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A nation ripe with fear

By Augustine Anthony

Wing collar with bands, wearing a black jacket and holding my robe, my brisk stride to the usual work place came to a momentary halt by a gentle voice coming from the back me. “Bos boleh menang kah… ini BN Ooh”

In a short given moment, that gentle voice had many misgivings about the state of affairs in our country, but then I had to go or else I will be late. Then with a tinge of despair the parting words came from that gentle voice. “Tapi apa boleh buat, kita mesti undi dia”.

From his attire and the way he spoke my reading is, he must be a civil servant.

Later that evening, I sat down and thought about the words of that gentle voice that were spiked with sadness. There were no hidden meanings to decipher. The emotions were simple and clear to understand. I know. And so let us talk about fear. And not just our fear but of those who are opposed to our thoughts and actions.
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Najib will have to explain in Parliament next month why Hishammuddin is not prosecuted for sedition if Malaysiakini is charged for cowhead protest video clips

I am giving notice that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will have to explain in Parliament next month why the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is not charged for incitement and sedition in initially defending and justifying the cow-head protest in Shah Alam section 23 three days before National Day, committing the crime of ultimate religious insensitivity and sacrilege, if Malaysiakini is charged for showing the cowhead protest video clips.

The Malaysiakini video clips of the cowhead protests is highly offensive, not because of the news portal but because of the action of the irresponsible people who showed utter contempt for the sensitivities and sensibilities in a plural society as well as a top Cabinet Minister who could be guilty of such offensive conduct as to defend and justify such protest.

The cowhead protestors should be prosecuted. Even the Home Minister should be prosecuted. But it would not enter into any sensible, rational and reasonable person’s mind that Malaysiakini should be prosecuted – except those who have an axe to grind in wanting to penalize the news portal for the audacity of reporting the truth!
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Indonesia, we are not your whipping boy

By Tunku Aziz

The Javanese have done it again. They have burned our national flag.

Many years ago, I was interviewed in London by BBC Radio 2 as part of a series on the great languages of the world. I was asked about some significant differences between Bahasa Indonesia and our own Bahasa Melayu. I feigned ignorance about the existence of a language called Bahasa Indonesia. I said what Indonesia claimed as its language is really Bahasa Melayu.

They had no choice but to use Bahasa Melayu, the lingua franca of the Malay world to communicate among themselves because they never had a common language to begin with. Malay is undoubtedly the basis of their language. So, if we do what they in Indonesia do so well, we should be burning their flag every day because they have purloined our national language.

An excessive display of nationalistic zeal is generally considered “ugly” in civilised societies. The Indonesians by their actions have reduced themselves into sad figures of ridicule and fun. Their claim, and not for the first time, that we have infringed their “cultural copyrights” is totally absurd. They now have got it into their heads that we should stop singing our national anthem because the tune was Indonesian. What else next? Stop eating satay and wearing kain batik because these are Indonesian?
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Losing in Victory

By Hussein Hamid

When will UMNO starts its journey of renewal? Take on the path of morality and decency to ensure that the resurrection of UMNO will meet the aspirations of the Malays and the people of our country? This is not hard to do because there are still amongst them people who are decent, upright and committed to uphold the cause of the Malays and of our country. Let these good people speak their mind. Listen to them and do what they ask you to do so that UMNO will rid itself of the ignorance and narrow mindedness of its current leaders.

They will tell you that at the General Elections of 2004 UMNO could have secured its right to govern the country for fifty more years. UMNO could have right many wrongs, do justice for all and serve the people of this country as UMNO leaders had promised they will do. They could have enhanced the values that they then hold and focused the purpose of our nation into more tangible directions – towards a truly Malaysian Malaysia where all its people having their place in society because if the reality of one Malaysia if not attained it would mean that UMNO would have failed the people, failed the nation.

But they did not do this.
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