Posted on

The Arab spring – Has it failed?

Despite the chaos, the blood and the democratic setbacks, this is a long process. Do not give up hope

The Economist
Jul 13th 2013

ROUGHLY two-and-a-half years after the revolutions in the Arab world, not a single country is yet plainly on course to become a stable, peaceful democracy. The countries that were more hopeful—Tunisia, Libya and Yemen—have been struggling. A chaotic experiment with democracy in Egypt, the most populous of them, has landed an elected president behind bars. Syria is awash with the blood of civil war.

No wonder some have come to think the Arab spring is doomed. The Middle East, they argue, is not ready to change. One reason is that it does not have democratic institutions, so people power will decay into anarchy or provoke the reimposition of dictatorship. The other is that the region’s one cohesive force is Islam, which — it is argued — cannot accommodate democracy. The Middle East, they conclude, would be better off if the Arab spring had never happened at all.

That view is at best premature, at worst wrong. Democratic transitions are often violent and lengthy. The worst consequences of the Arab spring — in Libya initially, in Syria now — are dreadful. Yet as our special report argues, most Arabs do not want to turn the clock back. Continue reading “The Arab spring – Has it failed?”

Posted on

Malala delivers defiant riposte to Taliban militants as UN hails ‘our hero’

Ed Pilkington in New York
The Guardian, Friday 12 July 2013

‘They thought that the bullet would silence us. But they failed,’ says Malala, 16, at UN to push campaign for girls’ education

When the Taliban sent a gunman to shoot Malala Yousafzai last October as she rode home on a bus after school, they made clear their intention: to silence the teenager and kill off her campaign for girls’ education.

Nine months and countless surgical interventions later, she stood up at the United Nations on her 16th birthday on Friday to deliver a defiant riposte. “They thought that the bullet would silence us. But they failed,” she said.

As 16th birthdays go, it was among the more unusual. Instead of blowing out candles on a cake, Malala sat in one of the United Nation’s main council chambers in the central seat usually reserved for world leaders.

She listened quietly as Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, described her as “our hero, our champion”; and as the former British prime minister and now UN education envoy, Gordon Brown, uttered what he called “the words the Taliban never wanted her to hear: happy 16th birthday, Malala”.

The event, dubbed Malala Day, was the culmination of an extraordinary four years for the girl from Mingora, in the troubled Swat valley of Pakistan. Continue reading “Malala delivers defiant riposte to Taliban militants as UN hails ‘our hero’”

Posted on

Time the Christian politicians protected their flock

The Malaysian Insider
July 14, 2013

NEWS ANALYSIS – Datuk Seri Idris Jala. Tan Sri Joseph Kurup. Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili. Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum. Datuk Joseph Belaun. Datuk Seri Douglas Unggah. Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin. Datuk Richard Riot. Datuk Mary Yap…

These names have several things in common: they are either ministers or deputy ministers in the Najib administration, represent constituencies in Sabah or Sarawak and are Christians.

Yes, they are Catholics, Protestants, Evangelical, and are members of Sidang Injil Borneo but do not expect any of them to lead the charge and defend the position of their faith in public.

Indeed, there is a better chance of there being four seasons in Malaysia than any Christian representative resigning from government on a matter of principle, say, because the administration going back on its word on the use of the word Allah by East Malaysians. Or even taking the fight to right-wing groups who in the past few years have threatened Christians.

They are ensconced in nice and comfortable positions of power and prefer others to do the heavy lifting.

So it is left to the various church leaders and even some non-Christian elected representatives to protect the constitutional right of freedom of worship and ensure fairness in public policies. Continue reading “Time the Christian politicians protected their flock”

Posted on

21st Century Courts, 20th Century Mindset

― Fahri Azzat (Loyarburok.com)
The Malay Mail Online
July 14, 2013

JULY 14 ― You lost your case. The judge decided against you because he found the other side’s witnesses more credible compared to yours and so preferred their testimony to your witnesses’. You complain loudly to any who care to listen, ‘How the hell can the judge prefer their witnesses over mine?’ You angrily tell your lawyer to appeal.

But if your lawyer was honest with you, he will tell you not to bother. Don’t waste your time, money and effort, he should tell you. If you ask why, he will tell you that the appellate court almost always trusts the trial judge’s assessment of a witness’ credibility. They will only depart from it in exceptional cases when the trial judge got it so perversely wrong.

The reason for this was alluded to in the recent Federal Court decision of Isidro Leonardo Quito Cruz v PP [2013] 2 CLJ 1025. It arose when Abdull Hamid Embong FCJ explained why appellate courts did not make finding of facts. He referred to the Privy Council decision of Antonio Dias Caldeira v Frederick Augustus Gray [1936] MLJ 137 (decided on 14 February 1934) which held as follows:

“Now, it settled law that it is no part of the function of an appellate court in a criminal case or indeed any case to make its own findings of fact. That is a function exclusively reserved by the law to the trial court. The reason is obvious. An appellate court is necessarily fettered because it lacks the audio-visual advantage enjoyed by the trial court.” So the appellate court’s reason for not reviewing the credibility of the witnesses during the trial and accepting the trial judge’s opinion on them is because it lacks the audio-visual advantage of the trial court.

Although that may be an acceptable reason in 1936, it is seems incongruous, if not perverse in 2013. After all, audio-visual equipment is now cheap, mobile and ubiquitous. Continue reading “21st Century Courts, 20th Century Mindset”

Posted on

Across the causeway, Singapore’s top cop expresses sorrow to murder victim’s family

The Malaysian Insider

By Ng Joo Hee
Commissioner of Police
Singapore
July 14, 2013

[Too defensive. Too slow to say sorry. These are the criticisms levelled at the Royal Malaysia Police when the issue of custodial deaths or corruption among the men in blue is discussed. Across the causeway, a Singapore police officer was arrested for the heinous murder of a father and son. The Malaysian Insider reproduces the heartfelt sentiments from Singapore’s top cop who pledges firm action to rebuild trust.(TMI)]

Today is a sad day for the police. Today, we have arrested a murder suspect who is also a policeman. The police have brought into custody Iskandar Rahmat, 34, a Singaporean male, a police officer attached to Bedok Police Division. He will be charged for the brutal murders of Tan Boon Sin and his son Tan Chee Heong at Hillside Drive.

I cannot remember the last time a murder suspect was also a police officer. You may have seen this kind of thing depicted in the movies and on TV, but when it happens for real, it hits you like a freight train.

After the shocking events of Wednesday afternoon, police investigators worked tirelessly around the clock to, first, identify the perpetrator, and then, to hunt him down.

When I was first told that the murder suspect could be one of our own, my initial reaction was disbelief, swiftly followed by anger and anguish. This was the same gamut of emotions police investigators had to deal with in the last few days as they pursued the suspect.

The fact that the suspect is a police officer gave my investigators even greater resolve and determination to solve this case. I commend them for going about their duties in a thoroughly professional manner, and for being ultimately successful in capturing their target. Continue reading “Across the causeway, Singapore’s top cop expresses sorrow to murder victim’s family”

Posted on

The Red Bean Army witch-hunt

Jeswan Kaur | July 14, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

If BN thinks it can mislead the rakyat by tricking them into believing the Red Bean Army is the real threat back home, it is mistaken.

COMMENT

The federal government seems to be in a disarray, going by its classic sense of missing the woods for the trees.

Instead of tackling the hard-pressed issues beleaguring the rakyat, the Barisan Nasional government has decided it has a bigger battle to fight – that too against an entity called the Red Bean Army, whom BN claims is opposition DAP funded and supported.

So much so that BN is accusing DAP of spending RM100 million since 2008 to fund the Red Bean Army – a claim that remains unsubstantiated and has been refuted several times by DAP’s national advisor, Lim Kit Siang.

Still, BN refuses to pay any heed to the fact that DAP has no hand in sponsoring anything called the ‘Red Bean Army’ (RBA).

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has gone on to say that the government will come down hard on the RBA, including using the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998; the Penal Code; and Facebook to counter it and others who use the Internet to defame the police force. Continue reading “The Red Bean Army witch-hunt”

Posted on

You can’t teach an old politician new tricks

Zan Azlee
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 12, 2013

What happens when an elected representative does something in office that is against the wishes of his electorate?

To be more specific, what if he does something without consulting his constituency and is mainly for his own personal benefit?

Well, in most cases around the world, this would be unethical and the elected representative would come under heated pressure and probably lose in the next election.

But in Malaysia, it happens to be quite all right. Because, you see, in this country, elected leaders are one step higher than normal people.

What they say is like gospel for everybody. Don’t believe me? Then check out our newspapers. It is filled with elected leaders saying this and that as advise for the people.

Take for example, the new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Ahmad Hamidi, who recently said that the Sedition Act should not be abolished.

He says this with full aplomb as if his judgement is the right one and should be the decision best for the country.

In truth, the Sedition Act is as archaic as the ISA and a sack of fosillised mammoth bones that is about to turn into petroleum and then processed by Petronas.

At the moment, the Sedition Act cover is just too wide and vague that it allows the authorities a lot of leeway for manipulation. So, it deserves at least an update.

Even the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, announced much earlier (many times, even) that the act would be abolished. Continue reading “You can’t teach an old politician new tricks”