Day: May 4, 2010

The Home Ministry is under great pressure. Because I have proposed a Tun Haniff Royal Commission of Inquiry into the police killing of 14-year-old Form III student Aminulrasyid Amzah in Shah Alam at 2 am the previous Monday, it has been announced that the former Inspector-General of Police Tun Hanif Omar has been roped in as a member of the Special Panel on Aminulrasyid’s death headed by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Abu Seman Yusup.

This is typical “guerrilla warfare” operation, making decisions on the run without an overall strategy.

The powerless Special Panel into Aminulrasyid’s police killing is neither fish nor fowl even with Tun Haniff as member, as well as other members including former Suhakam commissioner Denison Jayasooria, crime analyst Kamal Affendi Hashim, lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) chief executive officer Dr Michael Yeoh and UiTM deputy vice-chancellor Prof Abdul Halim Sidek.

The “guerrilla” response of the Home Ministry could be seen from the “on the run” chop-and-change as to what the Special Panel can and cannot do.

At first, Abu Seman said the Special Panel can neither inquire on its own nor make recommendations to the police.
Continue reading “Powerless Special Panel into Aminulrasyid’s police killing neither fish nor fowl even with Tun Hanif as member – Cabinet tomorrow should end “guerrilla” responses and take holistic decision on Tun Hanif RCI on all police shooting deaths since 2005”

By Queville To | FMT

KOTA KINABALU: Villagers in the east coast of Sabah who have problems getting the government’s attention have an international stage to turn to, said DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.

Speaking to villagers of Kg Murut, Kalabakan in Tawau, Lim said the world now knows about the plight of the natives of Sabah.

He told the villagers that he had put out information (on his blog, among others) on issues affecting the natives of Sabah, including dispossession of their lands.

During his visit, a group of more than 50 villagers brought their complaints about the poor conditions they were living in and their worries about how they would soon become landless.

They claimed that much of their ancestral lands had already been taken over by plantation companies.
Continue reading “Sabah villagers find a sympathetic listener in Lim”

By Jacqueline Ann Surin | thenutgraph.com

ON the Sunday morning of 25 April 2010, when Hulu Selangor voters were going to the polls, I was sitting in a Sikh gurdwara in Kuala Lumpur. It was the fifth death anniversary of a dear friend, Datuk Krishen Jit. His spouse, Datin Marion D’Cruz, had organised for prayers to be said for him and had invited family and friends to be part of the ceremony.

I’m not Sikh but neither is D’Cruz or the dozen or so other friends who turned up that morning. In fact, among the friends who were seated in the gurdwara that morning were definitely Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, atheists and the non-religious. So, there we were, fellow Malaysians, united in our love for a friend who had gone before us, seated in a house of worship that was not of our respective faiths. We were not only respectful of the ceremony, we also stayed back together to eat a vegetarian lunch that had been cooked by the gurdwara. It was a 1Malaysia moment for me, if ever there was such a thing.

Which got me thinking: we already have 1Malaysia. In fact, we had it long before the administration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched 1Malaysia. So, what really is the 1Malaysia campaign all about? And what does it mean that our government has to pay millions of precious tax money in order to ensure 1Malaysia is a reality?
Continue reading “Living 1Malaysia”

I will like to tell Tan Sri Musa Hassan – resign as Inspector-General of Police as the tearful eye-witness testimony of traumatized 15-year-old Azamuddin Omar on the police killing of his friend, Form III student Aminulrasyid Amzah some 100 metres from the latter’s house in Shah Alam a week ago has completely destroyed your credibility and authority.

If you love the Royal Malaysian Police Force, then you have no other option but to resign immediately to protect the police from the consequences of your gross failures of police leadership as IGP.

For the love of the country and the police force, resign now as IGP!

Let a new IGP start the difficult, painful but not impossible process to restore public confidence in the police where they regard the police as friend and protector and not as threat and even killer of innocent Malaysians, including school-children.

As final amends, in your resignation letter, make two recommendations to the Home Minister and Prime Minister, viz:
Continue reading “Musa Hassan – resign as IGP as the tearful eye-witness testimony of traumatized 15-year-old Azamuddin on the police killing of Form III student Aminulrasyid has completely destroyed your credibility and authority!”

By Ong Kian Ming | Malaysiakini

Last Sunday, I woke up in Durham, North Carolina to the news that BN was on its way to victory in the Hulu Selangor by-election with a small majority of approximately 1,500 votes. The final majority was 1,725 in BN’s favour.

A week later, as I sit here in Petaling Jaya, I’m still somewhat surprised, perhaps not so much by the fact that BN has emerged victorious in this crucial by-election but by the way in which this seat was won.

I had earlier predicted, with some confidence, that PKR’s Zaid Ibrahim would win this tough and hard fought race by a margin of between 1,000 to 1,500 votes.

My prediction was based on the following three assumptions in regard to racial voting: (1) that BN’s Malay vote share would not exceed 60%, (2) that its Indian vote share would not exceed 50%, and (3) that its Chinese vote share would not exceed 30%.
Continue reading “One week after Hulu Selangor”