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End the smear campaign

— Islamic Renaissance Front
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 08, 2012

NOV 8 — We at the Islamic Renaissance Front condemn and lament the irresponsible mischaracterisation of Nurul Izzah Anwar’s statement on religious freedom.

She merely summarised the gist of the well-known Quranic verse in Surah al-Baqarah which clearly stressed that there is to be no compulsion in matters of faith, for truth and error has already been clearly stated.

Because of that she has been subjected to the crudest level of character assassination from those seeking to stoke controversy and gain political mileage for the upcoming elections. Continue reading “End the smear campaign”

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Huge bonus payout for Sime Darby bosses

By Habhajan Singh and John Gilbert
Free Malaysia Today
November 8, 2012

Unionists riled up over 20 months’ bonus paid to plantation managers and senior staff for 2011.

KUALA LUMPUR: A good number of plantation managers and senior staff at conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd took home bonus payouts ranging from 12 to 14 months with their September pay cheque.

Some planters and staff from other divisions of one of the largest government-linked corporations (GLC) received bonuses of as much as 20 months for the bonus payout for 2011, according company officials.

It is understood the highest payout against what is seen as meagre bonuses given to lower-level workers at its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd, has raised the ire of its unionists.

“It’s a planters market [at the moment]. Last year, most plantation companies would have paid out good bonuses,” said one industry executive.

Sime Darby declined to comment on the bonus payout, with one offical saying that staff remuneration information was confidential.

All Malayan Estate Staff Union (AMESU), the union outfit for the plantation workers, is looking at the issue with a view to taking further action, sources familiar with the union told The Malaysian Reserve.

The issue comes at a time when Sime Darby is seeking shareholders’ approval for a proposed performance-based employee share scheme of up to the company’s 10% issued and paid-up ordinary share capital.

The proposed scheme, to be voted at its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) today, is meant to award shares to selected employees for the “attainment of identified performance objectives” of the group. It is supposed to “attract, retain, motivate and reward” the “valuable selected employees,” the company said in a circular to shareholders dated Oct 16. Continue reading “Huge bonus payout for Sime Darby bosses”

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Crumbs for the masses

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | November 8, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Every business and economic project undertaken by Umno is a means by which a small powerful group enrich itself at the expense of the majority.

COMMENT

Bread for the political aristocrats and crumbs for the masses. That’s the economics practised by Umno leaders who display the characteristics of economic crimes.

The recent listing of Felda Global Ventures, for example, will go down in history as a wilful conspiracy to shortchange the Felda settlers.

What do common Felda folks know about the stock market because now all the physical assets that constitute the basis of Felda’s business are converted into paper assets.

The assets traded over the counter do not reflect the integrity and soundness of the physical assets, but reflect the manipulations and agility of stock market players.

Why place a known corrupt person as chairman and replacing conscientious Felda officers with obliging conspirators?

The fact that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak agreed to this reflects his complicity in suckering the Felda settlers. It’s a premeditated plan to plunder Felda.

Every business and economic project undertaken by Umno is a means by which a small powerful group enrich itself at the expense of the majority. Continue reading “Crumbs for the masses”

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In cleaning out Bersih and Suaram, Putrajaya soils itself

— Jaleel Hameed
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 07, 2012

NOV 7 — It is a government that has ruled since Merdeka, but it sure looks like the Alliance and its offspring Barisan Nasional (BN) has to learn some lessons early.

Take Bersih for example, kind sirs in Putrajaya.

What did the government achieve by demonising Bersih every step of the way, from its financing to its office-bearers to declaring it illegal and yet offering to work with the electorai reforms movement?

The answer is nothing, sir. Continue reading “In cleaning out Bersih and Suaram, Putrajaya soils itself”

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Rakyat berharap selepas pilihanraya ini mereka tidak dibohongi lagi

― Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 07, 2012

7 NOV ― Bila pilihanraya akan diadakan Tuhan sahaja yang tahu. Inilah kali pertama seorang Perdana Menteri belum lagi disahkan oleh rakyat sokongan mereka terhadap beliau. Mandat yang sekarang ini adalah mandat dan sokongan rakyat terhadap Abdullah Badawi.

Najib tidak berani membuat keputusan kerana beliau masih ragu untuk mengadakannya kerana rakyat semakin hari semakin menunjukkan sikap tidak berpuas hati dengan kerajaan pimpinan Najib yang meminjam mandat Abdullah Badawi.

Tetapi tidak mengapalah. Bagi pandangan ramai lagi ditangguhkan pilihanraya ini lagi mudahlah untuk menundukkan BN kali ini. Oleh kerana terlalu lama menangguhkan pilihanraya ini maka lagi jelaslah yang kerajaan hari ini yang mempunyai segala-galanya untuk memperkuatkan diri mereka tidak berdaya untuk menolak arus perubahan yang ingin dibawa oleh rakyat.

Apa yang pasti Najib akan terus keluar menjelajah ke seluruh negara kerana beliau terpaksa melakukannya disebabkan Umno di peringkat bawahan tidak bergerak dan tidak berdaya untuk berfungsi lagi.

Maka kita terpaksalah menanggung kos perbelanjaan penjelajahan Najib yang setiap kali lawatan itu memakan belanja yang berjuta jumlahnya. Semuanya itu adalah tanggungan rakyat belaka. Saya selalu berkata yang kita terpaksa menanggung perbelanjaan Perdana Menteri dalam siri kempen untuk menegakkan benang basah mereka. Continue reading “Rakyat berharap selepas pilihanraya ini mereka tidak dibohongi lagi”

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The strategy that paved a winning path

By Scott Wilson and Philip Rucker
The Washington Post
Wednesday, November 7

In early spring, President Obama’s veteran campaign staff in Chicago confronted the question that would ultimately determine the presidency: how to run against Mitt Romney?

The choice discussed on frequent calls between the White House and One Prudential Plaza was whether to campaign against Romney as a flip-flopper — a former centrist governor of Massachusetts who turned conservative to win his party’s nomination — or use his career as the head of Bain Capital to cast him as a protector of the privileged at the expense of the middle class.

“The most striking data we saw early on was on the ‘understands problems of people like me’ question,” said a senior White House official involved in the discussions. “Into the summer, Romney was in the teens in this category.”

The choice was made. The onetime campaign of hope and change soon began a sustained advertising assault that cast Romney as a heartless executive, a man who willingly fires people and is disconnected from how average Americans live their lives — an approach reinforced by Romney’s mistakes along the way. Continue reading “The strategy that paved a winning path”

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Sabah’s ‘development or else’

Erna Mahyuni
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 07, 2012

NOV 7 — A long time ago, Sabah was like the miserable child in a messy custody battle. Custody battles are hard. It’s not easy for a judge to rule on what truly is best for a child. Who could provide a better environment? The rich parent or the one who makes up for it in affection what he or she lacks in money?

Sabah got to choose… and chose the poorer parent, who wasn’t getting paid child support from the other, richer parent: Umno. Umno was still mad about the PBS walking out and like all vengeful “spouses” chose to try and beggar PBS and, by proxy, Sabah.

But in the end, choice didn’t matter. Because Sabahans’ right to choose who they wanted to lead them was taken away from them by the Great Frog Exodus.

It’s funny that Sabah’s chief minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman, can so blithely state that Sabah has grown as a “progressive, prosperous, peaceful and stable state” under Barisan Nasional.

That’s like saying after starving and torturing a child for leaving your care and then bribing someone to place the child in your hands, you expect the child to be grateful for receiving what it was due, after you denied it child support for eight years? Continue reading “Sabah’s ‘development or else’”

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No fatwa on ‘belligerent infidel’ term used in ‘Utusan’, says minister

By Mohd Farhan Darwis
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 06, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — The National Fatwa Council has never issued any fatwa (religious orders) to refer to non-Muslims as “kafir harbi” or belligerent infidels, minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said today, referring to the label some conservative Muslims had used to describe the secular DAP opposition party earlier this year.

The minister in charge of Islamic affairs also said that any statements calling non-Muslims as “kafir harbi” or “kafir zimmi” are merely personal opinions, and added that Muslims are not bound by these personal convictions.

His statement comes just months after Umno-owned Malay daily Utusan Malaysia reported several Islamic religious scholars as saying that it is “haram” or forbidden for Muslim voters to support the DAP, which they have described as a “belligerent infidel” party.

“Until now, there is no fatwa or legal opinions related to the position of non-Muslims in Malaysia as Kafir Harbi or Kafir Zimmi issued by the state Fatwa Committee, or MKI (National Council for Islamic Affairs Malaysia),” Jamil Khir said in a written reply to PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

Legal opinions are only valid and recognised after receiving approval from the states’ Fatwa Committee and the MKI, Jamil said.

“Fatwa and legal opinions in this country can only be issued by the authorities.

“Therefore, any opinion or institutions apart from the two entities cannot be considered as fatwa, but only personal conviction.” Continue reading “No fatwa on ‘belligerent infidel’ term used in ‘Utusan’, says minister”

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9 takeaways from 2012 election

By Politico
NewJersey.Com
Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Election Day is finally here.

And even though neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has been declared a winner yet, there are some things that will still hold true no matter which candidate wins the White House tonight — or in the wee hours of the morning.

Here are POLITICO’s nine takeaways from the 2012 campaign:

1. Luck matters — a lot

Obama has assembled some of the best field operatives around. His team has run the gauntlet before, prepared a ground game for five years, had a basic playbook for the 2012 cycle and (mostly) stuck to it. Obama’s natural skills as a politician are far better than Romney’s. The auto bailout helped Obama maintain what has been a small but consistent polling lead in critical states like Ohio.

And yet a little bit of luck goes an awfully long way. For all his troubles throughout his term, Obama caught some needed breaks. Continue reading “9 takeaways from 2012 election”

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What would Tunku do today?

— Ooi Kok Hin
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 06, 2012

NOV 6 — When students look at portraits of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj (1903-1990), the first Prime Minister of Malaysia is perceived as a distant figure from an era gone-by. He’s the Father of Independence, the legend, and the unknown. We are told how great he was; yet we know so little of him. He is a myth. This shouldn’t be happening, because Tunku was a prolific writer. After his retirement, Tunku actively wrote two columns for The Star newspaper: Looking Back and As I See It. Several articles from the first column were compiled into a book with the identical title. From that book, I draw several of Tunku’s views which are applicable in our country today.

1. Abolish AUKU

Tunku had a long and dreadful conflict with Communists. But when the government conjured a Communist conspiracy theory behind the student unrests of the early 1970s, Tunku was quick to reject that theory. “Student [ego] movement is widespread in the world. They like to be known, they like to be seen and they like to be heard like grown-ups,” Tunku wrote in 1974. He refused to blame the students and understood that suppression of the young minds will not help Malaysia to be vibrant and dynamic country. In order to be ahead of our regional peers, we need to develop intellect and critical thinking. Tunku expressed desire to include students in our country’s politics and decision-making process. He suggested, “Perhaps one or two seats be given to Universities so that their members can participate in Parliament and play their parts in the country’s politics”. Continue reading “What would Tunku do today?”

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Resistance grows within BN against AES profits

By Leslie Lau and Md Izwan
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 06, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — A whopping 2.72 million speeding tickets will have to be issued in each of the next five years for the two concession holders of the controversial Automatic Enforcement System (AES) cameras to just recoup their reported RM700 million investments.

And considering the authorities had only collected an average of about 25 per cent of all traffic summonses a year — which increased to 65 per cent only after a general discount was offered last year — the two companies will have to issue far more summonses to account for the poor collection.

Such calculations have led to apprehension on the part of a growing number of Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians who are concerned about the profit motive that is built into the concession agreements.

“The privatisation of the AES could be seen as attempting to make profits because some (cameras) are placed in inappropriate places,” Umno’s Seri Gading MP Datuk Mohamad Aziz told The Malaysian Insider.

The two firms awarded the contract to implement the enforcement system — ATES Sdn Bhd and Beta Tegap — will spend between RM300 million and RM400 million each to set up traffic cameras at 831 “black spots” nationwide.

Both ATES and Beta Tegap are entitled to RM16 per valid summons for the first five million issued. They will then split the remaining revenue evenly with the government up to a cap of RM270 million each.

The firms will each receive 7.5 per cent from the remaining revenue and the government will keep the rest. Continue reading “Resistance grows within BN against AES profits”

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MyKad ‘Islamisation’ of Sabah’s Bumiputera Christians

— Bob Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 05, 2012

NOV 5 — Bumiputera Christians in Sabah continue to be “converted to Islam” by the National Registration Department (NRD) simply because they have “bin” and “binti” in their names. Sabah churches are seeking urgent solutions to the crisis but none seems to be in sight.

The NRD has made it clear it would continue to list Bumiputera Christians in Sabah as Muslims as long as they are known by bin or binti. It would also not rectify past entry errors by way of changing the religion listing back to Christianity in the identity cards (MyKad) of those affected.

The NRD would only act upon an order by a syariah High Court to determine whether those Bumiputera Christians whom it had listed as Muslims are not Muslims indeed.

Even if these native Christians get a hearing from the syariah court, both the NRD and Islamic authorities may not turn up, thus causing unnecessary delays.

A current test case has been mounted by a 53-year-old widow and her two adult daughters and supported by the respective local churches. All three are from the Dusun Banggi community. Continue reading “MyKad ‘Islamisation’ of Sabah’s Bumiputera Christians”

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AES the only way to salvage Najib’s GTP and “Fighting Corruption” NKRA but has he and his Cabinet the political will and commitment to introduce and implement it?

Under the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “Government Transformation Programme” (GTP), the “Fighting Corruption” National Key Result Area (NKRA) has been proclaimed as “a key focus of the GTP” as “it could stand in the way of the country attaining its ambition of being a high-income nation” because:

“Corruption erodes public confidence in the ability of the Government and other key institutions in maintaining a fair playing field for all participants, and could dissuade private investment.”

“Corruption discourages greater participation in the national economy, and therefore has an adverse effect on Malaysia’s talent pool. There is also a growing concern that corruption is siphoning resources away from the economy, with reports noting that small enterprises were paying between 8% and 9% of their revenue base to pay bribes for licenses and permits.”

By government’s own estimates in January 2010, corruption could cost Malaysia as much as RM10 billion a year or 1-2% of GDP.

But what has Najib to show in his “Fighting Corruption” NKRA after more than three years as Prime Minister? Continue reading “AES the only way to salvage Najib’s GTP and “Fighting Corruption” NKRA but has he and his Cabinet the political will and commitment to introduce and implement it?”

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Whether Najib likes it or not, its countdown for 13GE as Parliament has life-span of less than six months before it is automatically dissolved

Malaysians have been waiting for the past two years for the 13th General Election but the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been dilly-dallying as he hunts for the best timing for the dissolution of Parliament not so much for UMNO and the Barisan Nasional, but to ensure that he could remain ensconced in Sri Perdana after the polls.

Whether Najib likes it or not, its countdown for the 13GE as the 12th Parliament which was elected in the political tsunami of 8th March 2008 has a life-span of less than six months before it is automatically dissolved followed by the “mother of all general elections” in Malaysia.

There is just four months left if we take into account the polling day on 8th March 2008.

However, as Article 55 (3) provides that “Parliament unless sooner dissolved shall continue for five years from the date of its first meeting and shall then stand dissolved”, the 12th Parliament’s tenure will only end on April 27, 2013 as its first meeting was held on 28th April 2008.

Najib has already created two “history” – firstly, being the longest Prime Minister without an elected mandate of his own, compared to any of his predecessors which would include his father, Tun Razak, as well as the ensuing three Prime Ministers Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah.

His second “history” is to be Prime Minister of the longest Parliament to be dissolved, now entering into the last six months of its tenure.

The question is whether Najib will achieve a “triple” in making Malaysian history – of being the last UMNO Prime Minister in Malaysia. Continue reading “Whether Najib likes it or not, its countdown for 13GE as Parliament has life-span of less than six months before it is automatically dissolved”

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Call for AES (Automatic Enforcement System) to fight “grand corruption” in Malaysia by making unusual and extraordinary wealth an automatic corruption offence

Since Datuk Seri Najib Razak became Prime Minister nearly 44 months ago, one of his constant themes is that “the era that the government knows best is over”.

This is however one of his most broken pledges and the most recent example of this violation is the Barisan Nasional government’s stubborn determination to implement the AES (Automatic Enforcement System) for traffic offences, despite the loud, unmistakable and growing demand by the Malaysian public for the suspension of the AES implementation until there is a proper study and the fullest public consultation and preparation, which is reinforced by the decision of the four Pakatan Rakyat state governments of Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Kelantan to suspend the AES implementation in their respective states.

There is however one AES which should be introduced and implemented immediately – and this is to fight and eradicate “grand corruption” by top political and government leaders by making unusual and extraordinary wealth an automatic corruption offence!

There can be no doubt that one of the biggest failures of the Najib premiership, whether his Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and National Key Result Areas (NKRAs), is the battle against corruption.

This is why Malaysia under Najib is even more corrupt than under previous Prime Ministers as reflected in Malaysia’s worst ranking and score in the 2011 Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) when compared to all the TI CPIs of the past 17 years. Continue reading “Call for AES (Automatic Enforcement System) to fight “grand corruption” in Malaysia by making unusual and extraordinary wealth an automatic corruption offence”

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Now, even children are split by race and religion

Kon Onn Sein
Malaysiakini
Nov 1, 2012

As parents who are concerned with playing our responsible role in nation-building and bridging the ethnic divide, we had consciously sent our children to national school despite the horror stories of sub-standard education.

We had intentionally encouraged our daughters to make friends with their Malay and Indian classmates, especially the poor.

My seven-year-old daughter has been enthusiastically following our encouragement.

Today, when I chatted with her about her friends in school, she related that she had wanted to join her Malay classmates in their play during recess.

However, one classmate said this to her: “Kamu bukan Islam, kamu tidak boleh main sini. Kamu Cina”.

(You are not a Muslim; you can’t play here.You are a Chinese.) Continue reading “Now, even children are split by race and religion”