Month: September 2007

On Friday, two journalists from Turkey biggest-circulation newspaper Hurriyet interviewed me.

I was taken aback when they told me that their prime interest was how Turkey could learn from the mistakes of Malaysia as there is great concern among the Turks of Turkey becoming another Malaysia down the road of an Islamic state.

They wanted to know what were the major and significant events which marked Malaysia turning from its original commitment towards a secular state towards an Islamic state.

Later on the same day, I received an email from a Malaysian enclosing a Turkish media report of Turkish President Gul allaying Turkish fears of Turkey turning into another Malaysia and becoming an Islamic state.

Entitled “Turkey would never turn into another Malaysia”, President Gul answered the question of those who fear Turkey will become a country like Malaysia during his first official trip to Northern Cyprus by responding: “Turkey is negotiating with the EU for full membership. If there are people who still have worries on the scarf issue, then we should fear those people instead.” (SABAH Newspaper)

Malaysians should be aware that Malaysia is already regarded as an example which Turkey must avoid becoming — a nation which deviated from its secular origins and moving headlong towards an Islamic state.

It should be a wake-up call for all Malaysians who hold dear the Merdeka social contract that Malaysia is a multi-religious secular nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic state. Continue reading “Turks do not want Turkey to be another Malaysia turning into an Islamic state”

Chief Justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim has allegedly denied that he was the person that senior lawyer V.K. Lingam was talking to in the now infamous 8-minute Lingam Tape on the perversion of the course of justice concerning the fixing of judicial appointments, court judgment and getting a Tan Sri award.

I chose the term “allegedly denied” as there is no proof that Ahmad Fairuz had actually denied that he was the person Lingam was talking to in the Lingam Tape, especially as some 24 hours earlier Ahmad Fairuz had in “black-and-white” through his special assistant Arleen Ramly written to Malaysiakini to give a two-paragraph “No comment” response to its earlier fax inquiry.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Nazri Aziz claimed that Ahmad Fairuz had called him to deny that he was the one talking to Lingam.

Nazri’s claim is full of holes.

Firstly, how is Nazri sure that it was Ahmad Fairuz who had spoken to him by phone and not an impersonator. Has Nazri got proof that Ahmad Fairuz had denied?

Secondly, why did Ahmad Fairuz make such a denial when 24 hours earlier he had directed his special assistant Arleen Ramly to fax a two paragraph “No comment” letter on the Chief Justice’s letterhead to Malaysiakini?

Thirdly, isn’t Ahmad Fairuz capable of issuing such a denial himself and isn’t he aware of the doctrine of Separation of Powers among the Executive, Parliament and Judiciary by conducting himself in such an improper and subservient manner, subordinating the Judiciary to the Executive?

Fourthly, why didn’t Ahmad Fairuz issue the denial in the first 72 hours of the expose of the Lingam Tape by Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday, especially as he had met the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi both on Wednesday and Thursday night, seated at the same table, at the Istana and the Chief Secretary to the Government’s fast-breaking functions respectively?

Fifthly, what was the purpose of the photographs of Ahmad Fairuz and the Prime Minister seated at the same table on both consecutive nights prominently published in the New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia?

Is it to send the message that Ahmad Fairuz has the full backing of the Prime Minister, regardless of the nation-wide outcry and outrage over the Lingam Tape?

Sixthly, what is the credibility of Ahmad Fairuz’ alleged denial through Nazri? Is its believability as abysmal as Ahmad Fairuz’ earlier alleged denial through Nazri of his proposal to abolish English common law and replacement by Islamic law – which is zero? Continue reading “Lingam Tape – credibility of Fairuz’s denial through Nazri zero like earlier case on abolition of common law”

Should Malaysians be proud of what the country has achieved after 50 years of independence?

In Parliament, a Barisan Nasional Member of Parliament said Malaysia has great cause to be satisfied with the nation’s progress and achievements in the past 50 years as the country is ten times more advanced than Ghana, which also became independent in the same year as Malaysia in 1957.

This BN MP is right if we are prepared to compare with the worst — but Malaysians must not be content with such low benchmarks and must be prepared to compare with the best rather than the worst, especially as the people are being bombarded every day with the slogan of “Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang”.

We should be concerned as to why the country had failed to hold our prominent position in the region and the world when the nation was second only to Japan as the most developed country in Asia 50 years ago in 1957.

We should ask why we have lost out to South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong with an ever-increasing gap when we were ahead of them 50 years ago instead of the false pride of being well ahead of Ghana.

Malaysia’s 50th Anniversary has highlighted major areas of retrogression which must be arrested and reversed if Malaysia is not to continue to lose out in the global stakes for competition, progress and development.

If those in power and authority in Malaysia continue in their “denial complex”, refusing to come to grips with reality and address the reasons for our decline and retrogression, more and more countries in future will be overtaking us in the international competitiveness and development stakes like Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and even some African countries although we will continue to be poles ahead of the failed African states like Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. Continue reading “50th Merdeka – arrest and reverse retrogression if Malaysia is not to lose out in global stakes”

by M. Bakri Musa

If Chief Justice Ahmad Feiruz has any sense of personal honor and professional integrity left, he should resign immediately. If Prime Minister Abdullah has even the slightest responsibility for leadership and moral duty to the citizens, he should not extend the Chief Justice’s contract, due to expire this October. If the Malaysian Bar Council has any credible principle of societal obligation and self-policing ethics of a profession, it would disbar the lawyer making that phone call shown in the infamous video clip exposed by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Alas, judging from past performances, expect none of these. That is the unfortunate reality of Malaysia today. What remains then would be for the King to withhold consent for extending Feiruz’s contract, thereby precipitating an unnecessary and distracting constitutional crisis the nation could ill bear.

The Bar Council had an Emergency Meeting, but instead of initiating the necessary disciplinary proceedings on the involved lawyer (which would definitely be within its power) it decided instead to march at Putrajaya and hand a petition to the Prime Minister demanding for a Royal Commission. Next those lawyers would be demonstrating on the streets. So Third World, a la Pakistan! I would have thought those smart lawyers would have concocted some novel legal theory on which to sue the government into action.

Meanwhile Abdullah Badawi was “disappointed,” not at the explosive contents of the video but the fact that it was released. Wake up, Mr. Prime Minister! The rot is the Malaysian judiciary, not the taping. If Abdullah does perk up from his slumber, he would probably order the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim!

Chief Justice Feiruz, taking a leaf from the Prime Minister’s notorious “elegant silence,” issued a terse, “No comment!” It was neither elegant nor silent; instead it was ugly and spoke volumes. Continue reading “Deal with the Rot, Not the Tape”

Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin is a disgrace to Malaysian nation-building on her 50th Merdeka anniversary, a Minister who is handicapped by his narrow-minded thinking from becoming a full Malaysian, constantly playing the communal drum to turn every issue including human rights, corruption and justice into a racial one.

This is the Bernama report of Zainuddin’s remarks attacking the DAP in Sungai Petani yesterday:

Zainuddin said many of the party’s statements seemed to be aimed at eroding public confidence in the police force, besides taking a swipe at the Malays by connecting police with the Malay community.

“As most of the police personnel are Malays, any action taken in a case is seen by the DAP as the use of Malay power over the non-Malays,” he said in reference to several rape and corruption cases highlighted by the DAP.

It is sad and tragic that although Malaysia has just celebrated 50 years of independent nationhood, there are still people occupying positions of power in government who have not kept abreast with the evolution of Malaysian identity and consciousness but continue to cling to their chauvinist mindset, seeing everything through the communal prism. Continue reading “Zam is a disgrace to Malaysia – handicapped by his chauvinistic mindset from becoming a full Malaysian”

Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow in Kuantan yesterday asked all parties to refrain from speculating on the video clip of a lawyer allegedly brokering the appointment of judges, saying it was unwise to make assumptions or draw conclusions without solid evidence.

He repeated the nonsensical line: “The video clip merely shows a telephone conversation between the lawyer and another person. We don’t know exactly what they are talking about.

“Therefore, we should not arrive at a conclusion before police conclude their investigations.”

In the first place, it is very clear as to the matters that were talked about in the Lingam Tape.

Secondly, matters adverted to in the Lingam Tape is not just about brokering the appointment of judges but the wholesale perversion of the course of justice, polluting and contaminating not only the present administration of justice but the whole system of governance.

Thirdly, if MCA Ministers want to undergo a lobotomy or behave like the traditional three monkeys of having eyes that see not, ears that hear not and mouths that speak not, there is no reason why Malaysian citizens should emulate them.

Only yesterday, the Bar Council emergency meeting called for the immediate establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate into the Lingam Tape and the rot in the judiciary since 1988. Continue reading “Lingam Tape – MCA Ministers can undergo lobotomy or behave like traditional three monkeys, do not mean public must follow”

The country joins the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in shock, anger and grief at the brutal rape-murder of eight-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin, whose naked body in a foetal position was stuffed in a sports bag in Petaling Utama.

No stone must be left unturned to track down and to bring the murderer to justice.

The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan said on Thursday that the Police was closing in on the killer. All Malaysians pray and hope that the police would be successful in the hunt for the murderer.

In contrast, the statement yesterday by Musa that Nurin’s parents are being investigated for possible negligence have stirred very mixed feelings from Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.

If there is evidence that Nurin’s parents had been negligent contributing to her brutal murder, and the parents are prosecuted, it is a totally different matter from putting pressure on the grieving parents at this time of their bereavement when the police has as yet to get any evidence to establish any parental negligence.

Is it right and proper for Musa to add to the grief and sorrow of Nurin’s parents in such circumstances?

Nurin’s brutal rape-murder must be regarded as both a family tragedy for taxi driver Jazimin Abdul Jalil and a national shame.

There is something very sick and rotten in our society that Nurin could meet with such a brutal end. But it also bespeaks of the breakdown of the institutions in the state responsible for upholding law and order.

Let the Cabinet meeting next Wednesday begin by observing a minute of silence for Nurin’s brutal death followed by a renewal of its forgotten commitment to make the country a safer place for our citizens, tourists and investors.

This renewal of commitment by the Cabinet is imperative for we must not allow Malaysia to become a crime-infested society which claim victims regardless of race or religion. Continue reading “Nurin’s brutal death – let Cabinet observe minute-silence and renew forgotten commitment to keep crime low”

Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy should fully explain the second scandal since he became Transport Minister — the e-Kesihatan scandal which is also the latest example of e-government in Malaysia degenerating into e-scams.

The first scandal during Chan’s stewardship as Transport Minister is the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal, for which a full and proper accounting has still to be furnished by him.

Although the Cabinet on Wednesday decided to postpone the eKesihatan health screening of commercial drivers to enable the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to co-ordinate the implementation of the programme, what are exactly the implications of the Cabinet decision.

Does it mean that the RM450 million 15-year eKesihatan middleman concession to centralize the health screening of commercial drivers, scheduled to begin on Oct. 1, had been merely postponed with the monopoly position of Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd. basically unaffected or could the whole concession monopoly be scrapped?

And in the latter, would Supremme Systems be compensated a substantial amount resulting in a “heads I will, tail you lose” situation for the company at the expense of the taxpayers, as had happened in the past like the Johore Baru crooked half-bridge cancellation, where the contractor Gerbang Perdana Sdn. Bhd had been paid compensation of RM257.4 million, although the government had earlier computed a RM100 million compensation!

Chan should make public the full details of the eKesihatan contract which had been signed between the Road Transport Department and Suprmme Systems Sdn. Bhd, whether the Transport Ministry had fully committed the government to compensate Supremme Systems for delays in implementing the eKesihatan scheme, like the postponement decided by the Cabinet on Wednesday.

After the shocking disclosures of pervasive mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report and the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal caused by the Transport Minister unlawfully committing the government to stand guarantee for RM4 billion bonds issued by a private company developing the PKFZ, Malaysians are entitled to demand higher standards of accountability to avoid repetition of the same mistakes in the Transport Ministry and the continued mismanagement of public funds. Continue reading “E-government to e-scam – Kong Choy should publicly justify e-Kesihatan”

The initial one-sided response of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the Lingam Tape, which has plunged the country into a new crisis of confidence in the independence, impartiality, integrity, accountability and professionalism of the Malaysian judiciary — both national and international — is a great disappointment compromising the neutrality and impartiality of his high office.

Abdullah said yesterday that he had directed the police to immediately start investigations into the Lingam Tape as it was important to act quickly because the content of the clip could tarnish the image of the country’s judiciary.

He said: “We cannot treat this lightly. We will act fast to determine the truth.”

He said that if investigations revealed that the claims were false, action would be taken against those who were trying to undermine the judiciary as the video recording would invoke public anger and hatred towards the judiciary.

He said at this juncture, the question of setting up a Commission of Inquiry did not arise as the allegations in the video clip had yet to be proven as authentic.

All right-thinking Malaysians are mystified and upset by the Prime Minister’s response and have one question — why is Abdullah threatening dire consequences if the Lingam Tape is not authentic but said nothing about action to be taken if it is proven true?

Abdullah’s initial considered response 48 hours after the public surfacing of the Lingam Tape does not inspire public confidence that the Prime Minister would rise above the fray and be absolutely neutral and impartial in handling the latest scandal of the Malaysian judiciary.

He is right when he said that the Lingam Tape has yet to be proven as authentic, but on the other hand, 48 hours and now 72 hours have passed since its public disclosure had elapsed and its authenticity has not been challenged — neither by Lingam nor Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, purportedly the other party in the telephone conversation recorded in the Lingam Tape.

The Prime Minister’s reaction is only valid and justifiable if he had received intimation from Fairuz denying the authenticity of the Lingam Tape as without such a denial from either Lingam or Ahmad Fairuz, Abdullah risks compromising his high office in staking a position which gave full status quo backing to the Chief Justice. Continue reading “Lingam Tape – why PM’s one-sided threat if not authentic but nothing about action to be taken if true?”

By Farish A. Noor

It has, for reasons best known to some, become rather trendy to talk about the restoration of power to the King these days. Looking around the troubled landscape of Malaysia at the moment one does understand how and why the frustration of many could have led them to the conclusion that some higher form of intervention is badly needed at the moment. After all, four years on after the victory of the BN parties at the last polls it would appear as if none of the reform measures promised by the current administration have borne fruit: None of the major corruption cases have been resolved in court; reported incidents of abuse by the police have only increased; there is still talk of racial and religious communitarianism in our midst and the fanciful ego-trips of some politicians have compelled them to reach for the keris again and again in public.

By all accounts, it would appear as if the country has regressed over the years and we seem even closer towards sliding into the deeper morass of religious and racial sectarian politics. As if the divide-and-rule rhetoric of the race-based BN parties was not enough, now we are told that there will be a Muslim workers movement to rival the MTUC, which can only serve to divide the workers of Malaysia along religious sectarian lines even further. This can only add to the weakening of the workers movement in Malaysia, to the benefit of the established powers-that-be whose own divisive sectarian politics have brought us to where we are today.

So indeed, some kind of intervention is timely and badly needed, but from where, and who should be the actors and agents of change here? Continue reading “Rakyat Itu Raja!”

Why the thunderous post-Cabinet silence over the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report — and does it signify the end of the three-day wonder of thunder-and-lightning in the media over abuses and mismanagement of public funds until next year’s Auditor-General’s Report?

Two Tuesdays ago, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that he had directed all Ministers at the Cabinet meeting on Sept. 5 to go through the Auditor-General’s Report in detail and to fully explain mismanaging funds and other irregularities in their respective ministries.

Last Thursday, Abdullah said the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) should step in and investigate any suspicion of corruption in ministries and government agencies implicated in the Auditor-General’s Report 2006.

When was the Cabinet meeting for the Ministers to explain in detail the strictures of the Auditor-General against their respective ministries?

I had expected some announcement after this Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting on the outcome of the Prime Minister’s directive to all Ministers, but there is only thunderous silence.

Have all the Ministers been given a reprieve from having to personally account to the Cabinet for all the public fund mismanagement and irregularities in their ministries as revealed by the Auditor-General’s Report; and if not, why is there no public accounting from the Prime Minister as to any outcome?

For instance, what is the explanation from the UMNO Youth leader and Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein on the mismanagement of public funds of over RM285 million in the Ministry of Youth and Sports when he was the Minister from 1999 to 2004?

It is no use Hishammuddin making brave statements in public that “I’ve nothing to hide” and calling for thorough investigations into the misuse of funds by the Youth and Sports Ministry when up to now he has failed to give any satisfactory explanation for such colossal waste of public funds as the Minister in charge. Continue reading “AG’s Report – why the thunderous post-Cabinet silence?”

The comments by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail that “no criminal offence appears to have been committed” in the Lingam Tape and that senior lawyer V.K.Lingam “was in a monologue over his mobile phone and it was unclear who he was talking to” (New Straits Times) were most outrageous and raise important questions, viz:

• his understanding of and commitment to judicial independence, integrity and accountability; and
• his fitness to continue as Attorney-General.

How can the chief legal officer of the government try to minimize the gravity of the judicial misconduct exposed by the Lingam Tape and shirk off his responsibility by claiming that Lingam was in a monologue as “There is no clear reference that he was talking to a top judicial officer”, when Anwar Ibrahim’s allegation that Lingam was talking to Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim sometime in 2002 when he was Chief Judge of Malaya was corroborated by the contents of the conversation?

Forty-eight hours have passed and neither Ahmad Fairuz nor Lingam had denied that there was such a telephone conversation between them, which would be the first reaction of anyone to a doctored video clip.

Ahmad Fairuz was contacted the same afternoon of Wednesday when Anwar made public the video recording, but his personal assistant relayed the message that the Chief Justice wanted to have a look at the video before saying anything. But Ahmad Fairuz had been in ex communicado in the past two days, although he would have no difficulty in accessing it on the Internet, as it was put up on Malaysiakini almost instantly the same day (recording over 4,000 hits since), as well as on many blogs and the Bar Council website. One Youtube site which uploaded the clip registered 23,150 hits in one day.

The silence of Lingam cannot be explained by the claim that he is overseas, particularly in the present era of 24/7 and instant communications when information travels at the speed of light and denials could be made instantly from any part of the globe.

It is also most noteworthy that Gani had not challenged the authenticity of the video recording of the telephone conversation. Continue reading “AG’s comments on Lingam Tape outrageous – is he for judicial independence, integrity, accountability?”

Y.W.Loke emailed me:

Regarding “Malaysian consulate service a letdown”, which “Disappointed Malaysian” sent to you as well as to Malaysiakini, there was another letter to M’kini [copied below] which described an entirely different experience involving the consulate in Canberra, and in particular, Mr Haa.

Perhaps you may want to include that letter in your blog posting to offer another viewpoint for your readers to consider.

LETTERS: Adventure in Canberra

CL Yee Sep 19, 07 4:58pm

I refer to the Malaysiakini letter Malaysian consulate service a letdown. I share similar feelings as the writer about the inefficiency of their service generally. However, I had a different experience in dealing with Mr Haa, as I would refer to him.

I was a Malaysian student living in South Australia when I had my first personal encounter with the Malaysian consulate in Canberra to which I had to go to have my expired Malaysian passport renewed. Prior to coming to the office in person, I have made several telephone calls to the office.

A lot of the times, the calls went unanswered. When they did get through, I found myself talking to a female staff who was in my view was rude. Her English also left a lot to be desired. She boldly told me to come into the office in person and hung up.

Before that she gave me a list of all the documents I needed to have with me, or so I thought. I made an appointment for 9am the following Wednesday and was warned that the passport renewal could only be done between 9am to 10am. Unbelievable, isn’t it?

I flew in that day and was shocked when Mr Haa, who attended to me, said I needed a Proof of Residency certificate from the Australian Immigration to show that I was not at the time an Australian citizen. I told him my situation – I had just flown in and being my first time in Canberra, I did not know the place and that I needed my passport the same day because I was flying back to Adelaide that evening.

He then provided me with directions and assured me he would still process my application even if it was after 10am when I got the certificate. I had an opportunity to chat with him when I returned with the certificate. Turned out that he was originally Vietnamese, now an Australian and had been working for the Malaysian consulate for over 14 (or was it 20?) years. Continue reading “Adventure in Canberra”

I have written to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi asking him to invoke Article 125 of the Constitution to suspend Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim as Chief Justice and to establish a judicial tribunal to investigate the serious allegations of judicial misconduct against him as highlighted by the Lingam tape made public by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday.

In my letter, I quoted Article 125(3) which reads:

“125 (3). If the Prime Minister, or the Chief Justice after consulting the Prime Minister, represents to the Yang di Pertuan Agong that a judge of the Federal Court ought to be removed on the ground of any breach of any provision of the code of ethics prescribed under Clause (3A) or on the ground of inability, from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause, properly to discharge the functions of his office, the Yang di Pertuan Agong shall appoint a tribunal in accordance with Clause (4) and refer the representation to it; and may on the recommendation of the tribunal remove the judge from office.”

The Lingam tape has sparked the latest crisis of confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary stemming from grave judicial misconduct.

As the allegations of judicial misconduct are of very grave character affecting the perversion of justice, I also asked the Prime Minister to invoke Article 125(5) which reads:

“125(5), Pending any reference and report under Clause (3) the Yang di Pertuan Agong may on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and, in the case of any other judge after consulting the Chief Justice, suspend a judge of the Federal Court from the exercise of his functions.”

Continue reading “Lingam tape – letter to PM to suspend Ahmad Fairuz as Chief Justice and to establish judicial tribunal”

by Disappointed Malaysian

I am writing from Melbourne, Australia as I am frustrated with the services and support provided by the Malaysian Consulate in Canberra, Australia. My family have had the unfortunate incident of having our house burglarised and all (the entire family’s) our documents ie, Malaysian passports, birth certificates, Malaysian driving licences, our MyKads, marriage certificates have all been stolen.

We immediately reported the incident to the Malaysian Consulate in Canberra and was passed on to the person in-charge, a Mr Haa Doan. He must be the most unpleasant person we have come across and encountered during our stay in Australia so far. We told him our circumstances and asked him for the procedure to apply for a replacement travel document and he advised that he will immediately send us the necessary application forms.

We supplied him with our correspondence address and contact details. He then reprimanded us for the way we kept our documents at home which was uncalled for. He kept insisting that we have to fly back to Malaysia to reapply for all our documents but how could we when we have just lost our passports?

The documents came only four weeks later and we sent off our completed forms and the necessary certified documents. On Sept 13, we decided to check with the Malaysian Consulate on the status of our application. My husband who called was told that Haa was on leave. My husband was not happy and called again, and this time was told that Haa was not on leave and the call was passed to him.

He was very annoyed with my husband and irritated when asked about the status of our applications. He said it is still with him in his office which meant that the applications have been sitting at the consulate for more than a month. He said he was sick and that he just returned from back to work. The question is does the consulate stop functioning because Haa is on sick leave? Is there no one to take over his responsibility when he is away from the office?

When my husband asked why wasn’t it sent off to the Immigration Department in Kuala Lumpur, he said that they do not do daily postings to Malaysia and that it was done only once a month! Asked how long will the whole process take, Haa said that he was not sure, maybe it would be six months or more and that it was entirely up to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office.

These kind of answers are definitely not reassuring for a whole family who is at their wits end at having lost all their critical documents. The passports are required to fly back to Malaysia to reapply for the other documents and looks like we are at a loss as to when we will get our passports approved or when they finally make their way back to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office. Is Australia so distant that there is only one mail service a month? Continue reading “Malaysian consulate service a letdown”

Anwar Ibrahim has produced an explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised which has set off reverberations in the Palace of Justice, the corridors of power, offices and homes in the country as well as internationally.

The time for reckoning for the restoration of a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law cannot be put off any longer.

Malaysiakini has carried the transcript of the conversation between lawyer V.K. Lingam with Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz sometime in 2002, as recorded in the videoclip, viz:

“The CJ said he is relative to now Agong, so he wants to stay on to 68, so, Tengku Adnan, I told Tengku Adnan, yesterday I had a meeting with him.

He said PM is already very angry with him, he said no problem he is going to make you acting err.. confirm your position as PCA, working very hard then working very hard to get Tan Sri Mokhtar as CJM.

Ah, we just keep it confidential. I am working very hard on it. Then there is a letter, according to Tengku, I am going to see him tomorrow, there is a letter sent to CJ, I mean Tan Sri Dzaiddin, that Datuk Heliliah, Datuk Ramli, Datuk Ramli and Datuk Ma’roop be made judges, and he rejected Dr Andrew Chui and apa itu Zainuddin Ismail lah. Because Zainuddin Ismail condemned your appointment and Tan Sri Mokhtar’s appointment.

And then you also, you seems to wrote a letter for the remaining five be confirmed as judges. As per our memo I discuss with Tun Eusoff Chin and we sent the same memo to PM.

I just want to get a copy letter that that has been done. Continue reading “Lingam tape – Anwar’s explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised”

The week-long controversy over the e-kesihatan scheme has created more doubts and confusion, with the public presented with a plethora of conflicting accounts while the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy emerged from the controversy in a very sorry and worst possible light.

From the present RM10 payment for renewal of public service vehicle (PSV), goods driving licence (GDL) and conductor licence (KON) holders, the Road Transport Department is to introduce a new mandatory health screening scheme beginning on Oct. 1 which would cost RM80 a year for a million commercial drivers.

In the latest revised figures in the Sun today, Datuk Nordin Yahaya, the executive director of Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd, the concessionaire awarded the monopoly for this scheme, claims that of the RM80, the company gets RM8 and Pos Malaysia RM2, while RM10 is for operating costs, RM35 go to the doctors and RM25 to laboratories.

Only three days earlier on Sunday, Nordin had given different breakdowns — i.e. doctors paid between RM35 and RM45, laboratories between RM25 and RM35, Post Malaysia RM2 and Supreme Systems Sdn. Bhd between RM8 and RM10.

These figures have been disputed by the Koperasi Doktor Malaysia Bhd chairman Dr. J. S. Deo who said that the laboratory tests for the e-Kesihatan screening cost less than RM7, and not between RM25 and RM35 as claimed by Nordin earlier. Continue reading “2nd Kong Choy scandal – suspend RM450-RM500 million e-Kesihatan middlemen rent-seeking scam”

On Monday, the Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Mohamed said each public university will decide on the suitable rules and requirements for the upcoming student elections.

He said: “We are open to ideas and suggestions but there are all kinds of proposals so the universities themselves should be the ones looking into them.”

I call on Mustapha to take the first bold step to give meaning and substance to the National Higher Education Action Plan 2007-2010 to start the long journey to make Malaysia a world leader in higher education by sending a clear message to all Vice Chancellors to hold free and fair campus elections in public universities and to respect and accept the election results.

Mustapha should publicly declare that as Higher Education Minister, he would not be partisan and would not take sides with any candidate or group of candidates contesting in the campus polls, and that he would fully accept the verdict of the campus elections regardless of who wins or loses, so long as the campus elections are held in a free and fair manner.

He should announce a “hands-off” policy to ensure a vibrant, critical and creative student campus and scrap the secret agenda of Vice Chancellors and deputies to ensure victory of the compliant “pro-establishment” student groups.

In this manner, university students would be given a good grounding and experience in the holding of an honest, free and fair elections and not be exposed instead in their first voting experience to all the shenanigans, manipulation and abuses of of rigged polls.

One important reason why Malaysian public universities had been on a downward plunge as centres of academic excellence is because it has been drummed into the Vice Chancellors and their deputies that it is more important for their career future that they deliver campus elections to pro-establishment student groups rather than ensuring that the universities achieve international recognition as world-class universities as receiving top rankings in world tables, such as the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University annual listing of top world universities.

This is why it is so shocking to read the statement by the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) vice chancellor Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah justifying the Mat Rempit arrogance and highhandedness of the UPM campus security in seizing the laptop, mobile phone, MP3 player and 10 other items valued at RM6,000 from first-year UPM timber technology student Yee Yang Yang during a spot check of his hostel room on Friday night and questioning him about his involvement in student politics. Continue reading “Campus elections – Mustapha should announce “hands-off” policy and scrap secret mission of VCs/DVCs”

By Farish A. Noor

It seems that the state of Belgium has been without a government for more than a hundred days now; as the Belgians seem unable to decide on their future and settle upon a collective identity that can be shared by all. Divided between the more prosperous Flemish north and the less well-to-do French-speaking Walloon south, the country seems almost a textbook case of communitarianism run rampant and sectarian divisions tearing apart the nation-state. On both sides of the ethnic-cultural-linguistic fence right-wing ethno-nationalist politicians take to the soapbox to bemoan the ills of the country and to lay the blame at the feet of their neighbours next door.

As an aside, the minorities of Belgium must be relieved that for once the stereotype of the evil nefarious foreigner is not being brought to the fore as the root of all that is wrong in the country. No, here the problem does not seem to be the dreaded Turk, Arab or Asian around the corner, but rather those familiar but different Walloons and Flemish down the road!

Now if Belgium was located elsewhere on the map, we would probably have heard calls for UN intervention by this point. For as we all know by now sectarian divisions anywhere else — be it in Africa, Asia or Latin America often enough warrants some form of international military intervention, ostensibly to save the natives from themselves. But after all, is this not a case of a nation-building programme falling to pieces before our very eyes,
with communal sentiments and parochial loyalties to race and culture being fanned in the public domain? Yet perhaps one of the most ironic twists to the story of Belgium today is the fact that the divisive politics we see in the country at the moment was also a rather noxious export that was taken as far as Africa by the Belgium government in the past.

Divisive politics should not be something alien to the Belgians by now, for Belgium’s colonial policies abroad have always been predicated on the logic of divide and rule anyway. The most noteworthy example here is the case of Rwanda and Burundi, of course: Two African nations that were first annexed by Germany and then taken over by Belgium in 1916. Continue reading “Belgium in Tatters: Call the UN, quick!”

The Cabinet tomorrow should censure the Malacca State Government and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Barisan Nasional Chairman should remove Datuk Seri Ali Rustam as Malacca Chief Minister for defiance of Cabinet decision on the formula to end the pig-rearing crisis in Malacca as well as spoiling the national mood and spirit of celebrations of 50th Merdeka anniversary in the whole country by all Malaysians.

It is shocking that Ali Rustam and his State Government were allowed to defy the Sept. 5 decision of the Cabinet that there should not be any destruction of pigs and the two-point formula to resolve the pig-rearing crisis in Malacca, viz: the Malacca state government to allow the pig rearers to change the use of the land and secondly, pig rearers allowed to get bank loans for waste disposal systems with the state government giving the guarantee that it would not revoke TOL to ensure security of the industry to justify such investments by the pig-rearers.

With such a Cabinet decision two weeks ago, why was the Malacca Chief Minister and his gang allowed to go through the charade and their “terror tactics” of forcing the pig rearers to comply with the unreasonable and impossible target to cull or reduce 97,000 heads of pigs in 17 days by Sept. 21, or face another “show-of-force” like the Sept. 4 confrontation in Paya Mengkuang against defenceless men, women and children by 2,000-strong personnel including fully-armed police FRU, enforcement squads from multi-agencies including immigration, state and local authorities together with personnel in “space suits”, tear gas, water cannons, and a hovering helicopter?

What is most shocking is that such arrogant, high-handed and coercive tactics employed by the Malacca state authorities violate every concept of a good and democratic governance, with the elected government shamefully treating law-abiding citizens making a proper and honourable living from the pig-rearing industry like criminals and even terrorists!

What is even more shocking is that the MCA was a party to the whole charade, as the actions taken against the pig-rearers in the state was not that of Umno Malacca State Government but that of the Barisan Nasional Malacca state government, comprising MCA and Gerakan state excos.

It is utterly disgraceful that 50 years of Barisan Nasional “power-sharing” has totally changed character from “equal political partners” of Barisan Nasional component parties to “UMNO political rulers and MCA and Gerakan subjects” in the State Government, with MCA and Gerakan state exco members denuded of any right to participate in the state government decision-making process.

It is very sad that 50 years after Merdeka and the “social contract”, MCA and Gerakan state excos in Malacca have been reduced to the status of “petition-writers” whose role is to appeal to the Chief Minister, Umno State Exco members, State Secretary and even Umno parliamentary secretary to try to modify harsh and unreasonable decisions instead of ensuring that such decisions are not taken in the first place. Continue reading “Why Malacca State Excos of MCA and Gerakan must resign from Ali Rustam government”