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Pak Samad: Umno playing race card on Bersih 2.0

By Nigel Aw
Jul 18, 11 | MalaysiaKini

Umno, the commanding political party in the BN, is using the threat of Malays losing their political power to shore up its support base in countering the electoral reform demanded by Bersih 2.0, says national laureate A Samad Said.

Any implementation of the eight demands by Bersih 2.0, which includes postal voting reform, a major source of votes for the ruling coalition, is expected to erode its stranglehold on power.

“This (racial politics) is often raised by Umno. Most recently (with Bersih 2.0), there were also suggestions that Malay (political) power was being eroded,” Samad said. Continue reading “Pak Samad: Umno playing race card on Bersih 2.0”

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DAP downplays Pakatan split rumours

By Clara Chooi
July 18, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang today shrugged off talk that his party may split from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) due to recurring conflicts with PAS, saying the idea had “not seriously occurred” to party leaders.

The senior politician also rejected the notion that PAS had kowtowed to DAP when the former revoked the Kedah entertainment outlet ban yesterday, insisting instead that the state government had shown tolerance and their willingness to resolve conflicts through consultation.

“The issue has shown the preparedness of the Pakatan Rakyat leadership to discuss and resolve problems, a glaring contrast with Umno,” he told The Malaysian Insider today. Continue reading “DAP downplays Pakatan split rumours”

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Doctored 709 photo — who’s responsible?

All top journalists as well as management personnel in New Sunday Times and Berita Minggu responsible for the photographic falsification of a PAS Unit Amal volunteer as a violent 709 protestor armed with knife when he was holding a Malaysian flag and not throwing rocks at police should step out and own up.

It is a violation of all the basic tenets of journalism of truth, fair play and responsibility for New Straits Times through the New Sunday Times and Berita Minggua to commit such a blatant and flagrant breach of journalistic ethics – a base and lowly act of irresponsibility not only to the profession of journalism but also a great disservice to the plural Malaysian nation-building.

The Malay daily Berita Minggu had on July 10 front-paged the picture of a heavily-built man in a white T-shirt with a black cloth wrapped around his face.

The man, shrouded in smoke, was depicted hurling an object with his left hand while in his right was what appeared to be a knife handle.

The caption read: “Seorang perusuh membawa pisau dalam perhimpunan haram” (A rioter brings a knife to illegal rally) and another subheadline read: “Perusuh guna senjata, batu, lawan polis” (Rioters use weapons, rocks to fight police).
Continue reading “Doctored 709 photo — who’s responsible?”

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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #74

By M. Bakri Musa

Chapter 9: Islam in Malay Life

Reform in Islam

Islam is fortunate in that right from the very beginning it has a tradition of revival and reform. A tradition of the prophet has it that Allah will send every so often unto each ummah those who will renew the faith. Implicit in this hadith is the recognition of a community’s dynamism. The great Muslim reformists of the 19th and early 20th Centuries were handicapped because their native lands were under Western colonization. Many were necessarily consumed with the battle to free themselves from colonialism and by association, Western influences.

They understandably regarded the West as an enemy of Islam. Nonetheless despite such burdens, reformists like Muhammad Abduh of Egypt and Pakistan’s Muhammad Iqbal were able to forge a new understanding and insight into Islam. While many reformists of his time were consumed with the futile effort of trying to bring Islam back to its glorious past, Iqbal was forward looking. He rightly distinguished between the eternal and immutable principles of the Quran on the one hand, and those laws, regulations, and practices that were the products of human interpretation.
Continue reading “Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #74”

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PAS: MCA, Gerakan approved nightspot ban in 1997

The Malaysian Insider | July 18, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — PAS today called MCA and Gerakan hypocrites for criticising the Kedah ban on entertainment outlets, pointing out that the two parties had approved the law when it was passed during the rule of the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the state.

“It was this group that supported the enactment in 1997 when it was debated before,” PAS information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said in a statement carried on PAS website Harakah Daily this morning. “Suddenly, they want to become heroes supposedly because they want to protect the rights of the non-Muslims.”

Tuan Ibrahim, who is PAS Pahang commissioner, also countered accusations that the state’s decision yesterday to revoke the ban was due to the Islamist party’s subservience to DAP and dared all BN-controlled states to impose the same restrictions.
Continue reading “PAS: MCA, Gerakan approved nightspot ban in 1997”

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Kit Siang: Teoh’s ghost will linger after release of RCI report

By Clara Chooi | July 18, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — DAP’s Lim Kit Siang today lauded the Cabinet’s decision to make public the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s (RCI) findings on Teoh Beng Hock’s death but warned that its release might not lay the two-year controversy to rest.

The senior politician reminded the government that it was still yet to be determined if the RCI had successfully unearthed the mysterious circumstances that led to Teoh’s fatal fall in 2009.

“We do not know if the RCI was able to get to that depth, to the root of the matter . . . to determine the details behind Teoh’s death and whether it is acceptable. We will still need to study it,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Continue reading “Kit Siang: Teoh’s ghost will linger after release of RCI report”

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I did not bring knife to demo, says protester

Malaysiakini | Jul 18, 11

The man behind the image of an alleged ‘violent protester’ that was splashed on the front pages of the country’s major newspapers after the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 has stepped forward.

Speaking at a PAS ceramah in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Abdul Razak Endut said that the alleged knife he was holding was a Malaysian flag and he was not throwing rocks at police.

“When the FRU fired tear gas, I saw the wind blowing towards the demonstrators… I picked up the canister and tossed it to a grass field with the hope that the demonstrators would be safe,” said Abdul Razak.
Continue reading “I did not bring knife to demo, says protester”

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A decent gov’t will not fear Jeyakumar

Malaysiakini Your Say | Jul 18, 11

‘If we Malaysians stand up against those cowards in power, we can, once again, call ourselves a decent society.’

How did my friend become a violent subversive?

Ferdtan: We all know the arrests of Dr D Jeyakumar and five other PSM members are collateral damage of the Bersih rally.

It is obvious that they are completely innocent of all the allegations made by the police. We, the rakyat, are not fooled. They were arrested on the onset, before the actual Bersih on July 9, hoping to check mate the Bersih committee and spook them into calling off the march.

For now, we can’t see the PSM 6 being released too easily. The police just cannot lose ‘face’ as their ‘credibility’ would be affected (as if they have one in the first place).
Continue reading “A decent gov’t will not fear Jeyakumar”

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Another case of police probing themselves

Malaysiakini Your Say | Jul 17, 11

‘Expecting the police to investigate the police assault on Tung Shin Hospital is like asking a robber to testify to the honesty and kindness of another robber.’

Two special police teams to probe Tung Shin claims

Sarajun Hoda: How stupid does the police think Malaysians are? The people do not trust the police anymore, so why would they trust their investigations?

It is like asking Ali Baba to investigate his 40 thieves. People do not trust Najib’s government. People do not trust the police. People do not trust the judiciary. The Agong perhaps is their last hope, and who should call for a royal commission of inquiry.

Saengch: I hope the police team sent to interrogate the doctors is not there to intimidate them into changing their words.
Continue reading “Another case of police probing themselves”

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Not exactly a chip off the old block

Malaysiakini Your Say | Jul 17, 11

‘Whichever way we look at it, we should be happy that there are people like Marina. The PM should take note of her comments.’

Marina ticks off gov’t in its handling of Bersih

David Dass: Marina Mahathir is an extraordinary person. Strongly principled and steadfast. It says something about her father, Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Like him or not, agree with him or not, it is clear that freedom of expression is something that is allowed within the Mahathir family.

Whichever way we look at it, we should be happy that there are people like Marina emerging from within the country. The PM should take note of her comments. Many support the sentiments expressed by Marina.
Continue reading “Not exactly a chip off the old block”

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Liow, it’s all your own doing

Malaysiakini Your Say | Jul 17, 11

‘You lied with a straight face. Put simply, you shot yourself in the foot. Your lie has blown right back in your own face.’

Liow: Someone out there trying to get me

DannyLoHH: In his first public statement, the health minister used words like irresponsible, serious allegation with the aim to tarnish the name of Malaysia, if it didn’t happen means it didn’t happen, and it’s the truth to describe the non-occurring of police shooting water canon and tear-gas canister into Tung Shin Hospital compound.

The video is widely circulated online, which clearly shows that the attitude of Liow Tiong Lai is defensive of the police and dismissive of enquiries regarding mounting video and photographic evidence. In short, he has shot his own foot on TV.
Continue reading “Liow, it’s all your own doing”