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Sabah on fire in Parliament (2)

The problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah today is even worse than more than a decade ago when the resolution of the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah was proclaimed as one of the pillars of Sabah Baru 13 years ago.

In the seventies, there were 100,000 to 200,000 illegal immigrants, which have mushroomed to some one million to 1.5 million at present, to the extent that there are Sabahans who warned that they have been outnumbered as to become strangers in their own country.

At the time when Umno leaders were promising a Sabah Baru to resolve the problem of illegal immigrants in the state, they were actively involved in the racket known as Project I/C to legalise the status of illegal immigrants by issuing them false identity cards to become phantom voters determining the political destiny of Sabah.

The political turmoils in Sabah, which Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders have refused to acknowledge, must be admitted and corrected or they will undermine the international competitiveness both of Sabah and Malaysia.

What I speak represents the cries of the ordinary people of Sabah. Let it be fully heeded.

I said the above in Parliament last year during the debate on the 2007 Supplementary Estimates on 16th April 2007.

It was a voice in the wilderness and ignored by the Barisan Nasional Government.

More than a year later, as a direct result of the March 8 “political tsunami” in Peninsular Malaysia, it has become a full-throated demand in Parliament by Sabah Members of Parliament (DAP and Barisan Nasional) as part of the larger thrust to end the discrimination, marginalization and victimization of the people of Sabah from the mainstream of Malaysian national development. Continue reading “Sabah on fire in Parliament (2)”

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Another NS death

BY: Emergency Physician

Dear YB, please speak up for the many concerned parents regarding the deaths and deaths and deaths in the NS camps… it is very very worrying… authorities don’t seems to concern much

i am a doctor, working as a specialist in emergency department… i can somehow guess what had happened… it is ridiculous for a victim to die like that in Kem Semanggol with a simple answer of unknown fever… ridiculous!!! is a case of neglect and delay treatment..

the victim Too Hui Min… again… if not because of neglect and delay of treatment… WHY WHY WHY should a victim complaining of constipation die… it is not the answer…

i suspect it is the stupidity of the paramedic who did not refer her earlier to the hospital… believe me, i have seen many referral letters written by paramedic to the hospital with stupid diagnosis… just because he didn’t know what’s happening…he might have simply labeled her as having constipation. rather than seeing the non bowel opening as a warning sign to something sinister… he made the wrong diagnosis of keeping her in the camp further and worse still, gave her a pill which could make her worse!! If he is not qualified to make a decision like a doctor, at least he should refer!!!!

My heart really goes out in tears to those who have trusted their children into the hands of these people…only to bring back dead bodies

So, please YB, please speak up on our behalf..numerous letters had been written in Malaysiakini, even in other papers like the STAR, etc.. I for once, wouldn’t want to send my children, when the reach that age…to the hands of potential murderers.

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Sabah on fire in Parliament

Sabah on fire – that is one clear message of the first debate of the new Parliament which ends today with the three-day Ministerial replies starting tomorrow.

Is the March 8 “political tsunami” in Peninsular Malaysia reaching Sabah?

Two outstanding examples:

1. “We (Sabah BN MPs) have never jumped. We can move by simply forming a new party. Then we can decide where we want to sit…here or there”, he said, gesturing in the direction of the opposition and backbenchers. – Datuk Seri Ghapur Salleh (MP for Kalabakan).

2. There is no harm in Barisan Nasional MPs in Sabah defecting to the Opposition. What’s the point of moving to a terrace house if one is already living in a bungalow? However, for some of us, there seems to be no pleasure in living in this bungalow. What’s the point of living in a bungalow if one has to sleep beside the toilet? – Datuk Anifah Aman (MP for Kimanis).

The fire rages on in Sabah to end over four decades of discrimination, marginalization and even victimisation of Sabahans in Malaysia.

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Desecrators, Not Defenders of Malay Honor

by M. Bakri Musa

What strikes me on this latest Raja Petra saga is that the public officials involved were all Malays. Their behaviors besmirch the good name of my race and culture. Contrary to their conviction and assertion, they are not the defenders of Malay honor; they are the desecrators of Malay honor.

Charging Raja Petra Kamarudin as well as author Syed Akbar Ali under the Sedition Act for what they had posted on the Internet is less a crude attempt at intimidating bloggers but more a sinister shadow play (wayang kulit) with many hidden hands each trying to make its puppets move in a particular way in order to convey its threatening message. It is also a blatant abuse of the criminal justice system.

While the government may wish it to be otherwise, this crass manipulation of prosecutorial power would not make citizens refrain from using this new medium, nor will it infringe on its freedom. The Internet is now well beyond the control of any authority, least of all a corrupt and incompetent Third World government.

More significantly, this latest spectacle reflects two unsavory and destructive traits that are fast becoming the norm among our leaders and public servants.

One is their small mindedness and the other, their contemptible habit of misusing government assets for personal gains. The first attribute is closely associated with incompetence; the second, corruption. This pairing is lethal; it will destroy our society very quickly.

There is one other observation which while abundantly clear, is rarely stated openly. As the leadership and public service in Malaysia are increasingly under Malay control, these two odious traits (corruption and incompetence) are now viewed as an integral part of the Malay persona and culture. This is what makes me angry, as it should every Malaysian, Malays especially. Continue reading “Desecrators, Not Defenders of Malay Honor”

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“Beggar Minister” finally admits

“Position of BN component parties like beggars” is the headline of today’s Sin Chew Daily exclusive interview with former Gerakan President Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, with a secondary headline: “Not given equal respect – Lim Keng Yaik”

Keng Yaik, who is now Gerakan adviser, told Sin Chew that Barisan Nasional component parties like MCA, MIC including Gerakan ended up with status like that of “beggars” as they were not given equal position in the Barisan Nasional.

He criticized BN for not treating its component parties equally. He stressed that although Malay special rights are protected under the Constitution, the non-Malays also clearly enjoy their own rights.

This is a gem of an admission from Keng Yaik, who had been a Cabinet Minister for 22 years from 1986 to 2008.

MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other BN component parties had long been criticized for accepting “beggar politics” in the Barisan Nasional and Cabinet.

When did Keng Yaik discover that he had been a “beggar Minister” for 22 years? After his political retirement and the March 8 political tsunami? Continue reading ““Beggar Minister” finally admits”

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Cyclone Nargis and callous Myanmar military rulers – Let ASEAN be first to condemn

Let ASEAN be the first to condemn the Myanmar military junta for its callousness in not suspending its sham referendum to legitimize its 46-year dictatorship in the face of the Cyclone Nargis devastation.

On May 3, 2008, cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta and wiped out entire villages as it left a path of destruction across five regions. Over seven million people were affected by the storm, with estimates of dead ranging from 25,000 to 100,000 and up to a million homeless.

ASEAN governments and leaders cannot remain silent at the irresponsible and inhumane conduct of the Myanmese military rulers which seized a shipment of United Nations food aid intended for victims of the devastating cyclone, declaring that they would accept donations of food and medicine but not the foreign aid workers. Continue reading “Cyclone Nargis and callous Myanmar military rulers – Let ASEAN be first to condemn”

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Lingam Video Clip RCI report – table it in Parliament on Monday

The four-volume 186-page Lingam Video Clip Royal Commission of Inquiry Report, which was submitted to the Yang di Pertuan Agong yesterday, should be tabled in Parliament on Monday, in toto without any abridgement, regardless of whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had read or approved of it or not.

In first-world developed countries where governments are held strictly to international best practices of accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance, it would be completely unthinkable for the reports of Royal Commissions of Inquiry to be withheld from the public.

In fact, it is the practice of these countries for reports of Royal Commissions of Inquiry or other public investigations to be simultaneously released to the public when the reports or findings are submitted to the appointing authorities, whether the ruling monarch, the head of state or government.

Yesterday, Abdullah said he would decide whether to make the Royal Commission report public once he has read it.

He said: “I haven’t seen it yet. If it was submitted to the Prime Minister’s Department, it must have been while the cabinet was meeting.”

Does it really matter whether the Prime Minister had personally seen or read it or not, or whether it had been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Department while the cabinet was meeting? Continue reading “Lingam Video Clip RCI report – table it in Parliament on Monday”

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Abdullah putting pressure on AG to prosecute Karpal – bad and dangerous precedent

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is setting a bad and dangerous precedent in publicly pressurizing the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Gani Patail to charge DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh for sedition and turn a legal issue into a political and racial one.

This is the first time in 50 years that a Prime Minister had so flagrantly and blatantly put public pressure on the Attorney-General to prosecute an Opposition leader, making a total mockery of the absolute discretion of the Attorney-General as entrenched in Article 145(3) of the Constitution “to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, other than proceedings before a Syariah Court, a native court or a court-martial”.

On Thursday, Abdullah said he had instructed Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to lodge a police report against Karpal for making allegedly seditious remarks about the Sultan of Perak when Karpal had reiterated publicly that he had not questioned Sultan Azlan Shah’s prerogatives as the state’s head of religion of Islam.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister has upped the ante by publicly demanding that the Attorney-General speed up the probe against Karpal. Continue reading “Abdullah putting pressure on AG to prosecute Karpal – bad and dangerous precedent”

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Grand Saga – the bully at Bandar Makhota Cheras

by Edward Kok

Yesterday’s ruckus at Bandar Mahkota Cheras is another sad example of the Federal Government’s oppression against its own people whom the Federal Government has pledged to serve and protect.

The FRU, fully armed and protected against hapless residents who merely want to have an access road to their residence.

Why is Grand Saga, the toll concessionaire so eager to re-enact the barricade to block the access to Mahkota Cheras? A few more jam-free days for these traffic weary folks pending the decision of the survey report by the Survey Department would not have hurt Grand Saga one bit. Do they not have a social responsibility to Malaysians, especially after they have their pockets full, contributed by fellow Malaysians? Continue reading “Grand Saga – the bully at Bandar Makhota Cheras”

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Raja Petra: a bohemian rhapsody

by Dr. Azly Rahman

“Is this a real life.. is this just fantasy
Caught in a landslide…. no escape from reality
Open your eyes… look up to the skies and see…I’m just a poor boy.. I need no sympathy.. because I’m easy come.. easy go…
“
— Freddy Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody

There is so much sadness in our nation as we bemoan the imprisonment of a voice of conscience manifested in this individual called Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

There is so much anger in our consciousness as we wonder what justice denied can do to us as we see the rot in our cultural values and political lives — right in front of our eyes, feasted through the media.

Raja Petra is seeking deep in his inner self and journeying deep into the archeology of his consciousness and into the history of his self and his ancestors, seeking solace and guidance in what next to be done in this world in which the self argues and revolts against systems of oppression. His psyche and the journey of his soul perhaps bring him to a hill in Melaka some several centuries ago — a place where the legendary philosopher-king and the Bugis warrior stood on a hill riddled with bullets from the advancing Dutch colonials. Raja Haji died standing. Continue reading “Raja Petra: a bohemian rhapsody”

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Me, ‘the great white shark’?

I am intrigued by the following article by Azmi Anshar in NST Online and thought that I would share it with you all:

DEWAN DISPATCHES: Parliament’s great white shark

For as long as the political savvy can remember, Lim Kit Siang has been an authoritative presence in the Dewan Rakyat, an orator of sublime presentation on compelling issues of the day he wishes to hound on political rivals, or a predatory great white shark smelling blood dripping from a “wounded” Minister or MP desperately trying to cover shenanigans only the Ipoh Timur MP can sniff out.

The 67-year-old seasoned Parliamentary player of seven terms can appear to be humbled by a lucid riposte by a cool Minister or MP and smile bewitchingly (menacingly if you suddenly realise that you are the target of his sniping), or he can suddenly snarl like an attack dog, pouncing ferociously on the lapses the MP may have unwittingly exposed. Except for a brief four-year period (1999-2004) when he was “exiled” out of Parliament after losing in the 1999 general election in Tanjung, Kit, as he is fondly called by colleagues and friends, has been a paradoxical character who had injected impact and colour into the debates of august hall.

Kit’s parliamentary performances, many seasons as Opposition leader, but now deferring to PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, had been in his vintage style – articulate and authoritative when raising and stressing points but insistent, cynical, outlandish and brazen when deflecting broadsides from Barisan backbenchers, a slew of them with many axes to grind.

If there ever was a Top 10 list of best Dewan Rakyat debates, you can be sure that Kit has a couple of greatest hits in there somewhere, such is his searing influence in the business of formulating national laws and polices in the Dewan Rakyat. Continue reading “Me, ‘the great white shark’?”

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The Empire Strikes Back 2

When the witness becomes the accused
Citizen Nades – By R. Nadeswaran
The Sun
7th May 2008

EVER WONDERED why the police force is unable to close files and solve crimes? Do you know why witnesses to crimes do not want to come forward? Why do witnesses suddenly have memory lapses and declare: “I did not see anything.” I got the answers yesterday. Two police officers from the Commercial Crime Division of Bukit Aman gave an insight into how investigations are carried out and I can tell you with a clear conscience that it was an exercise in futility because their line of questioning would have insulted the intelligence of any right-thinking person.

Assistant Superintendents Wan Zainal Wan Mat and Albany Hamzah turned up at the office and said that they needed to record my statement in relation to police investigations into the transfer of funds from Balkis. To say that they came ill-prepared would be an understatement. To say that they never read any of the reports in theSun or any other newspaper would be the bitter truth. They are supposed to be investigating the transfer of RM9.9 million, and yet had no clue as to how to go about doing the job. This is because they came with pre-conceived notions and pre-prepared questions, perhaps drafted by their superiors, in the hope that this writer would shoot himself in the foot by implicating himself.

After the caution was administered under the Criminal Procedure Code and the usual questions on my qualifications and my career, it was crystal clear they wanted me to reveal my sources and wanted documents in my possession. Not that I had run foul of the Official Secrets Act because none of the documents cited were classified, but they came on a fishing expedition to get me to expose my hand and to find out what is going to be published in the future. They expected me to sing like a canary!
Continue reading “The Empire Strikes Back 2”

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Anti-Corruption & Media Reform

The reform proposals announced by the Prime Minister in the fight against corruption are also most unsatisfactory, viz:

· The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to become an “independent” Malaysian Commission Against Corruption (MCAC) by year end, to be answerable to Parliament.

· Increase of the MCAC’s workforce to 5,000 officers over a period of five years, whistle-blowers protection legislation and improvement in the public procurement system.

An anti-corruption agency does not become “independent” just because the government describes it as “independent” – particularly when it continues to come under the Prime Minister’s Deparment instead fo operating as a completely autonomous organization, bereft of prosecution powers for corruption as this will remain the discretion of the Attorney-General.

Whether Malaysia can break the back of the problem of worsening corruption is not just through organizational or institutional changes but on whether there is the political will by the highest level of government to support an all-out war against corruption, vesting all the necessary powers to the anti-corruption institutions.

After his unprecedented landslide victory, Abdullah launched the National Integrity Plan which set the five-year target to improve Malaysia’s ranking in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index from No. 37 in 2003 to at least No. 30 by 2008. Continue reading “Anti-Corruption & Media Reform”

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On judicial reform

The Prime Minister recently announced reform proposals for the judiciary and in the fight against corruption.

Many were disappointed by the Prime Minister’s speech on “Delivering Justice, Renewing Trust” at a special dinner hosted by the Bar Council on April 17, 2008, as more, much more, than what was announced to restore public and international confidence in the independence, impartiality and quality of the judiciary had been expected, viz:

• Ex-gratia payment for “the pain and loss” suffered by the late Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and their families, Tun Salleh Abas, Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohamed Salleh and Datuk George Seah in the 1988 Judicial Crisis;

• A Judicial Appointments Commission;

• Review of the judiciary’s terms of service and remuneration to ensure that the Bench can attract and retain the very best of the nation’s talent.

The thunderous and prolonged applause at the Bar Council dinner which greeted Abdullah’s recognition of the “contributions of these six judges to the nation, their commitment towards upholding justice” and acknowledgement of “the pain and loss they have endured” in the 1988 judicial crisis cannot hide the general disappointment that the Prime Minister had fallen far short of expectations to ensure a fair and just closure to the Mother of Judicial Crisis in 1988. Continue reading “On judicial reform”

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Belated genuine reforms or just sloganeering?

It is almost two months since the March 8 political tsunami of the 2008 general election which saw the end of Barisan Nasional’s unbroken two-thirds parliamentary majority and the loss of state government in five states – Penang, Perak, Selangor, Kedah and Kelantan.

More than two weeks after the March 8 political tsunami, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi admitted that the result of the elections was a strong message that he “had not moved fast enough in pushing through with the reforms that he had promised to undertake’ when he was given an unprecedented mandate in the 2004 general election winning 91% of the parliamentary seats.

Abdullah said: “I thank the Malaysian people for the message. Point made and point taken.”

It was a sign of the Prime Minister grappling with the serious problem of denial but it was not assuring enough as he had missed the whole point of the March 8 electoral verdict – not that he “had not moved fast enough” in reforms he had pledged more than four years ago, but that he had hardly moved at all apart from reform sloganeering and periodically paying lip service to them.

Have Abdullah and his Cabinet now got the full message of Malaysians in the March 8 political tsunami? Continue reading “Belated genuine reforms or just sloganeering?”

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The Empire Strikes Back…

This morning, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the editor of the news portal Malaysia Today, was summoned to the Kuala Lumpur magistrate’s court to be charged with sedition in connection with his recent posting on Altantunya Shaariibuu murder case , “Let’s send the Altantunya murderers to hell”.

Last Friday, the Police Cybercrimes Division sent a squad to his house in Sungai Buloh and confiscated his laptop and CPU in connection with police investigations under the Sedition Act 1948 for incitement and also because he “commented on a case before the court made its decision”.

Any offence in the latter category would fall under “contempt of court” to be dealt with by the presiding judge for the Altantunya murder case. When and why did it become an offence under the Sedition Act?

The police and prosecution action, coming immediately after the denial by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak through his press secretary of having anything to do with the murder of Altantunya Shaariibuu, smacks of an orchestrated response to Raja Petra’s blog – and must be deplored in the strongest possible terms. Continue reading “The Empire Strikes Back…”