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Must be election time again

– Tunku Munawirah Putra
The Malaysian Insider
July 17, 2013

The Islamic Civilisation and Asian Studies (Titas) could have been an enlightening liberal arts subject, had it not been forced onto students to take it up. It is most unfortunate to see it being robbed of its purity with the kind of politics entrenched in its enforcement.

It is like experiencing the abolition of PPSMI (the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English) all over again, in terms of how and why the decision was made.

The Titas issue seems to be following a similar pattern as the abolition of PPSMI, which was done close to a by-election. Titas and the Kuala Besut by-election is just like PPSMI and the Manik Urai by-election. Both decisions were made known about a week prior to the date of the by-elections. Hence, however well-meaning the decision could be by certain quarters, it is still a controversial decision that got bulldozed through, in an attempt to appeal to the voters in the area. Why else is it announced just before the by-elections, when it could have been held back until the by-elections are over to avoid such suspicion? Continue reading “Must be election time again”

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Decisions makers in Ministry of Education are no-brainers

– Lok Kong
The Malaysian Insider
July 16, 2013

No one would like to belittle the ones who make decisions and policies in the Ministry of Education. But these no-brainers were and still are making bias, useless and stupid decisions/policies.

Anything against their whims and fancies are taboo. They abruptly abolished the English schools left over by the British; they abruptly U-turn to teach Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia in all national schools; they suddenly make 3 subjects compulsory at private tertiary institutions. They are (!) Islamic and Asian Civilization, (2) Ethnic Relations and (3) Malaysian Studies. They must be taught in Bahasa Malaysia just to name a few major ones. All these stupid policies will retard the progress of Malaysia for many years.

Being no-brainers, they cannot cognitively think these policies are bad for the country as a whole generally and the Rakyat in particular. Being no-brainers, they are unable to think of good policies to educate the students to be useful and productive. Being no-brainers they enact policies that cause the huge brain drain in this country. Being no-brainers they eventually doom Malaysia.

Education is the most important for the nation. It takes good education policies to educate the Rakyat in many years. In Chinese culture it has been said that it takes 100 years to educate meaning very long time. How can the PPSMI show results after very short time? It was started in 2003 (Form 1), the first cohort can only graduate with first Degree in 2010 or 2011 and with MBBS in 2013 or 2014. It is very stupid to make 100% U-turn to stop teaching the Science and Mathematics in English and in Bahasa Malaysia instead. This flip-flopping within short time is not acceptable. What is the basis for doing so is best known to them. These no-brainers are nuts. Continue reading “Decisions makers in Ministry of Education are no-brainers”

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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”

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The ball is in Najib’s court whether Tajuddin’s racist lies and provocations in Kuala Besut by-election campaign yesterday is in line with his call for “national reconciliation” and his “Global Movement of the Moderates” initiative

The ball is in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s court, whether the Deputy Agriculture Minister Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s racist lies and provocations in the Kuala Besut by-election campaign yesterday is in line with his call for “national reconciliation” and his “Global Movement of the Moderates” initiative.

It was only yesterday that it was reported that the Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman had completed a seven-day three-nation European tour to promote Malaysia’s “Global Movement of the Moderates” initiative, covering Poland, Latvia and Russia.

But on the very same day, Tajuddin was doing his worst in spouting the most irresponsible and reckless form of extremism in the Kuala Besut by-election with his racist lies and provocations, making a total mockery of the pledge by the contestants that the by-election will be a model of “Ramadan politics” of restraint and morality to show respect to the holy month.

In fact, it would be difficult to find so many reckless and irresponsible racist lies and provocations packed into one speech as that delivered by Tajuddin in Kuala Besut yesterday where without a shred of evidence, he alleged that the DAP is out to abolish the system of constitutional monarchy and the Sultanate so as to establish a republic, and that the DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam.
Continue reading “The ball is in Najib’s court whether Tajuddin’s racist lies and provocations in Kuala Besut by-election campaign yesterday is in line with his call for “national reconciliation” and his “Global Movement of the Moderates” initiative”

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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?”

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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’”

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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”

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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”

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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”

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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”

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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”

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Launch on “Water Ubah” in Penang in keeping with Malaysian Dream to have a united nation where Malaysians regard themselves as one people despite diversity of race, religion, culture and region

The launch of “Water Ubah” in Penang this morning is in keeping with the Malaysian Dream to have a united nation where Malaysians regard themselves as one people despite the diversity of race, religion, culture and region in the country.

In fact, some 50 years ago, on July 9, 1963, the Malaysian nation was conceived when the Federated Malaya, North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore signed the Malaysia Agreement which gave birth to the new Malaysian federation two months later, and this is why the presence of the DAP Iban Central Executive Committee member Dr. John Brian at the ceremony today is particularly pertinent apart from the fact that the Ubah mascot is inspired by the hornbill in Sarawak.

Credit must be given to Ooi Leng Hang, the “father of Ubah” and his team of creative artists and publicists in conceiving the Ubah mascot for “Change” and capturing the imagination of all generations of Malaysians, regardless of time, place, age or gender.

As signified by the launch of the “Water Ubah” today, we must have the conviction and courage to continue to dream of a better Malaysia for ourselves, our children and children’s children, and to do our part to create a Malaysia:

• which is the model of democratic freedoms and human rights, good governance and public integrity with low levels of corruption in public life;

• where there is the best education for all children, from primary, secondary to university level; and

• which is greener, cleaner and safer, where the people are not haunted by high crime rate and live in fear of crime, so that Malaysia and Malaysians can be internationally competitive with the focus on our competitiveness with the rest of the world instead of Malaysians versus Malaysians. Continue reading “Launch on “Water Ubah” in Penang in keeping with Malaysian Dream to have a united nation where Malaysians regard themselves as one people despite diversity of race, religion, culture and region”

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Say no to police state

P Gunasegaram
Malaysiakini
Jul 12, 2013

QUESTION TIME Who decides policy in this country? Is it the police? Are we as a nation supposed to be subservient to the police and ask their permission first before we implement anything? Are they, a government department, allowed to lobby actively for what they want and even against things that Parliament has passed?

The way the police have launched a campaign for the return of the notorious Emergency Ordinance (EO), one would think that their crime-fighting abilities have been crippled as a result of the repeal of that oppressive piece of legislation. That’s far from the truth.

The Emergency Ordinance and the infamous Internal Security Act, were repealed in 2011 and replaced with the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 and changes to other laws. Together with this, the state of emergency that prevailed in this country since independence under three different proclamations was lifted.

A cursory look at the Emergency Ordinance of 1969 and some of its orders made in the aftermath of the May 13, 1969 racial riots gave considerable power to the police and government of the day to override any and all provisions with regard to personal rights. It was terribly draconian – a police state in other words where anyone could be arrested and detained. Continue reading “Say no to police state”

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A silent Prime Minister confounds the nation

The Malaysian Insider
Jul 12, 2013

NEWS ANALYSIS – Eventually it will happen. Not today, not next week, not even next month. But there will come a time when Malaysians will ask this question: for how long more is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak going to stay silent during roiling debates on the most important issues facing the country?

And then there will come a time when Malaysians will just stop expecting any intervention from the man who occupies Putrajaya; when the mandate he won on May 5 will not matter and Barisan Nasional’s intellectual heft or the last word on government policy will be what the likes of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam throw at us daily.

Sad but true, isn’t it? Continue reading “A silent Prime Minister confounds the nation”

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“Red Bean Army” – UMNO/BN’s RM350 million fatal obsession!

The Red Bean Army is again in the news in Parliament.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi told Parliament during question time yesterday that “the Red Bean Army and its ilk” will face criminal and civil action for spreading lies through the Internet.

Many questions come to mind.

Firstly, does the Home Minister with his intelligence and background really believe that a “DAP-funded Red Bean Army” of 3,000 cybertroopers really exist, and is this belief backed up by the Police? Will the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar speak up?

Secondly, why the government has not taken any action for the principal lie that the DAP funded the so-called Red Bean Army of 3,000 cybertroopers with a budget of RM100 million to RM1 billion in the past six years, as it should not require much professionalism for the cyber-cops to expose the quackery and buffoonery of this tall tale of fiction, especially as Concorde Hotel, which is the haunt of top UMNO/BN leaders, had been pinpointed as one of the major centres of operation of this mythical cyber-army?

This was why last week I led a team of DAP MPs to visit Concorde Hotel, and all we found was the place crawling with UMNO leaders and operatives and the only discovery was that there was not only no sign of Red Bean Army, but the exorbitant ice-kacang in Concorde Hotel had no red beans at all! Continue reading ““Red Bean Army” – UMNO/BN’s RM350 million fatal obsession!”