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Ambushed Like Animals, I Had to Walk-Crawl

By June Rubis
14 July 2011 | LoyarBurok

We were so close that I could wipe the sweat off his forehead if I had wanted to. Instead, I stood uncertainly in front of him, not wanting to push forward.

His expression on his face mirrored mine: which was of fear. After exchanging a glance with me, he looked away and determinedly stared into space, while in locked arms with few of his blue-clad colleagues.

I saw more police milling around and they did not stop us from entering KL Sentral. There were many chances to arrest the BERSIH leaders as soon as they had stepped outside the hotel. But it seemed to me that the police had a different plan: they wanted to ambush them, and pick them off one by one. Continue reading “Ambushed Like Animals, I Had to Walk-Crawl”

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In memory of Teoh Beng Hock

By Teoh El Sen
July 16, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

SERI KEMBANGAN: The cute little toddler played and ran about, bringing a tinge of a smile to the crowd of serious-looking adults around him.

Clad in an orange shirt, the 17-month-old Teoh Er Jia’s cheerful disposition bore a stark contrast to the tears of his family and the sombre mood of some 400 people who gathered to commemorate the anniversary of his father’s death.

Today, marked the second year of Teoh Beng Hock’s death.

Last night, a memorial function in his honour was held at the Seri Kembangan multipurpose hall, attended by Teoh’s former employer, Selangor exco Ean Yong Hian Wah and other DAP leaders.

Throughout the event, Er Jia was the centre of attention as his mother Soh Cher Wei received praises and support from the people. Continue reading “In memory of Teoh Beng Hock”

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Building a new ‘We’ for the nation

By M Nadarajah
Jul 16, 11 | MalaysiaKini

Recently, I had to go to IJN to be with my brother-in-law who recently went through open-heart surgery to replace a faulty valve in his heart. He was in ICU.

As my trip was from PJ during peak hours, I had time to chat with the taxi driver – something I normally do with drivers who are friendly and willing to chat.

Most of the time, such conversations lapse into topical political issues, race relations, the economic situation and sometimes, personal challenges.

This time it led to conversation on Bersih and what it stood for. He was completely for it, showing a lot of knowledge about it. Continue reading “Building a new ‘We’ for the nation”

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Bersih asset freeze will scare investors, says DAP

By Boo Su-Lyn
July 16, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — The government’s threat to freeze the assets of those involved with Bersih 2.0 will destroy Malaysia’s financial reputation as bad press abounds on the Najib administration’s handling of last weekend’s rally, the DAP said today.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Awang Adek Hussin said yesterday that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) can freeze the assets of those believed to be participating in activities deemed risky to the nation’s security. Continue reading “Bersih asset freeze will scare investors, says DAP”

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Wear Yellow to support Bersih 1Malaysia generation coming of age

"Yellow Saturday" at DAP National Retreat in Seremban

DAP MPs and Assemblymen representatives meeting in the Seremban National Retreat are wearing yellow today to support the “Yellow Saturday” campaign.

We call on Malaysians to wear yellow every Saturday to support the Bersih 1Malaysia generation which came of age on 709, when Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region, age or gender braved police threats, mass arrests, tear gas and chemically-laced water cannons to endorse Bersih 2.0 demand for free and fair elections.

Let today, 716 be the beginning of the long march to A Clean Malaysia, not only in elections but also in political system and national governance. Continue reading “Wear Yellow to support Bersih 1Malaysia generation coming of age”

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Yes Mr PM, it’s ‘all about politics’

By Jeswan Kaur
July 16, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

COMMENT The dust on the crackdown by the Barisan Nasional government against a rally seeking to reform the electoral system will never settle.

In exactly a week since election watchdog Bersih 2.0 held its “Walk for Democracy” last Saturday, much dirt has surfaced, all pointing in the direction of the BN leadership under Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Not only did Najib try his very best to play out Bersih 2.0 or the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections comprising 62 non-governmental organisations, he unwittingly ended up making the biggest mistake in his mere two-years of premiership, when he pitted the police force against the rakyat. Continue reading “Yes Mr PM, it’s ‘all about politics’”

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Bersih and the wider trust deficit problem

By Hafiz Noor Shams
July 16, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 16 — Somewhere in Streatham, south of London earlier this year, I found myself slouching lazily on a couch watching the BBC with a friend and his still lazier cat. On television was the Egyptian revolution “live”, with protesters and government supporters throwing rocks at each other. Such was the lamentable state of Egypt that used to be the apex of human civilisation not once, but twice. Its deeply-flawed institutions had reduced Egypt into a state of anarchy.

“Don’t you find this impossible?” I think I asked my friend. “We know these protesters want Mubarak out but what about his supporters? Are their wishes less legitimate than those protesting on the streets?”

The reply came promptly, “The importance of a credible election. Credible elections are important in determining popular opinion. Nothing in Egypt has enough credibility or the competence to ascertain the popular opinion right now.” Continue reading “Bersih and the wider trust deficit problem”

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BNM can freeze Bersih assets, says Awang Adek

July 15, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

Datuk Awang Adek Hussin today said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) can freeze the assets of those believed to be participating in activities deemed risky to the nation’s security if the police recommend so.

The deputy finance minister highlighted this in relation to reports that the Bersih 2.0 movement headed by Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan was receiving foreign funding for its activities.

According to Awang, provisions within the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act allowed for the central bank to not only bar access to such funds but also trace both deposits and withdrawals of the offending accounts. Continue reading “BNM can freeze Bersih assets, says Awang Adek”

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One event, many ‘truths’

By Eric Loo
Jul 15, 11 | MalaysiaKini

Being clean is good. Being clean in government is best. So, the people walked the streets of KL for a clean cause. But when the government and its media played dirty on the discontented multitudes who flooded the streets of Jalan Tun Perak, Jalan Petaling and Jalan Pudu on July 9, it makes me very angry. I was there.

Right-wing threats against Bersih, splashed across the mainstream papers and screened on television, had ironically mobilised to the public square the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians and other usually ‘invisible’ minority groups. The people gathered and chanted as one body in front of Menara Maybank. ‘Hidup Bersih! Hidup Rakyat! Hancur Bersih! Hancur Rakyat!’ Continue reading “One event, many ‘truths’”

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Poet Samad Said to boycott gov’t functions

By Nigel Aw
Jul 15, 11 | MalaysiaKini

Protesting the government’s crackdown on peaceful protesters in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, distinguished poet and novelist A Samad Said said he will from now on not attend government functions.

“I don’t know how my friends in government will react, but I will not accept any invitation from the government. For the moment, I will not entertain them,” he said. Continue reading “Poet Samad Said to boycott gov’t functions”

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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #73

By M. Bakri Musa

Chapter 9: Islam in Malay Life

Shari’a in a Plural Society

The issue of the Islamic state is needlessly consuming the energy of many Malaysians, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It is also the platform of the Islamic Party (PAS), its reason for being. Yet when challenged on the specifics, PAS is sorely unprepared. Surely after championing the issue for the past half a century, its leaders should have a pretty clear idea of their goals. If by Islamic state they mean one based on the ideals of justice and morality of the Quran, then all Muslims and many non-Muslims would agree. But if they want a state based on the Shari’a (Islamic law) in its current form, many Muslims and certainly all non-Muslims would demur.

The Shari’a took three centuries to formulate and consumed the best intellectual talent of the Muslim world at the time. Although based on the Qur’an and sunnah (ways of the prophet), the Shari’a remains the creation of mortals and as such, carries all the imperfections implicit in such endeavors. For Muslims to ascribe to it the reverence and perfection reserved only for the Quran means that we ascribe those very same qualities to the mortals who crafted the Shari’a.
Continue reading “Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #73”

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A Faltering Premier

By Karim Raslan
July 14, 2011 | Jakarta Globe

When a political party such as Malaysia’s United Malays National Organization has ruled a nation for more than half a century, its missteps can shake an entire society.

As Malaysia recovers from last weekend’s Bersih 2.0 demonstrations in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the normally placid 28 million population has to come to terms with its continuing immaturity in terms of politics, civil society and governance.

But in order to understand why, we have to go back in history — first to the 2008 polls and the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition’s surprise drubbing at the hands of the opposition People’s Alliance, and on to the 2009 rise of Najib Razak, who replaced the well-intentioned, if accident-prone, Abdullah Badawi as prime minister. Continue reading “A Faltering Premier”

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Sizzling yellow reception for Najib in UK

MalaysiaKini
Jul 15, 11

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s visit to the United Kingdom was greeted by protesters in yellow condemning the high-handed crackdown on Bersih 2.0 rally last Saturday and demanded electoral reform.

Dozens of protesters, comprising both Malaysians and foreigners, gathered outside Mansion House at London an hour before Najib’s arrivalfor a meeting with the London business community.

Yellow posters and banners, condemning the clampdown on Bersih 2.0 were unfurled, urging the Malaysian government to release six Parti Sosialis (PSM) activists dubbed “EO6” being held under the Emergency Ordinance which allows indefinite detention without trial. Continue reading “Sizzling yellow reception for Najib in UK”

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Kit Siang says EO detainee Jeyakumar is all right

By Joseph Sipalan
Jul 15, 11 | MalaysiaKini

Sungai Siput MP Dr D Jeyakumar is holding up well despite having been detained for nearly three weeks now, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said today after meeting up with the Parti Sosialis Malaysia activist.

Lim, who with PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub and PKR’s Subang Jaya MP R Sivarasa met with Jeyakumar for 20 minutes at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters earlier today, said he PSM was doing “okay” so far.

“By and large he is okay, despite the wear and tear. Continue reading “Kit Siang says EO detainee Jeyakumar is all right”

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Detention of PSM MP mockery of the law

By K Pragalath
July 15, 201 | Free Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR: Whoever framed the charges under the Emergency Ordinance to detain six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists must be exposed, said DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang.

“Whoever is responsible for concocting the charges must be exposed and the government must also provide a full explanation for the detention,” he said.

“The detention is a mockery of the law,” said Lim after meeting with Sungai Siput MP, Dr D Michael Jeyakumar in Bukit Aman today. Continue reading “Detention of PSM MP mockery of the law”

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Men in blue pounce on MP in yellow

By G Vinod
July 15, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

PETALING JAYA: DAP MP Er Teck Hwa landed in trouble when he wore the banned Bersih 2.0 yellow T-shirt on his way to a memorial service for the late Teoh Beng Hock yesterday.

Relating the incident, the Bakri MP’s aide Liew Choan Chee said some 50 people gathered at Wisma DAP in Muar, Johor, for the service at 8pm.

There was a FRU truck and several policemen stationed nearby.

“We were supposed to march to Er’s service centre which is about 300 yards from the DAP building. When we started walking, several police officers stopped our procession,” said Liew. Continue reading “Men in blue pounce on MP in yellow”

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Najib suffers from a “mild stroke” in UK

He calls police action “quite mild”
By Martin Jalleh

It appears that the Prime Minister has suffered a mild “brain attack” whilst on an official visit to UK.

He experienced sudden trouble speaking or understanding speech, dizziness, lightheadedness loss of “balance or coordination”, “spinning” sensations, and “brain seizures”.

It happened when Najib was telling CNN in an interview conducted in London that police action on those who took part in the Bersih 2.0 march on July 9, was “quite mild”.

There was no “undue use of force”. It was of course not as mild as his initial response when he even initially claimed there was “no physical contact between police and protesters”!
Continue reading “Najib suffers from a “mild stroke” in UK”

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Free EO detainees as Bersih rally over, says Pakatan

By Boo Su-Lyn
July 15, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) demanded today for the immediate release of the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members held under the Emergency Ordinance 1969 as the Bersih rally was over.

“709 is over. There is no case or justification to hold (Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael) Jeyakumar (Devaraj) or the PSM six,” DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang told reporters today, referring to the July 9 Bersih rally that drew tens of thousands.

Lim’s joint press conference with PAS’s Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub and PKR’s Subang MP R. Sivarasa was held after they visited Dr Jeyakumar at the Bukit Aman police headquarters here. Continue reading “Free EO detainees as Bersih rally over, says Pakatan”

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“Malaysia Worked For Peaceful Protest”

By Ahmad Rozian
15 Jul 2011 | Wall Street Journal

Your editorial (“Crackdown 2.0 in Malaysia,” July 12) states that protesters in Kuala Lumpur have suffered “intimidation” and “repression” at the hands of the government in recent weeks. The truth is somewhat different.

Malaysians have a constitutional right to peaceful assembly and throughout the build-up to last weekend’s protest Prime Minister Najib Razak worked to find a solution that would allow Bersih to exercise that right. This included offering the use of a large-capacity stadium where the event could be held safely and without disrupting the lives and businesses of ordinary Malaysians. Continue reading ““Malaysia Worked For Peaceful Protest””