done little to clarify its position. How, for instance, was Sirul Azhar Umar — a man convicted, then acquitted of one of Malaysia’s most notorious murders — able to slip into Australia on a tourist visa in October 2014, even as an appeal of that acquittal was being heard in Malaysia’s highest court?

Three months after his arrival, Malaysia’s federal court upheld his conviction and death penalty and he was taken into custody by Australian immigration officials on an Interpol red notice. He has been held in detention ever since.

But a more pressing question being asked this week is how Sirul, a man Australia’s Border Force admits has been placed under the highest protection within Villawood, could have made, and in recent weeks leaked to Malaysian media, three video statements which his migration consultant believes have all but ruined any chance he had of an Australian Protection Visa.

“A lot of people in Malaysia are asking ‘How was that possible? How do you do that in detention without the knowledge of authorities?’” says Ram Karpal Singh, a Malaysian opposition MP and lawyer representing Shaaribuu’s father in a civil case against her murderers, her former boyfriend and the Malaysian government.

In those videos Sirul denies that Shaaribuu, for whose murder he has twice now been convicted and sentenced to death for, was pregnant or that the child was fathered by a “certain person”, as had been previously implied.

Sensationally for those now circling embattled Prime Minister Najib, Sirul specifically exonerates the Malaysian leader of any link to the crime, raising — as another lawyer observed this week — a “Pandora’s box of suspicions”.

“I understand that it is the intention of certain quarters with vested interests to topple a certain someone,” says Sirul in the third video late last month.

“I state here … in God’s name … the most honourable Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was never involved and had no links to the case.”

In a promised fourth video Sirul was to name five prominent people who tried to coerce him into linking Najib to the case. It has not yet emerged and some suspect it never will, given how the first three have backfired.

The videos could not have come at a more explosive time in Malaysian politics.

Najib is battling serious corruption allegations over multi-billion-dollar losses to the 1MDB state investment fund, including $US681 million transferred to his own personal accounts, and an official French investigation into whether kickbacks were paid by a French defence company to win a submarine contract with the Malaysian government while Najib was defence minister.

Najib and Baginda are understood to have been named in judicial documents related to the case, though both have denied any wrongdoing.

Papers reportedly retrieved from Shaaribuu’s hotel room after her murder suggest she may have been blackmailing Baginda for refusing to pay her a $US500,000 fee she claimed she was promised. It has been widely speculated that Shaaribuu worked as a translator on the deal and was killed because of what she knew about the kickbacks.

Baginda was acquitted of abetting her murder in 2008. He admits he received $45m for his services in brokering the submarine deal but denies passing any of that money to Malaysian officials.

Two years after Shaaribuu’s death a second theory emerged from allegations made by a private investigator, P Balasubramaniam, hired by Baginda in 2006 to keep his ex-girlfriend away from his family.

Furious at the prosecution’s failure to ask pertinent questions of him during the trial, Balasubramaniam signed a statutory declaration in July 2008 declaring Baginda had told him Shaaribuu was previously in a relationship with Najib. Not 24 hours later he recanted those allegations and fled Malaysia.

But Balasubramaniam returned in February 2013 to campaign for the political opposition, declaring he had signed the second statement under duress and that his original allegations were all true. He died a month later of a heart attack.

Najib has consistently denied ever meeting Shaaribuu, or any involvement in her death.

Whether or not those behind Sirul’s video retractions last month thought they were doing the Malaysian Prime Minister a favour, the net effect has been to thrust the issue back into the spotlight at a most inconvenient time for Najib.

If the reappearance of this case was unwelcome within Malaysia’s political elite, it may also have provoked reaction in Canberra, where the embattled Najib is still seen as an important regional ally and a friend who once offered a solution to Australia’s asylum-seeker problem.

Australian Border Force — now facing difficult questions over why a convicted murderer sentenced to death in Malaysia and being held in Australian detention should be allowed a platform to make such politically charged statements — says it has analysed the videos and believes they were filmed before Sirul’s incarceration.

The Weekend Australian understands that Border Force believes the backdrop to the video does not exist in Villawood, and that there is no evidence Sirul brought either the clothes or the watch he was wearing during the video into detention.

However, people with knowledge of the case, and Malay speakers who have heard the video, say Sirul’s own statements strongly indicate they were made from detention.

“It’s total rubbish,” says eminent Malaysian barrister Americk Singh Sidhu, who represented Balasubramaniam when he wrote his first statement, and last month launched a legal challenge against the Attorney-General’s decision to close the case on Najib’s so-called $US681m Saudi “gift”.

“It’s only logical the video was done sometime in early January because in it he refers to his lawyers’ press conference where they mentioned his protection visa.”

In a December 31 press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Sirul’s Malaysian lawyers alleged certain people had tried to visit Sirul in detention in the hope of gaining political advantage.

But in April last year, before Australian Border Force took over management of Villawood from the Immigration Department and tightened security, one of Sirul’s lawyers also told Malaysian media his client feared the intervention of politicians — including Mahathir Mohamad — in his case could jeopardise his chances of staying in Australia.

At least two close political allies of Mahathir, Khairuddin Abu Hassan and MP Mahfuz Omar, had already tried to see Sirul in detention.

In his video, Sirul says he wants to expand on his lawyers’ recent statements, and then says he is still being contacted by certain parties wanting to sabotage “someone”.

“My lawyers have explained that there are immigration and legal processes under way here,” he says. “I want to concentrate my energy and time on those processes and my application which would allow me to stay here.”

The Weekend Australian has had the videos translated by two different sources, both of whom confirmed the wording.

The fourth promised video might settle the question of when they were filmed but it is now unlikely to come out.

Sirul’s migration consultant Robert Chelliah told The Weekend Australian this week that if he was among the five named he would be forced to reveal the extent of access Malaysian officials have had to Sirul in Villawood and the nature of conversations between himself, Sirul and his Malaysian lawyers in order to protect his professional integrity.

The man most widely tipped to be named is former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir, to whom Sirul’s mother turned last year for help on behalf of her son.

Mahathir has been Najib’s most vocal critic since the 1MDB scandal escalated last year. Earlier this month Mahathir’s son was forced to step down as chief minister of Kedah, citing pressure from the Prime Minister.

This week the border force revealed senior officials were personally vetting all Sirul’s visitors at Villawood Detention Centre, with full security screenings and intelligence checks, out of concern for his safety.

Sirul enjoys a rare double room to himself in Dormitory Three of Villawood’s Blaxland Unit, with his own computer, phone and access to a kitchen.

Border Force says it has taken the extraordinary measures for fear Sirul could be harmed or threatened by officers from Malaysia’s Special Branch intelligence agency.

Those concerns provoked an outraged response on Thursday from Malaysia’s top policeman, Khalid Abu Bakar, who said: “There is no reason for us to harm or threaten (Sirul). This is absurd.”

Notwithstanding that reassurance, Sirul retains the services in Australia of a solicitor, barrister, and migration consultant, all of whom were — at least until last month — working towards keeping him in Australia.

Also on his team are two Malaysian lawyers who represented him during his 159-day trial, and his appeal, and continue to do so from Kuala Lumpur and, occasionally, Sydney.

A Sydney-based, Malaysian-born “clerk” also attends to Sirul’s financial affairs, including the needs of his teenage son, who lives in Sydney.

This expensive support team has led to questions about how an out-of-work Malaysian policeman can afford such services.

Who is footing Sirul’s bill? It’s a question one might reasonably expect Australian authorities to ask, given their concerns over his vulnerability to coercion.

But neither Immigration Minister Peter Dutton nor Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will comment on the case while Sirul’s protection visa is being processed.

The Weekend Australian has been told by one member of Sirul’s team that all the Australian fees are paid through his Malaysian lawyers, two men with well-known ties to Najib’s UMNO ruling party.

Last year an Al Jazeera documentary on the crime uncovered text messages on a mobile phone used by Sirul in Australia before his arrest, revealing negotiations with an apparent middleman “Salam”. In them Sirul demands $17m to “not bring down the PM”.

Salam responds by text: “They want to discuss”.

The same Queensland-based relative of Sirul’s who showed Al Jazeera the phone messages last year confirmed to The Weekend Australian that Sirul told him he was expecting a $17m payout.

The timing of the Australian government’s heightened concern for Sirul’s welfare last year was sparked apparently not by a visit from shadowy Malaysian intelligence agencies but by Sirul’s mother, sister, and at least one Malaysian opposition MP.

Border Force officials told The Australian last November they found out about the visit after the fact and were concerned its purpose was to encourage Sirul to return to Malaysia where he faces death by hanging, though it is difficult to see how that would benefit Malaysia’s political opposition or indeed Sirul’s immediate family.

But the crackdown on Sirul’s visits also came after he gave interviews to Australian and Malaysian journalists in which he repeated that he had acted under orders, and said “important people with motive (to want Shaaribuu dead) are still free”.

Sirul remains a potential diplomatic thorn in the side of two countries whose recent close relationship has been forged out of the Malaysian Airlines tragedies and a critical need to find moderate Islamic bulwarks in the region against a growing threat of transnational terrorism.

One source with close knowledge of the case told The Weekend Australian: “Sirul knows if he goes back to Malaysia he’s dead. That is why in the recordings he talks of wanting to stay here.

“His lawyers have taken advantage of him by telling him ‘say these things and it will help your case’, but as anyone can see what he has actually done is undermine it. This sort of public announcement is clearly meant for other purposes.”

In an article published online last Sunday by news site Malaysiakini, Americk Sidhu suggests Sirul is being played as a pawn by more powerful forces.

“Your Australian lawyers and your migration consultant have advised you to reveal the person or persons who gave you those orders. You were about to do this until a hurriedly gathered posse of advisers from Malaysia (including apparently three Special Branch officers) descended on Villawood to persuade you otherwise.”

The article predicted Sirul’s legal impasse would be resolved only by a successful appeal for clemency.

It is not known whether Sirul’s lawyers have lodged an appeal.

But days before his first video was released last month, lawyers for Azilah Hadri, the second police officer convicted of Shaaribuu’s murder and now sitting on death row in Malaysia, lodged a clemency appeal with the Selangor Pardons Board.

Should it succeed, it could well improve Sirul’s chances of having his own death sentence commuted, clearing the way for his extradition to Malaysia and neatly solving an awkward dilemma for two countries with one blow.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 February 2016, 11:56 pm and is filed under
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Ola Bola! Ola Malaysia?

– TF Lee

The Malaysian Insider

21 February 2016

I watched Ola Bola and true to its reviews, it was heart warming.

I would recommend it to all Malaysians (including overseas Malaysians).

This film has set the standard for future local films with a message of unity and patriotism.

 Sports does have that special effect to galvanise a nation and whether it is for 90 minutes in a football match, 70 minutes on the hockey pitch or any Thomas Cup encounters, we do stop what we are doing (or bickering) and simply support the national team.

That is the beauty of sports and probably why national sporting icons like Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Datuk Nicol David are held in such high regard.

We weep tears of joy and anguish, both in equal measure when they win or lose.

Let’s pause and think for a moment. These characters in Ola Bola depicting our real life national heroes like Soh Chin Aun, Hassan Sani, R. Arumugam and James Wong were elite national football players.

All of them would have come from different states in Malaysia and put together for centralised training for the national team.

I am pretty sure (like as shown in the movie) that they must have gone through many ups and downs before eventually securing Malaysia’s spot in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.

My point here is this. Not many of us will have the opportunity to be that good in any sports to represent the national team.

The 1980 national football team had shed sweat, blood and tears to achieve such camaraderie. If unity and loyalty is our goal, all of us must start to live and play together.

And sports is the best medium to achieve this. And by saying this, our children and next generation must start to go to schools together.

I spent 11 years in a La Sallian missionary school and we had everyone from different religious backgrounds, socio-economic levels etc.

But, we played football together, we studied together and we got punished together by the teachers when we made mistakes. Such experience can never be bought my money.

Similarly during my varsity days where I got involved with the varsity tennis team, the bond and camaraderie between us still holds until today.

A single message on WhatsApp will trigger probably a day of lively and interesting conversations.

The beautiful part of it is that we comprise Malays, Chinese, Indians and also Sabahans and Sarawakians.

As I have said, these are our national legends at the top of their game and the vast majority of Malaysians will never get the chance to represent the country.

But, we can “upscale” this initiative by just doing things together as Malaysians, and what’s the best place to cultivate this culture of not in schools?

We already have Ola Bola in the cinemas. Do you think we can have Ola Malaysia one day? – February 21, 2016.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 February 2016, 11:45 pm and is filed under
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Bersih 4 t-shirt ban underestimates people’s wisdom

Khoo Ying Hooi

The Malaysian Insider

22 February 2016

Last week, the Shah Alam High Court upheld the government’s decision to ban Bersih 4 t-shirts and related printed materials. The decision comes after Bersih 4 organisers filed a judicial review against the government’s ban on the yellow Bersih 4 t-shirts.

In his judgment, Judge Datuk Mohd Yazid Mustafa said that the order by Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was valid, as the minister had the discretion to make such decisions on the basis of preserving the peace in a multi-racial country like Malaysia.

I quote, “The minister has taken the relevant consideration in making the said order. I take judicial notice that Malaysia is multi-racial and multi-religious, thus puts a heavy responsibility to the minister to maintain and preserve peace, notwithstanding the Federal Constitution confers rights of assembly (and) freedom of expression.

“However, the national interest needs to be jealously guarded. Indeed, the prime consideration to safeguard the public order, security and peaceful, are at the hands of the executive.”

This decision is disappointing for one reason – how could we possibly reach the stage where wearing a t-shirt with the label of Bersih 4 is considered illegal with the potential to cause public disorder?

Are Malaysians that shallow to think Bersih 4 could actually cause public disorder?

What is the logic and rationale in justifying the ban?

Previously, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and PKR’s Batu MP Tian Chua were among those under investigation for wearing the Bersih 4 t-shirt during the rally last August.

Now, anyone who owns a Bersih 4 t-shirt or has anything to do with the rally is potentially liable under Section 8 of the Printing Press and Publications Act (PPPA).

The government has on various occasions remained defensive in protecting its human rights record with the excuse that Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-religious country.

Above all, Bersih 4 has nothing to do with any racial sentiments. The movement is aimed at reforming the country’s electoral system and to improve its democratic development. It has never championed any particular race in its demands since its formation.

Supposedly, this decision could possibly generate fear among those who own Bersih 4 paraphernalia. On the contrary, I observe more resistance from the people to the court’s decision.

What is printed on a T-shirt that could be so provocative to preserving the peace in the country?

The decision is a major blow to freedom of expression. While it could be true that Malaysians are becoming more partisan as a result of the country’s political developments in recent years, another trend that we should not dismiss is that the political awareness among citizens has also increased.

The government needs to start taking peoples’ concerns and criticisms seriously. Malaysians may not hold the same opinions, but shallow justifications like this only make us a laughing stock at all levels. – February 22, 2016.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 February 2016, 7:08 am and is filed under
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Impian Pemimpin

(istimewa untuk YB Lim Kit Siang)

oleh Pak Samad

20.2.2016

Datangnya dengan peta yang tulus terbuka

Cekal disemainya benih impian bangsa

Dirinya pemahat peta hidup berukun

Dengan peluh diukirnya secermat tekun

Di dalam taman merpati mesra menari

ternampak dia meneroka rimba asli

tabah disemainya benih janji yang murni

diusaha yang mercup: Impian Sejati

Tujuh dekad setengah dirinya berarah

Diasasnya demokrasi di era resah

dilepaskan kekunang di alam gelita

agar malam merdeka berwarnian indah

Kini di tasik dirinya menilai hajat

di sisi panji pastinya berdiri hebat

Dia tak mudah ditelan gelombang nista

cekal di pantai pupuk Impian Malaysia

Dia tidak berkibar atas harta orang;

maka panji yang dijulang tetap gemilang.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 February 2016, 11:15 pm and is filed under
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Kit Siang, man behind the politician

– Kerk Kim Hock

The Malaysian Insider

22nd February 2016

Since the recurrence of my cancer last year, reminiscing has become an important part of my life and tonight’s event will certainly add to my many beautiful memories.

A 75th birthday is indeed a significant milestone and let me extend my sincere congratulations to the birthday boy, who is still going strong at an age which others would have quit and settled into retirement.

But as someone once said:  Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. In any case, Lim Kit Siang is still young when compared to Nelson Mandela who was 76 when he became the president of South Africa in 1994.

Kit Siang has not been rewarded such a lofty position nor abundant wealth but because of his selfless struggles and immense sacrifices, God has rewarded him with more than 2.3 billion seconds of life!

75 years lifetime is more than 2.3 billion seconds.

There is no doubt that he will be recognised in history as one of Malaysia’s greatest statesman.

To quote Mandela, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

No one can deny the differences that Kit Siang has made to Malaysia and the people who yearn to make it a better country for our future generations.

According to Martin Luther King Jr, the late human rights activist, the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Kit Siang is a classic example of such a man.

As DAP celebrates its 5 th anniversary this year, Kit Siang can certainly take great pride that the party has become much stronger and has risen to become the beacon of hope of the people.

He should in fact be the proudest person tonight because he is the DAP leader who has been fighting the hardest for democracy, justice, equality and true national unity and he is also the major reason why the party has been able to survive its darkest hours and triumph over its constant trials and tribulations.

Many leaders and members have suffered and made sacrifices in fighting the DAP’s cause. So have their spouses and families in various ways. I can still recall the time when both Kit Siang and his son Guan Eng were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1987 for 18 months.

As the person who helped to drive Kit Siang’s family members to the Kamunting detention camp every week for 18 months, I knew how much that they had to suffer.

Tonight, we have a great opportunity to say a big thank you to not only Kit Siang but also to an equally remarkable person who has been his tower of strength – his wife.

Let’s show our appreciation to her for sharing her husband and members of her family with the party, the people and the country.

Five years ago, during a video interview in conjunction with Kit Siang’s 70th birthday, I had described him as the best of the best DAP leaders.

I shall say and I believe many of you will agree with me that he will be the DAP’s greatest leader of all times.

The courageous and far sighted Kit Siang is not only a political genius but an enduring political titan. His eloquence in Parliament and ceramahs, his ability to highlight issues incessantly in the media, his brilliant political sense have been well known to all. But what is Kit Siang like behind the great image?

Kit Siang has been vilified in many ways and even accused of being anti-Malay . But ever since I joined the party in 1986 till today, I have never heard him utter, whether in private or in public, any prejudice or attacks against the Malays.

He is strongly committed to help all races and never hesitates to venture into areas where DAP does not have support, even into places seen as enemy territory.

For example, in 1990, he  led a delegation of DAP leaders to Felda Gelanggi 4 in Pahang,  Felda Kampung Palong 9 in Negri Sembilan and Felda Taib Andak in Johor to fight for the Felda settlers who were facing some problems.

Kit Siang’s struggle for all Malaysians is on record and there is no doubt that he truly loves Malaysia and all Malaysians. This is why he has emerged as the national hero to right thinking Malaysians.

In helping the people, he has shown that he was even prepared to risk his life.

During the 1998 outbreak of Nipah virus Encephalitis  in Bukit Pelanduk, Kit Siang took the risk to go into the Negri Sembilan village to meet the pig farmers.

We went into the village after applying mosquito repellants and wearing long-sleeved shirts, thinking that the virus was spread via mosquito bites as that was what the authorities had said so.

We were lucky that we did not go near the pig pens as it was found out later that the disease was not spread by mosquito bite but by the pig’s breath.  A total of 108 people had died in the outbreak.

Earlier in 1986, there were rumours that Kit Siang might be murdered and there was in fact one day when rumours were flying all over that Kit Siang had been shot dead.

A few senior party leaders then proposed that the party hire body guards for his safety. But he just would not accept such an idea. This is a man who does not fear death.

Many party veterans who have retired know him as a person who would also remember former comrades. In 2011, Kit Siang had a serious eye infection after his cataract surgery and that was when DAP Chinese education fighter Chian Heng Kai had passed away.

Medically, it was not advisable for Kit Siang to travel during the recovery period, but he insisted on going all the way from Penang to Muar to pay his last respects to Heng Kai.

Since my retirement from politics in 2004, Kit Siang has never failed to pick up my phone calls or return my missed callas soonest possible. And since my rectal recurrence in July last year, Kit Siang has paid me five visits. This is a reflection of Kit Siang’s caring and compassionate nature.

Many years ago when a DAP leader quit and attacked the party, Kit Siang chose not to respond at all. When I asked him the reason, he replied that this person had contributed much to the party.

During the 80’s when another former leader who quit the DAP and joined the other side fell ill and was on his death bed, Kit Siang went to see him before he breathed his last.

This is the forgiving nature of Kit Siang.

Kit Siang has other impressive qualities. He is a simple man who does not make demands on the type of accommodation or foods arranged by DAP branches when he travels round the country.

And his willingness and ability to learn new things is second to none in the party. When email and twitter came into the world, he was the first to pick up the necessary knowledge and skills.

Many people outside the DAP may not know that Kit Siang is so respected in the party not just because he is such a brilliant political leader, but also because of his many great qualities.

He is truly a great, remarkable and unique person.

That is why he could be the party’s secretary-general for 30 years because even people who disagreed with him had admitted that he was simply too good to be replaced.

David Heenan, the author of “Leaving on Top: Graceful Exits for Leaders”, listed four categories of leaders: timeless wonders who have no need to quit, ageing despots who refuse to give up, comeback kids who return to their former glory and graceful exit-ers who depart at the right time.

Kit Siang is certainly a timeless wonder. So, there is no need for him to quit, so long he is still , to quote what he said in my house twice last week: “up and about”.

And he will be up and about for a long time to come.

Last July when my rectal cancer recurred after 13 years of remission, Kit Siang had sent me this message: “Shocking indeed but we must not let it weigh us down. Life after all is about conquering the unconquerable. Let’s keep going”.

Yes, I will fight hard and will look forward to Kit Siang’s 80th and more milestone birthdays. – February 22, 2016.

* This is a speech by Kerk Kim Hock , former DAP secretary-general at Lim Kit Siang’s 75th birthday dinner held at the Matahari Ballroom, Equatorial Hotel, Penang.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 February 2016, 4:27 pm and is filed under
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Tengku Razaleigh’s speech at LKS’ 75th birthday anniversary

(Speech by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah at DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang’s 75th  Birthday Celebration at the Equatorial Penang on 20 Feb 2016)

1.  Given the adversarial nature of our politics, speculation about Kit Siang being the doyen of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat is merely a moot point. But his sitting across the aisle from the Government bench notwithstanding, Kit Siang has contributed his fair share to the development of our political and parliamentary practice. We will surely come to this conclusion if we took a disinterested look, devoid of “partisan bias” and the “plays to the gallery”, at his politics and parliamentary role.

2.  The slow progress in our political maturity has somewhat affected the relationship between the parties forming the government and the opposition. This has developed a them-and-us mindset among our politicians and parliamentarians thereby denying the country the progression of “the other side of the aisle” into His Majesty’s loyal Opposition. Perhaps it is time we deliberately moved in that direction. And certainly Kit Siang will be able to offer his positive contribution in this, given the length of his tenure as an Ahli Dewan Rakyat. His experience will surely be useful even though he has been in the opposition all the while.

3.  Such a happy time as a birthday celebration allows us to reflect upon what we have done and achieved, and our enjoyment of God’s blessings. But we cannot run away from the fact that life moves on; and so it is with politicians and parliamentarians. The time will soon come when we have to give way to a new set. But we owe it to this beautiful and beloved land to conduct our political activities in the most matured of ways. And so, regardless of which political divide we are in, it is incumbent upon us, as experienced politicians, to help establish benchmarks for the practice of refined  democratic politics by this new set that will benefit the rakyat.

4.  Political bickering and one-upmanship have to be put aside and politicians must be guided by their conscience in serving their various stakeholders. It is in this regard that Kit Siang, as an elder of his party and a veteran MP, can play a role. Our ability to reach out across the aisle to work with each other will certainly contribute towards improving the quality of our politics and at the same time, help to speed up its maturity.

5.  Politicians should now be driven by the noble need to serve the rakyat and the greater good of the country. We should, therefore, reduce politicking to the minimum. We must scrap confrontational politics and do away with the scoring of points at the expense of each other. Regardless of our ideological differences, we must get on as friends and not as mere political colleagues. The government and the opposition must necessarily accept each as partners who are well synchronised with each other. They should be like ronggeng partners; moving in tune with each accommodating the other. When one advances, the other withdraws and so on and so forth.

6.  This conciliatory stance by politicians of different beliefs should bring about a friendlier political culture where party card carriers and parliamentary colleagues of different shades are able to accept each other, regardless. This will most certainly add to the dignity of politics, a commodity which is unfortunately short in our trade at the moment. Should we be able to bridge this divide and work in concert with each other in an ethical manner while being principled with high integrity, respect for our politics will definitely soar.

7.  At the personal level, such a professional and amiable approach to working among people of different political convictions will allow for the development of civil relationships that are meaningful and make an occasion such as this that much happier and friendlier.

(Note: Tengku ended his speech with a poem by Samuel Ullman referring to Kit Siang’s 75th birthday anniversary)

“YOUTH” by Samuel Ullman

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what’s next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 February 2016, 4:08 pm and is filed under
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Umat Islam atau menteri keliru?

Amin Iskandar

The Malaysian Insider

21 February 2016

Apabila menteri atau timbalan menggunakan hujah “mengelirukan umat Islam”, persoalan sering kali timbul dalam sanubari penulis, apakah benar umat Islam begitu lemah sehingga mudah dikelirukan atau pemimpin itu sendiri yang sering keliru?

Di sebuah negara di mana majoriti penduduknya beragama Islam, pemimpinnya Islam, media arus perdana dikuasai orang Islam jika mereka masih lagi mudah dikelirukan, ertinya, umat Islam di Malaysia merupakan yang paling lemah di dunia.

Ketika mengharamkan penggunaan kalimah Allah bagi bukan Islam satu ketika dulu, hujah “mengelirukan umat Islam” turut digunakan.

Terbaru dalam isu restoran menggunakan tanda “tiada babi”, Timbalan Menteri Di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki berkata, tindakan akan diambil kepada pengusaha kerana mengelirukan umat Islam.

“Umat Islam harus sentiasa peka kepada kehendak undang-undang syariah apabila membabitkan soal makanan.

“Meletakkan tanda tiada babi tidak bermakna ia adalah halal,” katanya.

Mengikut pengalaman hidup penulis yang tidaklah begitu panjang, umat Islam di Malaysia sebenarnya di antara paling “strict” di dunia dalam bab makanan.

Jika ke luar negara, baik yang kaya mahupun miskin, mereka akan membawa banyak makanan kerana takut tidak berjumpa dengan restoran halal.

Sehinggakan jika ke negara majoriti Islam seperti Indonesia sekalipun, mereka akan tetap memenuhkan bagasi dengan makanan seperti “mi maggi”!

Sebab itu penulis mempersoalkan siapakah umat Islam mudah terkeliru dengan premis perniagaan menggunakan tanda “tiada babi” atau sebenarnya Asyraf sendiri yang keliru?

Percubaan mengalihkan isu?

Seperti yang dikatakan penulis Turki Mustafa Akyol ketika datang ke Malaysia awal tahun ini, mengapa sentiasa “orang lain mengelirukan orang Islam” tetapi tidak pernah terjadi “orang Islam mengelirukan orang lain”.

“Saya tertanya-tanya mengapa kita umat Islam tidak mengelirukan orang lain, tetapi sentiasa orang lain mengelirukan kita.

“Dan saya tertanya-tanya bagaimana kita rasa jika konsep tertentu daripada tradisi kita diharamkan di negara majoriti Kristian, sebagai contoh, apa kata jika terdapat larangan ke atas umat Islam daripada mengucapkan perkataan Jesus atas dasar ia boleh mengelirukan orang Kristian?

“Kita pasti tidak akan gembira dengan keadaan itu,” kata penulis itu.

Atau sebenarnya terdapat percubaan untuk mengalihkan perhatian rakyat Malaysia daripada isu sebenar yang lebih besar?

Terbaru, Pengarang Kewangan The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Ken Brown dalam wawancara bersama ABC News Australia mengatakan derma RM2.6 bilion dalam akaun peribadi Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak bukanlah dari Arab Saudi seperti dikatakan Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.

Brown sebaliknya berkata, wang itu datangnya daripada pelbagai syarikat berkaitan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), menafikan dakwaan peguam negara.

“Laporan kami selama berbulan-bulan menunjukkan wang itu bukan dari Arab Saudi tetapi dari syarikat dan akaun bank yang mempunyai hubungan dengan 1MDB.

“Dan seperti anda sedia maklum, laporan kami belum pernah dipertikaikan lagi dan kami ada banyak bukti sokongan,” katanya dalam wawancara pada 12 Februari lalu.

Kerajaan Malaysia perlu menyaman WSJ sekiranya dakwaan ini tidak benar. Tidak perlu lagi berdolak-dalik. Nama perdana menteri perlu dibersihkan segera kerana ia membabitkan maruah negara.

Yang lebih baik, Apandi sendiri selaku peguam negara perlu mewakili Najib dan mengemukakan saman kepada WSJ agar maruah Malaysia dapat dikembalikan.

Isu ini lebih mendesak daripada tanda “tiada babi” di premis restoran, jadi lakukanlah segera! – 21 Februari, 2016.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 February 2016, 8:23 am and is filed under
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Umberto Eco changed my life

THE JOY OF SEMIOTICS

by Annalisa Merelli

February 20, 2016

He did so on a bright, warm day in Bologna — I think it was the late spring of 2003. I was an undergraduate student then, one year away from a degree in mass communication, and with too many ideas (my personal brand of not having a clue) about what to do next. Professor Eco was going to present the brand-new master’s degree in semiotics — the world’s first! — in the room B of the University of Bologna’s communications department, which boasted a total of three rooms.

I went out of curiosity — about him, not the course. I had bent my Italian practicality too much already, had heard far too many times that the path I was on was never going to get me a job, to even consider committing two more years to “the arcane field of semiotics“ — the study of meaning or, as a relative of Steven Johnson’s brilliantly put it, “the study of how plants grow in light. Very important field.” (No one ever knows what semiotics is. No one. Ever.)

I don’t remember much of the presentation before Eco spoke. My memory is just of a room that quickly got uncomfortably crowded and warm, and of the sunlight coming in, distracting, from the glass doors, strong enough that I could feel its particles hitting the corner of my eyes. I don’t think I even took notes — which is bizarre, as I always take notes — such was my commitment to not committing.

Semiotics was impractical. Speculative. Unknown to the real world. Which was all great, really, because it was terrifyingly challenging, and I could not wait to have a solid excuse to be done with something I thought above my capacities.

But Eco’s speech was a game changer. He spoke about the joys and wonders of a discipline that helps unlock the meaning of the world and gets there through analysis.

He said, “you’ll have to invent your own job” — which is perhaps the truest career advice anyone ever gave me.

He mentioned the great potential of knowing why and how things — words, images, situations — say what they do, of learning to read the way reality is written. He said then, as he had before, that “you’ll have to invent your own job” — which is perhaps the truest career advice anyone ever gave me.

He did not convince me to study semiotics there and then, but what he said started to chip away the plaster that caused the crack that made the hole that broke the dam that eventually got me, a year and change later, to enroll in the master’s degree — Italian commonsense, and my own fears, be damned.

It was a choice that changed my life path. But the truth is that Eco had changed my life long before. The very reason I had moved to Bologna to study communications was his reputation, his name a magical spell that dissolved people’s doubts on the merits of my education. (“What do you study?” “Communications in Bologna.” “That’s Eco’s, isn’t it?” That was his, indeed.)

I only saw the professor a handful of times, but whenever it happened I was bewildered by his joyous, playfully big personality, and overwhelmed by the vastness of his knowledge and of his insatiable thirst for it. As a colleague once described him, he was “excessive — for culture and generosity:” he knew everything, about everything. He was exceptional in making very complex things clear and approachable, which is why his essays are such a gift to the curious mind. He embodied the definition of a bright mind.

Once, as a student of semiotics, in one of Bologna’s gorgeous palaces, I listened to him explain Aristotle’s poetics through the latest episode of a terrible TV show—nothing too high, nothing too low. My best friend, sitting by my side, turned to me: “Why can’t we be geniuses, too?” It was just like her to ask such a question, and it was just like him to casually, laughingly, lay in front of your eyes the sheer power of his genius—curious, captivating, awe-inspiring.

And outrageously funny.

It was, in the end, one funny sentence that tipped the scale of my life — that made me choose to study semiotics, and then do many other things that scared me — on that sunny, undergraduate Bologna day.

After having praised the value of semiotics as a key for reading the world, he warned that someone might ask us this: Does dedicating so much time to investigating the structures behind everything that amazes, disturbs, and bores us not dispel the magic, eventually, and dry up the experience of life, like knowing an illusionist’s trick?

“Well” he answered himself, and us all, “even gynecologists fall in love.”

Umberto Eco, born Jan. 5, 1932, died Feb. 19, 2016.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 February 2016, 5:58 am and is filed under
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We Salute You Mr. Lim Kit Siang! Happy 75th Birthday!

By Martin Jalleh

When the ruling coalition dishes out what is most politically expedient,

you remain principled and unwavering in your political journey.

When the same spent politicians declare only what is most convenient,

you steadfastly and consistently live out your firm convictions.

When the powers that be compromise on what is right and just,

you show unflinching courage in fighting for justice and truth.

When greedy and corrupt leaders brazenly bleed this country dry

You leave no stone unturned to ferret out the guilty.

When the dominant dying party desperately resorts to gutter politics,

you remain a  gutsy fighter , gentleman and giant amongst pygmy rivals.

When self-serving insecure leaders are bent on purveying a culture of fear,

you are a fierce undaunting clarion call for greater fortitude and freedom.

When warlords, zealots and bigots ferment discord, distrust and division

You relentlessly foster your dream of a genuine “Malaysian Malaysia”.

When your detractors twice imprisoned you under the Internal Security Act

You showed no bitterness but remained indomitable and indefatigable.

When, once, the people of Penang rejected you and your party

You showed even greater resolve and won their hearts – and the State.

When your party was near death, and some wrote your political obituary

You rose from the ashes and brought it to its current height of glory!

When your rivals assumed that you were predictable and easily beaten

You ventured where angels feared to tread, you defied the odds — and won.

When your opponents hurl cruel allegations and accusations at you

You humbly soldier on and leave them to their ignominious fate!

When the government imposes a plethora of repressive laws to survive

You refuse to yield to its intimidation and unleash a greater driving passion!

When the Speaker of Parliament attempts to shut you up by suspending you

You hold parliament with new MPs — members of the public– everywhere you go.

Thank you Mr Lim Kit Siang!

Often confronted by the official hype and hypocrisy of the day

– you give us hope!

As the PM leads the nation into abysmal political backwaters

– you continue to create waves of political change!

When Ministers display their ignorance, insolence and incompetence

– you have been a true form of inspiration and a model of integrity!

We salute you Mr Lim Kit Siang!

You are a towering Malaysian – a true statesman – a triumphant politician!

Happy 75th Birthday and may the Force be with you!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 February 2016, 5:43 pm and is filed under
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Are there any bridges left to build?

by S Thayaparan

Malaysiakini

23rd February 2016

“Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts… Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.”

― CS Lewis, ‘The Screwtape Letters’

COMMENT
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said some nice things about Lim Kit Siang during the birthday bash of the DAP’s supremo – Kit Siang will always be the supremo in my book no matter the brickbats calling for new blood from the DAP – which is a change of pace. Normally when it comes to Kit Siang, Umno and its affiliates go out of their way to paint the opposition leader as Malaysia’s public enemy number one.

In Ku Li who wants in from the cold, I wrote: “Razaleigh, of course, always nurtured the perception that he was the last honest man in Umno, a prince who reluctantly found himself consorting with thieves. Ku Li, as he is fondly known as, has the remarkable ability to engender goodwill from certain sections of the general public by disassociating himself from the excesses of Umno even though he contributed to the very culture he claims to despise.”

It does seem unpalatable to dismiss Ku Li’s rejoinder of goodwill especially when it was made in a bipartisan manner at a political rival’s birthday celebration but these days words are a plenty and depending on who says them, a sedition charge is waiting in the wings or a disinterested state security apparatus dismisses them as of no consequence.

Therefore, here are a few statements made by Ku Li that I find problematic.

1) “The slow progress in our political maturity has somewhat affected the relationship between the parties forming the government and the opposition.”

What has affected the relationship between political parties is not a “slow progress in our political maturity” but the deliberate agenda to impede progress with the use of unjust laws, state demonisation of political opposition, electoral gerrymandering, self-censorship and pecuniary corruption which fuels establishment politics.

2) “This has developed a them-and-us mindset among our politicians and parliamentarians thereby denying the country the progression of ‘the other side of the aisle’ into his majesty’s loyal opposition.”

The “us vs them” is embedded in our constitution. This is not a question of ideological politics but rather the desperation of racial politics. This is not confined to Umno establishment politics but also oppositional political parties, who have to balance the needs of their communities and the appearance of race blind political agenda.

Partisan politics is easy to overcome if there are certain foundational issues that partisan could latch onto. Racial politics on the other hand, is an all or nothing proposition. Some people would claim otherwise but their arguments are not sustainable.

3) “Political bickering and one-upmanship have to be put aside and politicians must be guided by their conscience in serving their various stakeholders.”

Political bickering gives the impression that politicians are earning their keep. However, in the Malaysian context, there’s the bickering against the Umno establishment that is warranted and the internal politics of Pakatan Rakyat or Harapan or whatever it’s called that is evidence of a lack of sincerity and cohesiveness that are the hallmarks of Malaysian oppositional politics. So-called “stakeholders” are left with the cold comfort of observing fireworks but are left with smoke.

Of the opposition dilemma, I wrote, “Here in Malaysia, politicians who have power, or seek it, are so afraid that new ideas would impede their efforts that they are content to let the rot continue so long as the old ways, the old ideas, maintain them in power. Meanwhile, the disenfranchised of society regardless of race but with very little options, plays the part of maintaining this charade we call a democracy.”

4) “Our ability to reach out across the aisle to work with each other will certainly contribute towards improving the quality of our politics and at the same time, help to speed up its maturity.”

How can we work with one another? What evidence is there that the establishment, and it is incumbent on Umno to lead the way since they are the regime in federal power, to reach out in a bipartisan manner to the opposition? How does BN work as the opposition in Pakatan-controlled states? What are the issue that are brought up and the bipartisan manner in which they are resolved?

BN friends of mine always send me the issues that they claim are neglected by the opposition (and I think they are), but because Umno is too busy with its internal schisms, no further action is considered nor is there any sustained will to tackle these issues because the bureaucracy involved has been poisoned by decades of state-sponsored propaganda.

5) “We must scrap confrontational politics and do away with the scoring of points at the expense of each other. Regardless of our ideological differences, we must get on as friends and not as mere political colleagues.”

This makes it sound as if the politics in Malaysia is like a tense tea party. This is not the case. When Umno does not get along with you or you do not get along with Umno, you could be charged with sedition. Asking the prime minister to step down is an offence. Giving a legal opinion is an offence. Using certain words is an offence. The police chief excessively monitors cyberspace for words that would offend this regime. The National Security Council Act is one big ‘Be silent or else’ sign.

I would settle for mere political colleagues because with friends like this regime, who needs enemies.

6) “Should we be able to bridge this divide and work in concert with each other in an ethical manner while being principled with high integrity, respect for our politics will definitely soar.”

Therein lies the problem. Are there any bridges left to build? What common ground can the establishment and the opposition find? There is no common ground because the system has been compromised. In any other functional democracy when a political party loses the trust of the voting public, the system ensures that the political party is benched. This is not the case here in Malaysia.

Here we are left with a system that was built to sustain the Umno-BN hegemony. We have a system predicated on ensuring the survival of a specific political party. It really does not matter if Pakatan Rakyat, is a credible alternative. In a democracy, the system ensures that political parties however underserving gets a shot at the throne. Of course, this involves money, manipulation and political compromise, but that’s democracy for you and when politicians understand this, they can get along and, yes, work together.

I am in a pessimistic mood but maybe the words of Thomas L Freidman may bring some comfort: “Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists.”

I sincerely hope he is right.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 1:18 pm and is filed under
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Greatest gift to Najib on his 40th anniversary celebrations in politics – a second sabotage of the PAC investigations into 1MDB!

There was considerabe fanfare to celebrate the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s  “40 years of serving the people” “From Pekan to Putrajaya” especially the pages and pages of “congratulatory” advertisements by various Barisan Nasional Mentri-Mentri Besar and Chief Ministers and GLCS in thick supplements published by the Barisan Nasional controlled owned mainstream media.

(Note to Auditor-General: should check on propriety of UMNO leaders and GLCs using public funds to glorify Najib and whether surcharge should be imposed on the UMNO MBs, CMs and GLC CEOs to pay the advertising costs from their own pockets).

But the greatest gift to   Najib on his  40th anniversary celebrations came from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman, Datuk Hasan Arifin –  the second sabotage of PAC investigations into the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal with the shocking announcement that the tabling of the Auditor-General’s final report on 1MDB had been deferred until next month.

It would appear that the “cari makan” PAC Chairman has finally stamped  his personality on the PAC because of the BN majority on the committee, transforming the PAC into his  image by becoming a “cari makan” PAC!

The Auditor-General was due to table his final audit report on 1MDB tomorrow and  Thursday, but a late-night message went out  last night to PAC members to cancel the PAC meetings, viz:

“Greetings Dato’/Datuk/YB, it is informed that considering many PAC members are abroad, some fulfilling their umrah (minor pilgrimage) and other important commitments, the tabling of the Auditor-General’s Final Report on 1MDB scheduled for February 24 and 25 has been postponed to a date that will be informed later, thank you – Johan Afandi, PAC secretary.”

Shakespeare’s quote in Hamlet, “Something is rotten in the State of Denmark”, cannot be more appropriate to describe the state of affairs in the higher reaches of the Malaysian government today.

On 11th February, after PAC hearings involving former 1MDB chairperson Bakke Salleh and ex-CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, Hasan  said that PAC will meet on Feb 24 and 25 for the Auditor-General to present the final audit report on the 1MDB and the PAC will then table its report to Parliament in the March meeting of Parliament.

Two questions are in order:

Firstly, were the PAC meetings of Feb. 24 and 25 fixed on Feb. 11 without the surety even guarantee from PAC members that they would be present, considering the national and even international importance of the issue, which has frequently  made world news to the detriment of Malaysia’s international image and standing?

Who are the PAC members who could not attend the PAC meetings tomorrow and Thursday for the Auditor-General to present the final audit report on 1MDB?

The Malaysian public, and in fact world opinion, are entitled to know who are these miscreants who do not realise the importance of their duties and responsibilities as members of the PAC on an issue which had attracted so much adverse publicity for the country, that they are prepared to misconduct themselves as to cause a sabotage of the PAC meetings tomorrow and Thursday?

In fact, the most honourable option for these MPs is to resign as PAC member, or the public not only in their constituency but throughout the country, would be entitled to demand that they should resign as MPs as they have shown themselves to be totally untrustworthy in being  responsible for the second sabotage of PAC investigations into 1MDB.

The first sabotage of PAC investigations into 1MDB took place at the end of July when Najib executed government purges which saw the sacking of Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Senior Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail; the dissolution of the high-powered multi-agency Special Task Force investigating the 1MDB; the arrest, instant transfers and general intimidation of independent and conscientious officers in the major government enforcement agencies and the four-month sabotage of PAC  investigations into 1MDB by  creating vacancies in the PAC in  elevating the then PAC  Chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamad and three other BN members as Minister and Deputy Ministers.

Secondly, is the last-minute cancellation of the PAC investigations tomorrow and Thursday the latest in the “flip-flops” of “cari makan” Hassan as PAC Chairman?

I had earlier asked what had happened in the 17 days between January 21 and Feb. 7 that transformed the “cari makan” Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, from a laggard dragging his feet on the PAC’s 1MDB investigations and even saying that the PAC cannot keep its deadline to submits its 1MDB report to Parliament next month into to a “speedster” who want the PAC investigations to be wrapped up this month so that the PAC report could be submitted to the March meeting of Parliament.

I interpreted the first “flip-flop” as a belated realisation that indefinite delay in the PAC report on the 1MDB will ignite a third national and international firestorm over Najib’s twin mega scandals – the first being the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali’s announcement on January 26 exonerating Najib of any criminal wrongdoing and that no charges would be brought against him in both the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals and the second, Apandi’s interview with Sin Chew Daily on 6th February where he made the shocking disclosure that the Official Secrets Act (OSA) would be amended to impose heavier penalties on whistleblowers and journalists to deter them from leaks of government information to combat corruption, particularly grand corruption.

But the events of the past two weeks, in particular the Feb 12 interview by Wall Street Journal financial editor Ken Brown with Australia’s ABC News  refuting Apandi’s exoneration of Najib of wrongdoings and reiterating that the RM2.6 billion deposited in Najib’s personal bank account as from a member of the Saudi royal family;  Najib’s failure to institute legal proceedings against WSJ for over six months  and the series of adverse reports on the 1MDB scandal from various foreign countries which are carrying out independent probes into the scandal, must have put the IMDB protagonists in a situation of “Between the devil and the deep blue sea”.

Clearly, the 1MDB strategists have decided on another “flip-flop” opting for delay of the PAC report into the indefinite future instead of tabling the PAC report in Parliament next month.

There is no justifiable reason for the cancellation of the PAC meetings this week, which should be held as scheduled, as it could also be used to decide to summon many important personalities whose testimony are crucial and even critical in throwing light on the 1MDB scandal, including the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Attorney-General Apandi, former Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the Chief Commissioner for MACC, Tan Sri Abu Kassim, the MACC director (special operations) Bahri Mohamed Zin, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and the former Special Branch deputy director Datuk Abdul Hamid Bador as well as the elusive Penang-born billionaire Jho Low.

In the commemoration of his 40 years of involvement of politics, Najib has promised that he would strive to take Malaysia to greater heights.

Malaysia had never achieved greater heights in corruption than under the Najib premiership –  being named third in the world’s “worst corruption in 2015” and dropping four places in Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2015.

I believe I can speak for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or even politics (including the overwhelming majority of the three million UMNO members and 21,000 UMNO branches) that they dread and do not want Malaysia achieving “greater heights” in corruption!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 11:41 am and is filed under
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“It is no shame for a child to be afraid of the dark, the real tragedy is when a man or woman is afraid of the light”

(Speech by Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng on the occasion of his father Lim Kit Siang’s 75th birthday celebrations in Equatorial Hotel, Penang on 20 Feb 2016)

This is one of my most emotional speeches I am giving on behalf of my family, my party the Democratic Action Party and many Malaysians to pay tribute in commemoration of Lim Kit Siang’s 75th birthday party.

I am also speaking as a son, the first-born to his father, a son who gave him much anguish and anxiety as well as I hope joy and pride.

I wish to start as a son together with my two sisters Hui Ming, Hui Ying, my brother Dr Lim Guan Choon and also my dearest Mom.

No words can express our honour and blessings to have you as our father principally because we never have to doubt nor question your love for us.

You were always giving and generous and unstinting in your love that we know that even if the whole world was against us, you were always there for us.

Yes, you were never always there for us but your presence brought both solace and comfort, courage and strength to continue and the inner confidence that doing the right thing is the only thing that matters.

Even when you were in prison and when we were too young to understand, we felt your love for us.

My first recollection of you under detention, was in a Selangor prison cell in prison clothes whilst being detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

You hugged us tightly and when we had to depart, you stood behind bars sadly and lovingly watching us leave.

We were all crying then and did not understand why we had to leave you behind. I never understood why you could not come home with us.

I knew how you felt 20 years later, when I was detained and had to watch my own children crying whilst leaving me behind after a prison visit.

Your love and Mom’s love were the rock we relied on to be where we are today.

Thank you Dad for taking care and loving us. We love you!

You are the bedrock for the DAP, the source of inspiration and fountain of hope for many members and leaders.

Nearly every party member of DAP joined and stayed on in the DAP because of you Kit and other leaders – because you dared to venture where even angels fear to tread.

Even in the darkest of days and the worst of times, the party never broke up because of the faith we had in you.

We could be detained by BN or be defeated in the general elections but we never lost hope in DAP.

You symbolised both courage, principles and a better Malaysia with rights, freedom, democracy and justice.

We never gave up because you never surrendered.

For Malaysians, you are a legend who have given them so much with a sacred promise of a better tomorrow.

When all hope is lost and filled with despair, you somehow injected courage and faith in us to pick ourselves up and fight on.

By the dint of your example, hard work, fortitude, far-sighted vision and intelligence as well as unmatchable political acumen, you impressed both friends and foes, allies and enemies.

In fact, Malaysia would be in a far worse state without you.

But how do you measure a man’s worth?

Is it in his life contributions, his family’s love and passion, in the lives of the many he touched and changed for the better or in the accolades of his admirers and the praises of his opponents?

If that is the yardstick, Dad, you have matched them all with flying colours.

But I would think that another important gauge would be the ability to inspire and motivate future generations to travel the same path after him, to do better and scale greater heights for a better tomorrow.

You are the pioneer who opened up new possibilities for us to consolidate and build on.

Your ability to make us believe that we can perform better than we feel we are capable of, makes you stand out.

And we here, who are all the younger generation of DAP and Malaysian leaders, is the best testimony of your success to build a generation of tomorrow leaders to keep the torch of the future burning bright.

As Plato said, “It is no shame for a child to be afraid of the dark, the real tragedy is when a man or woman is afraid of the light.”

Thank you Kit for making us bravely revel in the light!

Happy 75th Birthday and we will celebrate many more birthdays ahead.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 6:52 pm and is filed under
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“My father’s courage, steely determination and endurance in fighting for what is best for the country”

(Speech by Dr. Lim Guan Choon, Lim Kit Siang’s youngest son and fourth child, at Kit Siang 75th birthday party at  Equatorial Hotel,  Penang on 20 Feb 2016)

A very good evening distinguished guests, dear family and friends, including my father’s classmates from Batu Pahat Year 1959.

On behalf of my family, I would like to thank all of you for coming.

We are gathered here today to celebrate a very special occasion: my father’s 75th birthday.

We were in this same venue five years ago, and we hope to see you again in five years’ time for his 80th birthday party.

A lot has changed in the last five years, it has been a tumultuous time for Malaysia and Malaysians.

But what has not changed is my father’s courage, steely determination and endurance in fighting for what is best for the country.

To me, he will always be my hero who inspired not just me and my generation but the subsequent ones.

He taught himself many things. He studied not just law while in detention in 1969 but also Jawi and yoga.

I benefited from that as Jawi was somehow a compulsory subject for Standard 2 pupils in Batu Pahat in the year 1972.

He taught me Jawi and there was free yoga lessons for the family. He was also very quick to embrace IT in the 1990s way before most of us caught on to it.

Despite his very busy schedule, he always made time for the family. We would rarely miss any blockbuster movies especially the martial art flicks from Taiwan in the ’70s which was the reason one of my earliest ambitions was to be a renowned swordsman.

We played table tennis together at home. When they built a squash court near our house in Melaka, we both taught ourselves squash and he was extremely competitive and gave me a hard time.

He is indefatigable: he can criss-cross the country over many days to attend meetings, forums and ceramahs.

I can’t keep up with him. In fact, his energy and passion put a lot of the younger generation to shame.

He is relentless. He has cautioned me about running too many marathons but let me tell you if running marathons was a fad in his day, with his sheer endurance he would have done ultramarathons for sure.

Fortunately, he is blessed with a strong disposition but the family is not too happy with his frenetic pace and would like to take this opportunity to persuade him to slow down a little.

I remember very vividly his major health emergency. It was Labour Day 2011 and I took part in the Georgetown bicycle ride with my two children when I received a phone call from him. He was in Kuching.

He had just undergone cataract surgery on his left eye 10 days before. He told me that when he woke up, he could not see anything with his left eye. It was a complete blackout.

My heart sank as I knew he most likely had suffered a rare but extremely serious complication which can lead to complete loss of vision.

It was a trying time for me as a doctor and son, and the whole family but even more so for him but throughout this crisis, he remained calm patient and resilient.

His humility struck many of his caregivers. Fortunately, we were able to get him back to Penang that night for a major eye surgery the next day.

He was fortunate to receive good, medical care in Penang. He responded to treatment, and over the next one to two weeks, his vision recovered almost fully.

Of course after just a few days in hospital, he was keen to return to hectic schedule. He was NOT a good patient.

Due to his unflinching belief and passion for justice, fighting for what is right without fear or compromise, he was detained twice, first in 1969 and the second time in 1987.

It was a dark period for our family, difficult for him but even more difficult for my dearest mom.

She had to raise four children aged 3 to 9 as a single parent with no knowledge of what the future held.

She had to face it all over again in 1987, this time a double whammy, as not only her husband but her eldest son was arrested.

I remember our weekly trips from Melaka on Saturday afternoon to pick up my sister Hui Ming from KL and driving to Taiping for an overnight stay before a short drive to Kamunting for a visit lasting one hour.

This is followed by a long drive back home to Melaka with only a following visit the next weekend to look forward to.

For my mom, the worry and trepidation do not go away even after their release as the danger of further detention remains as long as they are in active politics.

My father travels extensively. However, he would always make it a point to call in every night. I remember even as a child, I could sense my mom’s unease every night until the phone call came to reassure her that he was safe at least for the time being.

Despite all the pressure, she was resilient. She had successfully held the family together and we didn’t turn out too badly.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my mom for being the unsung heroine and giving my father the opportunity to continue his fight for a better Malaysia.

My father taught us mainly by example to distinguish right from wrong and to do good.

He has never told us what to do and let us make our own decisions but always there to offer us unwavering support when we are down.

We are extremely grateful. We love you dad and wish you good health, happiness and for your dreams to come true.

Finally, I would like to thank my extremely efficient sister Hui Ying and her team for putting tonight’s celebration together with the support of my dear brother, the Chief Minister.

So sit back and enjoy the evening, and thank you very much.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 6:46 pm and is filed under
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Street racing is a public safety issue

Syerleena Abdul Rashid

22nd February 2016

According to Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor, the government may close several city roads to allow illegal racers or “mat rempits” to race in Kuala Lumpur. Our problem with illegal street car racing is nothing new. In the past decade, numerous reports of vehicle accidents and various gang related activities have been closely linked with the Mat Rempit culture. It is pathetic that until today, the government is unable to address this issue effectively. Instead of conducting research to ascertain best practices to prevent this social ill from escalating further, the government is proposing to sanction illegal street racing.

In general, humans can become easily discouraged when certain expectations or self goals are not met. This feeling of frustration may lead them to drug or alcohol abuse because of the overwhelming problems they face. Peer pressure, deterioration of family values, lack of solid familial structures, lack of discipline and boredom have also been identified by scholars as influencing factors of harmful activities – illegal street racing being one of them.

Strict and effective enforcement is crucial as this can dissuade them from partaking in such activities. On the other hand, softer approaches such as identifying psychological factors should also be carried out as this can provide the long term solution our society needs.

Street racing is not sanctioned therefore it usually takes place on public roads. A recent letter published in a local daily stated grave concerns about how illegal racing occurred quite regularly on highways, expressways and even in residential areas. This raises numerous safety concerns, endangering the lives of participants and putting ordinary drivers as well as members of the public, at risk. Riders lack professional training in high-performance motorsport and will suffer devastating injuries. Reports claim that ‘around 10 people are hospitalized every week’ from motorcycle accidents.

Additionally, street racing will also lead to property damage (such as destroyed signage, lamp posts, etc). This will increase repair costs for the cities or local councils and this is not what our taxpayers should be paying for.

Other problems that will arise are increase in auto theft cases, escalating gang violence and other gang related activities, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol and other public order offenses.

The idea behind the street racing culture is to form teams and to race each other – often regarded as a form of organized crime or gang activity. This is absolutely the wrong kind of message any government should sending. If anything, this is a weak approach that will only ineffectively address one of the many social ills plaguing our country.

Malaysians deserve the chance to live financially sustainable lives in emotionally healthy homes. They deserve to opportunity to acquire skills and knowledge needed to survive in a rapidly developing nation. Sanctioning illegal street racing will provide none of the above and is simply a bad idea; therefore, the government must exercise absolute diligence before supporting such a controversial move.

(Syerleena Abdul Rashid is DAP Wanita National Assistant Publicity Secretary, DAP Wanita Penang State Political Education Director, DAP Penang State Assistant Publicity Secretary and MBPP Councillor)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 6:10 am and is filed under
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“…to make many stop crying in despair”

(Speech by eldest daughter of Lim Guan Eng, Rachel Lim on Lim Kit Siang’s 75th Birthday celebrations at the Equatorial Penang on 20 Feb 2016)

My name is Rachel Lim Shay Wan and I am the eldest of Grand Dad Kit Siang’s seven grandchildren. On their behalf, I wish my Grand Dad “Happy Birthday – May you deservedly enjoy a happy, loving, long lasting healthy life!”

We do not know what to give you for your 75th birthday present because you have never cared for material gifts.

If you have, you would not have gone to prison twice or deprived yourself or suffer the painful trauma of seeing your own son, my Dad, go to prison twice.

That is why we never begrudged you when you did not shower us with rich material gifts, when you have nothing yourself.

You gave us the greatest gift that any person can give – your sterling example of how to be a good and principled person, and your unquestioning love and support for your family.

We know that no matter how bad the situation or gloomy the times, you will always be there to support and love us.

Love is always stronger than hate. You lived as you loved,  not hating your enemies or those who harmed your family.

We hope to repay back your gift by living in your footsteps – with love and compassion.

I want to thank my Kung Kung for taking care of me for the first 18 months of my life.

I was told that he was the only one who could make me stop crying. I believe I am not the only one.

For Kung Kung not only made me stop crying but he made many Malaysians stop crying in despair.

That is perhaps his greatest gift to Malaysians – that he made many stop crying in despair.

Thank you Kung Kung, we love you. Always.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 6:40 pm and is filed under
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