Month: July 2011

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 31, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak disclosed today he had thought of Shah Alam stadium for the July 9 rally when he made offered a venue to Bersih, pointing out this was “the best option” available.

The prime minister, however, had never specified which stadium Bersih could hold the July 9 rally at when he made the offer.

“I offered a stadium. You can show dissent in a stadium, but they still wanted to do it on the streets.

“I had in mind the Shah Alam stadium, that was the best option,” Najib said today during his speech at the closing of the Malaysian Student Leaders Summit (MSLS) here. Continue reading “Najib says had Shah Alam stadium in mind for Bersih”

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 31, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak kept mum today when asked to state whether he was a proponent of his own two-year-old 1 Malaysia policy that espouses being “Malaysian first”.

The country’s sixth prime minister was responding to questions posed by Malaysian students at the Malaysian Student Leaders Summit (MSLS) here.

A student had asked Najib whether he was prepared to state that he was Malaysian first and what he thought of his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s infamous remark of being “Malay first and Malaysian next.”

Najib did not answer the question directed at him.

“I don’t want to respond in a way that will divide me from my deputy. Continue reading “Najib dodges ‘Malaysian first, Malay next’ question”

— NH Chan
(www.loyarburok.com)

Jul 31, 2011 JULY 31 — The MACC knew at the outset that without a confession from Teoh Beng Hock they would be unable to prove any wrongdoing against the state government of Selangor.

However, the RCI concluded that the MACC tried to extract a confession from Teoh Beng Hock but the ruse backfired when instead the RCI pointed its finger at the perpetrators at the MACC with a finding that it was the MACC’s own personnel who had driven Teoh Beng Hock to suicide.

Don’t you think this looks like a scenario for a whodunnit or a Hollywood movie?

One wonders how silly can the three judges get, when they should have known better? There were three superior court judges in the panel of the Royal Commission of Inquiry – in fact the RCI was headed by a Federal Court judge! All that the judges have to do – when they have to deal with expert witnesses – is to refer to section 45 of the Evidence Act 1950. It is as simple as that. Continue reading “Cart and horse”

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 30, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Lim Kit Siang today reminded Datuk Seri Najib Razak that his credibility as Prime Minister was “in tatters” due to his administration’s gross mishandling of several issues, and said that the release of the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members from their Emergency Ordinance (EO) detention yesterday did not change anything.

The Prime Minister has insisted that the release of the PSM members, including Sungai Siput MP Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj was done according to the due process of the law, and that it was made by the police based on “their observations.” “It was his greatest failure of leadership as Prime Minister leaving his credibility in tatters — which is why his claim yesterday that the release of the PSM6 under the Emergency Ordinance was in accordance with the rule of law was met with nation-wide derision.”

“Najib cannot be more wrong if he thinks that he had restored his credibility with the release of the PSM6 yesterday,” said Lim in a statement today. Continue reading “Najib’s credibility still ‘in tatters’ despite PSM6 release, says Lim”

MIC President Datuk G Palanivel has made dubious history – being the first, unashamed and most blatant “I help you, you help me” barter Cabinet appointment in the nation’s 54-year history, nothing to do whatsoever with his personal merit or quality!

It must rank as the most cynical Cabinet appointment ever made in Malaysian history under six Prime Ministers.

Palanivel also made dubious history in other aspects. Continue reading “Palanivel makes dubious history – the first “I help you, you help me” barter Cabinet appointment in nation’s 54 year history”

The James Foong Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the death of Teoh Beng Hock (TBH) that “TBH was driven to commit suicide by the aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation by certain officers of the MACC”(Para 119) is not acceptable as it is mere speculation and not backed up by evidence.

There are however six reasons from the RCI report why a high-level special investigation squad should be formed to break the conspiracy of “blue wall of silence” (RCI Report) of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers to pinpoint and to bring to book Beng Hock’s killers.

1.The TBH RCI was most scathing in its indictment of the character and testimony of the MACC officers especially from Selangor at the RCI. Apart from two brave and truthful souls from Selangor MACC, i.e. Azeem Hafeez Jamaluddin and Azlan (Para 176), the TBH RCI virtually dismissed the rest as a pack of liars led by Hishamuddin Hashim (HH), the “mastermind” of the massive and unjustified operation which resulted in TBH’s death. Continue reading “6 reasons for high-level special investigations squad to break “blue wall of silence” of MACC officers to pinpoint TBH’s killers”

Malaysiakini
Jul 30, 11 3:54pm

In order to regain credibility after the “gross mishandling” of the PSM 6, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak must publicly repeal the EO and annul the obsolete emergency proclamations as well as other “oppressive legislature”, says Lim Kit Siang.

In a statement today, Lim said the release of the PSM 6 does not restore Najib’s credibility, as it was his government’s “high-handed” handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally that had landed the six in detention in the first place.

“It was (Najib’s) greatest failure of leadership as prime minister leaving his credibility in tatters – which is why his claim yesterday, that the release of the PSM6 under the Emergency Ordinance was in accordance with the rule of law, was met with nation-wide derision. Continue reading “DAP: Repealing EO might save Najib’s credibility”

By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 30, 2011

PUTRAJAYA, July 30 – Datuk Seri Najib Razak pledged to do all he can to bring the Indian community back into the “mainstream of development” but asked that MIC redouble efforts to secure the community’s vote.

The prime minister said there must be “quid pro quo” between Barisan Nasional (BN) component party MIC and the ruling coalition if both wished to benefit from their relationship as “loyal friends”.

“There must be an understanding. Can you all deliver for Barisan Nasional? You can deliver and we will deliver,” Najib (picture) told delegates at the 65th MIC general assembly here today. Continue reading “Najib vows to help Indians if MIC secures their vote”

Joseph Sipalan and Lee Way Loon | Jul 30, 11 12:23pm
Malaysiakini

INTERVIEW

Waking up blind was the last thing Lim Kit Siang had expected.

It happened at a jubilant time, when DAP had just seen its best ever performance in the Sarawak state election on April 16, tripling their presence to 12 seats in the 71-seat state assembly.

Lim, who is DAP advisor, had just spent the evening celebrating the achievement with his party colleagues in Kuching, later retiring to his room where he was reading up on news online till about 2am.

“Then I was up at 6am, and I couldn’t see anything out of my left eye,” he said in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini.

“Of course, it was quite a frightening thought. Suddenly you’re incapacitated. I was a one-eyed jack and that was my good eye, my right eye is my lazy eye.” Continue reading “Kit Siang: Five days, I was in darkness”

– Jacob Sinnathamby
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 30, 2011

JULY 30 – I hate to spoil the party but the last thing this country needs is another minister.

In fact, what we need is not quantity but quality. The last couple of months has shown up the inadequacies and incompetence of a number of ministers and exposed the paucity of talent in the Cabinet.

We have a Home Minister who did not know that EU citizens do not need a tourist visa (French lawyer Michael Bourdon had to educate him); a de facto Law Minister who misinterpreted a key fact in the Teoh Beng Hock Royal Commission of Inquiry and a Defence Minister who sounds shaky whenever he speaks.

And I have not even touched on the Agriculture Minister, Unity Minister, etc. Continue reading “Just what Malaysia needs: Another minister”

Jeswan Kaur | July 30, 2011
Free Malaysia Today

The Najib administration should now learn to respect the ‘rule of law’ instead of bending over backwards to fulfill its own hidden agendas

COMMENT

Abusing the Emergency Ordinance 1969, six breadwinners of their families’ were thrown behind bars and defamed with having waged a war against the King, holding subversive beliefs and instigating the rakyat to attend a rally which the police had deemed illegal.

Yesterday, 28 days later, all six were set free, unconditionally. The question that begs an answer from Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is: What happened in those 28 days’ that made him, his cousin the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar realise that the six are innocent and should rightfully be released?

Or was it a case of all three parties being well aware of the innocence of the six but proceeded to used them as scapegoats, hoping to teach Malaysians in general a lesson for taking to the streets on July 9, 2011 and challenging the ‘powers that be’? Continue reading “EO6: A bitter lesson for the govt”

The past five weeks are undoubtedly the worst period for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak since becoming the sixth Malaysian PM 27 months ago – making him the object of ridicule and scorn not only in the country but also internationally, forcing him to cut short his overseas trip.

It was his greatest failure of leadership as Prime Minister leaving his credibility in tatters – which is why his claim yesterday that the release of the PSM6 under the Emergency Ordinance was in accordance with the rule of law was met with nation-wide derision.

Najib cannot be more wrong if he thinks that he had restored his credibility with the release of the PSM6 yesterday, as nothing could wipe out the fact of his government’s high-handed and unsuccessful action to suppress the 709 Bersih 2.0 rally for free and fair elections, resulting in the arbitrariy and totally unjustifieable arrests of the PSM6, first on the ridiculous grounds of “waging war against the Agong” and “reviving communism” and then under EO for being “prime movers” of Bersih.

There are four things Najib must do, immediately and urgently, if he wants to salvage his tattered credibility after his greatest leadership failure as Prime Minister post-Bersih post-EO6. Continue reading “4 things Najib must do to salvage his tattered credibility after his greatest leadership failure as PM post-Bersih post-EO6”

Written by Hussein Hamid
Friday, 29 July 2011
CPI

Since the early 1980s, the ‘indiscretions’ of elected officials and those in the civil service have become the hallmark of all things Malaysian. This is to the extent that the people now accept corruption, greed and furthering vested interests as colouring all government transactions.

How did this scheme of things come about?

The turning point was 1981. After Mahathir Mohamad became prime minister, compassion for the people and respect for their rights was extinguished. With Mahathir too came the decline of political morality and a corresponding decline in the moral fibre of the civil service. Continue reading “Mahathir’s grand contribution to decline in political morality”

Malaysiakini
Jul 29, 11 3:42pm

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has demanded that the government reveal who was behind the charges that the PSM 6 were allegedly trying to wage war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and reviving communism.

“Malaysians are entitled to ask who are the officers or politicians who had been so ‘creative’ as to concoct the heinous charge under Section 122 of the Penal Code against the PSM activists in the first instance,” Lim said in a media statement today.

“I will ask in the next Parliament session who are the officers who concocted such charges and who are their police superiors who gave the approval, and whether the advice of the attorney-general or his officers had been sought,” he said. Continue reading “Kit Siang: Reveal who ‘concocted’ PSM 6 charges”

— The Malaysian Insider
Jul 30, 2011

JULY 30 — Just this once, please apologise.

Own up to this despicable mistake of arresting six innocent Malaysians and, maybe, the rest of their fellow citizens will move on and cut the police as well as the Najib administration some slack.

Just this once, drop the political posturing and say sorry to Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar and his party colleagues, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) deputy chairman M. Sarasvathy, central committee members Choo Chon Kai and M. Sugumaran, Sungai Siput branch secretary A. Letchumanan, and Youth chief R. Saratbabu.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had an opportunity to right a wrong yesterday but he chose to indulge in official talk, saying that the release of the six was according to due process. Continue reading “PSM6: The end of the farce”

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 29, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar asserted tonight that the order to release all Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) detainees had been a political decision and not because the “police had come to their senses”.

“They (Barisan Nasional) were losing so much popularity and support from the people that it just became too politically costly for them to keep holding us,” he told reporters after addressing a crowd of supporters at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH).

The first-term lawmaker also disagreed with Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s claim earlier this evening that the release order had been in accordance with the rule of law and that the decision had been made by the police based on their “observations”. Continue reading “Jeyakumar: Too ‘politically costly’ for BN to continue holding us”

Online Universities.com | July 6th, 2011

Brain drain, also known as human capital flight, is a serious issue in many parts of the world, as skilled professionals seek out work abroad rather than returning to work in their home country. Many are driven away by high unemployment, but issues like political oppression, lack of religious freedom and simply not being able to earn a big enough paycheck also play a significant role in exacerbating brain drain. The phenomenon is not only a serious economic issue (both in that the country loses workers and the money it put into training them in college), but one that often puts the health and safety of the nation’s citizens at risk, creating long-term and potentially disastrous results for countries with high brain drain rates spanning several decades.

Here we’ve compiled a list of some of the nations that have been hardest hit by brain drain in that past few years. While some are making progress in reversing the process, others are seeing numbers rise and citizens migrating in larger numbers every year. These nations, often those in the developing world, must make major economic and social changes if they hope to retain their best and most skilled workers over the long term. Continue reading “10 Countries Facing the Biggest Brain Drain”

By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 29, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak has insisted that the release of six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members from their Emergency Ordinance (EO) detention was done according to the due process of the law.

The prime minister told reporters today that the decision to release Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Devaraj Jeyakumar and five others at 5.30pm was made by the police based on “their observations.”

“We welcome it. It is up to the Attorney General to decide on further action. As a country, we hold to the rule of law,” the Umno president said after chairing an Umno supreme council meeting. Continue reading “Najib: Release of PSM 6 according to rule of law”

K Pragalath | July 29, 2011
Free Malaysia Today

The authorities must respect Jeyakumar’s right to go on hunger strike as a non-violent form of protest, says Malaysian Medical Association.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) today urged the police not to force-feed Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael D Jeyakumar who is being detained under the Emergency Ordinance.

“While we are concerned about the possible detrimental effects of this hunger strike on Jeyakumar’s health – more so as he has been brought to the hospital for heart problems twice since his initial arrest almost a month ago – we must also respect Jeyakumar’s right to this non-violent form of protest.

“In this regard, the MMA calls upon the authorities to respect international human rights law and not to resort to force-feeding as a means of ending Jeyakumar’s protest,” MMA president Mary Suma Cardosa said. Continue reading “MMA: Don’t force-feed Jeyakumar”

Joseph Sipalan and Lee Way Loon | Jul 29, 11
Malaysiakini

INTERVIEW It appears that Malaysia’s opposition is looking at covering all its bases in anticipation of a snap general election that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak may call at any time.

With speculation that snap polls could be called as early as November, Pakatan Rakyat has already gone into discussions to determine its candidates for each of the 222 parliamentary seats up for grabs.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang (left) said the plan is for Pakatan leaders at state level to finalise their seat negotiations by Sunday (July 31), though he did not discount the possibility that the negotiations may require more time.

What is more significant, however, is how the three Pakatan member parties – PKR, DAP and PAS – iron out their differences and accommodate one another’s needs for growth, both within the confines of the coalition and in the broader scope of Malaysian politics.
Continue reading “Seat negotiations will test Pakatan unity”