for Malaysia
Twitter sequel Part 5
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
dredwinbosi Jun 07, 12:33am
@mpkotabelud @limkitsiang Food security should not be an issue if we don’t have a surge in pop of legalised illegal immigrants.
dredwinbosi Jun 07, 9:00am
@mpkotabelud @limkitsiang@junzwong Tambatuon is already a natural tourism attraction, no need a man-made lake.
Continue reading “Twitter Power – Tambatuon dam controversy – Why MP Kota Belud never visited kampong? (5)”
By Shannon Teoh | June 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Although Parliament resumes on Monday, Lim Kit Siang and Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan have not ceased a two-week Twitter argument over the construction of a dam in the senior Umno backbencher’s constituency.
The two have been at it hammer and tongs over the RM450 million dam in Kampung Tambatuon, Kota Belud, with increasingly poisonous responses attracting widespread attention from other users of the micro-blogging service. Continue reading “Kit Siang, Kota Belud MP in 2-week dam debate”
I have today given notice to the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin to move an urgent parliamentary motion next week on the second Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) death since its establishment on 1st January 2009 – senior custom officer Ahmad Sarbaini, another mysterious fall-from-height death at MACC premises at Jalan Cochrane on April 6.
My motion for an urgent parliamentary debate will also focus on the revelation by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin that the police had conducted a thorough check on Ahmad Sarbaini’s assets and found no “unusual or extraordinary” wealth.
Raja Petra had blogged: “He (Ahmad Sarbaini) had only three modest cars — a Perodua Kancil, a second-hand Honda CRV and a Proton Persona — and a Modenas Kriss bike, which he rode to the MACC office on that unfortunate morning of 6th April, the day of his death.
Continue reading “Notice of urgent Parliamentary motion next week on second MACC death esp report that Sarbaini had “no unusual or extraordinary wealth””
Malaysiakini Your Say | Jun 10, 11 10:37am
‘Why pay the total of RM6.5 million in cash? No one would deal in cold hard cash unless it is to eliminate the paper trail.’
Khir paid RM6.5m in cash to renovate mansion
Joker: Landscaper Nasir Ismail was declared bankrupt but can still run and operate a multi-million-ringgit business? What use is the bankruptcy law then?
Of important note, a witness under oath has testified that former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo paid RM6.5mil in cash for the renovation works. Where does he get such money?
Continue reading “We, too, want to be a dentist like Khir Toyo”
Malaysiakini Your Say | Jun 10, 11 9:26am
‘What does MCA stand for? Do you subscribe to the doctrine of good governance? Or are you paying lip-service to it?’
Soi Lek: Chinese balancing act has gone awry
Cala: MCA chief Dr Chua Soi Lek, despite being well-educated, erred in the assumptions he made. He appeared to assume that it was MCA’s ‘birth right’ to have access to the support of the Chinese Malaysian community.
He was thinking illogically because he assumed that only MCA was capable of co- coordinating the Chinese for representation in the government. This kind of reasoning was obtuse.
Continue reading “MCA out of sync with Chinese aspirations”
Malaysiakini Your Say | Jun 10, 11 9:11am
‘MCA leaders are now accomplice to the deepening of the country’s major problem by perpetuating the cycle of racial and religious politics.’
Soi Lek: Chinese balancing act has gone awry
David Dass: MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek’s logic is flawed. He wants the Chinese Malaysians to split their vote between the BN and the opposition so that the Chinese have representation in government and there is a strong opposition.
In effect, he wants the Chinese in opposition to do the work of the MCA. The fact is that the Chinese want Chinese representation in government to be effective and the feeling is that it is not. I think that it is too easy to blame Umno.
Continue reading “Soi Lek, Umno has ‘castrated’ MCA leaders”
9 JUN — Dr Mahathir Mohamad masih lagi hendak bercakap terlalu banyak dalam mempertahankan Umno. Niat beliau mungkin ikhlas untuk mempertahankan Umno kerana beliau adalah ahli Umno. Tetapi kata-kata beliau mungkin membantutkan usaha Umno untuk kembali mendapat penghormatan rakyat. Beliau sudah agak pelupa orangnya dan banyak kali apa yang beliau kata terhadap musuh politiknya, itulah yang beliau lazim lakukan.
Dalam isu PAS dengan pembaharuannya selepas muktamar parti itu hujung minggu lepas Dr Mahathir telah mengatakan yang Karpal Singh-lah yang berjaya mempengaruhi PAS supaya menolak perjuangan Islam parti itu sedangkan parti itu hanya hendak memberikan tumpuan yang lebih kepada negara kebajikan jika diberi mandat untuk memerintah. Itu adalah sebahagain besar dari pimpinan ciri Islam.
Continue reading “Menolak pentadbiran Islam, Dr M lebih berjaya dari Karpal — Aspan Alias”
By Yow Hong Chieh
June 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has slammed MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek for “lies” in claiming that the state government was running on a budget deficit that will deepen next year.
Lim said that since Pakatan Rakyat (PR) took over the state from Barisan Nasional (BN), Penang has recorded the highest budget surpluses in the nation’s history with RM88 million in 2008, RM77 million in 2009 and RM33 million in 2010, as confirmed by the Auditor-General’s Report.
He added that the current Penang administration was the only government in Malaysia, whether state or federal, to be praised by Transparency International for its fight against corruption.
Continue reading “Guan Eng rounds on Soi Lek for Penang deficit ‘lies’”
By Shannon Teoh
June 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — A Malaysian company with links to Iran tried to buy gyroscopes used for guiding missiles from China, according to a leaked United States diplomatic cable.
According to the cable released by whistleblower website Wikileaks, the US Department of State asked China in December 2009 to block the sale of TRS-500 gyroscopes from China firm VibTel Industrial to Electronics Component Limited (ECL).
The cable, which was published today on news portal Malaysia Today, said that the US embassy in Beijing was ordered to share information with Chinese officials to assist “your ability to prevent the transfer of these gyroscopes by VibTel Industrial Co. to ECL.”
Continue reading “Wikileaks: Malaysian firm tried to buy China missile parts”
By G. Manimaran
June 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has labelled Umno a hypocritical party for slamming its political foe’s pro-welfare state stand raised at the PAS annual general assembly last week.
The popular Muslim cleric said Umno, as the ruling Barisan Nasional’s (BN) lynchpin which is also supposed to represent the Malay voice, should have supported the Islamist party’s idea instead of slamming it as conservative and fanatical.
“I don’t know Umno’s actual stand. Previously, Umno criticised PAS for being controlled by the ulamas, now with the professionals in charge they are still whacking the party.
Continue reading “Umno a hypocrite for anti-PAS welfare state stand, says Muslim cleric”
By Lee Wei Lian
June 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Unik, the prime minister’s initiative tasked with restructuring the country’s public innovation ecosystem has hit a setback with the resignation of its technical advisor N Danaraj who was in charge of putting together the National Innovation Policy (NIP).
His resignation earlier this week could come as a blow to Unik due to the loss of experience as Danaraj has a masters degree in public administration from Harvard, a doctorate from Oxford and was also technical advisor to the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC), a senior fellow at Khazanah Nasional and a research fellow at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.
His departure, which sources say was due to various disagreements with Unik CEO Dr Kamaljit Singh over the NIP, comes as several innovation agencies have been privately expressing concern over the Unik chief’s leadership style.
Continue reading “Key resignation, resentment hits new national innovation initiative”
By Zhi Wei Lee
31 May, 2011 | loyarburok.com
A consideration of the debate on vernacular schools, and the important roles that both national and vernacular schools have to play in Malaysia.
The debate on vernacular schools in Malaysia is often misleading, unconstructive and damaging. I say this because much discourse and opinions about vernacular schools have a dangerous tendency to suffer from oversimplification; you are either for the vernacular school, or you are for its abolition. This is little more than politicised banter — on one hand, it preaches to the choir; but on the other, it unnecessarily stirs up divisive communal frustrations. We must acknowledge that this recurring controversy is deeply-rooted in the convoluted web that is the fabric of Malaysian society — some of which our own doing, others an indirect result of British colonialism. Either way, its complexity demands greater attention and certainly, deeper analysis. Continue reading “Vernacular Education In Malaysia”
By Jeswan Kaur
June 9, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today
Comment Seventeen years ago, the country was dumbfounded when a rising female athlete committed suicide. The youngster, Rabia Abdul Salam, apparently had been sexually harassed by her coach.
What drove Rabia to end her life? The shame of being a victim of sexual harassment, of not being able to face life as a result of that?
Unfortunately, the Rabia episode failed to move the government to put into place legislation to safeguard women from vile acts of sexual harassment. Women continue to face sexual distress, be it at the workplace or in public spaces, but the government is least bothered about providing a helping hand.
In April 2008, the then minister Jamaluddin Jarjis was said to have sexually harassed a female worker of a restaurant at a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Continue reading “Sexual harassment, so what?”
By Teoh El Sen
June 9, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: Malaysians will be at a “slight disadvantage” in the competive global environment because of their poor command of English, said Jobstreet.com.
The online recruitment company recently placed Malaysia, behind Singapore and the Philippines in an English Language assessment test conducted in Asian countries.
“We are not that far off in the ranking but the third place does mean that we do have a slight disadvantage when we compete globally for businesses,” said JobStreet.com country manager Chook Yuh Yng.
Chook said there was a need to appreciate the importance of English proficiency as English is recognised as the international business language. Continue reading “Poor command of English affects job chances”
By Centre for Policy Initiatives
June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JUNE 9 — The Malaysian Insider yesterday (June 8) carried the rather arresting headline “Use Interlok as model for history textbooks, says historian”. The article reported a suggestion by Prof Anthony Milner for “Interlok” to be used as a model for history textbooks. The reasons given are that the novel is “wonderfully inclusive” and “sympathetic” in its narrative and depiction of non-Malays.
Milner, who is with UKM’s International Studies department, categorises “Interlok” as being “a bit of a historical novel” that provides an insight into the lives of the Chinese and Indian communities and their relationship with the Malay community.
The Australian academic is likely unaware that his proposal is every bit as controversial as Abdullah Hussain’s contentious novel. “Interlok” elicited the firestorm it has precisely because its sympathy quotient is no more than if a third-rate author were to attempt to copy Alex Haley’s acclaimed “Roots” (about the origins of the African-Americans) but narrating from a white slave owner’s supremacist point of view. Continue reading “If history was written by Interlok author Abdullah Hussain”
By Chris Yip
June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JUNE 9 — I’m an automotive engineering student currently studying in England. I was born and raised in Selangor for a solid 20 years before leaving Malaysia to study abroad.
Many would say only the rich are able to afford an education in the UK, but I would tell you otherwise, or maybe in this case I’m the odd one out.
I come from a family of six whose sole breadwinner is my father, and he doesn’t earn a five-figure salary and has been retrenched more times than I can remember. I have a diploma from a technical college that does one too many advertisements around the country (NOT cheap to study there at all) but I managed to score a scholarship from them.
Since my parents know very well that education is the base of a person’s career, they made sure I was going to continue studying for a degree even if they had to survive on bread and water. Seeing that my interest and brains were victims to the automotive industry, and there was nowhere I could go to further my studies in Malaysia, it left me no choice but to study abroad. Continue reading “Showing we really ‘boleh’”
By Erna Mahyuni
June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JUNE 9 — Tech blog Wirawan Web lived up to its “Internet hero” moniker by turning up evidence of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) directing local ISPs to ban certain sites.
In what looks like a circular sent out by the MCMC to ISPs, a list of file-sharing sites have been targetted including the controversial piratebay.org, warez forum Warez-BB as well as file-sharing site Megaupload.
What I found interesting was the reaction of Malaysians I know on Twitter and other social networking sites; most said they had already known about censorship attempts and/or were unsurprised at MCMC’s actions.
In other words, they placed little store in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s statement that the government was committed to not censoring the Internet.
Cakap tak serupa bikin (Words belying actions), as the saying goes in Bahasa Malaysia. Continue reading “MCMC: Forced to play bad cop in censorship game?”
By Debra Chong
June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — The DAP pledged today to back Hannah Yeoh and Ramachandran Muniandy all the way to court in their bid to register their newborn child as an “Anak Malaysia” for her official ethnicity.
In a statement today, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said he has directed the party’s legal adviser, Gobind Singh Deo, to represent the interracial couple in court should they decide to pursue the case.
“Forcing Hannah and Ramachandran to choose either Indian or Chinese is repugnant when they just want their child to be known as Malaysian,” Lim said.
“By deliberately forcing us into ethnic boxes BN is not celebrating diversity nor creating a common Malaysian identity, but opportunistically playing divide-and-rule politics,” the Penang chief minister added, criticising the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. Continue reading “DAP backs couple’s ‘Anak Malaysia’ bid”
By Yow Hong Chieh
June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — Both the police and the national anti-graft agency must respond to claims by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin that police found no proof of unusual wealth in the assets of deceased Customs officer Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed, Lim Kit Siang said today.
The DAP parliamentary leader said the authorities should not wait for an inquest or a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to confirm or deny the allegations, especially as this was the second mysterious death under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) watch.
Raja Petra, in a post on his Malaysia Today website yesterday, claimed the police had conducted a thorough check on Sarbaini’s assets and found no unusual or extraordinary wealth. Continue reading “Kit Siang: Cops, MACC must answer RPK claims about dead Customs man”
By Kamal Amzan
June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JUNE 9 — Why is it so hard to have a single education system?
With all the talk about unity, certain sacrifices must be made. If a unified Malaysia cannot be fostered in this generation, we shouldn’t miss the bandwagon for the next generation.
I’ve said this before, and let me say it again. Let’s start with our divisive schools.
In order to make a single school system successful, the government must build more schools. When we have enough schools to cater for a single session, we can then begin to teach extra languages and cultural studies in the afternoon. Those who claim that the vernacular schools are built as a mean to propagate and preserve their cultures can then be permanently silenced. Continue reading “One single school system”