Month: August 2007

The reasons why Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy chickened out from personally appearing at the Transport Ministry press conference on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) on Thursday seem to have become clearer — that he not only wanted to avoid hard and embarrassing questions about his role and responsibility in the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal, but he also wanted to evade questioning on the Transport Ministry’s five-page statement on PKFZ.

This is because more and more questions are surfacing over the accuracy and correctness of the statement, which strangely was issued anonymously, without the Transport Minister or anyone of his deputies daring to put their name on it!

Some of these questions include:

Firstly, was the Transport Ministry right in putting the whole blame of the ballooning of the cost of the PKFZ from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion on Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza), the former PKFZ operator?

Was Jafza responsible for the scandalous price of RM1.8 billion or RM25 psf paid by Port Klang Authority (PKA) for the 1,000 acres for the PKFZ from Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd which had four years earlier bought it for RM95 million or RM3 psf?

The Transport Ministry has failed to explain why it insisted on paying Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd. RM25 psf in the teeth of opposition of the Finance Ministry and the Attorney-General’s chambers which proposed that the land be acquired compulsorily at the market value of RM10 psf.

The Transport Ministry said the PKA’s purchase price was reached because of work done on the site, including land reclamation, drainage, construction of access roads, installation of street lights, water services and payment to various utility agencies.

If the recommendations of the Finance Ministry and the Attorney-General’s Chambers had been followed, the price of the 1,000 acres for the PKFZ would be RM720 million instead of the exorbitant RM1.8 billion — an astronomical difference of RM1.1 billion.

Is Chan really justifying the RM1.1 billion difference in the land price on the ground of “work done on the site, including land reclamation, drainage, construction of access roads, installation of street lights, water services and payment to various utility agencies”?

Let Chan make public the costs of such “work done”, whether it was more than RM10 million or RM20 million — when the difference is the gargantuan sum of RM1.1 billion. Continue reading “RM4.6b PKFZ scandal – Kong Choy should seriously consider resignation”

Received an email from UK from a consulting engineer, KC Tang, raising questions about the safety of the high tension electrical tower in Rawang, which had been in the news lately over the protest by the affected residents.

The email reads:

I came across this article in Sinchew online and thought the comments by Tang See Hang saying Tenaga quoted that the high powered line only affects people ‘directly’ under the cables but not outside are so misleading.

I am a consulting engineer (originally from Malaysia) working in London (www.idac.co.uk) and I do a lot of engineering simulations. I did a project for National Grid here a while back to investigate the current induced in a human body near some transmission lines and the electromagnetic fields is more widespread than the direct line between the cable and the ground. There is clear guidance over here for the safe, allowable induced current in the body of occupational workers and public (yes there are certainly some induced current when you are exposed to the electromagnetic fields) and the 10 feet he quoted as not having any adverse effects is VERY, VERY alarming and wrong. Are there any guidelines in Malaysia for this sort of installation?

Scientists have mixed reaction to this issue but there is a report showing evidence that electromagnetic fields may be linked to cancer hence the existence of straight guidelines in developed countries. There are a lot of information you can obtain from this website http://www.emfs.info/issue_NRPBlimits.asp.

The Rawang high-tension electricity tower controversy had drawn further protests, including school children, as reported in Malaysiakini yesterday: Continue reading “High tension electrical tower in Rawang safe?”

Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy chickened out of the special press conference yesterday on the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, which was only attended by his press secretary.

Is this because Chan is aware that he would have to face many difficult and embarrassing questions about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal which he would not be able to answer satisfactorily and he decided that the better of valour was to avoid the media altogether on the issue?

Chan must own up – how many of the four “Letters of Support” for Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd.’s RM4.6 billion bonds for PKFZ project was signed by him as Transport Minister and why he should not be censured in Parliament for the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal in giving such unlawful government guarantees without authority from the Finance Ministry resulting in the AAA rating from the Malaysian Rating Corporation Bhd — and now given as the main reason why the government has to undertake the bailout of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ.

Kuala Dimensi is not only the company which sold the 1,000 acres of land for the PKFZ to Port Klang Authority (PKA) at RM25 per sq ft or some 20 times the cost of its acquisition of the land four years earlier in 1999 at RM3 per sq ft but also the turnkey contractor for RM1.85 billion development of the PKFZ.

The press conference by the PKFZ business development general manager Chia Kon Leong had failed to answer the many pertinent questions concerning accountability, transparency and integrity of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ as well as its feasibility and viability.

Chia said that PKFZ aims to be self-sustaining in 2012 when it is targeted to have an 80 per cent occupancy rate, equivalent to housing between 650 to 700 companies, when it would generate RM80 million annually.

The PKFZ project was sold by Kuala Dimensi to the government on the understanding and undertaking that it would be feasible, self-financing and would not need a single ringgit of public funding from the very beginning.

At the rate of generating RM80 million revenue annually from 2012, it would take PKFZ 57.5 years to recover the RM4.6 billion investments or to be more correct “mis-investments” — i.e. till 2070! Continue reading “Kong Choy should own up – how many of the 4 unlawful “letters of support” for RM4.6 billion PKFZ bonds were signed by him”

Conversations

The Sun
23rd August 2007

Looking back to look ahead
Zainon Ahmad and Maria J. Dass

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang likes to believe his contribution to nation-building has been his efforts to keep alive the aspirations of Malaysians for democracy, justice, freedom and integrity. The man who has been in parliament since 1969, except for an absence for one term following his defeat in 1999, tells ZAINON AHMAD and MARIA DASS that many people are sad because many institutions that had been established 50 years ago have lost their effectiveness.

theSun: We are coming up to 50 years soon, so what do you think we have achieved in that time?

LKS: I think it’s a very mixed result. I think when we achieved independence 50 years ago and then with Sabah and Sarawak we formed the Malaysian federation, we all had one aspiration – that we would become more Malaysian over the years.

Which means we would become less Malay, less Chinese, less Indian, less Kadazan and less Iban and so on, but on the 50th year looking around, especially with the events in the last two months, we seem to have become less Malaysian and more Malay, more Chinese, more Indian, more Kadazan and more Iban than anything else.

What has happened? Of course, after 50 years that seems the most important question to ask.

Of course. But in terms of development if you compare to Ghana which also achieved independence in the same year, I think we are 10 times ahead.

But we should not compare ourselves with the not-so-well-off nations. We should compare ourselves with those countries that are at the same level as us. Maybe even with Japan.

And if you look back on that perspective when we achieved independence, we were second in Asia after Japan in terms of development. But since then we have fallen behind. Other countries have moved ahead to become first world and developed countries – Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, not to mention Hongkong.

Whereas for us it is still a distant vision. Why?

It’s not that we lack potential, capabilities, resources and brain power. The problem is with our nation-building policies. These policies, over the decades, have not been able to fully develop our human capital. Instead we see the grave problem of brain drain among our best and brightest. All because of nation-building policies and problem with our education system. And these problems are still going on.

So that’s what you mean by very mixed results.

Yes. But what concerns me most is the people, “us” – that we are not able to identify ourselves more as being Malaysians. Instead we are identifying ourselves more as Malay, Chinese, Kadazan and so on.

That should be more alarming, don’t you think?

Yes, very alarming. In particular the issues that came to the fore during the last one or two months has brought us to the very core. In fact many people are wondering what is the meaning of this 50th Merdeka anniversary if they are feeling more alienated, more divided and more polarised.

That should in fact be the focus of attention.

In fact, the MCA general assembly is the best illustration – that it is not to celebrate the 50 years of greater nationhood but to highlight a greater division.

Sometimes a small case become the obsession of an entire cabinet while there are more important issues about integrity, development, corruption and how Malaysia can compete with the rest of the world.

We should move away from this Malays vs non-Malays or bumis vs non-bumis situation. More and more we should think about Malaysians vs the rest of the world. But we seem to be losing more of that focus.

Don’t you think that we have reached a stage of intolerance that at the slightest provocation we shout “withdraw his citizenship.” Seems like the queen in Alice in Wonderland forever shouting “off with his head.” A bit extreme isn’t it?

More than that, it is seditious. When Parliament was reconvened following the May 13 incident the Constitution was amended to address four sensitive issues that cannot be questioned. These are those relating to the special privileges of the Malays, language, the Rulers and a person’s citizenship.

If you remember back in the 1960s Umno leaders were very fond of shouting “strip him of his citizenship” at those they thought were being disloyal. For a while the amendment stopped that. But it is still a sensitive issue to demand for the removal of your citizenship.

Now it is suddenly fashionable again to call for the stripping of someone’s citizenship. Is that what you want to say?

Yes. Now, you even have ministers, mentris besar and chief ministers shouting “withdraw his citizenship”. Aren’t they going to be charged for sedition? They can be charged for sedition per se – just based on that. Because on that constitutional amendment there is no need for proof of malice or no malice.

There have been many incidents where the government acted hastily. No to this, no to that. No more discussion on this, no more discussion on that. Also there was this allegation of mass conversions of Muslims to Christianity, for instance. And it involved mariner Datuk Azhar Mansor.

Some double standard in their reaction here. You want to talk about seditious, it is seditious because it incited the feelings of some 500 Muslims who surrounded a church near Ipoh because they believed that Azhar had become a Christian and he was going to baptise other Malay-Muslims who had been converted to Christianity. As it turned out it was not true whatsoever.

If we want to talk about seriousness, that is very serious. It was capable of creating a riot, but no action was taken against the person who made the allegations. Continue reading “Looking back to look ahead”

On Tuesday, Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim flatly denied that there was any Federal Court judge who had not written as many as 30 grounds of judgment.

He said: “According to our records, we do not have such a thing. There is no Federal Court judge who has such a big amount of grounds of decisions to write”.

Today, New Straits Times front page carried a report “UNWRITTEN JUDGEMENTS: Former High Court judge yet to submit in 33 cases” by its reporter V. Anbalagan that Court of Appeal registry’s records revealed that a former High Court judge (who is now a Federal Court judge) did not write grounds of judgment in 33 criminal and civil cases.

The backlog included three criminal cases in Seremban which carried the death penalty.

The judge presided over the cases while serving at the High Court there five years ago.

The rest are civil cases in which he made rulings while there and in Kuala Lumpur between 1999 and 2002.

Anbalagan, who had filed the original NST report on July 23 revealing the judge had not provided written grounds of judgment in at least 30 criminal and civil cases, wrote: Continue reading “Federal Ct judge with 33 outstanding judgments – will CJ Fairuz now pick up the gauntlet?”

The call by Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim for the abolition of the common law system and favouring its replacement by Islamic law system is most unbecoming of the highest judicial officer of the land sworn to defend and uphold the Constitution and the Merdeka social contract.

Fairuz was also highly irresponsible in trying to divert attention from his failure to institute judicial reforms to restore public confidence in judicial independence, integrity and meritocracy.

In his speech opening a seminar on the thoughts and academic works of the late Tan Sri Ahmad Ibrahim on Tuesday, Fairuz said (as reported by Utusan Malaysia’s front-page headline news):

Muka Hadapan

Mansuh Common Law — Ketua Hakim Negara mahu perundangan lapuk Inggeris diganti
Oleh Zabry Mohamad

PETALING JAYA 21 Ogos — Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim hari ini mencadangkan rujukan kepada Common Law Inggeris dimansuhkan daripada undang-undang sivil negara ini kerana ia menggambarkan minda pengamal undang-undang tempatan yang masih terjajah.

Beliau juga menegur sesetengah pengamal undang-undang yang terus mengguna pakai Common Law Inggeris dalam kes-kes perbicaraan tertentu.

Sambil menyifatkan mereka sebagai ‘katak di bawah tempurung penjajah’, Ahmad Fairuz menegaskan, gejala tersebut tidak seharusnya berlaku selepas 50 tahun Malaysia mencapai kemerdekaan. Continue reading “Abolish common law system – unbecoming of Fairuz as CJ as well as highly irresponsible to divert attention”

I have given notice to the Speaker of Parliament, Tan Sri Ramli Ngah to move an urgent motion when the Dewan Rakyat reconvenes on Monday — that there should be no bail-out of the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal unless there is full parliamentary accountability and prior Parliamentary sanction.

In my notice, I pointed out that there have so far been no proper accountability to Parliament whether by the Transport Minister or the Finance Minister about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal despite the exposes in the public domain, such as:

• (i) Hanky-panky in the purchase of the 1,000 acres for the PKFZ, despite objections by the Finance Ministry and the Attorney-General’s Chambers;

  (ii) mismanagement resulting in the pull-out of Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone (Jafza) from the project, which could become a “white elephant”; and

  (iii) questionable cost-overruns of the PKFZ, ballooning to RM4.63 billion from the original estimate of RM1.1 billion.

• The unlawful and unauthorized Transport Ministry issue of four “letters of support” which were used by the turnkey contractor – Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) – to raise RM4.6 billion bonds and get an AAA rating from the Malaysia Rating Corporation Bhd. for the PKFZ project.
• Why the government and the 26 million Malaysians must now bear responsibility if there is a RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout despite earlier assurances that the PKFZ project would be feasible, self-financing and would not involve a single ringgit of public funds.
• Why the Prime Minister is breaching his undertaking of no bailout of mega-billion-ringgit “white elephant” projects — set to be the biggest financial scandal at the beginning of any Prime Minister.

Continue reading “Urgent Monday motion – no RM4.6 bil PKFZ bailout without full parliamentary accountability and prior sanction”

By Farish A. Noor

We are sustained by myths only as long as they are empowering, inspiring, instrumental and serve our interests; yet when those very same myths provide us with little else than the false comfort of an unreconstructed nostalgia for a past that never existed, then they turn into cages that imprison us for life. The myth of a unique European ‘civilisational genius’ has only helped to parochialise Europe even more; the staid discourse of ‘Asian values’ merely denies the fact that Asian civilisations would not have
developed as they did without contact with the outside world; and the myth of a pure and uninterrupted development of Indo-Aryan culture has only opened the way for the rise of right-wing Hindutva Fascists in the Indian subcontinent. Notwithstanding their claims to standing proud and tall, the demagogues who utter such pedestrian nonsense remain stunted, as their logic, on the stage of global history: testimony to the claim that those whose confidence is founded in stilts can only remain handicapped for life…

A nation that is grown up is one that is mature enough to realise that it can dispense with such myths, particularly when the honeyed nectar of mythology reveals itself as nothing more than poison. Yet poison has become our draught, and this nation of ours is ailing to the core by now.

The symptoms of the malady are all around us these days and we see them readily enough: As the asinine debate over a rap rendition of the national anthem turns bilious and takes on an increasingly racialised mien, forcing all sides to retreat to the hallowed sanctuary of communal and racial identity, the nation’s attention has been diverted from truly pressing issues concerning the economy and the spate of potentially explosive legal cases currently being fought out in the courts of the land.

The vernacular press assumes the role of champions of each respective community, and racial overtones are clearly seen and felt in the language of national politics. Yet nobody points to the real issue at stake, even if we need to discuss the rap video rendered by the young Wee Meng Chee, which surely should be this: If a young Malaysian has seen fit to deliver his
tirade against all that he sees wrong in the country in terms that are racially-determined, is this not a reflection of the racialised and divisive politics that already reigns in Malaysia, courtesy of the ruling National Front coalition led by UMNO in the first place? The racialised logic that rests in Meng Chee’s rap is only a mirror reflection of the racialised politics already at work in Malaysia already. So are we Malaysians so ashamed of ourselves that we can no longer look at ourselves squarely in the face and accept the monstrosity that stands before us today?

Yet the editorials in the vernacular press are baying for blood and Meng Chee, they insist, must be brought to book. Amidst this furore of chest-thumping theatrics and protestations of communal insult and outrage, we hear the communitarians among us blare out again and again: ‘Jangan tunduk’, ‘Defend our pride’, ‘kurang ajar’ and so forth. No, reason and rational debate are no longer welcomed in Malaysia that is ‘truly Asia’, and this homeland for some will demand its pound of flesh from others. Meng Chee is not the first and certainly will not be the last to suffer from the slighted sensitivities of those whose comfort zones and essentialised identities are sacrosanct and inviolable. Previously others have also been brought to the village tribunal of the mob for allegedly insulting race and religion as well. (Here I write from bitter experience myself.) Continue reading “Malaysia and the Myth of ‘Tanah Melayu’”

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should take drastic step to ensure that Malaysia does not celebrate the 50th Merdeka anniversary in nine days’ time with the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal stinking to high heavens.

The past few days have seen more skeletons of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal coming out of the cupboards, with the Sun reporting yesterday that the government has been placed in a position of having to divert RM4.6 billion of public funds to bail out the Port Klang Free Zone because the Transport Ministry had given undertakings it was not authorised to do so.

The Sun reported that the Transport Ministry issued “letters of support” which were used by the turnkey contractor – Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) – to raise bonds and get an AAA rating from the Malaysia Rating Corporation Bhd.

The four letters were issued between 2003 and 2006 for the issuance of bonds for the RM4.6 billion cost of the project.

The question Malaysians want answer is why the Transport Ministry had illegally without sanction from the Finance Ministry issued letters of support to enable Kuala Dimensi to issue RM4.6 billion bonds to cover its cost overruns, which must now be borne by the government and the 26 million Malaysians — despite the Transport Ministry’s assurance that the PKFZ would be feasible, self-financing and would not need to involve a single ringgit of public funding.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Shahrir Samad has called a PAC meeting on the PKFZ scandal to look into two concerns:

• Will it involve any government bailout; and
• Will it affect foreign investors’ confidence in other projects in Malaysia, like the Iskandar Development Region and other developments.

The Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy will be guilty of grave breach of parliamentary privilege if Parliament and the PAC are misled into thinking that the issue of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout has yet to be decided by the Cabinet — if in fact, such a decision had already been made and taken by the Cabinet.

This is why Chan cannot continue to keep dumb on the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal and must come out with a clear and unequivocal statement as to whether the Cabinet had taken a policy decision on the bailout, and if so, when the decision was taken and why. Continue reading “M4.6 billion PKFZ scandal – don’t let it stink to high heavens and mar 50th Merdeka anniversary”

The Internal Security Ministry ban on mainstream media from reporting the Wee Meng Chee Negarakuku rap controversy marks a quantum jump into the abyss of media control, censorship and blackout completely unthinkable when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister 45 months ago.

Never before has one civil servant been vested with such powers as the Ministry’s Publications Control and Al-Quran Texts Unit senior officer Che Din Yusof, who had last month banned mainstream media from publishing reports discussing the unilateral, arbitrary and unconstitutional declaration by Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that Malaysia is an Islamic State driven by Islamic fundamentals and was and had never been a secular state — in total disregard of the Merdeka social contract and Malaysia Agreement publicly reaffirmed by the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic state.

Where are the MCA and MCA Youth wavers of the Malaysian Constitution only a few days ago to stand up for the fundamental rights of Malaysians, including freedom of speech and expression to protest at the latest denial of the basic human rights of Malaysians?

Were the MCA and MCA leaders behind the latest media ban to dampen the public anger at the failure of MCA Ministers in Cabinet to defend Wee Meng Chee against an orchestrated campaign by Umno and Umno Youth Ministers/leaders to demonise, criminalize and crush Wee despite a public apology?

It is shocking that as the country gets nearer and nearer to the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations in ten days time, the Barisan Nasional government is shooting itself in the foot by creating one issue after another which make more and more Malaysians question the whole purpose of the official celebrations. Continue reading “Quantum leap into abyss of media control and censorship – Will Pak Lah end up as “Predator of Press Freedom”?”

Nanyang Sian Pau’s report with the headline “Hanif, Produce Proof — Musa’s comment on allegation that 40% of senior police officers corrupt” is the only newspaper to give some prominence to the serious allegation by the country’s longest-serving and most famous former Inspector General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar that 40% of senior police officers could be arrested for corruption without further investigations strictly on the basis of their lifestyles.

It has taken the IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan more than a week to respond to Hanif’s serious allegation, and it was a most anaemic, perfunctory and unimpressive response totally lacking in credibility — that the public should lodge reports if they have information on corrupt cops and that he would take action to investigate to determine the truth.

The failure of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and IGP to respond seriously to the unprecedented allegation of police corruption by a pillar of the establishment like Tun Hanif in his Sunday Star column on August 12 that 40% of senior police officers could be arrested for corruption without further investigations strictly on the basis of their lifestyles is eloquent testimony that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s anti-corruption campaign has completely run out of steam and is a dismal failure.

What Hanif exposed was not about individual cases of corruption but systemic corruption of the police force and the public service. Continue reading “Hanif’s “40% senior cops corrupt” allegation – Cabinet should apologise for disregarding it and make amends tomorrow”

by Sara Wak

1. Land Issues.

– Why are state lands given to companies related to the CM and his other families members, instead of being tendered for sale like in other countries such as Singapore?

– What are the reasons for the Government’s policy in imposing premiums on land leases expiring ? The Government was supposed to explain to the people, but so far, failed to do so. And the CM keeps saying that the people have to understand the Government’s policy ! If the Government does not make its intention known, how are the people to understand what and why the Government is doing ?

– Why are land leases restricted to 60 or 99 years and not perpetuity like in other parts of Malaysia ?

– Why can’t the Government be transparent and let the people trust the leaders ? The leaders appear to play “Hide and Seek” with the people !

2. Get details of the First Silicon Project and make it known to the people, from head to tail, including start and financial performance so far. The money belong to the people and Sarawakians have a right to know.

3. Borneo paper & pulp project. Similar to the First Silicon project. We want to know where our money has gone. They are not Taib’s money, and not his ministers’ money. The money belong to us just like shareholders in a company. If they have mismanaged the projects, they should be made accountable.

4. Why are Contracts awarded to certain companies like CMS, PPES, etc without any tender ?

Why was the tenders not open to the public and single-handedly awarded to companies like CMS and PPES, etc?

Why was the road maintenance contract awarded for 15 years rather than 5 years ? Was any evaluation done before the plan for the award? Continue reading “Issues on Sarawak for the next election”

The Cabinet tomorrow has the last chance at its meeting tomorrow to act with statesmanship and maturity to put the Wee Meng Chee Negarakuku rap controversy to rest in view of his apology or the 50th Merdeka anniversary will be held under a dark cloud and unprecedented dissension particularly from the young generation.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had often said that he wants to be Prime Minister for all Malaysians and not for any one racial group and that he wants to hear the “truth” from the people however unpleasant.

It is time he walks the talk in both by ending the orchestrated campaign led by Umno Ministers and leaders to demonise, criminalize and crush a 24-year-old Malaysian undergraduate in Taiwan for articulating the frustrations and grievances of his generation and in fact of all Malaysians, particularly about police corruption, public service bureaucracy and inefficiency as well as government insensitivity to the rights and interests of all communities.

Wee may be faulted for his rough language, irreverent expressions and lack of sensitivity in dealing with religious matters — but all these shortcomings do not add up to the capital crime of treason or sedition or the grave charges of being unpatriotic, disloyal, anti-Islam or anti-Malay.

The 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations run the risk of becoming a mockery, both national and international, when the whole power and machinery of the state is being deployed as a sledgehammer to demonise, criminalize and crush Wee, despite his public apology.

In declaring war on Wee, the Cabinet and government is declaring war on Malaysians and in particular the young generation of Malaysians, causing one of the worst generational polarizations in the nation’s history.

Umno Youth leader and Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was again in the forefront demanding a “pound of flesh” from Wee, as reported by today’s Utusan Malaysia: “Meng Chee tetap kena tindakan”.

The two salient points made Hishammuddin in Johor Baru yesterday demanding a “pound of flesh” from Wee are:

• Although he sympathise with Wee, the Muar undergraduate must be punished for his offence.
• Wee cannot escape legal consequences just because of his apology. Can a person who murder or burn the national flag be let off scotfree just because of an apology?

Was Hishamuddin speaking as Umno Youth leader or Education Minister? The views expressed by Hishamuddin is typical of an Umno Youth Leader, who could brandish the Malay keris in utter contempt of the rights and sensitivities of the non-Malay communities in the country — but completely unacceptable for an Education Minister who should set an example of national unity instead of dissension.

This is why I had told Hishammuddin in Parliament last year that he should choose whether he wants to be Umno Youth Leader or Education Minister, because he cannot be both, with his former position requiring him to pander to Malay communal impulses and sentiments resulting in his weidling the Malay keris while the latter office demands a person who is a model and symbol of unity of races, religions and generations instead of polarization. Continue reading “Negarakuku – Cabinet tomorrow last chance to ensure 50th Merdeka not celebrated under dark cloud of worst generational polarisation”

Highly recommended — famed Malaysian blogger TV Smith’s photo essay “A Monkey’s Last Stand” . Eloquent. Evocative. Powerful. A sad commentary of Malaysia celebrating 50th Merdeka anniversary.

This is TV Smith’s first of four photo-essays:

Bukit Melawati, 22nd August 2007: Despite his patriotic stand, he will soon be stripped of his citizenship and banished to another country. Perhaps, our monkeys were already doomed when people in authority likened bloggers to them.

The Cabinet has literally signed their death warrant by withdrawing protection for the so-called urban monkeys under the Wildlife Protection Act. How can we stand tall as a nation, when we so casually shrugged-off our responsibility to protect the weak and defenseless?

Visit http://www.mycen.com.my/sightings/sightings220807_monkey.html to ponder whether it is “The Alamo” for another of our great fundamental rights.

by M. Bakri Musa and Din Merican

Both are graduates of Oxford, but what a difference between the two! What separates them is that elusive quality: class. One has it; the other does not. When you have class, Oxford will bring out the best in you. When you do not, not even esteemed Oxford can do much for you.

One is a crown prince, a sultan-to-be whose recent wedding warmed the hearts of Malaysians for its elegant simplicity and regal restraint. His eloquent speeches inspire the young and old alike; they enthusiastically embrace his enlightened vision of Malaysia. He appeals to their idealism and decency, and they in turn respond in kind. His understated passion and cool rationality resonate with the citizens. He elevates the tone of our civil discourse. In short, Raja Nazrin is “Yang Teramat Mulia” (“The Most Esteemed”) personified.

The other is a neophyte political operative, with grand pretensions of being the next Prime Minister. For now however, he is till struggling just to have the title (but not the qualities) of a “Yang Berhormat” (“The Honorable”) that goes with being a Member of Parliament. His obscenely ostentatious wedding a few years back dragged on for days, with multiple ceremonies. Its extravagance easily outmatched the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, minus of course the royal elegance. Today he is again indulging in excesses; this time hurling insults at Malaysians and assaulting their sense of decency.

In his speeches to his followers in UMNO Youth, he instigates and brings out their dark side. To him, the Mat Rempits, those midnight marauders of unemployable youths who terrorize our streets, represent the best of our community. He champions them. Like them, his trade in stock is taunting and provoking, with undisguised racist undertone. Lately he resorts to simian references; no surprise as he is surrounded daily by the opportunist monkeys in the jungle that is UMNO. This fraud of a leader coarsens our public debates, dragging them to his barnyard level.

We humbly apologize to Raja Nazrin for this jarring juxtaposition of images. We are comforted by the fact that a Prince Charming beside a toad will never lose his regal bearing. A toad beside a prince however, will make its warts all the more revolting to behold, and its croaking unbearably grating.

While the constant croaking of a toad may be harsh on the ears, the repeated racist rhetoric of a leader, genuine or fake, can have devastating consequences. We would have thought that this would be obvious; we need not remind ourselves of the ghastly tragedy of May 1969.

This wet-behind-the-ears pseudo-leader is oblivious of these dangers. Born years after those horrific days in 1969, he did not live through the calamity that nearly ripped our nation apart. It would be unlikely for him to have learned that part of our history at Oxford. It is also painfully obvious that no senior leaders in his party have taken him aside to apprise this uncouth young man of that blemish in our history. This glaring omission speaks volumes of the caliber of UMNO’s current leadership. Continue reading “What Has Oxford Done?”

by Dr. Chen Man Hin

Malaysians have proven to be patriotic since merdeka in 1957, and are now asking that the Constituion be respected and honoured.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in a speech to the 2007 Youth Patriotism Congress at PutraJaya, called on the people to be patriotic and warned not to play with fire when speaking on sensitive issues.

It can be said that at least half the populatioon are born on and after Merdeka. they form the active adults who have demonstrated loyalty to the country by being law-abiding citizens.

They are questioning why they should be discriminated since Merdeka. Now at the 50th merdeka anniversary they are asking to be treated equally as citizens of the country in accordance with the Constitution. Continue reading “We are law-abiding patriots”

When Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister 45 months ago, he invited Malaysians to speak up and pledged to “hear the truth, however unpleasant”, from the people.

Wee had acted on Abdullah’s invitation and spoken up about the injustices and wrongs in Malaysia 50 years after Merdeka so that the country could be improved to become a better nation capable of competing with the rest of the world.

Instead of a “thank you” from the Prime Minister, Wee is now the target of a sledgehammer attack by the entire government machinery led by a cohort of Umno Cabinet Ministers orchestrating a campaign to demonise, criminalize and crush him.

The very spectacle of the entire state machinery led by Cabinet Ministers to crush a 24-year-old undergraduate for his rap on internet conjures an image of shame for Malaysia on the occasion of the 50th Merdeka anniversary, both nationally and internationally.

Is the campaign to demonise, criminalize and crush Wee, with irrational, excessive and outrageous demands of prosecutions under the National Anthem Act, the Sedition Act and even the Internal Security Act, the stripping of citizenship, the cancellation of passport and extradition of Wee from Taiwan to Malaysia, the signal of the end of another one of Abdullah’s reform pledges when becoming Prime Minister 45 months ago — to “hear the truth” from the people?

As I informed the Malaysian Dialogue in Petaling Jaya yesterday afternoon, Wee can be faulted for his rough language, irreverent expression and lack of sensitivity when touching on religious matters, but he cannot be accused of being unpatriotic, disloyal or guilty of the capital crime of treason or sedition.

Wee had done what very few Malaysians had done, taking the national flag Jalur Gemilang with him when he went overseas to study, and waving the national flag when his multi-national university sports team won a game, showing his pride and love for the nation.

Which Umno Minister or leader demanding for a pound of flesh from Wee for his Negarakuku rap had such love and pride for the country as to take the national flag with him or her when going overseas? Continue reading “Negarakuku rap — end the persecution mania and listen attentively to the legitimate grievances sung by Wee”

By Farish A Noor

Communities have their own ways of dealing with crises of all kinds: structural, institutional, functional or cultural. But what is even more interesting is to see how each community, or sections within each community, deals with such crises and the antidotes that are offered as the panacea for all that is wrong in the world.

In such a depoliticised world bereft of ideologies that are taken seriously and political vocabularies that work, the trend seems to be to offer culturalist solutions to problems that are fundamentally structural-economical. Hence the return to the politics of authenticity and nostalgia that we see all around us lately: As the ravaging effects of globalisation make themselves felt and seen around us, so many communities seem to have retreated to the protective blanket of cultural essentialism, falling back on unreconstructed myths of the past or equally vacuous notions of collective purpose that often deny the contingencies of individualism and personal agency.

In the Indian subcontinent the reaction of the Hindu right was to show two fingers to globalisation via recourse to a politics of nostalgia couched in terms of a politicised myth of Indian greatness and uniqueness. In the Far East the discourse of ‘Asian values’ was the foil used to fend off calls for democratisation, transparency and reform. Why, even in the West the fall-back position of claiming a singularly unique Western civilisational origin seemed the immediate refuge for those who could not cope with the
provincialisation of Europe in an increasingly plural and cosmopolitan world where movement of capital and ideas was becoming commonplace.

What of Islam and the Muslim world? Well the answer to that was given a week ago in Indonesia where a massive rally was held in the stadium of Jakarta, organised by none other than the Hizb’ut Tahrir (HT) movement of Indonesia who had invited their fellow HT activists from all over the planet, to re-affirm their determination to overturn the dominant paradigm of the modern nation state, wage war against the evils of Secularism and democracy, and to restore the fabled Caliphate as the sole and primary political agent on the Muslim landscape. Continue reading “Caliphate Anyone?”

The Chinese night editions this evening, front and inside pages, are dominated by news of the MCA Youth annual general assembly in Malacca this morning with the cover photograph of the entire MCA Youth Central Committee members on stage standing up to wave copies of the Malaysian Constitution when the MCA Youth leader Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said that instead of brandishing the keris to make a point, it is better to wave the Federal Constitution.

In blaring headlines, the newspapers quoted the eight words of “ren bu fan wo, wo bu fan ren” in relation to Liow ‘s speech when he said: “We in MCA and MCA Youth won’t be easily bullied by others, ren bu fan wo, wo bu fan ren; ren ruo fan wo, wo bi fan ren. In the BN family, we are brothers, there is no master and slave, there is no question of who is being scared of who or whom should kowtow to whom,”

The Chinese saying is a warning of retaliation when one is offended.

But the high-point of the whole proceeding was that the Umno Youth deputy leader, Khairy Jamaluddin, who attended the MCA Youth annual general assembly instead of the youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, did not understand a single word of Liow’s fierce speech and warning as this part of the MCA Youth leader’s speech was completely omitted in his Bahasa Malaysia delivery.

This immediately raises the question whether the whole proceeding was just a “sandiwara” for the Chinese media and Chinese audience.

Liow made a good point that instead of brandishing the Malay keris, one should wave the Federal Constitution to defend and uphold one’s fundamental rights as entrenched in the Constitution, the Merdeka social contract and the Malaysia Agreement which brought Sabah and Sarawak into the federation.

But the place to wave the Federal Constitution is not at the MCA Youth Assembly with the Umno Youth deputy leader not understanding what all the “show” was all about, but in the Cabinet and Parliament and at a time when fundamental nation-building principles and rights were being unilaterally, arbitrarily and unconstitutionally undermined! Continue reading “MCA and UMNO — From “brothers” in Alliance to “master and slave” in Barisan Nasional in five decades?”

Thanks Jiun for pointing me to Kenny Sia’s free campaign video tip for Jeff Ooi.

As Jiun said, the blog www.kennysia.com has just put up a post on the recent crackdown on bloggers as well as a youtube video song entitled “jeff Oois campaign video”.

Jiun wrote:

“His (kenny sia) blog has a huge readership among the young of msia, recent net research shows he is among the top 5 bloggers in malaysia, while he has always posted non serious stuff, this is the first time he is posting a political piece

“hope you can spare some time to read the piece and watch the video, i find it hilarious and im sure the young voters of msia love it too”

I agree. Video most hilarious indeed. Very creative, Kenny. No hesitation to commend it to all and sundry. Over to Jeff.