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Ex-cop: Lahad Datu cops’ pleas ignored

Anisah Shukry | March 15, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

A former Lahad Datu police chief says that years of government indifference towards the dire state of security forces in the district paved the way for an armed incursion into Sabah.

PETALING JAYA: Insufficient police personnel, lack of equipment, police vehicles in bad shape — those were the security issues plaguing Lahad Datu for years, said a former Lahad Datu police chief.

Yet, the federal government continued to ignore Lahad Datu police’s requests to upgrade security, said Kamis Daming, and this was why the Royal Sulu Army was able to breach Sabah with ease on Feb 9.

“When I was in Lahad Datu five years ago, I often expressed concerns to our superiors about the possibility of intrusion by foreign elements, but our proposals and requests for security beef-up were looked at very lightly,” Kamis was quoted as saying by the Daily Express.

He told reporters in Kota Kinabalu yesterday that the Lahad Datu district police had scarce equipment and police vehicles such as their four-wheel drives and patrol boats were in terrible shape and constantly broke down.

Meanwhile, the force faced fuel shortages because their supplier allegedly refused to supply them fuel due to unsettled debts, he added.

And despite the district being short of police personnel, he said there were not enough living quarters in the police compound for the force to reside in. Continue reading “Ex-cop: Lahad Datu cops’ pleas ignored”

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25-Day Countdown to 13GE – Parliamentary Reforms and restoration of the doctrine of Separation of Powers

Under the Federal Constitution and in keeping with the concept of the Separation of Powers, Parliament consisting of the Dewan Rakyat and the Senate are the supreme law making bodies.

They constitute the Legislative branch of Government, other branches being the Executive and the Judiciary.

The supremacy and independence of Parliament are accepted concepts adopted and practiced by all Parliamentary democracies.

In the Malaysian system of governance, after over five-and-a-half decades of Umno/Barisan Nasional rule, the Executive branch has usurped power and turned Parliament into a subordinate institution thus trampling on the fundamental concept and principle of representative government.

Several aspects of the current scene merit mention. Continue reading “25-Day Countdown to 13GE – Parliamentary Reforms and restoration of the doctrine of Separation of Powers”

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Is It Part of Our Culture?

By Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysian Digest
14th March 2013

Last week, I was speaking to students of a higher institution of learning about a play of mine that they are studying called We Could **** You, Mr Birch.

When I got to the issue of getting Malaysians to discuss so-called sensitive issues openly, one of the students commented, “It’s not part of our culture.” I asked her if she was being ironic. The bright lass nodded.

She was alluding to the favourite catchphrase of the Government that is invariably invoked when it wants to discourage Malaysians from taking part in certain activities, usually those that are adversarial or threatening to it.

One such activity is taking part in demonstrations and street protests. Many a government official has used “it’s not part of our culture” to denounce especially large gatherings that challenge the Government’s rulings and actions, like the Bersih and anti-Lynas rallies. Continue reading “Is It Part of Our Culture?”

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PI Bala’s death is a tragedy

by P Ramakrishnan

Private investigator P Balasubramaniam’s death is a national tragedy for truth and justice.

By his death, truth and justice are left hanging in a limbo – for he possessed explosive information and stunning evidence to establish who were responsible for Altantuya Shaariibuu’s death.

Bravely and valiantly, he had provided a sworn Statutory Declaration dated 1 July 2008 detailing very meticulously in chronological order all that had taken place resulting in the murder of Altantuya.

All those implicated and directly accused of involvement in this foul deed that shattered the Mongolian beauty into smithereens have failed to refute his allegations; they dared not even sue him.

Thinking Malaysians are left wondering if there was no shred of dignity in those implicated to defend themselves in a court of law. They have done nothing to establish their innocence or dispel justified suspicions cast upon their character. Continue reading “PI Bala’s death is a tragedy”

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Who Knows What the Truth is These Days?

By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo Newsroom
Mon, Mar 11, 2013

How do you decide what is truth and what is falsehood as the build-up to Malaysia’s 13th general election hots up? So many bizarre twists and turns have emerged in recent days that Malaysians must be in a state of shock and awe.

First, businessman Deepak Jaikishan openly alleged that Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor were involved in forcing private investigator P. Balasubramaniam to make a second statutory declaration to contradict his first, which had implicated Najib in the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Then Bala returned from exile earlier this year to affirm that he stood by his first statutory declaration, reinforcing the revelations made by Deepak about how the second declaration came about.

The latest twist is Azlan Mohd Lazim’s announcement that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is innocent of the charge of having sodomised Azlan’s son, Saiful, and that Anwar is the victim of a political conspiracy. Taking everyone by surprise, including apparently Saiful as well, the father attests that his son was “used by several unscrupulous individuals”, including a special officer of Najib’s, to tarnish Anwar’s image. Continue reading “Who Knows What the Truth is These Days?”