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Is Malaysia pioneering a new-fangled “trial by police reports” in the latest twist of injustice and selective prosecution under Malaysia’s “rule by law”?

The charging of Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s Vice President and MP for Batu, Chua Tian Chang for sedition for allegedly linking Umno to the Sulu-Police shoot-outs in Lahad Datu in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today is most regrettable and deplorable, for two reasons:

Firstly, it would appear that the Federal Government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is not prepared to provide the lead and set the example to unite and rally all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion and political affiliation as one patriotic Malaysian people to face up to the challenges posed by the Sulu terrorists to protect unequivocally our national sovereignty and the right to security of the people of Sabah and the security forces.

Is this the reason why the Cabinet in two consecutive meetings yesterday and the previous Wednesday refused to act on the proposal for the convening of a special session of Parliament on a six-point proposal (1) to give full support to the security forces to take all necessary measures to protect the national sovereignty and security; (2) pay tribute and honour to the nine fallen heroes from the police and armed forces in the shoot-outs in Lahad Datu and Semporna; (3) set up a special foundation to look after the welfare of the families of the fallen heroes and ensure the life-long education up to university level for their children at government expense; (4) condemn the atrocities committed against the fallen heroes by Sulu terrorists; (5) urge the immediate halt of the annual “cession payment” of RM5,300 to the self-proclaimed heir of Sulu Sultanate and (6) to call on the Philippines Government to drop all claims to Sabah.

Secondly, the prosecution of Tian Chua is setting a most dangerous precedent for the grave and gross miscarriage of justice in present-day Malaysia for at least two reasons: Continue reading “Is Malaysia pioneering a new-fangled “trial by police reports” in the latest twist of injustice and selective prosecution under Malaysia’s “rule by law”?”

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Malaysia uses spyware against own citizens, NYT reports

By Boo Su-Lyn
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 14, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Malaysia is among 25 countries using off-the-shelf spyware to keep tabs on citizens by secretly grabbing images off computer screens, recording video chats, turning on cameras and microphones, and logging keystrokes, US newspaper the New York Times (NYT) reported yesterday.

Besides Malaysia, researchers at Citizen Lab based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs found that the United States, Singapore, Indonesia and Britain also used the surveillance software known as FinSpy.

“Rather than catching kidnappers and drug dealers, it looks more likely that it is being used for politically motivated surveillance,” security researcher Morgan Marquis-Boire was quoted by NYT as saying.

Martin J. Muench, managing director of Gamma Group — a British company that sells FinSpy — has reportedly said that Gamma Group sold its technology to governments solely to monitor criminals, and that it was most often used against “paedophiles, terrorists, organised crime, kidnapping and human trafficking”.

Marquis-Boire, however, pointed out that the software was open to abuse, saying: “If you look at the list of countries that Gamma is selling to, many do not have a robust rule of law.”

Other countries with servers running FinSpy include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Qatar, Serbia, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. Continue reading “Malaysia uses spyware against own citizens, NYT reports”

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28-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib’s “Alice-in-Wonderland Statistics in his Transformational Malaysian Economy”

I have received an email from a retired international banker from the Malaysian Diaspora, who describes himself as a “Fact-Finder” monitoring the Malaysian economy, sharing his outrage on what he described as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “Alice-in-Wonderland Statistics in his Transformational Malaysian Economics” in his hour-long television interview on Tuesday.

I find this email so interesting, perceptive and pertinent that I am reproducing it in full, viz:

” Misuse of Data

The Prime Minister cut a rather sorry figure in his appearance on TV3’s programme entitled ‘Conversation with the PM’ aired on March 12th.

His remarks were a disappointment as he indulged in delivering clichés and ‘feel good’ statements concerning the state of the economy. He missed an opportunity to present a clear a vision of what he stands for. Continue reading “28-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib’s “Alice-in-Wonderland Statistics in his Transformational Malaysian Economy””

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THEIRS NOT TO REASON WHY, THEIRS BUT TO DO AND DIE

An ode to the brave police at Sabah
by Dr. Chen Man Hin
13.3.2013

(In memory of the eight policemen who died in the line of duty on the beach at Sabah)

INTO THE LONELY SHORE AT SABAH
CAME THE SULU RAIDERS
WHO WERE ALLOWED TO ESCAPE INTO THE DARKNESS.
THEN CAME THE POLICE BRIGADE
INTO THE SCENE OF DEATH.
FORWARD THE POLICE BRIGADE
INTO LONELY VILLAGES. Continue reading “THEIRS NOT TO REASON WHY, THEIRS BUT TO DO AND DIE”

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A beast out of time

By Stan CH Lee | 13 March 2013
The Drawing Is On The Wall

If there is any doubt that the time is up for BN, it will be swiftly removed by watching the actions of its minions trying to show their strength and power at the most primitive, gutteral level possible. In scenes that belongs more to a WWE ring than on the streets of Malaysia, the BN hoodlums and hired thugs try to intimidate sensible Malaysians by acting in the most violent, disgusting ways. They have been raining stones and bottles on PR Ceramahs. They have gatecrashed talks and thrown chairs around. They have attacked PR buses. They have tried to kick down the glass doors at LGE’s office. They have even thrown fists at Nurul.
They have also set up their very loud ceramahs in the immediate vicinity of planned PR talks with the intent of drowning out the opposition with their superior sound systems. Everything about them is big, loud, brash. All these were done with the Police simply watching. Tacitly approved by the silence of the BN leadership.
Continue reading “A beast out of time”

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The Petronas dilemma

LAWRENCE YONG
KiniBiz
MARCH 8, 2013

Oil is all about access, not production. And therefore only those who have access to the black gold can pump up extraordinary profits.

It is estimated that three quarters of the world’s 1,653 billion barrels of proven oil reserves are in the hands of national oil companies with no foreign participation. Many of them are in the OPEC cartel. That’s how they have managed to control supply and keep oil prices soaring.

Then you have the anomaly – the so-called century old multi-national oil companies, ExxonMobil Corp, The Royal Dutch/Shell Group, BP and Chevron Corp – who used to own the oil world. Now they offer their expertise and know-how to any country who will lend them access…and still make extraordinary profits (minus pollution payouts) because they have established markets everywhere…

But therein lies Petronas’ dilemma, a young upstart of 38 years which has neither full know-how nor international access or great oil assets. It is struggling between transforming into an international major oil company or staying as a national oil concern. Fairly speaking, Petronas is now neither here nor there.

One long-time observer of the company put it unkindly : “They are earning a reputation for biting off more than they can chew.” Continue reading “The Petronas dilemma”

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Sabah natives: We’re losing our lives too

Alyaa Azhar | March 13, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

Media organisations are urged to highlight the misery of indigenous peoples living in the Lahad Datu area.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group representing Sabah natives has urged the media to highlight the suffering indigenous peoples have to bear as Malaysian forces battle Sulu invaders in the state.

Andrew Ambrose, who leads the Sabah Coalition of Human Rights Organisations (Sacohuro), told reporters today that the presence of security forces in the Lahad Datu area had severely disrupted the lives of locals.

He paid tribute to the soldiers and policemen fighting the invaders and offered his sympathies to the families of the fallen, but said the natives too were losing their lives in a sense.

“The presence of security forces have been greatly felt, thanks to the media, which have been showing images of them on ground zero on a daily basis,” said Ambrose.

“But the people of Sabah, especially the indigenous people, are feeling insecure and helpless. Continue reading “Sabah natives: We’re losing our lives too”

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Mahathir kata bankrap, Musa kata tidak

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
March 14, 2013

14 MAC — Kenyataan Musa Hitam semalam memberikan pencerahan yang sangat baik untuk politik rakyat dan negara. Beliau tidak bersetuju apa yang didakyahkan oleh pimpinan Umno khususnya Dr Mahathir Mohamad yang negara akan bankrap jika Pakatan Rakyat memerintah selepas pilihanraya yang akan datang ini.

Musa berkata Pakatan Rakyat akan bekerja keras untuk memastikan yang negara akan terus mencapai kemajuan dan tidak akan melalaikan tanggungjawab yang buat pertama kali diberikan oleh rakyat terhadap pihak pembangkang.

Musa juga tidak bersetuju dengan politik rasis yang menebal sekarang dan pihak yang memainkan sentimen perkauman itu merupakan permainan poltik bankrap yang sudah tidak relevan lagi buat masa dan zaman ini. Kenyataan Musa ini tentunya bertentangan dengan pandangan Dr Mahathir, seorang pemimpin yang boleh berjalan di atas air itu.

Dr Mahathir yang akhir-akhir ini seperti orang yang dalam ketakutan yang amat sangat itu telah membuat kenyataan-kenyataan yang menghangatkan dengan bermatlamat untuk membina dan meningkatkan sentimen perkauman di negara ini.

Beliau (Mahathir) telah meminta Felda untuk memainkan filem Tanda Putera bagi menaikkan perasaan kebencian orang Melayu terhadap kaum Cina dan ianya tentulah untuk menghalang DAP yang menjadi sasaran cemuhan Mahathir akhir-akhir ini.

Seperti yang saya sebutkan selalu Umno hanya akan kekal berkuasa jika ada perbalahan dan perpecahan. Umno tidak kekal jika rakyat dan negara dalam keadaan aman dan damai. Maka itulah sebabnya Umno sentiasa berusaha untuk meningkatkan perasaan benci-membenci di antara kaum agar parti itu terus menjadi parti pemerintah yang berkemampuan untuk melakukan rasuah secara sistematik. Continue reading “Mahathir kata bankrap, Musa kata tidak”

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It’s not the economy, stupid

by ONG KIAN MING
MARCH 13, 2013
KiniBiz

A foreign fund manager asked me this question last month – “What exactly are Malaysians unhappy with?” After all, the country grew by 5.6% in 2012 compared to a lethargic 1.2% for Singapore for the same year. Investment, measured by gross fixed capital formation grew by an astounding 25% in 2012 compared to a lacklustre 10.2% in 2011.

As a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP – sum of goods and services produced in a year), investment was approximately 26% in 2012 compared to only 18% in 2009. Foreign direct investment in 2012 reached RM34.8 billion, a significant improvement on the abysmal RM5.0 billion in 2009.

The government seems to have a clear plan of action in putting the country back on track via the Economic and Government Transformation Plans (ETP and GTP). The shopping malls and hotels are bustling in Kuala Lumpur. New buildings and hotels are sprouting up all around the Klang Valley area.

The LRT and MRT projects will address the congestion problems in the Greater KL area and increase property values and development opportunities around their vicinity. Malaysia also had the 2nd and 3rd largest public listing in the world after Facebook via Felda Global Ventures Holding (FGVH) and IHH Healthcare.

Things seem to be looking pretty good for the country. But why is there still talk of the Barisan Nasional losing power in the upcoming general election? Continue reading “It’s not the economy, stupid”

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Pope Captivates Crowds With 1st Words About Peace

By VICTOR L. SIMPSON Associated Press
VATICAN CITY March 14, 2013 (AP)

Before they even saw his face, Pope Francis had already won over the Roman masses.

The announcement that he would be known by the same name as St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Italy, sent the crowd into ecstasy.

He did even better with his first words, when the 76-year-old Argentine said the cardinals had reached to the “end of the earth” to find the bishop of Rome — recalling the beloved Pope John Paul II, a Polish cardinal who told his first crowd in 1978 that cardinals had called him “from a far country.”

The former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is the son of an Italian immigrant and his Italian is only lightly accented.

“Let us pray for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity,” he said. Continue reading “Pope Captivates Crowds With 1st Words About Peace”