Posted on by Kit

Urgent fax to PM on 3 issues which Cabinet must address tomorrow

I have sent an urgent fax to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi highlighting three issues which the Cabinet must address tomorrow – the racist and sexist conduct of Barisan Nasional (BN) Ministers and MPs and support of the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin’s exemplary conduct on moderation and simplicity by launching a nation-wide campaign to slash government extravagance and ostentatious ceremony.

The three issues which I conveyed to the Prime Minister are:

1. The complaint by third-year CalyPoly Biotech Malaysian student Sheena Moorthy of the disgraceful conduct of the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr. Jamaludin Jarjis in making racist and derogatory remarks about Malaysian Indians when he met Malaysian students in Los Angeles, California a fortnight ago on 30th April.

I had raised this issue in Parliament last week and Sheena had emailed complaints to the Prime Minister and various Cabinet Ministers, including MIC President and Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu but she has not received a single reply as if the Malaysian Cabinet and Government is totally IT-illiterate in this era of instant communications. Furthermore, Jamaluddin has yet to make a public apology for his “totally uncalled-for racial insults” to Sheena at a public meeting in Los Angeles.

2. The derogatory, crude, vulgar, sexist and gender-offensive remarks by the two BN MPs, Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin) and Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan) in the Dewan Rakyat last week, bringing shame and dishonour to Islam Hadhari, Parliament, Malaysian women and Malaysia’s international image and reputation. Apart from punishing the two sexist BN MPs, the Cabinet should come out with a public apology to Parliament, Malaysian women and the nation for the disgraceful and disreputable episode which had attracted a new round of negative international publicity for the country.

3. Support of the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin’s exemplary conduct on moderation and simplicity by launching a nation-wide campaign to slash government extravagance and ostentatious ceremony. Raja Nazrin has shown exemplary modesty and rectitude, wanting only a simple royal wedding with Zara Salim Davidson and declining to accept state-allocated funds, as well as advising the Perak state government to spend the money instead for the development of the people and to companies and individuals to channel their funds meant for newspaper advertisements for charity and the people’s welfare. This should remind the Cabinet of the Prime Minister’s forgotten directive in November 2003 to government departments and agencies to be simple and modest and to slash elaborate ceremonies and lavish functions, especially when a Minister, the Prime Minister or the Rulers are present.

(Media Conference Statement in Parliament on Tuesday, 15th May 2007 at 12.30 pm)

19 Replies to “Urgent fax to PM on 3 issues which Cabinet must address tomorrow”

  3. I can just imagine that Hit will received a returned fax with big letters chopped across it saying

    “PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB, SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO ATTEND TO”

    “Hands on” gomen attitude

  4. Reply from Putrajaya :

    1. What racist remark? JJ was misqouted lah. Our minister won’t say such thing one.

    2. The “bocor” thing was only a joke. Not need so serious lah. We must make parliament sessions more fun.

    3. There was a directive to be modest and simple. But sometimes people in bolehland want to show off by having the biggest this and the longest that. What can we do? But of course the cronies also want to make some money also lah. Close one eye loh.

  5. AAB would have no time to read and reply lah. Not yet learnt about time management. Things are piling up and back log and he can’t even control his men albeit still want to get involved in MU case. How to carry the nation to the next level? No wonder we are fallen behind our neighbor as globalization kicks in.

  6. Umno youth with their Umno Pemuda T-Shirt “front portion with a red scorpion & the back portion with wording NO FEAR”.

    The westerner surely laugh at these Umno Youth Punks.

    Do this is a recent practics??? Bodohland is a great aka for them.
    Since when our UMNO party associate with black & underground society.
    How pathetic !!!!

  7. Must everything be politicized? Both sides are guilty.

    This is a case simply of bad behavior that cannot be condoned. There are numerous examples of similar bad behavior by MPs. What are we i.e. the people who put them where they are to do about it?

    It is time MPs play their role they are supposed to play and represent their constituents in the country’s lower House.

    Let the intended victim of those remarks demand an apology from the two. The two should apologize directly. There is no need for Parliament to be involved. No motion to censure needed. No ruling by the Speaker that any motion to be moved should have been done the same day.

    Why have we let Parliament deteriorate to a circus that it is today?? Clowns would go being clowns if they continue to be goaded by the audience into doing so.

  8. “The complaint by …. Sheena Moorthy of the disgraceful conduct of the Minister …. making racist and derogatory remarks about Malaysian Indians..” Kit

    UMNO Ministers in Malaysia are guilty of making remarks which could not only be interpreted as ‘racist’ but are racist, on almost a daily basis either in private or in public. But racism is institutionalized in Malaysia. Am I missing anything here??

    This is just one more instance – except that words capable of taking on racial undertones were made away from the ‘capital of racism’ and in the ‘capital of the free world’ where racial discrimination is illegal.

    It is not as if the likes of Sheena Moorthy has never heard anything like it before when she in Malaysia. Worse remarks are being heard in Parliament today.

    The words chosen by the visiting Minister were not carefully chosen as was his attitude. Those remarks whilst not being blatantly racist do have racial undertones and are remarks we are used to hearing from UMNO politicians back home – but are, nevertheless, remarks which should be received for what they are i.e. remarks unwittingly made by the Minister which could be interpreted as such.

    He should have chosen his words more carefully. I do not believe he intended his words to be received as such.

    It is his thinking and his attitude that led to his wrong choice of words. But hey! Which Minister or MP is not guilty of that back in Malaysia. He is not alone.

    Sheena Moorthy lives in the U.S. where racist remarks would have caused an uproar among the audience followed by members of the audience walking out of the meeting, conference or whatever. It is their First Amendment right to do so i.e. walk out as much as it is the right of the speaker to be racist in his remarks.

    But here is a third world politician on a visit to the U.S. giving a talk to a closed audience of Malaysian students.

    Let’s keep matters in perspective.

  9. P.S.

    It is his reference to lighter skinned Indians and darker skinned Indians that came close to being seen as racist. He should be chastised for not knowing enough about Indian culture and history and Indians generally, and in paying little regard to their sensitivity. What relevance has the issue of ‘lighter skinned Indians’ to do with ‘darker skinned Indians’ and the kind of government assistance they should be receiving?

  10. For comparison to the ‘racist’ remarks supposed to have been made by a visiting Minister to the U.S. and one Sheena Moorthy’s reaction or over reaction:

    FuturePolitician has made the following remarks (in another thread):

    “just spoke to a young chap from trengganu, well mannered mix parentage malay guy. He has mix parentage chinese and thai, he is a malay but really well manner, well spoken english and surviving in our harst business environment.”

    So a Malay is not well-mannered, unable to articulate in English properly and unable to survive in a harsh business environment (I believe he is referring to resilience) Are we to take these remarks as ‘racist’?

  12. The reference to “lighter skinned” Indians to “darker skinned” Indians has no relevance to the issue of who deserves government assistance, is wrong and is culturally insensitive.

    I doubt if the Minister realizes that some Indians would take offense e.g. the Malayalis or the Gujeratis and the Punjabis are lighter skinned as opposed to Tamils like Samy Vellu. The latter has no more reason to object to the remark!

  13. Yes. That is right.

    So what’s this all about racist remarks? Malaysian politicians especially when they are from UMNO have always been racist in their remarks. The world is not about to take notice.

  14. 4th Floor boys are working overtime to come out with a new script for all BN coalition parties MPs to read soon …
    It’s only in a matter of days that all these will be ‘brushed off’ by the majority MPs votes.

  15. you have been sending URGENT fax or mail to PM often, but what was the outcome? did he respond about the allegation of corruption by the chief minister of sarawak and what did you do about it? are you aware that the person responded in the Dewan (State Assembly).

  16. Sarawak CM sues PKR officials, Malaysiakini and Utusan

    BY JACK WONG

    KUCHING: Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is suing a Malay daily, an online news portal and two Parti Keadilan Rakyat senior officials in Sarawak for making allegations of corrupt practices against him.

    Speaker Datuk Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar informed the Sarawak State Assembly when the resumed Wednesday that Taib filed the suits against Utusan Malaysia and Malaysiakini in the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Tuesday.

    Taib named as defendants MKini Dotcom Sdn Bhd, the publisher of Malaysiakini, and its chief editor Gan Diong Keng, also known as Steven Gan.

    The defendants named in the lawsuit against Utusan Malaysia are its proprietor and publisher Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd, Utusan Online and group editor Datuk Mohd Khalid Mohd.

    In the Kuching High Court, a suit was filed against PKR state liaison chief Wan Zainal Wan Sanusi and the party’s Stampin branch chairman See Chee How.

    Mohd Asfia said the lawsuit against the PKR officials was related to the distribution of leaflets which contained articles from Malaysiakini and Japan Times.

    In his personal statement to the assembly on Monday, Taib said legal action would be initiated against Japan Times and other media publications which had published false allegations against him, unless they retract the articles concerned, apologise, pay legal costs and damages.

    He said the Japan Times had alleged that “1.1bil yen was paid to Sarawak officials as kickbacks or rebates and lubricant to facilitate the timber trade.”

    Taib warned others against repeating similar allegations, otherwise “they can have their day in a court of justice to provide factual justification for making such false and malicious allegations or be condemned in damages.”

  17. I expect the suit to be canceled sometime down the line and for some reason or reasons. We hope the matter will be litigated. Then we would know a lot more than we already know!

    So Taib, listen to your lawyers.

  18. Mahathir himself said he would sue a British tabloid before, for saying he’s taking kickbacks from the multi billion dollar arms deal. The tabloid welcomed it but it turned out to be an empty threat.

    So what’s new?

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