“Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” now – Sharlinie -Nurin stark reminders that crime knows no race, religion or politics

It is so heart-rending for Malaysians that so soon after the tragedy of the eight-year-old Nurin Jazimin, who was abducted and murdered with her body found in a sports bag a month after she was kidnapped there is now the case of five-year-old Sharlinie Nashar, abducted in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya  on Wednesday – a few kilometers from where Nurin’s body was found.

The hearts of all Malaysians go out to the aggrieved parents, Mohd Nasyar Mat Hussain and Suraya Ahmad and pray that no harm would come to her and that she would be returned and reunited with her family immediately.

The manhunt for Sharlinie must be supported by every Malaysian in the country and all DAP MPs, State Assembly members, leaders and members  join in the call to  the abductors to return her to her parents and family safely and immediately.

The cases of Sharlinie Nashar and Nurin Jazimin are stark reminders to drive home three sad but salient points about Malaysia which had just celebrated its 50th Merdeka anniversary:

•	The Malaysian society   has become a very dangerous and unsafe place for adults, women and children with  crime reaching endemic proportion, with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi expressing alarm at the 13.4% rise in crime rate for last year;

•	Crime knows  no race or religion as  all Malaysians are potential  victims of crime including violent crimes, regardless of their  racial and religious backgrounds..

•	The urgent need for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political beliefs, to  unite as  one people  to demand that the government deliver “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” as its first duty to citizens, visitors, tourists and investors and  to restore to Malaysians the twin fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime!

It is for this reason that a “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” theme will feature prominently in the DAP campaign for the forthcoming general election expected  to be held within  65 days.

In the past 11 general elections for the past half-a-century,  law-and-order and low crime have never featured as a significant  election campaign theme.

DAP has decided to set the precedent to make law-and-order and low crime a top election issue because of the endemic crime in the country  – as Malaysians have never felt so unsafe in their own country  today as compared to the past 50 years or even just four years ago!

I call on all political parties, both Barisan Nasional and Opposition parties, to make “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” a common top election theme – to recognize that the   failure to protect the personal safety and property security of Malaysians, visitors, tourists and investors is  one of the country’s  greatest failures after 50 years of nationhood and the need for a national resolve by all Malaysians and political parties  to give topmost priority to make  Malaysia a safe  country again for her citizens,visitors, tourists and investors.

During the weekend, I will join Perak DAP leaders in a two-day “whistle-stop” visit to 12 centres in Perak to carry the message that all Malaysians, regardless of race,  religion, political party,  gender or age, should make “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” the common national objective to make the streets, public places and privacy of the homes safe again!

Among the areas to be visited will be:

Saturday 12/1

1.	Bidor Market – 8 am

2.	Sungei Siput Market – 11 am

3.	Taiping – 1 pm

4.	Pantai Remis – 3 pm

5.	Sitiawan – 4 pm

6.	Chui Chak  – 6 pm

7.	Teluk Intan  – 8 pm (ceramah)

Sunday 13/1

1.	Pasir Pinji Market  – 8 am

2.	Ipoh Central Market – 9 am

3.	Lawan Kuda  – 12 noon

4.	Kampar –  3 pm

5.	Bercham –  8 pm (ceramah)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 11 January 2008, 11:05 am and is filed under
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Samy cleared Hindraf of terrorist links – police should stop harassing Hindraf donors

The police should stop harassing and intimidating donors of Hindraf on the spurious ground that they are funding a terrorist organization.

Malaysiakini reported two days ago that the police are summoning  donors of Hindraf  “over a possible offence of funding a terrorist organization”, grounding their investigations under Section 130N of the Penal Code on the “funding of terrorist activities”.

The penalty for the offence are death (if the terrorist act results in death), imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years but not exceeding 30 years and a fine.

This is most absurd, especially as the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister for over 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had admitted in his recent visit to Tamil Nadu that the Malaysian government did not have any evidence that Hindraf had connection with Tamil Tigers or terrorists.

This is the Q & A on the NDTVG.com where Samy Vellu admitted that there is no evidence that Hindraf has terrorist links:

“NDTV: Do you have any evidence to back your government’s charge that the Hindraf has links with terrorists?

“D S Vellu: Hindraf said they would fight like the Tigers, the way the Tigers are fighting in Sri Lanka. It was by Vedamurthy. After he talked like that, we did an investigation and it was felt that he may have gone there for training.

“NDTV: Do you have evidence of this?

“D S Vellu: No. It is our suspicion.”

In view of Samy Vellu’s admission that there is no evidence that Hindraf has any  terrorist links, two steps must be taken immediately:

•	DROP all police harassment and intimidation of Hindraf donors on the spurious grounds of funding a terrorist organization or this will be a most blatant and flagrant abuse of police powers to use the “terrorist” provisions in the Penal Code to create police “terror” of their  own; and

•	IMMEDIATE and unconditional release of the Hindraf Five, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabatirau, M. Manoharan, R. Kenghadharan and T. Vasantha Kumar now that they have been officially cleared of any terrorist links – even without having to wait for the Advisory Board hearings over their appeal against the ISA detention fixed on Monday.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 11 January 2008, 3:34 pm and is filed under
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Songkok compulsory wear for JB English College prefects?

Letters

by a JB EC parent

I have a query for you about the English College, Johor Bahru, which is now also known as Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar.

My son who is in Form Five this year, has been a Prefect in EC

since he was in Form Two. He has always been an exemplary student, as well has won praise from many teachers for his exemplary conduct and commitment to his duties and studies. He is also a member of the ExCo of the Prefectorial Board.

Recently, in the beginning of this year, there was an instruction from the school,  which I believe came from the teacher advisor to the Prefectorial Board, that Prefects have to start wearing the Songkok as part of the official uniform. At first, the instruction was that it would only be required during “official functions” like school assemblies and during interschool events or major events like sports day and speech day. Hoever, this has now been revised to include daily prefectorial duties.

There are reasons to believe that the practice of getting Prefects to wear the Songkok, is a prelude to getting ALL the students of the school to eventually follow suit.

My son, after conferring with me, has decided that he will NOT wear the Songkok. He is willing to resign from the Prefectorial Board if forced to wear the Songkok.

The rationale behind his refusal, which I stongly support, is that the Songkok is an emblem of the MALAY identity. As non-Malays, he should not be forced to don attire which does not reflect his true identity.

Also, since the Constitution defines Malay as someone who is Muslim, it may give others the wrong impression that he may be Muslim. Although, at first thought, this may sound a bit far-fetched, as the complexion of a Chinese is very different from that of a Malay. But it is also about principle and of providing a precedent. What of the case of a dark-skinned Chinese, or even an Indian, who wears a songkok? Will they be mistaken for Malays?

The issue is also that of “stumbling others.” My son is a devout

Christian, and has been on two trips overseas in the past two years on mission outreaches, to help the poor, and to spread the Gospel. In Christianity, there are exhortations to Christians not to “stumble your brothers.” Apostle Paul had written in the case when food which had been offered to idols should not be consumed esp in the presence of Christian brothers who are not strong in the faith. Perhaps the wearing of the Songkok may also lead others to stumble, as the songkok is associated with Malay identity, and Malays are invariably Muslim. People who see  my son wearing a songkok may think that he is a Malay, and thus a Muslim.

There will be those Malays who wish to enforce their culture, albeit in a creeping fashion, unto others, who may defend the move to enforce the songkok,  claiming  that the Songkok is a National identity, rather than a Malay or Muslim identity.

To that, I ask why:

–  the songkok is part of the uniform of the Royal Malay Regiment, and not of say the rangers and others.

–  the songkok is worn by Malays who go for Friday prayers, and not on other days.

–  the songkok is worn by Malays on Hari Raya and Hari Raya Haji, but NOT on Hari Merdeka.

In fact, the songkok is identified with Malay cultural dress, just as

the cheongsam is with Chinese, and the saree with Indian. And just as the tudung is for Malays, so too the turban is for Sikhs.

IF the rationale behind the move to enforce students is “uniformity” then are Sikhs exempt from wearing them? Where then would be the uniformity?

My other contention, and which should probably be more IN THE INTEREST OF THE MALAY MUSLIM COMMUNITY,  is that my son’s  refusal to comply with  the requirement for non-Malays to wear the songkok, WILL ACTUALLY PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY AND SANCTITY OF THE SONGKOK.

Despite all the denial about the Songkok being associated with Malay identity and hence with Islam (since all Malays are Muslims), the common perception even amongst Malay Muslims themselves, are that someone wearing a songkok IS a Muslim. IMAGINE a situation where a man wearing a songkok is having a beer, or a group of men are photographed in a pub, all wearing songkoks and each lifting a pint into the air!

What would Malays have to say about it then?

Would these be considered as an insult to Islam?

There are  other situations where men in songkoks should not be

seen doing things which a Muslim should NOT be doing. For instance, would Muslims be upset if I were to wear a songkok and have my picture taken with a roast pig and the picture displayed?

What if my son wears a songkok and eats in a  mamak shop during the month of Ramadan? Of if my son wears a songkok, and walks in the park at 7pm with his girlfriend, who is wearing a tudung (she also a non-Muslim!)

Would Muslim feel a sense of their culture being violated by

non-Muslims in Malay dress, doing things which good Muslims should not be doing? A non-Muslim boy walking sitting on a park bench at night with a non-Muslim girl would be nobody’s business but their own (or their parents).  However, this would be a no-no for Muslims. Imagine the confusion if a non-Muslim boy with songkok were to be seen in this “khalwat” situation with a non-Muslim girl in a tudung?

Therefore, I reiterate – it is probably best to preserve the integrity and sanctity of the songkok and tudung, IF they are reserved for Malays and NOT enforced upon non-Malays.  Alternatively, it should be left to the personal choice of the individual.

Do you think that my arguments have a basis?

I have no complaints if they make the songkok  NON-COMPULSORY, and IF wearing it is just “encouraged” rather than. Would they have a problem if a small cross is pinned to the songkok, to designate that the wearer is not a Muslim?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 11 January 2008, 4:30 am and is filed under
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Students, question authority!

by
Dr. Azly Rahman

(Below is Part 2 of the speech on “student idealism” delivered at the annual gathering of the Malaysian and Indonesian Muslim Students in Washington DC, USA, December 2007.)

Most respected Malaysian and Indonesian students of the Islamic faith, let us continue. I begin with two quotes:

“Everything is good in the hands of the author of Things, everything degenerates in the hands of Man,” said Jean Jacques Rousseau, the spiritual force of the French Revolution.

“Know thyself know thy enemies, one hundred battles one hundred victories,” said the legendary Chinese military leader Sun Tzi.

If there is a thesis statement or a guiding idea or an inquiry theme in my speech today, it is this: question authority, break new frontiers of thinking, but listen to the voice of the inner self in order to serve humanity.

We live in interesting times, as chairman Mao Zedong once said; interesting because the forces of globalisation is at perpetual war with humanity’s inner sense of beingness.

We are a republic onto itself. We are a kingdom we govern ourselves. In each and every one of us lies an inner world bigger than the world outside – a world if known, if and only if we know ourselves – is a world in which freedom reigns and one in which the self refuses to be caged and shackled by structures of oppression built by others.

The essence of being human is that of having the insatiable urge to question and to search for answers, and next, not satisfied with the answers, to continue to question. Some revolutionary [thinkers call this dialectics; the permanent revolution in our world of cognition. Becoming a human being is a process – we are as a French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre would say, beings in the process of becoming and by doing so we define the world and able to “name” it. We have always lived a life in which our world is already pre-determined, our belief system prepackaged, and our knowledge of the political world prepared for us as propaganda produced and disseminated by those who owns the means of producing propaganda. We have live in what a British writer Eric Blair/George Orwell called a world of “doublespeak” wherein what it said has its form and appearance.

Ethos of questioning

As students living and breathing the world of knowledge, in a culture – the American progressive culture – of learning, we must embody the ethos of questioning. We must question everything and not allow answers to live inside of us for long. It is only through this process that we will feel and experience within ourselves – our Inner world – the process of constant or permanent revolution in how we acquire our understanding of the world.

To evolve into wiser individuals with enquiring minds, we must ask questions and reflect upon the answers suggested to us. If we are afraid to ask questions, our mind and consciousness will be owned and manipulated by those who think they have the right answers, or by those who wants to use force to tell us what the right answers shall be.

Question authority – that was what a Harvard University historian of science Thomas Kuhn spoke about in his book “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” which chronicled the advancement of scientific knowledge made possible by questions raised in each field of science – questions that made paradigms collapse, giving birth to newer ones.

Every moment of our waking life must be a philosophical one. Every moment must generate enough questions to make us go to bed still questioning the phenomena we see around us and the experiences we are confronted with in that waking moment. Questions make us more human just as the food we eat gives us the strength to continue living as human beings and the self-affirmation mantras/doas/zikirs/prayers we say silently to ourselves give us the inner strength to feed our spirit so that we may know ourselves better and ultimately know the Creator.

The mind, the body, and the spirit become the tripartite of this beingness and becomingness of our existence. It creates, recreates, constructs and reconstructs this kingdom of the Self we inhabit. Not even the Sultans some choose to bow down to in this world of illusion, can ever see how powerful the inner kingdom we have built within us – only if we are aware of the power within. No even the Neon Gods on Times Square New York reigning on New Year’s Eve, come close to understanding how beautiful and glorious the Inner World we inhabit – again, only if we know who we are.

We are evolving selves in a journey to understand, realize, and finally inhabit and embody the Ultimate Truth. The truth is universal. We are little truths that live in the moments of the particular. I shall not elaborate further this philosophical notion of Universalism versus the Particularism, Form versus Appearance, the evolving self versus the larger Self as to confuse you. You will need to experience this journey yourself – by first questioning authority and freeing yourselves from the mental and spiritual cages you let others with money and the skills to create architecture of power built.

Basic questions

Who are you as a self that questions your very existence? Let me offer some a clue of what being an “individual” means; of what being a ruler of one’s own kingdom entails. But first, let us ponder upon these basic questions:

How are human beings controlled by those who own the means of intellectual and economic production?

How does power, in its raw and refined form, operate in our society?

How is it dispersed?

How is power sustained?

How is truth produced?

How is truth multiplied?

How is the self constructed?

How are we alienated?

What is inscribed onto the body and into the mind, in the process of schooling?

How is human imagination confined and how might it be released?

How is the mind enslaved by the politics of knowledge?

How is historical knowledge packaged?

How do we define our existence in this Age of Information?

Who decides what is important in history?

What is an ideal multi-cultural society?

How has our idea of multi-culturalism influence the way we live our lives?

What historical knowledge is of importance?

What tools do we need to create our own history?

How is the individual more powerful than the state?

How is a philosopher-king created?

How is justice possible?

Who should rule and why?

How are we to teach about justice?

And finally, how might we realise a democratic-republic of virtue – one that is based on a form of democracy that is meaningful and personal?

Thank you for not falling asleep during this lecture. I suppose you have the right to do so if this is a dead boring lecture. I will have to tell the conference organizers to provide you with pillows then – yellow pillows with pictures of the Malaysian flag and the Petronas Twin Towers on it.

[PART 3 will follow]

                This entry was posted on Friday, 11 January 2008, 11:03 am and is filed under
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Suspend “Little Napoleon” school principals who trample on rights and sensitivities of plural Malaysia

The Cabinet next Wednesday should order the immediate suspension of school principals who acted as “Little Napoleons” in unilaterally and arbitrarily imposing rules and regulations which trample on cultural and religious rights and sensitivities in a plural society – demonstrating that they lack the most fundamental qualification to be school principals.

The latest manifestation of such “Little Napoleons” is Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) in Johor Bahru in making  “songkok” part of the compulsory uniform of school prefects in the school.

I put up on my blog  the protest letter of a parent of a school prefect in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar who said his son, who is in Form Five,  would resign as a school prefect – appointed since Form II because of his exemplary conduct – if he is forced to wear the songkok.  There are over 160 responses in the two threads in my blog on this issue in the past 24 hours, showing the intensity of the sensitivities over the matter.

Recently there have been an unchecked increase of  incidents whether in schools, universities or involving the government decision-making process showing growing indifference, disrespect and even contempt for the sensitivities and rights of the diverse races, cultures and religions in the country – which are most detrimental to the goals of  nation-building and the Vision 2020 objective of creating a Bangsa Malaysia.

Yesterday, Malaysians learn to their shock another incident of the “Little Napoleons” running wild in Malaysia – the  confiscation of English language Christian children’s books said to contain offensive caricatures of prophets from several bookshops in Johore Baru, Senawang (Negri Sembilan) and Ipoh by state enforcement officials of the Publications and Al-Quran Texts Control Department under the Internal Security Ministry.

What happened in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar, Johor Bahru goes against the 2004 Barisan Nasional general election manifesto to create public confidence in national schools by making them as the educational institution of choice of all Malaysians.

In his last year as Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was quite outspoken in expressing his concern at the failure of national schools as instruments of nation-building and national unity.

He openly  admitted that there had been  two hijackings of the national education system from its original objective to cater to all races in Malaysia,  alienating non-Muslims as in denying the right of the Chinese and Indians to learn their own languages and introducing Islamic practices in the school system which “puts off the non-Malays”, with boys forbidden from wearing shorts, even for playing games, and “even games are discouraged”, when “before, we had no problems with girls wearing skirts and boys wearing shorts, especially for games”.

When Abdullah became Prime Minister, he pledged to carry out Mahathir’s “unfinished business” to end such extremism and intolerance by the “Little Napoleons” so that the national schools will become the school of choice of all Malaysians regardless of race.

Instead of “walking the talk” and delivering his election pledge to end the intolerance and extremism in the schools, the reverse has taken place with “Little Napoleons” running wild in  the schools, whether as principals or other capacities, creating a situation  even worse than during Mahathir’s time.

The latest songkok issue in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar in Johor Bahru is the latest known manifestation of such “Little Napoleons” in the national schools. Other recent “Little Napoleonic” outrages include:

•	The segregation of   boys and girls in SMK Seremban Jaya in Senawang although it is a co-ed school. Boys and girls were not allowed to mix whether  to study in the same classroom or eat at the same table in the canteen. In fact, a new block was built to ensure their classrooms were located away from each other.

•	Islamisation of Penang Free School, once the premier school in Penang and the country, with what many old boys regard as the “last straw” when a Jawi signage was installed at the main entrance of the school.

Although the scandalous segregation of boys and girls at SMK Seremban Jaya in Senawang has been ended after a public outcry, no action has been taken against the “Little Napoleons” responsible for such outrageous rules.

I call  on the  Cabinet next  Wednesday to order the  immediate suspension of school principals in these three schools and in  others where there are principals who acted as  “Little Napoleons” in unilaterally and arbitrarily imposing  rules and regulations  which trample on  cultural and religious rights and sensitivities in a plural society.

The Cabinet should also institute  a national inquiry into all the national schools to smack down the “Little Napoleons” whether principal or administrator for their disrespect and insensitivity to the rights and sensitivities of diverse races, religions and cultures in plural Malaysia – giving the aggrieved parents an opportunity to publicly voice their objections and protests at such perversion of the national education policy and nation-building objective.

(Media Statement  when launching the 2-day 12-place “whistlestop” campaign in Perak to highlight the DAP national general election theme of  “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” at the Bidor market (first of the 12 stops) on Saturday 12.1.08)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 12 January 2008, 7:34 am and is filed under
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Royal Police Commission’s 125 recommendations  – what happened?

The Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should present a White Paper on the status of implementation of each of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission to create an efficient, accountable, incorruptible, professional world-class police service service to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.

It is four years since the establishment of the Royal Police Commission and more than 30 months since the publication of the Commission Report and its 125 recommendations to create a world-class police service in Malaysia.

In the past two years, I had repeated asked in Parliament the  status of the implementation of the 125 Commission recommendations and I can say with conviction that none of the two Internal Security Ministers, Datuk Johari Baharum and Datuk Foo Ah Kiow has any real clue as to the answer – as they just read out the reply that will be supplied to them by the police, without any understanding or authority over the subject.

This is one of the greatest flaws of the police system because there is no political authority over the police when this is the most important principle in an elected system of government – where the police is not a law unto itself, but under the political control and authority of the elected government of the day.

This is why after all the fanfare about the establishment of the Royal Police Commission, and the publication of its Report and 125 recommendations to carry out far-reaching police reforms, public confidence in policing and the maintenance of law and order have today reached an all-time low with the crime index crashing through the 200,000 mark for the second year in succession in the nation’s history and Malaysians, visitors, tourists and investors never felt more unsafe in the country.

(Media Statement 2 when launching the 2-day 12-place “whistlestop” campaign in Perak to highlight the DAP national general election theme of  “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” at the Bidor market  on Saturday, 12th January 2008 at 8 am)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 January 2008, 6:15 am and is filed under
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Will Samy Vellu contest again in Sungei Siput?

Will the MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu contest again in the Sungei Siput parliamentary seat in the next general election which is around the corner?

The question seems to be a no-brainer as the  answer appears to  be  indisputable “yes”.

The truth may not be that simple however.

Many would have no  doubt that Samy Vellu  would  be returning to contest the parliamentary seat of Sungei Siput  for the  ninth time in the next general election, which he won for the first time in 1974.

There is however  no doubt that Samy Vellu has become the lightning road of the long-suppressed anger and frustration of the Malaysian Indians over their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization in the country – as evidenced by the seething ferment demanding change among Malaysian Indians.

Samy Vellu is now the very personification to the Malaysian Indian community of everything that is wrong and unfair about Barisan Nasional policies in the past three decades  which have reduced them into the new underclass in Malaysia.

Samy Vellu had compounded this offence in openly going against the struggle of the Malaysian Indians for a just and equal place under the Malaysian sun when he  openly denied in India last week that Malaysian Indians are victims of long-standing  marginalization.

This is not only untrue – but Samy Vellu knew that he was not speaking the truth!

In June 2004, I had handed Samy Vellu an official letter proposing the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians, asking him to take the issue to the Cabinet for approval and suggesting that he be the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee.

At the time, Samy Vellu told me that it was a good proposal and that he would take it up to the Cabinet. I have not heard from him on the issue in the past three years and I do not know whether he had tabled the proposal in Cabinet and it got shot down or whether he never raised it in Cabinet at all.

What is most significant was that when I handed the letter and proposal to him – we were attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Selection  – he raised no objection whatsoever and even commended the proposal as a good one.

This could only meant that in June 2004, Samy Vellu admitted that the Malaysian Indians faced the problem of marginalization – which he is now going all over the world to deny.

This is sheer hypocrisy and explains why he has become the symbol of the rotten and opportunistic Malaysian Indian politics which is the object of scorn in the political awakening of the Malaysian Indians after the watershed Hindraf rally in Kuala Lumpur  on Nov. 25 last year.

If Samy Vellu re-contests in Sungei Siput in the next general election expected within 65 days, again leading the MIC election campaign, MIC parliamentary and state assembly candidates throughout the country will face massive rejection by the Malaysian Indian voters.

Are MIC leaders trying to find a way to convey and convince  Samy Vellu that the best service he can do to the MIC after being the MIC President and sole Malaysian Indian Minister for close to three decades is for him to fully absorb the anger and frustration of the Malaysian Indians at  the MIC failure to check the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians  by accepting full  personal responsibility and not contesting in the next general election – thus saving the MIC slate of parliamentary  and state assembly candidates from the full wrath of the Indian community in the polls?

(Media Statement  at  Sungei Siput market, the second stop of  the 2-day 14-place “whistlestop” campaign in Perak to highlight the DAP national general election theme of  “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” on Saturday, 12th January 2008 at 11 am)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 January 2008, 7:09 am and is filed under
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Call for CI into all cases of murdered politicians since 2000 – any link with politics?

In an immediate reaction to the gangland-style killing of Johore MIC deputy chief and Tenggaroh State Assemblyman Datuk S. Krishnasamy in Johore Baru  on Friday, MIC President and Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu revealed that Krishnasamy had received death threats week before he was murdered. He ordered all MIC buildings to beef up security.

Many questions cry out for answer. Firstly, why didn’t Samy Vellu, who was informed of the earlier death threats by Krishnasamy, take the threats seriously.

In the past decade, two MIC State Assemblymen had been shot dead  in public, the previous case being Lunas State Assemblyman in Kedah, Dr. Joe Fernandez, 54, who was shot three times by two men at the Jalan Maju Jalan Harapan junction in Bukit Mertajam on a motorcycle while driving home from his clinic in Kulim on Nov. 5, 2000.  Is there any reason why the two cases of elected representatives shot to death in public places were both from the MIC?

Thirdly, in ordering that all MIC buildings beef up security, is Samy Vellu suggesting that the killing of Krishnasamy is related to his political work?

On the day of his killing, it was reported that business rivalry was not ruled out in Krishnasamy’s  murder.

Deputy Internal Security Minister, Datuk Johari Baharum said in Jitra yesterday that he believed that Krishnasamy’s killing had nothing to do with politics.

However, today’s Star reported that just hours after the slaying of Krishnasamy on Friday, a senior national MIC leader received a call saying he was next on the hit list.

Is there a hit list to kill MIC politicians and what is the cause of this hit list?  The public must not be kept in the dark as they are entitled to know the full facts as to whether there is a hit list to kill MIC politicians and if so, the reasons for such a hit list.

Has Malaysian politics degenerated into the gutter and is infiltrated by gangsters, terrorists and other violent tendencies?

This is a matter of grave concern not only to politicians but to the Malaysian public whether Malaysia has cross into uncharted territory where gangsterism,  terrorism and  violence  of whatever genre has  becoming part and parcel of Malaysian politics –  which all right-thinking and peace-loving Malaysians must oppose and reject.

This was why I had phoned up the Johore Chief Police Officer, Datuk Hussein Ismail yesterday to enquire whether there are any evidence or signs to link Krishnasamy’s murder with politics.

Although Hussein said the police was keeping an open mind to look at all possible angles, the very fact that the Johore Police Chief had not openly said that there were  indications to link Krishnasamy’s murder with politics is welcome news that such links had not been established.

If there are indications of the infiltration of terrorism or violence into the political arena, an all-party summit of political leaders should be convened to nip in the bud  all such undesirable  tendencies.

In the past few years, there had been several killings of politicians like the murder of a Kedah MCA Youth leader Ching Eng Wah, 43, in Padang Serai in August last  year.

The  Cabinet on Wednesday should  give serious attention to the murder of politicians and form a Commission of Inquiry into all cases of  murdered politicians since 2000 to establish whether they have any links with politics and whether there is any evidence of terrorism or increasing violence infiltrating into Malaysian politics.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2008, 4:32 pm and is filed under
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Call to all political parties to make “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” common general election theme

During the weekend, together with Perak DAP State leaders, including Perak DAP State Chairman and State Assemblyman for Sitiawan, Ngeh Koo Ham, DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Ipoh Barat, M. Kula Segaran, DAP Perak State Assemby representatives, Su Keong Siong (Pasir Pinji), Seah Leong Peng (Pasir Bedamar), Keong Meng Seng (Menglembu), Chen Fook Chye (Keranji), Hee Yit Fong (Jlapang), I made a hectic and grueling  two-day 14-place whistle-stop campaign of Perak state  to launch “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” as a  top campaign theme in the next general election expected to be held within 60 days.

I found great  resonance and support from Malaysians regardless of race, religion, gender or age to this campaign theme as it struck a deep chord among all Malaysians who have never  felt more unsafe for themselves and their loved ones in the nation’s  50-year history.

All Malaysians and political parties must regard the breakdown of law and order and the endemic crime situation in the country as having reached  crisis proportion – where Malaysians have lost the twin fundamental liberties to be free from crime and the fear of crime.

Everyday, Malaysians live in fear about the safety of themselves and their loved ones, whether in the streets, public places or even in the privacy of their homes.

The gravity of the crime and law-and-order crisis in the country was further driven home by the latest  crime statistics released by the police on Wednesday, with the Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi confessing that he was “worried” about the rising crime index.

Abdullah pointed out that the number of serious crimes increased by 13.36 per cent nationwide last year,  jumping from 44,016 cases in 2006 to 49,897 in 2006, with gang robbery without  use of firearms galloping by more than 159 per cent.

Further study of the crime statistics show a very grave picture of the endemic crime and breakdown of law-and-order situation in the country in the four years of Abdullah’s premiership.

Violent Crime

Offences 	2003		2007		+/-		%

Total		22,790	49,897	27,107	119

Gang 		 1,920              7,067	 5,147		268

Robbery

Without

Firearms

Rape		 1,471		  3,177	 1,706		116

Thus, although serious crimes have shot up by 13.4 per cent last year as compared to the previous year, they have shot up by 119%, with gang robbery without firearms leaping by 268% and rape by 116% in the four years of Abdullah premiership from 2003 to 2007!

In the past four years, the incidence of rape had more than doubled from a daily average of four women raped a day in 2003 to 8.5 cases last year!

It must be regarded as a national scandal and outrage, which is totally unacceptable by all Malaysians, that the crime index had crashed through the 200,000 barrier in 2007 to 224,298 cases – when the Royal Police Commission had said in its report in 2005 that the crime index of 156,455 cases of crime  for 2004 “seriously dented  Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country” and recommended an immediate reduction of the crime index by 20 per cent in the next 12 months.

Instead of lower crime rate, the crime index had soared to reach endemic  proportions, with total crime index rising by 45%, violent crime shooting up by 119%, gang robbery without firearms leaping by 268% and rape hiking  by 116% in the four years of Abdullah premiership from 2003 to 2007!

The  Prime Minister has made a personal plea to the abductor to free five-year-old Sharlinie Mohd Nashar and return her immediately and safely to her family as everyone is praying that she would not meet with the fate of eight-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin who was abducted, raped and murdered with her body subsequently abandoned in a sports bag near where Sharlinie went missing in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya.

All Malaysians fully support the Prime Minister’s call as the Malaysian society has become very  sick and rotten despite all the surface progress,  prosperity and piety  that  such dastardly crimes involving innocent children have become the nightmare of parents.

However, while in full agreement with and understanding the sentiments prompting the Prime Minister’s plea to the abductor to free Sharlinie unharmed, Abdullah’s plea nonetheless raised legitimate public policy questions as to whether it reflected a serious breakdown of law-and-order and a failure by the government and the police to achieve the three core policing objectives set by the Royal Police Commission, the chief of which is to keep crime low!

If Malaysia is to have an efficient, competent and professional world-class police force, it must be able to strike fear among the criminals.  The spectacle of the Prime Minister, who is also Internal Security Minister responsible for the police force, issuing a plea to the abductor of Sharlinie to be merciful and free her immediately, reinforces the stereotype impression that in Malaysia it is the Police and government who are in fear of the criminals when it should be the other way round.

Malaysia cannot continue to allow a situation where criminals and gangsters have an upper hand – with serious allegations of gangland control of the police left unrebutted or challenged – while  ordinary Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, gender or age,  are deprived of their two fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime.

It is for this reason that the DAP has decided to create Malaysian political and electoral history by making low crime and law-and-order a top election issue, which has never been the case in the past 11 general elections.

However, I call on all political parties to adopt  “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” as  the common top campaign  theme in the forthcoming general election for two reasons:

•	Malaysians have never been more worried about personal safety and property security  today as compared to any period in the past 50 years or even in the past four years of the Abdullah premiership; and

•	The right to personal safety and life  is the mother of all human rights without which it is pointless to talk about development, progress, prosperity or even all the other human rights – for without  life, all other human rights cease to have meaning.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2008, 10:17 am and is filed under
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Samy Vellu jinx in blogosphere – how to exorcise it?

A thread with a title but no  content has attracted 95 comments in the past 31 hours. Quite Amazing.

Undergrad is not the only person  to think that I had deliberately left the thread blank to provoke comments.

But I did not.  I had been struggling for the past 33 hours to upload  my media  comments in Sungai Siput  during the second stop  of my 2-day 14-place whistlestop campaign of Perak state over the weekend to spread the important campaign theme of  “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” for the next general election. But I had been stumped  by the Samy Vellu jinx in the blogosphere.

Yesterday (Sunday 13.1.08) morning. After  my  failed attempts to  upload the thread “Will Samy Vellu contest against in Sungei Siput” – my media comments in  Sungai Siput on Saturday, 12.108 at 11 am – I decided to upload the title first, to be followed by the body of the thread.

The title was successfully uploaded, but there was no way I could  upload the statement proper.  I enlisted the help of Chong Zhemin to post the Sungei Siput statement from London after reading his exchange with Undergrad, another tried to post it from the Antipodes, but all to no avail.

I tried all sorts of ways – uploading as blog, inserting  it in the comment box and even to “tumpang” on other    posts – but all efforts could not overcome the Samy Vellu jinx.

When I again   tried to  “tumpang”, this time  Jeffrey’s post at 6.13.02 am, I had some success.  Learning from previous failures, I tried  three paras at first, then  I have to cut it down to two paras, then one para, then finally half a para (i.e. one sentence) – with the Samy Vellu jinx increasingly  upping its ante.

Then  with five paras left to go, the Samy  Vellu jinx  downed tools and refused to budge – and I was completely stumped again.

Coincidentally, without any prior knowledge, Zhemin was trying to outwiit  the WP from London but he only succeeded in posting half the statement with seven paras still dangling in cyberspace.

I was surprised that I could upload a new blog, “Call to all political parties to make ‘Good Cops, Safe Malaysia’ common general election theme”  at 10.17 am, but when I tried to upload the Sungei Siput statement, the Samy Vellu jinx was there to foil it.

This happened after I had uploaded the latest blog on the murder of politicians at 4.32 p.m. I again tried to upload the Sungei Siput statement – but no, the Samy Vellu jinx in the blogsphere is still alive and potent.

Can anyone exorcise this Samy Vellu jinx in the blogosphere?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2008, 5:47 pm and is filed under
IT
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Is Samy prepared to go in repentance to Cabinet tomorrow to admit marginalisation of Malaysian Indians?

The more MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu speaks, the more he ties himself up in circles.

For instance, his recent statement calling on Indian community not to fall into despair highlight his failure as  the sole Malaysian Indian Cabinet Minister  for more than 28 years to ensure that Malaysian Indians enjoy an equal place under the Malaysian sun.

In making the   appeal to the Indian community “not to fall into despair”, Samy Vellu admitted that  he was aware that many Indians were dissatisfied with several matters such as employment and promotions, especially in the public sector.  This was reported by New Straits Times yesterday which carried the  headline “Samy Vellu wants to hear views of Indian youths”.

Can Samy Vellu explain why after three decades as the sole Malaysian Indian Minister in Cabinet, large swathes of the Malaysian Indian community have “fallen into despair” as illustrated by the unprecedented gathering of 30,000 Indians all over the country who congregated in Kuala Lumpur in response to the Hindraf rally on November 25, which I explained in Parliament the very next day as the  “cry of desperation” of Malaysian Indians at their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization in being the  new underclass in Malaysia?

But Samy Vellu has taken  the public stance of denying that there is any marginalization of the Malaysian Indians, which he reiterated to the Indian media  in his highly-humiliating visit to India recently where he was snubbed repeatedly by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi both in Chennai and New Delhi.

If Samy Vellu could  admit that there are Malaysian Indians who are “falling into despair”, why is he not prepared to admit that  the very cause of this “community despair”  is none other than  the long-standing  marginalization of the Malaysian Indians by MIC and Barisan Nasional policies?

[The Samy Vellu jinx strikes again, preventing the uploading of the second part of this statement]

Three years ago, Samy Vellu was prepared to admit to the problem of the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians. Why is he not prepared to make such an admission now although the marginalization process had worsened in the past three years?

In the first parliamentary meeting after the 2004 general election, DAP MP for Ipoh Barat M. Kula Segaran and I had proposed to Samy Vellu that  a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian  Indians should be established to find a solution to the crisis faced by Malaysian Indians which should be regarded as a Malaysian problem and not just an Indian problem.

In June 2004, when Samy Vellu and I were attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Selection Committee, I handed him an official letter proposing the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians and  asked  him to take the issue to the Cabinet for approval.  I suggested to  Samy Vellu that he  be the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee to highlight the issue of marginalization of Malaysian Indians and to propose a masterplan to eradicate it.

[Identified – one paragraph here (which could not be uploaded) which caused the Samy Vellu jinx. Leave it to IT exorcists to solve this mystery]

What is most significant was that when I handed the letter and proposal to him in June 2004,  he raised no objection whatsoever and even commended the proposal as a good one.

This could only meant that in June 2004, Samy Vellu agreed  that the Malaysian Indians faced the problem of marginalization. Why has Samy Vellu done a somersault and is now denying that Indians in Malaysia have become a new underclass because of marginalization – although he admits that the plight of the Indian community is so desperate that it is pushing many Indians  into despair?

Is Samy Vellu prepared to go in repentance to the Cabinet tomorrow to admit that the MIC and Barisan Nasional policies had failed and marginalized the Malaysian Indians, and that it is this long-standing marginalization which is the reason for the 30,000-people Hindraf gathering in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 and that the Cabinet must formulate and announce a New Deal Policy to give justice and fair play to the marginalized Indians?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 January 2008, 5:42 pm and is filed under
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Smarter RCI – summon Lingam first to give him opportunity to admit authencity of Lingam Tape

I read the first day’s proceedings of the
Haidar Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape
 yesterday  with dismay and disappointment.

Why wasn’t senior lawyer V.K. Lingam called as the first witness to give him an opportunity to confirm the authenticity of the 14-minute video clip which would  have saved time, money and resources and allowed the real issues impinging on the crisis of national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary to be addressed frontally.

If Lingam is prepared to admit upfront the authenticity of the video clip, then the country can be spared the rigmarole of the completely unnecessary testimony of Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) officers going to Lingam’s house in Kelana Jaya  to take photographs of its living room and compare it with the location in the clip, finding them to be one and the same as well as other related  testimony such as expert evidence from a private laboratory in the Spanish capital,  Madrid verifying that the voice on the videoclip matched that of Lingam.

In fact, if Lingam admits to the authenticity of the clip, there would be no necessity to even summon businessman Loh Mui Fah who has surfaced publicly to admit that the video clip was taken by his son sometime in late December 2001 when he and his son had gone to Lingam’s house to obtain legal advice on family and business matters.

These evidence to establish the authenticity of the video clip  would only be necessary if Lingam challenges the authenticity issue, in which case, he should be stood down as a witness until the Royal Commission has crossed the “authenticity” hurdle with all available verification testimony.

If Lingam admits to the authenticity of the videoclip, then the Royal Commission can immediately dispose of the first term of reference “to ascertain the authenticity of the video clip” and proceed to the other four terms of reference, viz:

•	To identify the speaker, the person he was speaking to in the video clip and the persons mentioned in the conversation;

•	To ascertain the truth or otherwise of the content of the conversation in the video clip.

•	To determine whether any act of misbehaviour had been committed by the person or persons identified or mentioned in the video clip; and

•	To recommend any appropriate course of action to be taken against the person or persons identified or mentioned in the video clip should such person or persons be found to have committed any misbehaviour.

Of course, should Lingam issue a flat denial about the authenticity of the video clip when called as an early witness and the Royal Commission of Inquiry reach a subsequent conclusion that the video clip was genuine, the Royal Commission should invoke the full punitive and penalty  powers available to it to deal with Lingam.

It is still not too late for the Royal Commission of Inquiry to change strategy to summon Lingam immediately as a witness to offer him the opportunity to admit to the authenticity of the video clip, which will short-circuit the whole phase of calling witnesses for  testimony to establish the authenticity of the videoclip – which will not only save public money, time and resources but a smarter way of conducting the royal commission of inquiry.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 January 2008, 12:01 pm and is filed under
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Songkok as compulsory uniform for prefects – JB English College backs down

At
20:56,19 hours yesterday
, on my thread
“Songkok compulsory wear for JB English College prefects”
, a blog visitor left the following posting:

However, as far as the “EC prefect wearing songkok issue” is concerned, I am surprised that no one has yet posted that the issue has been resolved amicably as the headmaster himself has announced today during an emergency prefects meeting that it is NOT compulsory for the prefects to wear the songkok for whatever function or duty.

This morning, I phoned and spoke to the principal of Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) Johor Bahru, Haji Zulkifli bin Mahmood and he confirmed the veracity of the posting on my blog – that he had announced that it is not compulsory for school prefects to wear the songkok for whatever function or duty.

I welcome the return to  sanity, as the compulsory imposition of the songkok issue has attracted considerable flak and traffic on my blog with three threads  and 359  comments in four days,  viz:

1.
Songkok compulsory wear for JB English College prefects

(11.1.08)
 – 133 comments

2.
Songkok made compulsory – latest in series of insensitivities usurping “middle ground”

(11.1.08)
– 87 comments

3.
Suspend “Little Napoleons” school principals who trample on rights and sensitivities of plural Malaysia

(12.1.08)
– 139 comments

I commend the parent of the school prefect who not only gave full support to his son, a Form Five student who had been a prefect since he was Form Two, to stand firm on principle to the extent of being prepared to resign as school prefect and for bringing this issue into public domain  to bring public pressure to end abuses and misuses of power and rank disregard of  the legitimate rights and sensitivities of  all communities and religions in plural Malaysia.

The lesson here is clear – Malaysians must stand up for their fundamental and constitutional rights as citizens of a plural nation as nobody will stand up for them unless they are prepared to come forward to speak and cry out against excesses and abuses of power. If they do so, they  can be assured of the support of right-thinking middle-ground moderate Malaysians – and this blog is dedicated to defend our fundamental constitutional citizenship rights.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 January 2008, 1:27 pm and is filed under
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Abdullah’s shortest-lived guessing-game for any Prime Minister

Will the 12th general election be held in March this year or next year?

This is the
guessing game
the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tried to provoke from Spain  yesterday, but it is a guessing-game initiated by any Prime Minister  which must go down in the Guinness Book of Records as having the shortest life-span, expiring the moment it was ventilated – as nobody is biting!

Abdullah, in Madrid for the First Alliance of Civilisations Annual Forum, had announced  that he would be in Senegal in March to hand over the chairmanship of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

He raised the possibility of the next general election being held either this March or next March when asked if polls would be held before or after the OIC Summit.
(The
OIC website
gave March 13-14, 2008 as the Islamic Summit Conference in Dakar, Senegal).

If Abdullah is serious that the next general election is not around the corner, then he should send out a clear and urgent message to  the Cabinet and the whole administration to return to normalcy, as the whole government has ceased to operate normally but is on an election footing – making decisions and  approvals “on-the-run” solely with voter support in mind although such decisions may only last for a  few weeks until the next general election is over.

One good example is the announcement by the MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting which made
Chinese front-page headline news
 today but totally ignored by all English and Bahasa-language media, of a new Finance Ministry guideline  to open school and other government contracts  for supplies from RM10,000 to RM50,000 to all Malaysians when previously, all such contracts for supplies below RM50,000 were reserved only for bumiputras.

This is one example of the sheaf of government decisions and approvals which are now being made “on-the-run” just because of the coming general election, which could be easily reversed or set aside after the general election by low-level bureaucrats!

Furthermore, at the implementation level, the so-called new Finance Ministry guideline could be easily circumvented or bypassed during the next  few weeks until  the general election by the army of “Little Napoleons” teeming in the various Ministries and departments  who exercise real powers in the bureaucracy as compared to MCA Ministers.

Thus, if Abdullah has no intention to call general election in March, he should end the election frenzy in the country so that the Cabinet and the administration can get back to normal and serious work to provide efficient service to the people – and not at present be totally engrossed by how to string out a  host of election promises which the Barisan Nasional government has no intention to honour after the polls.

The general election frenzy is too far advanced to be dispelled  unless Abdullah is prepared to come out with a categorical statement that March polls are not on the cards.

In fact, it is an open secret that Abdullah’s feng shui master has recommended March 15, 2008  as an ideal polling day, with March 3 as dissolution of Parliament and March 7 as nomination day.

Although the OIC Summit is fixed for March 13-14 for Dakar, Senegal, either this date would be pushed off to later March, or Abdullah will have to miss it despite his announcement in Madrid yesterday that he would be attending the OIC Summit in Senegal.

Is Abdullah prepared to end the current election frenzy by a categorical statement that the next general election would not be held in March this year – so that the Cabinet and administration can get back to serious work such as to fight crime, control price increases, ensure quality education and improve Malaysia’s international competitiveness instead of posturing for the next general election to be held within 60 days?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 11:10 am and is filed under
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
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BU4 Damansara – another case of “Little Napoleon” and school principal  “insensitivity”?

Letters

by MB

I would like to bring to your attention, the latest happening in SMK Bandar Utama 4 Damansara (near Ikano Power Centre).  This school has about 85% of its students who are Chinese.  Its first HM is a Chinese and followed by a Malay lady.  All this while, the school has a proud tradition of good old days where students can wear shorts for PE lesson, celebration of major Chinese festival like Chinese New Year, cheerleading team and secular school type of school assembly.

Unfortunately, all these good times are gone with the coming of a new Malay headmistress who is  a religious bigot.  With 10% Muslim students, she is now imposing “bacaan doa” during assembly, banning of the cheerleading team, not more wearing of shorts for PE and the worse of all is that for the coming CNY, the school can have a lion dance performance by WITHOUT the DRUM.

This is really absurd because the Chinese drums are very noisy.  How can a minority group in the school imposed their values on the majority group –  another case of insensitivity among the Muslims

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 1:50 am and is filed under
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Hishammuddin sets worst example for sensitivities in plural Malaysia?

I have received and put on my blog
another complaint
by a parent against a school principal – of SMK Bandar Utama 4 Damansara –  about the lack of  understanding and respect for the sensitivities and rights of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures in plural Malaysia which are the real assets of the  country.

It is most  shocking  that the never before in the 50-year history of Malaysia have there been more “Little Napoleons” who have become  school principals and administrators who lack the most elementary understanding and respect for the rights and sensitivities of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures of plural Malaysia.

This letter from a parent complaining about the principal of SMK Bandar Utama 4 Damansara  reads:

 “I would like to bring to your attention, the latest happening in SMK Bandar Utama 4 Damansara (near Ikano Power Centre). This school has about 85% of its students who are Chinese. Its first HM is a Chinese and followed by a Malay lady. All this while, the school has a proud tradition of good old days where students can wear shorts for PE lesson, celebration of major Chinese festival like Chinese New Year, cheerleading team and secular school type of school assembly.

“Unfortunately, all these good times are gone with the coming of a new Malay headmistress who is a religious bigot. With 10% Muslim students, she is now imposing ‘bacaan doa’ during assembly, banning of the cheerleading team, no more wearing of shorts for PE and the worst of all is that for the coming CNY, the school can have a lion dance performance but  WITHOUT the DRUM.

“This is really absurd because the Chinese drums are very noisy. How can a minority group in the school imposed their values on the majority group – another case of insensitivity among the Muslims.”

There have been over 50 comments since the blog went up this morning, including instances of insensitivity in other schools, such as a complaint from a parent whose son is in a primary school in
Kulim
.

The parent was incensed at a  printout of the personal particulars sent out by his son’s teacher asking parents to verify.

He was very surprised at the “religion” category, as there are only two  choices –  Muslim and Non-Muslim.

He asked: “So what does that mean? My religion is non-Muslim.  I have a name for my religion, why can’t (they) put more choices?”

The parent wanted to know whether this format was drafted by the school or the education ministry – an answer all Malaysians are also awaiting.

Is the Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein setting the proper role model for teachers and students as an exemplary Malaysian fully respectful of the sensitivities and rights of the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures which is the asset and pride of the country – as to be advertised internationally as “Truly Asia”?

For a start, Hishammuddin should set an example as an exemplary Malaysian and Education Minister by making amends and apologise  for his insensitive, divisive and incendiary “keris-waving” episodes in the past two Umno Youth general assemblies – setting the worst possible example to teachers and students on respect for sensitivities and rights for diverse races,  religions, languages and cultures in plural Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 2:00 pm and is filed under
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Is MIC politics the most violent  of all political parties – and if so, why?

I received SMS from Malaysian Indians expressing alarm at the statement by Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu yesterday (reported in the
Sun
)   that he wanted to be MIC President for another ten years.

I do not know whether Samy Vellu was serious about wanting to be MIC President for another ten years but the alarm he created among Malaysian Indians to have him around for another ten years as the MIC President and sole Indian  Cabinet Minister is very real and serious indeed!

This is because the Malaysian Indians have never felt more deprived, alienated and marginalized from the mainstream of national development after Samy Vellu’s more than 28 years as the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister – a fact which Samy Vellu had stubbornly refused to concede.

The investigations into the gangland-style murder of Johore MIC Deputy chief and Tenggaroh State Assemblyman, Datuk S. Krishnasamy last Friday seems to have taken a totally strange and surprising twist.

When news first broke of Krishnasamy’s gangland-style killing last Friday, there was legitimate widespread concern whether Malaysian politics have degenerated into a new phase with violence and even terrorism rearing their ugly head.

There were audible sighs of relief all-round when it became evident that Krishnasamy’s killing  had nothing to do with politics or the Hindraf phenomenon with  police investigations focused on his personal business dealings.

Things took a completely different turn however when the aide of the Johore MIC Chief, Datuk K. S. Balakrishnan and a former employee of Krishnasamy were arrested by the police for investigations in connection with the murder.

Samy Vellu himself was  questioned by the police about  Krishnasamy’s murder which, cumulatively, presented a picture that  the killing of the Johore MIC leader was related to politics after all – but it was all about MIC politics!

Malaysians are asking whether MIC politics are the most violent in the country, especially as  the two elected representatives killed in the past decade were both from the MIC (Krishnasamy and Lunas State Assemblyman in Kedah, Dr. Joe Fernandez who  was openly shot to death in Bukit Mertajam in November 2000) to the extent that Samy Vellu could say death threats were commonplace for politicians.

Death threats were definitely not commonplace occurrences for DAP politicians.  I believe this applies to other political parties, whether in the Opposition or in the Barisan Nasional –except for MIC.

Samy Vellu seemed to suggest that he could write a book just on death threats based on his 40 plus  years in politics.

I have been in politics for more than 40 years but I will not be able to write a chapter, let alone a book, on death threats.

Why is this so?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 1:54 pm and is filed under
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Yet Another Report on Reforming Higher Education!

 By
M Bakri Musa

It is a sure sign that local leaders are way over their heads (or refuse to make the tough decisions) when they start calling in expensive international consultants.  This is the case with Higher Education Minister Mustapa Mohamad’s commissioning (together with the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department) the World Bank that resulted in its report:  Malaysia and the World Economy:  Building a World-Class Higher Education System.

            You can be certain that the report, 18 months in the making, was not cheap.  That would be just the beginning.  Consultants have a knack of making themselves indispensable, so expect even greater expenses when they are called in to help implement their recommendations.

            Yet for all the expertise, wealth of data, and impressive comparative statistics presented in this 285-page report, its recommendations are nothing new or original.    These include, among others, granting greater autonomy, meritocracy both in admitting students and recruiting faculty, rationalizing the role of the private sector, and emphasis on science, technology, and research.

            What we lack is the political will to make the tough necessary decisions to implement them.  Unfortunately no foreign experts no matter how skillful their powers of persuasion are can help in this arena.  My only hope is that as those recommendations now carry the World Bank’s imprimatur, the natives are more likely to listen.

World Bank’s Report

The Report is conveniently divided into two parts. The first addresses or “diagnoses” the various issues like governance and financing, quality matters, graduate unemployment, and the integration of universities with the national innovation system.  It begins by “benchmarking” Malaysia against selected OECD and East Asian countries.  No marks for guessing where we stand; we are not even in the same league.  For example, less than half the faculty at the University of Malaya, supposedly the nation’s premier, has terminal qualifications as compared to over 98 percent at Canada’s McGill.

            The only point I see in making such obviously glaring comparisons is to wake up our leaders who are smugly satisfied as they are forever comparing Malaysia with the likes of Zimbabwe.

            The specific recommendations are in the second part of the report.

            The Report rightly highlights the universal dilemma of quality versus quantity with the democratization of higher education.  One solution, which I recommend in my book An Education System Worthy of Malaysia would be to emulate California’s tiered model.  Malaysia has adopted some aspects of this by designating selected institutions as “research universities.”  Designating alone is not enough and would be counterproductive unless accompanied by other changes, like much greater autonomy and considerably increased funding.

            The beauty of the California system is that there are enough commonalities and clearly defined channels to enable student to switch from one system to the other.  This flexibility is necessary to accommodate changes in students’ plans.

            Also notable with the California system is that each campus enjoys considerable autonomy, including choosing its own students and faculty.  The central office serves only administrative functions like dealing with the legislature and managing the faculty’s pension plans.

            In Malaysia, the ministry micromanages every campus, right down to choosing the color of the faculty lounge drapes.  I wish the Report would emphasize this point.  As University of Malaya Law Professor Azmi Sharom observed, if we really love our universities, we must free them. I would further suggest that Higher Education Minister Mustapa should listen more to professors like Azmi Sharom and less to UMNO Youth leaders, or even World Bank’s experts.

Problems with International Data

The report is inundated with cross-national statistics.  While it is good to compare ourselves against others, we must first however be assured that we are using the same measuring stick.  This is easier said than done.

            Take the apparently straightforward data on years of schooling.  This seemingly objective criterion is anything but.  One does not have to be particularly perceptive to note that nine years of schooling in South Korea would produce a far superior graduate as compared to someone with many more years spent at an American inner city school.  Likewise with comparing nominal figures on expenditures per student; a dollar at the University of Malaya would go a long way as compared to at the University of California.

            If we are not careful we could be easily misled; we would then be better off without those statistics.  At least a dead clock tells the right time twice a day; a malfunctioning clock never.  Likewise with data; bad data is more damaging than no data.  A bad compass is worse than no compass. With the latter you would not be misled, and you learn to use your senses.

            Studies done on OECD countries indicate that it is not so much the years of schooling that matter with respect to labor productivity rather the workers’ actual language and mathematical skills.  Harvard’s Robert Barro shows that it is not just any education system that enhances economic development rather one that emphasizes the sciences, technology and mathematics that is crucial.

            This is clearly demonstrated in Malaysia.  The government’s oft stated goal of 60:40 ratio favoring students in the science stream remains just that:  a goal.  More important than focusing on this thus far unattainable objective would be to raise the mathematical skills and science literacy of all our students.  Most American universities require all their students to take a year of science and mathematics.

            Malaysian data indicate that Malays have more years of schooling and fewer dropouts than non-Malays, in particular the Chinese.  Yet the economic performance of Malays lags that of Chinese.  The reason is obvious.  The education of Malays is heavy on arts and religion; Chinese, science and technology.  When Chinese students drop out, they work for their parents’ enterprises, be they mom-and-pop retail stores or roadside hawker stalls, where they learn important lessons of economics and life generally far more effectively than at school.  Malay students would hang around waiting for government jobs.  The only lesson they would learn in such an environment is that the world owes them a living.

            There is however one comparative statistics worth noting:  tuition fees differential between public and private institutions.  In Malaysia it is about ten-fold whereas in America it is about a 3 to 5- fold difference.  I would narrow this by increasing tuition at public universities, coupled with more generous students aid.  This would generate more revenue as well as reduce the subsidy for rich students.

Timid Report

The Report soft-pedals two separate but interrelated crucial issues:  one, the dangerous racial segregation of educational institutions at all levels; and two, the intrusive as well as destructive role of politics, in particular language nationalism.

            The Bank advocates the giving of scholarships for students to attend private institutions as one way of making them reflect the greater Malaysian society.  I would go further and make it a condition for granting of permits.  I agree with the Bank that we should treat private and pubic institutions equally with regard to awarding research funds and other grants.  If these institutions are doing good research and performing useful societal functions, what difference does it make whether they are public or private?

Politics underlie most if not all the problems of our education system.  While it is impossible to divorce politics (institutions ultimately must respond to the political realities) nonetheless once certain objectives are agreed upon by the body politic, then let the professionals take over in implementing them.

            Take the teaching of science and mathematics in English and the general need to enhance the English proficiency of our students.  This decision was made at the highest political level, yet at the slightest obstacle in implementing, an otherwise sensible policy was reversed.  It is such a flip-flopping that is so destructive.

            The World Bank should have been more forceful in presenting its recommendations and in highlighting what ails our education system.  Had the Bank done so it would have encouraged the many voices for reform from within.  That might just nudge these politicians and bureaucrats to take the necessary bold steps.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 1:55 am and is filed under
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More about SMK BUD4 (3)…

Letters

by Philip Yong

I am writing this e-mail to you regarding your latest
post
 on my former school, SMK BUD4. What the
parent
 has wrote to you is indeed correct. Although I have left BU4 for good but I still do communicate with my friends and teachers of that school. In fact I still do visit it quite frequently.

After hearing about these issues about the new principal I felt that I should play my part as a former student of this school as well. I have a few additional information I would like to share with you. As Valentine’s Day is drawing near, the Scout Troop of SMKBU4 proposed to sell cookies for that occasion to gather some funds for our activities and charity. But to their dismay the Principal rejected the proposal immediately by the reason that she is a Muslim and does not celebrate Valentine’s Day. As far as I know, Malaysia is a multiracial country. The government is trying to promote multiracial values but their civil servant are going against that.

Besides that, our school hold a Talent Night Event for students to show off their capability and talent every year. The new principal has also said that she does not want the event to be held this year. She told a teacher that if we wanted to attend a contest we can go to the US or other Western Countries. After hearing this I felt that this principal has a real narrow mind. I feel sad for her honestly.

I still remember an incident that happened last year during our school’s PIBG’s AGM. As the YDP PIBG stood up to present his speech in English, a Muslim parent stood up as well but for another reason. He requested our YDP to speak in Bahasa Melayu as this is Malaysia. I still remember him saying that the British times are over, every Malaysian should know how to speak in BM. The parent and a few others insisted on their stand therefore we had no choice but to ask a teacher to interprete the text to BM.

Well my question is this. Did anyone or any rule stats that English is not allowed to be used in Malaysia? Even our government are encouraging the citizens to use english. The Education Ministry introduced Maths and Science in English.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 January 2008, 7:33 am and is filed under
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Nurin and Sharminie would have been safe if Royal Police Commission report implemented

Two days ago, the media splashed the news that the police was  finally on the verge of solving the horrendous Nurin Jazlin abduction-rape-murder crime, with reports that the police has obtained a
seven-day remand order
 against a 31-year-old security guard who was detained in connection with the murder of eight-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin last September.

Nurin was sexually abused by her assailant and killed, her body in a sports bag abandoned in Petaling Jaya, near the location where five-year-old girl Sharlinie Mohd Nashar went  missing a week ago – another victim of the heinous crime of child abduction.

News report today that the security guard was
released
 after three days of seven-day remand, as well as the release of another 43-year-old man detained last Saturday also in connection with Nurin’s murder, have further shaken public confidence in the competence and professionalism of the police force.

Recently, the police have proven itself very competent, diligent and successful in the arrest of peddlers of the Chua Soi Lek sex DVDs, which raises pertinent question as to the proper order of police priorities in fighting crime and creating  an  environment where Malaysians are assured of personal safety and property security.

After the shocking disappearance and abduction of Sharlinie and the fruitless search for her, despite personal pleas by the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and even the Inspector-General of Police, there appears to be a CCTV-mania as if the installation of CCTVs can ensure a crime-free or low-crime society.

This is a great fallacy and evasion of government and police responsibility to fight crime with an efficient, professional world-class police force, for if  CCTVs are so efficacious in fighting crime, then there is no need for any expansion and upgrading of the police force or increased allocations for the police apart from installing CCTVs.

Other countries have shown that CCTVs per se is no answer to endemic crime as there can be no substitute for an efficient, professional world-class police service, with the police highly visible in public places to fight and deter crime.

I am very disappointed that in the aftermath of the nation-wide shock of another heinous crime against a child, all attention had been focused on having more CCTVs instead of ensuring that Malaysia has an efficient, accountable,   incorruptible, professional world-class police force to  keep crime low.

Nobody in government, police or the ruling Barisan Nasional had referred to the Royal Police Commission and its 125 recommendations completed 32 months ago in May 2005 when Malaysia today would be a safer country with very lower crime rate, with Nurin and Sharlininie safe and happy with their family, if the Royal Police Commission Report and recommendations had been fully implemented.

The Royal Police Commission had proposed that the police focus on three core policing functions – to keep crime low, to eradicate corruption in the police force and to uphold human rights.

On all these three core policing functions, the police are on a worse footing today than when the Royal Police Commission was established four years ago.

Just as an example. Last week, the Prime Minister-cum-Internal  Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he was “worried” about the rising crime index, as the number of serious crimes increased by 13.36 per cent nationwide last year,  jumping from 44,016 cases in 2006 to 49,897 in 2007, with gang robbery without  use of firearms galloping by more than 159 per cent.

Further study shows that the  crime situation  in Malaysia has reached crisis proportion, with  endemic crime the order of the day  in the four years of the Abdullah premiership, viz;

Violent Crime

Offences

2003

2007

+/-

%

Total		22,790	49,897	27,107	119

Gang 		 1,920              7,067	 5,147		268

Robbery

Without

Firearms

Rape		 1,471		  3,177	 1,706		116

Thus, although serious crimes have shot up by 13.4 per cent last year as compared to the previous year, they have shot up by 119%, with gang robbery without firearms leaping by 268% and rape by 116% in the four years of Abdullah premiership from 2003 to 2007!

In the past four years, the incidence of rape had more than doubled from a daily average of four women raped a day in 2003 to 8.5 cases last year!

One important reason why Malaysia is facing a national crime crisis with the government and police losing control of the crime situation is because of the failure to implement the key  recommendations of the Royal Police Commission in the past 32 months.

I dare say that if the key recommendations of the Royal Police Commission had been implemented diligently and professionally, Nurin and Sharlinie would not have been abducted and would have been safe with the family today.

We pray and hope that Sharlinie is safe and could be returned and reunited with her family.  But let all Malaysians resolve that the Nurin and Sharlinie crimes are  the final wake-up call to demand that Malaysians regain their two fundamental rights – to be free from crime and the fear of crime, for themselves and their loved ones.

As Parliamentary Opposition Leader, I will launch a series of public forums entitled “No more Nurins and Sharlinies as victims of  crimes” throughout the country  to mobilize public support  for a nationwide “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” campaign to make the streets, public places and privacy of homes safe again for Malaysians, visitors, tourists and investors.

In the first phase of the series,  public  forums will be held in Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang, Seremban, Malacca and  Johor Baru.  I will invite leaders from political parties (both Barisan Nasional and Opposition parties), the Police, civil society leaders, NGOs and concerned individuals to the public forums to support the “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” campaign.

(Media Conference statement in Ipoh on Thursday 17th Jan. 08)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 January 2008, 6:16 pm and is filed under
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Postmortem on Hindraf rally (1)

By
Helen Ang

The authorities are now intimidating Hindraf donors. And Samy Vellu was in India, saying everything’s hunky-dory, defending his Umno bosses. While civil society here is grappling still with the ramifications of the Nov 25 rally.

You may recall that Haris Ibrahim and Nat Tan were the two opinion shapers in cyberspace advancing antipodal schools of thought on the rally.

On Nov 24, Haris posted “Why I will not walk this Sunday and why the walk must not proceed”, while Nat vice versa. Readership for both websites – the People’s Parliament and Nat’s blog – experienced a sharp spike during this period; ours eliciting 105 comments.

Increased site traffic is an indicator of the influence that political blogs wield as opinion movers when information is blacked out or distorted in the mainstream media. In this regard, the lacuna was a dereliction of duty, that is, if MSM did not altogether abdicate duty at the behest of their political masters.

The Indian grassroots agitation must have been building up discernibly, yet the Hindraf groundswell washed upon us as suddenly as the tsunami. Reporters, not Haris and Nat, are paid to do the job of informing the public. When you fork over your money for your day’s paper, you’re part-financing their operations to keep you informed. They did not give readers value for money. They sinned by omission.

 Now with the benefit of hindsight, it might be instructive to revisit the events of November that opened the curtain to the Hindraf saga.

When we spoke on the eve of the rally, Haris voiced his concern that violence may be deliberately engineered. He was wary of what the powers-that-be were capable of resorting to. I remember feeling a stab of fear on hearing him. Usually Umno and its goons evoking May 13 would piss me off no end but this time I had genuine apprehensions.

The security forces are all of one race. It worried me how our police and FRU would quell the crowds all of another race, or close one eye to provocateurs and agitators. I was indeed afraid there would be Indian blood spilled on the streets.

It’s for this reason that Haris declared the walk must not proceed. It is certainly not because he’s a Malay chauvinist, a presumption that could have arisen because most of the Malay commentators had condemned Hindraf. The movement’s non-inclusive approach was polarising and its language had alienated the racial majority.

Nonetheless, there developed a smear campaign against Haris for not supporting the march. I was saddened when he responded to the attacks with: “Those who know me, know me. Those who don’t, don’t”.

This is what I know. Long before Hindraf burst onto the scene, Haris was already standing alongside our Indian brethren. He has been involved in the conversion-apostasy cases  – from Lina Joy (whose significant other is Indian) to Moorthy to Shamala, either as counsel or holding a watching brief.

In fact, I interviewed Haris on the Rayappan body-snatching affair for my Malaysiakini column. He supported the decision of the deceased’s wife not to comply with the subpoena issued by the Syariah Court, saying “This matter was properly to have been before the civil courts”.

Let me ask you how many Malay Muslims are willing to be associated with such religiously-tinged controversies, let alone take up the cases? Or be seen lending his support to a house of worship (Haris was at the Tambak Paya temple) to protest its demolishment by the Malacca local authorities?

Haris has been at the forefront of the Article 11 movement to safeguard our constitutional guarantees to faith freedom – one of the Hindraf struggles. He has strongly questioned the enactment of Article 121 (1A) which has led to Indian-Hindu spouses landing in court jurisdiction limbo. He has warned about the Ketuanan Melayu-propelled Islamisation, which among other repercussions is impacting marginalised Indians drawn to convert.

Like Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Haris is on the Muslim fundamentalists’ hit list. Between being accused as traitor to Islam by one camp and a pro-Malay racist by the other, I daresay my friend – and honoured that he considers me such – has got the balance right.

(Part 2 to follow)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 January 2008, 6:21 am and is filed under
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Remove SMK BUD4 principal unless she mends her ways (4)

My blog on the complaint by a  parent against the  school principal  of SMK Bandar Utama 4 Damansara for her lack of  understanding and respect for the sensitivities and rights of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures in plural Malaysia has provoked quite a firestorm of response.

There have been over  200 comments in the three threads on the subject since yesterday:

(1)
BU4 Damansara – another case of “Napoleon” and school principal insensitivity
 – 72 comments

 (2)
Hishammuddin sets worst example for sensitivities in plural Malaysia

– 76 comments

(3)
More about SMK BUD4 (3)
 – 58 comments

The complaints of the parent against the school principal, which had been endorsed by many commentators, were  her decisions in imposing in a school with 85% Chinese and 10% Muslim students  “bacaan doa” during assembly, banning the cheerleading team, no more wearing of shorts for PE and her directive that for CNY, the school can have a lion dance performance but without the drum.

In the comments, there have been more criticisms of the school principal’s insensitive and “Little Napoleonic” ways which are best summed up in the following email from an alma mater of the school:

“I am writing this e-mail to you regarding your latest post on my former school, SMK BUD4. What the parent has wrote to you is indeed correct. Although I have left BU4 for good but I still do communicate with my friends and teachers of that school. In fact I still do visit it quite frequently.

“After hearing about these issues about the new principal I felt that I should play my part as a former student of this school as well. I have a few additional information I would like to share with you. As Valentine’s Day is drawing near, the Scout Troop of SMKBU4 proposed to sell cookies for that occasion to gather some funds for our activities and charity. But to their dismay the Principal rejected the proposal immediately by the reason that she is a Muslim and does not celebrate Valentine’s Day. As far as I know, Malaysia is a multiracial country. The government is trying to promote multiracial values but their civil servant are going against that.

“Besides that, our school hold a Talent Night Event for students to show off their capability and talent every year. The new principal has also said that she does not want the event to be held this year. She told a teacher that if we wanted to attend a contest we can go to the US or other Western Countries. After hearing this I felt that this principal has a real narrow mind. I feel sad for her honestly.

“I still remember an incident that happened last year during our school’s PIBG’s AGM. As the YDP PIBG stood up to present his speech in English, a Muslim parent stood up as well but for another reason. He requeste”d our YDP to speak in Bahasa Melayu as this is Malaysia. I still remember him saying that the British times are over, every Malaysian should know how to speak in BM. The parent and a few others insisted on their stand therefore we had no choice but to ask a teacher to interprete the text to BM. Well my question is this. Did anyone or any rule stats that English is not allowed to be used in Malaysia? Even our government are encouraging the citizens to use english. The Education Ministry introduced Maths and Science in English.”

I am offering this blog to the school principal concerned the space and opportunity to reply to the many valid and legitimate criticisms which have been leveled against her for her lack of sensitivity and failure to set a role model as head of a school in plural Malaysia.

The Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and/or Deputy Education Ministers, Education Ministry big-wigs are also welcome to this blog to clear the air.

Unless the principal could deny or explain satisfactorily  in a substantive manner the various criticisms directed at her, she should be removed unless she is prepared to mend her ways, rescind her insensitive decisions  and realize her responsibilities as head of a school in a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 January 2008, 1:35 pm and is filed under
Education
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