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Quo Vadis Malaysia

The boastful declaration by the Barisan Nasional MP for Kinabatangan, Bung Moktar Radin in Parliament yesterday admitting that UMNO division leaders demanded contracts from the government and anyone who did not do so were cowards is the latest outrageous statement from Barisan Nasional Ministers, leaders and supporters in the past six weeks since the 13th general election results on May 5, 2013.

Other instances of such outrageous statements by BN Ministers/leaders/supporters in the past six weeks include:

• Deputy Agriculture Minister Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s desecration of Ramadan politics on Sunday night by spouting the most irresponsible and reckless lies in the Kuala Besut by-election campaign alleging that DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Malay Rulers, out to abolish the system of constitutional monarchy and the Sultanate so as to establish a republic with Karpal Singh as Malaysia’s first President;

• Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Shahidan Kassim’s interview with Sin Chew Daily last month where he gave the gratuitous and misguided advice that the Chinese in Malaysia should break away from the “extreme racism” indoctrinated by the DAP so that “Malaysia would one day have a Prime Minister of Chinese ethnicity”. Shahidan was doubly wrong as DAP had never indoctrinated the Chinese in Malaysia with any “extreme racism” and secondly, the issue of a Chinese Prime Minister was never on the radar of any Malaysian Chinese as the issue had never been whether a Chinese can be Prime Minister but whether the country has a Prime Minister for all Malaysians. Continue reading “Quo Vadis Malaysia”

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Fight the Smear Campaign against the Oil Palm Industry

Koon Yew Yin

A few weeks ago the sky was covered with smoke from the burning of forests in Sumatra to clear land for agriculture. Many in Malaysia and Singapore were affected by the haze. Some observers in the west used it as an occasion to bad-mouth the oil palm oil further. In this article, I will try to share some facts of life in the oil palm industry so that Malaysians will not join the western world in their smear campaign.

Firstly, we must remember that the west had cut down their forests and trees centuries ago to develop their countries. Malaysia and Indonesia are both new comers in the development scene and have been felling our forests for only a few decades now. Of our tropical agricultural crops, oil palm is the most recent cash crop commodity.

Although there has been a rapid rate of exploitation, it still occupies a small proportion of our total land area. The oil palm industry in Malaysia accounts for 15.5 per cent of total land area and only 4.5 per cent of total land area of Indonesia. A large proportion of the oil palm plantations are also not newly felled forest but are old rubber plantations that have been converted to this more lucrative crop.

Many in the public know of my views which are critical of many developments in the country. However, praise needs to be given when it is deserved; and our home grown oil palm industry is one which deserves all our support. This support is important in view of the sustained criticism made against the oil palm industry by lobby groups that have their origin in the west.
Continue reading “Fight the Smear Campaign against the Oil Palm Industry”

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Malays rule, OK!

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jul 15, 2013

What Rowena Abdul Razak, daughter of one of Malaysia’s most infamous toadies, said that minorities were incapable of ruling, it is not just an affront to Malays, but an insult to all Malaysians.

Rowena should know that when you raise your head above the parapet, you can expect it to be shot. It is alarming to hear a woman with a sound education, who has enjoyed a privileged upbringing, and is currently pursuing her postgraduate studies, talk about the governance of a country in terms of majority rule, Malay rights, protection and race.

It is disheartening to hear educated Malays talk in such a shortsighted manner and act as if they learned nothing from their times spent in civilised countries. They have learnt nothing of the outside world, nor of the fallacy of Malay supremacy.

Students like Adam Adli Abdul Halim have had their education curtailed, whereas children of Umno Baruputras enjoy the largesse of the taxpayer. Adam was trying to help all Malaysians, whereas Rowena appears to be selfishly championing Umno Baruputras.

At a Bar Council Forum on electoral reforms Rowena queried the ability of the minority to protect the rights of the majority. Continue reading “Malays rule, OK!”

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Pakatan’s uphill GE13 battle in the courts

The Malaysian Insider
July 15, 2013

The simple summary of Pakatan Rakyat’s suit in court today is that it did not get a fair election. The question now is, what can and will the courts do?

No matter how you slice or dice it, it is tough for Pakatan to win its suit against the Election Commission (EC) because courts here are loath to disturb anything to do with elections. It is even rare for election courts to overturn polls results.

What more nullifying the whole Election 2013.

Also, Malaysian courts have in recent years not demonstrated a willingness to confront the government of the day on various issues – be it conversions of minors to land matters.

That said, it is remains important for Pakatan to thoroughly detail its cases in which it believed fraud prevented it from winning on May 5, 2013. In dispute are at least 43 seats before the courts.

But what is quite clear is that the EC’s handling of the indelible ink over the past five years would have made the Keystone Kops proud. Never have we seen a commission blunder and make a hash of things the way it has. Continue reading “Pakatan’s uphill GE13 battle in the courts”

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Dzaiddin says IPCMC consistent with the Federal Constitution

The Malay Mail Online
July 15, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 – The proposed establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) is consistent with the Federal Constitution, according to Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah.

Offering his views on IPCMC’s legitimacy under the Federal Constitution, the former chairman of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) made a reference to Article 140.

“Article 140 thereof provides that Parliament may by law provide for the exercise of Police Force Commission’s disciplinary control over members of the police force in such manner and such authority as may be provided in that law.

“Therefore, there can be no doubt about its consistency with the Federal Constitution,” he said in a statement today.

His remarks followed a recent statement by Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the proposed setting up of IPCMC would result in “overlapping jurisdictions and laws among the country’s enforcement agencies”, and was “not in line with the Federal Constitution and was against the concept of justice”. Continue reading “Dzaiddin says IPCMC consistent with the Federal Constitution”