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Pride comes before destruction

by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jan 21, 2013

According to one Sabahan, there is so much crime in Sabah that squatter houses, too, have grilles on the doors and windows, and that these cost more than the houses themselves.

For four decades, ordinary Sahabans have been angered by illegal immigration and the social and economic problems associated with it, such as a shortage of housing, a lack of employment and educational opportunities, high levels of crime and massive overcrowding.

Despite the limited terms of reference of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) ordered by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, the RCI has revealed disturbing aspects of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s bid to remain in power. Soon, the RCI will be overshadowed by the side-show that Mahathir may have helped arrange.

The star-performer is the self-styled motivational guru Sharifah Zohra Jabeen Syed Shah Miskin (right). One wonders if Zohra has replaced the virgin queen, Ummi Hafilda Ali, who used to come to Mahathir’s aid and helped distract the rakyat with golden showers and salacious revelations.

There was once a time when the government would detain reporters and send them to Kamunting, ostensibly for their own safety. Zohra was denied this privilege because Najib has abolished the ISA. Last week, Zohra bowed to overwhelming pressure and heeded police advice to cancel her seminar on ‘How to Make Your First Million’.

I can give you the gist of the RM200 seminar. It is an open secret that the first million is easy to make; join Umno, then claw your way to the top by backstabbing and badmouthing everyone who stands in your way.

There are tell-tale signs that that you have “made it” and joined the Umno elite. In the election canvassing that takes place every five years, Umno delivers bags of rice to the masses, but the Umno elite receive Birkin bags.

Households that qualify are given a one-off payment of RM500 (and possibly another RM500 if the situation demands it) but the elite get several million ringgit in hard cash, stuffed in suitcases.

The poor may get a discount on their smartphones, but the elite are given the contracts to sell the phones.

The rakyat may be given tins of powdered milk as freebies during canvassing, but elite members are given millions of ringgit to buy a few cows and many luxury condominiums. Continue reading “Pride comes before destruction”

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Pengiraan Detik 79 Hari ke PRU13 – Ke dasar tanpa etika dan lubang mana lagi yang pemimpin UMNO/BN dan media perdana mereka akan gali sebelum PRU13?

Semalam, saya telah meminta agar diakhiri politik penipuan dan pembohongan menjelang Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13, yang akan diadakan paling lewat sekitar 156 hari lagi pada 27 Jun, akan tetapi dijangkakan akan berlangsung kurang daripada 70 hari.

Saya merujuk kepada kalahnya lidah rasmi UMNO, Utusan Malaysia di dalam saman fitnah, kali ini kepada Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, mendapat teguran daripada Hakim V.T. Singham yang mendapati Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd dan ketua editornya Abdul Aziz Ishak bersalah merosakkan reputasi Anwar dan mendedahkan dirinya kepada cemuhan.

Di dalam penghakimannya, Singham menekankan bahawa wartawan dan editor perlu berhati-hati dengana apa yang mereka tulis supaya tidak memasukkan komen yang mungkin menimbulkan keraguan kepada seseorang.

Hakim berkata: “Akhbar sepatutnya tidak mempunyai kuasa yang lebih besar dalam menarik perhatian atau mengelirukan fikiran rakyat apabila dibandingkan dengan reputasi individu.

“Adalah penting bagi wartawan, editor dan penerbit mengambil langkah berhati-hati sebelum sebarang artikel yang cenderung merosakkan reputasi individu diterbitkan. Rencana sebarangan yang mengandungi sindiran atau tohmahan tanpa pengesahan hendaklah dielakkan.”

Akan tetapi nasihat hakim tidak mempunyai sebarang kesan kepada media perdana UMNO/BN dan begitu juga permintaan saya agar diakhiri segala politik penipuan dan pembohongan , terutamanya media perdana UMNO/Barisan Nasional sepatutnya memelihara peraturan dan etika kewartawanan dan berhenti menjadi “Akhbar Tipu”.

Ini ditunjukkan oleh satu lagi penipuan dan pembohongan melampau media perdana UMNO/BN hari ini – kali ini New Straits Times dan laporan palsunya bertajuk “Wife of ailing MP angry at DAP” (ms. 6) yang tidak lain hanyalah penipuan tanpa secubit pun kebenaran.

Memetik daripada satu lagi portal berita yang jahat, NST mendakwa Irene Chang, isteri kepada Ahli Parlimen DAP Sibu dan Pengerusi DAP Sarawak Wong Ho Leng, “dikatakan mengkritik parti kerana gagal memberikan bantuan kewangan kepada suaminya, yang menghidap tumor otak” malahan memetiknya sebagai berkata “kepimpinan parti tidak berhati perut” dan memarahi Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng. Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 79 Hari ke PRU13 – Ke dasar tanpa etika dan lubang mana lagi yang pemimpin UMNO/BN dan media perdana mereka akan gali sebelum PRU13?”

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Pengiraan Detik 80 Hari ke PRU13 – Tolak politik penipuan dan pembohongan UMNO/BN

Tahniah kepada Anwar kerana memenangi saman fitnahnya ke atas Utusan Malaysia, surat khabar di Malaysia yang sedang mencipta sejarah dunia sebagai akhbar paling banyak tewas di dalam saman fitnah terhadap personaliti Pakatan Rakyat.

Penipuan dan pembohongan terhadap Pakatan Rakyat telah menjadi makanan harian Utusan Malaysia, sebagai lidah rasmi UMNO, sehingga ke tahap Utusan Malaysia kelihatan lebih sebagai “Surat Tipu” berbanding “Surat Khabar”.

Tetapi Utusan Malaysia bukan satu-satunya “Surat Tipu” di Malaysia walaupun ia adalah contoh terburuk dari kalangan media perdana UMNO/Barisan Nasional.

Dengan pendekatan harian pilihan raya umum ke-13, pemimpin UMNO/Barisan Nasional dan alat propaganda mereka, baik media perdana mahupun penyangak cybertroopers, akan berkerja lebih masa untuk mewujudkan penipuan dan pembohongan.

Seluruh rakyat Malaysia tidak kira kaum, agama, tempat, umur atau jantina, bersatu di dalam PRU13 akan datang menolak politik penipuan, pembohongan dan penyalahgunaan oleh UMNO/BN.

Amat menyedihkan apabila bukan sahaja yang hidup, malah yang telah meninggal dunia juga turut menjadi mangsa politik penipuan dan pembohongan sedemikian. Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 80 Hari ke PRU13 – Tolak politik penipuan dan pembohongan UMNO/BN”

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79-Day Countdown to 13GE – What unethical depths and bottomless pits are going to be plumbed by UMNO/BN leaders and their mainstream media (MSM) before the 13GE?

Yesterday, I made a plea for an end to the politics of lies and falsehoods in the run-up to the 13th General Elections, which must be held latest in 156 days by June 27, but is expected to be held in less than 70 days.

I was referring to the latest defamation suit lost by UMNO mouthpiece, Utusan Malaysia, this time to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, earning a rebuke by the judge, Justice V.T. Singham who found Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd and its chief editor Abdul Aziz Ishak as guilty of damaging Anwar’s reputation and exposing him to ridicule and scorn.

In his judgment, Singham stressed that journalists and editors should be careful with what they write so as not to include comment, which may impugn somebody.

The judge said: “The press should have no greater power in impressing or misleading the minds of the people when compared to the reputation of an individual.

“It is essential that journalists, editors and publishers should take great care before any article which tends to harm the reputation of an individual is published. Reckless articles that contain insinuation or imputation without verification are to be avoided.”

But the judge’s advice had no effect whatsoever on the UMNO/BN mainstream media and neither my plea for an end to the dishonest politics of lies and falsehoods, and in particular that the UMNO/Barisan Nasional mainstream media (MSM) should observe the most rudimentary canons of journalistic ethics and to stop being ‘Lies-Papers”.

This was shown by another egregious lie and falsehood by the UMNO/BN mainstream media today – this time by New Straits Times in its false report headlined “Wife of ailing MP angry at DAP”, (p.6) which was nothing but a pack of lies without an ounce of truth. Continue reading “79-Day Countdown to 13GE – What unethical depths and bottomless pits are going to be plumbed by UMNO/BN leaders and their mainstream media (MSM) before the 13GE?”

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Revamp the education system

— Disappointed Mom | January 22, 2013
The Malaysian Insider

JAN 22 — As a new school year is under way, it is not only students but also parents who feel, wary and uncertain of the expected changes in Year 2013.

Now that the excitement of the newly launched education blueprint has settled, what awaits Malaysian students and their parents? As a mother, I had a cursory glance, knowing fully well that the next education minister will freely make more alterations.

Through the years one thing has remained constant: the innumerable changes to the education system — the earnestness of the previous and current education ministers in implementing gross and drastic changes has turned our kids into collateral damage in their frenzy to garner votes.

Perhaps the first to lose trust in our education system are Malaysian ministers and senior government bureaucrats, who in much haste are sending their own children to private English schools or to overseas institutions — a clear indication of the dismal level and standard that our education system has sunk to.
Continue reading “Revamp the education system”

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Defiance Is Gaining Momentum

By Kee Thuan Chye | Monday, 21 January 2013 14:29
Malaysian Digest

I love the new spirit of defiance among Malaysians. I think we have come of age in realizing that we must stand up for our rights. And that it’s not wrong to do so.

After all, as the American political activist Howard Zinn puts it, dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

I’m not just talking about the defiance shown by already known people like Ambiga Sreenevasen and A Samad Said, the leaders of Bersih 3.0, when they stood up and spoke up or fought against the authorities to point out that the latter were wrong. I’m also talking about the courageous acts of ordinary people who despite having no organization to back them up did what they felt needed to be done, not just for themselves but for a larger cause.

A video grab of Universiti Utara Malaysia UUM student K S Bawani (L) and Sharifah Zohra Jabeen during the controversial forum held at UUM in Dec 8The recent act of speaking up at a forum of dubious intent held at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) by the university’s student K S Bawani is such a case. Despite the attempt by the forum’s moderator to humiliate her, she stood tall.
Continue reading “Defiance Is Gaining Momentum”

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Whither ‘kesopanan dan kesusilaan’ on ‘Allah’ issue?

By Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi | 11:46AM Jan 21, 2013
Malaysiakini

COMMENT I wish to comment on the irresponsible statement of Ibrahim Ali (purposely NOT using any titles) on the burning of Malay language Bibles with the name Allah. I think such statements, if left unchecked by the Malaysian public, elected representatives and especially, the prime minister himself, would create a culture of extreme violence and victimize many innocent Malaysians.

I urge peace loving and sensible Malaysian of all religious faiths to come together and denounce such ‘grandstanding statements’ that clearly violate our ‘sacred’ Rukunegara tenet of ‘Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan’.

Our forefathers have worked hard to build this nation of diverse communities, race and religions and derive the principle of ‘Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan’. I am convinced, as a Malaysian, as an academic and as a Muslim, that the May 13 tragedy that saw many innocent lives lost was not due to the ignorance of ordinary Malaysians but by politicians trying to be popular by using such fiery instructions in order to incite racial hatred.

I have read the book ‘A Singapore Story’ and some other critical writings that indicate that the culprits of our racial mistrusts and clashes were in no small part due to self-serving politicians and a media which has no sense of honour whether in the Islamic spirit or in any religious spirit.
Continue reading “Whither ‘kesopanan dan kesusilaan’ on ‘Allah’ issue?”