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East Malaysia: primus inter pares

By James Chin, Guest Contributor
New Mandala
4 September 2013

Last Saturday Malaysia celebrated her 56th year of independence in Dataran Merdeka in central Kuala Lumpur.

Many people in East Malaysia, however, may not be celebrating. Why? 31th August is the date of independence for Malaya but not the Malaysian federation. The fact is, the federation of Malaysia was proclaimed on 16th September 1963, and the federation of Malaysia is 50 years old, not 56. This simple fact is often ignored by Putrajaya much to the annoyance of East Malaysians.

When Najib Tun Razak became Malaysia’s prime minister in 2009, he declared that 16thSeptember is be called “Malaysia Day” and added it as a public holiday in the country. Prime Minister Najib’s concession was no doubt linked to the 2008 general elections when voters from East Malaysia helped Barisan Nasional to retain power when voters in the peninsula abandoned the BN.

While recognition of 16th September is welcomed in East Malaysia, the bigger issues for most East Malaysians are the ‘20 Points’ and political recognition that East Malaysia should treated as an equal partner, not merely two of the 13 states in the federation. Continue reading “East Malaysia: primus inter pares”

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RoS DG’s statement that DAP members should not “harbor false hopes” of forming new party if DAP is deregistered now makes sense as it is proof he had been on acting the script of Umno/BN DDD squad

Now the pieces are falling into place, and the totally unwarranted statement by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) Director-General Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman in the Star of 26th July telling DAP members not to harbor “false hopes” of forming a new party if the DAP is de-registered by the RoS is making sense.

DAP leaders and members had been mystified by Abdul Rahman’s end-of-July statement “out of the blue”, for the notion of forming a new party if the DAP is deregistered had never been raised or entertained by anyone in the DAP, whether leadership or membership, as there could be no plausible ground for the deregistration of the DAP.

Three allegations had been cited by the highly-funded Umno/BN “DDD” (Demolish/Destroy DAP) campaign in the first seven months of the year to question the validity of the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections at the DAP Congress in Penang last December, but none of them had been able to withstand scrutiny despite the mysterious last-minute publication of a scurrilous and defamatory booklet packing some 100 lies and falsehoods against the DAP in 12 pages.

Although this booklet of lies is by a phantom “Father Augustus Chen”, it is distributed nationally in four languages, Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese and Tamil, and given widest publicity in the Umno-BN controlled media, whether print, radio and television, despite being an illegal publication without identifying the printer and publisher! Continue reading “RoS DG’s statement that DAP members should not “harbor false hopes” of forming new party if DAP is deregistered now makes sense as it is proof he had been on acting the script of Umno/BN DDD squad”

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Tanda Putera fails to honour Tun Razak

by Zairil Khir Johari
5 September 2013

I am disappointed in Tanda Putera’s failure to honour Tun Razak’s achievements.

According to the Malaysiakini articled titled “Zam: DAP irate as its logo stands out in Tanda Putera” dated 4 September 2013, former minister of information Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin is quoted as saying that the DAP is against the film because the party’s logo is prominently displayed in the film’s controversial May 13, 1969 racial riot scene.

I would like to state that I have seen the film, and having done so, I admit that I am sorely disappointed. However, my dissatisfaction against the film stems not so much from the fact that the DAP was constantly maligned (indeed, our logo appeared to be omnipresent in most of the racial riot scenes, although there was no direct reference linking the party to the riots). This is because I had expected nothing less than a perversion of reality, as how the DAP has been constantly victimised and misrepresented in recent times, most notably over the CEC election.

I was also not surprised by the grossly unfair and one-sided portrayal of the Chinese as the main instigators of the racial riots. That too was expected, considering the film was fully funded by a RM4.8 million grant from FINAS (National Film Development Corporation) and MDEC (Multimedia Development Corporation). After all, race-baiting and provocation is everyday fare for the BN-controlled mainstream media. Continue reading “Tanda Putera fails to honour Tun Razak”

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Citation for Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission

– Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
The Malaysian Insider
September 04, 2013

Corruption is a social cancer. It undermines development, erodes public trust in government, weakens the state, and infects the morals of society. It is an urgent concern, particularly in developing nations that can ill afford its cost. One such nation is Indonesia, for many years ranked among “the most corrupt countries in the world.” Today, however, Indonesia has embarked on one of the world’s most admired campaigns against corruption.

Rampant and systemic corruption has long been a festering issue in Indonesia. Since the 1950s, the Indonesian government formed different anti-corruption bodies, but these were mostly short-lived showcase pieces, sabotaged by the lack of serious political will.

Then, amid the collapse of the thirty-two year Soeharto regime, Indonesians decided they had had enough, and resolved to take the problem by the horns. With the initiative of civil society and pressure from international organizations, the Indonesian government passed a law in 2002 creating Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK), or the Corruption Eradication Commission.

An independent government body, KPK is enabled by a strongly-crafted law premised on the conviction that corruption is an extraordinary problem that needs to be tackled by extraordinary means.

Thus KPK has a far-reaching mandate, exercising exceptional powers that range from investigation and prosecution to prevention and the coordination of agencies authorized to combat corruption. It can conduct searches and seizures, freeze assets, impose travel bans, compel cooperation from government agencies, and even intercept communications without prior judicial approval. Its powers are such that a civic leader remarked, upon the law’s passage, that politicians were “inviting a tiger into their house.” Continue reading “Citation for Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission”

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Tanda Putera: History or fiction?

Mahdzir Ibrahim
Free Malaysia Today
September 4, 2013

How can Finas justify this work by Shuhaimi Baba, investing millions of ringgit and in the process jeopardising our racial harmony. For what? The truth?

COMMENT

I’ve watched Tanda Putera. Aside from wanting to know what the hype was about this film, I considered the price of the ticket as my contribution in support local filmmakers. Hopefully, the small amount I paid, to some extent, will be able to help develop the local film industry.

According to media reports, Tanda Putera cost around RM4.5 million, with the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) contributing RM2.5 million and the Multimedia Development Corporation RM2 million, excluding sponsorship from GLCs such as MAS.

With that huge amount of investment, the technical aspects of the film was far from satisfying. The quality of computer generated images were messy. The settings, props and costumes also fell short of capturing the atmosphere of the 60/70s era, unlike Bukit Kepong or Leftenan Adnan. Is it because the producers wanted to save on budget?

After watching it, I wondered if the film was about the history of May 13, or something else?

There were the infamous scenes depicting youths urinating on a flag pole. But, it’s not clear if this incident really took place or derived from historical facts. If true, where and what is the source? Before this, we never heard about it. So we want to know the facts, either from police reports or notes by historians.

It is not clear from the scene where the flag pole is located. Was is it in the compound of Harun Idris’ (Selangor Chief Minister) residence or at the government office or a hawkers area? If it is linked to the residence, it’s probably an assumption just because the pole is flying the Selangor flag. Or, is the urination scene a figment of the director’s imagination?

According to an eyewitness account by one Habib Ahmad, based in Kampung Baru at that time, it is almost impossible that the incident took place in the Menteri Besar’s residence. Continue reading “Tanda Putera: History or fiction?”

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Regime crisis, not just a ‘race riot’

— Clive Kessler
The Malay Mail Online
September 3, 2013

SEPT 3 — A regime crisis, a complete implosion of the then existing national ruling formula and framework: that, and not a “race riot”, was what occurred in May 1969.

And that fact, that distinction, needs to be emphasised and repeated.

Even now.

Especially now.

Now that Tanda Putra is being widely screened, amidst heated and acrimonious controversy.

A regime crisis, not just a “race riot”: that is a truth that has long been denied and is still routinely resisted.

But is it an essential truth that cannot forever be evaded.

Why? Continue reading “Regime crisis, not just a ‘race riot’”

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Tanda Putera – Filem sejarah atau fiksyen?

Oleh Mahdzir Ibrahim
Roketkini.com
31.8.13

Filem Tanda Putera telah pun saya tonton di pawagam. Selain mahu melihat sendiri gembar-gembur tentang filem ini, ia juga saya anggap sebagai sumbangan peribadi saya kepada penerbit filem tersebut demi menyokong kemajuan filem tempatan. Mudah-mudahan dengan wang tiket yang saya bayar itu, sedikit sebanyak akan dapat membantu memajukan lagi filem tempatan.

Saya sebagai penonton mempunyai pandangan sendiri, saya akan cuba berlaku adil menilai filem ini.

Menurut laporan media, kos filem ini sekitar RM 4.5 juta, ia dibiayai oleh Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional Malaysia (FINAS) sebanyak RM2.5 juta dan RM2 juta lagi daripada Perbadanan Kemajuan Multimedia (MDeC). Tidak termasuk penajaan dari syarikat kerajaan seperti syarikat penerbangan Malaysia (MAS).

Dengan kos tersebut, saya fikir hasil dari aspek teknikalnya tidaklah begitu memuaskan. Penggunaan teknik CGI atau Computer Generated Image yang digunakan tidak sempurna dan tidak kemas malah jika difikir-fikirkan, ianya tidak perlu bagi filem sebegini. Namun terpulanglah kepada pengarah kerana itu haknya.

Begitu juga dalam dalam aspek rekabentuk produksi, props dan costume. Ia tidak cukup sempurna untuk menggambarkan suasana di zaman tersebut sedangkan filem ini berlatarkan suasana diera 60/70an. Jauh bezanya dengan props dan costume filem Bukit Kepong atau Leftenan Adnan. Adakah kerana penerbitnya ingin berjimat, kita tidak pasti.

Selepas menonton, saya tertanya-tanya adakah filem ini mahu bercerita tentang sejarah 13 Mei atau apa? Continue reading “Tanda Putera – Filem sejarah atau fiksyen?”

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Is Pak Samad a hardcore criminal or terrorist?

– Tan Zhong Yan
The Malaysian Insider
September 04, 2013

The arrest of Datuk A. Samad Said just after midnight is certainly absurd, crazy and uncalled for. Is there a need for the police to arrest the old man at that hour when they can do so during the day?

Of course, everyone should be equal before the law and that no special position or privileges should be given to anyone including Pak Samad for his status as the national laureate but back to the question, is there such a need for this arrest to take place just after midnight?

The crime or offence that Pak Samad is investigated for is in connection with the flying of the Sang Saka Malaya flag and not for murder, rape or robbery. Pak Samad is not a hardcore criminal nor terrorist requiring the arrest to take place at such a late hour.

The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and our Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should give a valid explanation with regard to the arrest or make a public apology to Pak Samad as arresting the man in that ungodly hour certainly seems to be an act of intimidation. Continue reading “Is Pak Samad a hardcore criminal or terrorist?”

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After all these years, Malaysia still held hostage

Ooi Kee Beng
The Malaysian Insider
September 04, 2013

In thinking about 2013, the year the Federation of Malaysia celebrates its 50th anniversary, one cannot but compare the national atmosphere to that in 2007, the year the Federation of Malaya celebrated its 50th anniversary.

I remember that the New Straits Times under Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan ran a week-long serialisation in January that year of my book The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time (ISEAS 2006) with the express purpose of putting the country into a contemplative mood and reminding Malaysians of what nation building is all about.

Given the faltering reform programme of then prime minister Tun Abdullah Badawi, 2007 couldn’t help but be a contemplative — and agitative — year for many Malaysians in any case. Be that as it may, to be fair to Abdullah, much change had come to the country after he took over from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in October 2003.

Otherwise, the latter would not have been using his considerable political acumen back then to undermine his successor’s position. Only Dr Mahathir’s bad health that year limited his attacks on the prime minister. Continue reading “After all these years, Malaysia still held hostage”

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Fit for Golden Raspberry Award

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Sep 2, 2013

What happened on May 13, 1969 was terrible, not just for every Malaysian, but also for the armed forces and the police. If the country is to move on and start the healing process, then the May 13 demons must be exorcised, once and for all; but first, the truth must be freed.

The National Operations Council (NOC) which was created in the aftermath of the disturbances by Najib Abdul Razak’s father, sought to return the country to normality, by restoring law and order, as well as re-establishing trust between the races. Its scope was limited and it did not seek to provide a definitive account of the tragedy.

If Najib is sincere in wanting reconciliation, one of the first things he should do is to hold an inquiry into the May 13 riots. Investigators will be hampered by Umno Baru’s unwritten rule, which is that anyone who disagrees with them is either Chinese or communist. Continue reading “Fit for Golden Raspberry Award”

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Registrar of Societies should stop acting on the script of the Umno/BN “DDD” (Demolish/Destroy DAP) campaign but demonstrate that he is independent, impartial and professional including giving reasons why he wants DAP CEC re-elections

Yesterday, the Registrar of Societies (RoS) Director-General Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman asked the DAP to stop its “battle” with the RoS in the media and to comply with procedures.

It is the RoS which is guilty of being part of a “media war” against the DAP in the past eight months, and I would call on Abdul Rahman to stop acting on the script of the Umno/BN “DDD” (Demolish/Destroy DAP) campaign and to demonstrate that he is independent, impartial and professional in carrying out his duties, including giving reasons why he wants DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) re-elections when the DAP CEC elections last December were proper, valid and conducted fully in accordance with the party Constitution.

In the Umno/BN DDD campaign in the first seven months of the year, three reasons had been floated to question the validity of the DAP CEC re-elections at the DAP Congress in Penang last December:

  • Firstly, allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities arising from a computer glitch resulting in an error in the announcement of the CEC results, which had nothing to do with any error in vote counting or tabulation but a mistake in the computer posting of the results for purposes of announcement.

  • Secondly, allegation that 753 delegates “mostly Indians” were not notified of the DAP Congress in Penang last December, resulting in their being unable to attend and therefore deprived of the right to vote in the CEC election.

  • Thirdly, allegation that 547 “phantom delegates, mostly from Penang” were allowed to vote in the DAP CEC elections in Penang, resulting in fraudulent election results.

Continue reading “Registrar of Societies should stop acting on the script of the Umno/BN “DDD” (Demolish/Destroy DAP) campaign but demonstrate that he is independent, impartial and professional including giving reasons why he wants DAP CEC re-elections”

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Travesty of truth and distortion of history for Nazri to claim that Tanda Putera is well-researched movie and May 13, 1969 riots was caused by Chinese

It is a travesty of the truth and distortion of history for the Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to claim that Tanda Putera is a well-researched movie and that the May 13, 1969 racial riots was caused by the Chinese.

No well-researched and historically-faithful movie would have succumbed to flights of wild imagination as to create the fictitious urination scene by Chinese youths at the flag-pole of the well-guarded Selangor Mentri Besar’s residence as one of causes provoking the May 13 racial riots – reckless of the racial misunderstanding, hatred and conflict that could be generated today after 44 years by this totally fictitious episode and downright lie.

Similarly, no well-researched and historically-faithful movie would have concocted a total lie, noted by Free Malaysia Today journalist K. Pragalath in his film review “Tanda Putera falls flat”, where he observed:

“Tanda Putera opens with a dramatic scene of an incident where DAP campaign workers kill an Umno campaign helper two weeks prior to the general election then.”

This is not history but pure fiction – nay, it is unadulterated evil, wicked falsehood and a treacherous and treasonous tale, for there was simply no such incident in 1969 where “DAP campaign workers kill an Umno campaign helper two weeks prior to the general election then”. Continue reading “Travesty of truth and distortion of history for Nazri to claim that Tanda Putera is well-researched movie and May 13, 1969 riots was caused by Chinese”

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The Malaysia 3G

BY REHMAN RASHID
SPECIAL TO THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
September 02, 2013

It is called the “Third-Generation Curse”, and it is known to every emigrant family in a world now built on them as much as by them. The first generation begins with nothing and makes something of it; the second generation builds on that to create an institution; the third blows it all away.

Survive the Third-Generation Curse, the patriarchs tell their scions, and you are set, not just for your life but those of our descendants, and our ancestors shall smile upon you. If not, scavengers will pick through the rubble of our ruined house and having our name expunged from history would be a mercy.

“British Malaya” patently failed to survive its own 3G Curse, and out of the rubble of colonialism Malaysia’s first generation assembled a working model of self-governance for a hopelessly divided polity: to each of us our own house, with each of our heads of household mandated to deal with the others in a Council of Elders.

It was a realistic model for the time, working with rooted socio-economic realities and disdaining the revolutionary, year-zero, blank-slate, non-aligned thinking rampant in the post-colonial world of the 1950s. It was a grand enough achievement for Malaysia’s Gen1 to have attained Independence by common consensus, courtly handshakes and a parade of feathered hats, with the bloodshed confined to beating down Communism. It was left to Gen2 to deal with the ensuing chaos. Continue reading “The Malaysia 3G”

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Born to an Umno family, but now a DAP rising star

Ahmad Fadli KC & Lee Way Loon | 12:16PM Sep 1, 2013
Malaysiakini

INTERVIEW For many years, the Aidilfitri festive period saw Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud visiting open house functions as a custom. But this year, things are a little different.

Now her visits have an official air to it, as she is a representative of Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang.

Dyana, a UiTM law graduate who hails from Ipoh, is serving full time as Lim’s political secretary since the general election in May.

She first came to prominence in early 2012, when Lim held a press conference to announce her entry into DAP.
Continue reading “Born to an Umno family, but now a DAP rising star”

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At best Umno should try not to be ‘Chinese hunters’, says Zaid

By Ida Lim
The Malay Mail Online
September 1, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — Former Umno leader Zaid Ibrahim today said that the party would be unable to flush out those joining the party to enrich themselves, but said it should at least refrain from hunting down the Chinese.

Zaid’s comments this afternoon appeared to be aimed at Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s call for Umno to shed its corrupt image, where its leaders are viewed as allegedly lining their pockets.

“Umno surely can’t clean themselves of fortune hunters. At best they should try not to be Chinese hunters,” the former de-facto law minister said on Twitter today, likely in reference to Dr Mahathir’s column in Utusan Malaysia’s weekend edition today.

Dr Mahathir had today written in Mingguan Malaysia that the injection of new blood into the Umno leadership this October through polls would counter views that it is corrupt. Continue reading “At best Umno should try not to be ‘Chinese hunters’, says Zaid”

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May 13 was not a racial riot

– Stephen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
September 01, 2013

Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said that it is “a historical fact that the riot was sparked by Chinese, (like the fact) that Nazis killed thousands of Jews during the Second World War”. I beg to differ.

When May 13 broke out, I was a young five-year-old boy living in a New Village. My father was away working either in Kelantan or Pahang. My sisters and I were the only ones who stayed with my mother in Jinjang Selatan. Although we were supposed to have moved to a new home in Taman Kepong, the family decided to stay put.

As a boy, I was listening in to every conversation that took place between my mother and other relatives and friends. There were horror stories of Malays killing the Chinese, and Chinese killing the Malays. But a phone conversation between my mother and my father that has never escaped my attention was that everything was peaceful in the East Coast.

My Father said that the Chinese and the Malays were having breakfast together. There was no riot in the East Coast. It was business as usual for them. Muthusamy, Ali and Ah Chong were still friends, when things went awry in Selangor. Why is that so, Datuk Seri Nazri? Continue reading “May 13 was not a racial riot”

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A review of ‘Tanda Putera’, a film that takes liberties with the truth

By Erna Mahyuni
The Malay Mail Online
September 1, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — For Merdeka, I watched Shuhaimi Baba’s docu-drama “Tanda Putera”. Fourteen other people were in the cinema at GSC Paradigm Mall in Petaling Jaya at 11.30am.

I am unsure if any of them enjoyed the film, though an elderly Chinese gentleman in the audience walked out halfway. My one regret is that I could not do the same. The heart of “Tanda Putera” is the friendship of the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, played by Rusdi Ramli and Zizan Nin respectively.

Sadly, neither of the actors was up to the mark, but more on that later.

To call this revisionist history would be too kind. “Tanda Putera” is a poorly written, abysmally researched train wreck that makes our local soap operas look like arthouse films.

What amazes me is that it cost RM5 million to make this schlock. Continue reading “A review of ‘Tanda Putera’, a film that takes liberties with the truth”

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I for Idiot is for Bush? Why look that far?

The Malaysian Insider
September 01, 2013

I is for Idiot and unlike established artist J Anu, there is little need to lob that label on former US president George W. Bush when there are enough politicians in Malaysia who have doctorates in idiocy.

The artist was forced to explain the concept behind his artwork after a mosquito Muslim group lodged a complaint, saying that the painting insulted Islam. In fact, the government yesterday demanded the piece be withdrawn from the Selamat Hari Merdeka exhibition at Publika Kuala Lumpur.

Anu said the artwork was in reference to Bush’s adventure in Iraq.

But really, why look thousands of miles away for an idiot? Malaysians are spoilt for choice at home.

Look at Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz (pic). He enjoys that work of fiction called Tanda Putera and tries to pass it off as historically accurate and well-researched. Never mind that the director of the film herself conceded that she took artistic licence with the events surrounding the race riots of May 13, 1969.

Nazri yesterday offered the discredited Umno version of the riots, saying that it was sparked by a few Chinese individuals.

“The Chinese community as a whole is not responsible for what happened in 1969, only the individuals, they are the ones who should feel guilty,” he said.

Well, well, what magnanimity by the minister. Today, most Chinese should be at peace and sleep easy. Because Nazri has singled out only a few Chinese for starting the riots. Continue reading “I for Idiot is for Bush? Why look that far?”

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56 years later – a fractured, polarised nation

Tommy Thomas
Malaysiakini
Aug 31, 2013COMMENT The social contract, social compact or bargain reached by the three communities under the watchful eye of the British imperial power as a condition to Merdeka was that in exchange for full citizenship, a right to use their language and observe their religion, the non-Malays had to concede special privileges to the Malays to assist the latter to ascend the economic ladder.

It was a quid pro quo. It was a consensus arrived after hard bargaining, and has formed the basis of nationhood. In this equilibrium, the non-Malays were not to be relegated to second-class citizens: citizenship was not on a two-tier basis and there was going to be no apartheid, partition or repatriation.

What was required from the non-Malays at the time of Merdeka was undivided loyalty to the new nation. They could no longer owe their allegiance to the mother country, China or India. Racial differences were recognised. Diversity was encouraged. There was no pressure to integrate into one Malayan race.

A new nation was to be integrated over time, but as a plural society. Assimilation was out of the question. Thus, a united Malayan nation did not involve the sacrifice by any community of its religion, culture or customs. Minorities were not to be discriminated in a system of parliamentary democracy based on constitutional supremacy. In many respects, the establishment of Malaysia six years after Merdeka strengthened the social contract.

But as Malaya completes 56 years as an independent sovereign nation today, and more significantly, Malaysia turns half a century on Sept 16, do the 26 million Malaysians have reason to celebrate? Unfortunately, the popular response would be very much in the negative. Continue reading “56 years later – a fractured, polarised nation”