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Why this year’s budget would be less interesting

– Muhammad Nazreen
The Malaysian Insider
October 20, 2013

In the next few weeks, everybody is anticipating the key issues that may be highlighted in the 2014 budget. Malaysia’s mounting public debt is at an alarming rate. Recurring deficits over years due to government’s overspending would be a primary reason why is this year’s budget would be less populist. The BN government managed to secure its win during the 13th general election. So, we could expect less windfall subsidies and pay-offs to be distributed. However, the deteriorating condition of Malaysia’s economy might prompt the fact that it is timely for the government to introduce stern fiscal consolidation. Austerity measures are likely the main ingredients of the upcoming budget.

Here are some of the concerns. Continue reading “Why this year’s budget would be less interesting”

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Soaring Crime Rate Takes a Growing Malaysia by Surprise

by Thomas Fuller
New York Times
October 18, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s population has tripled over the past four decades. Its largest city, Kuala Lumpur, a place once so sparsely populated that it looked like a botanical garden, has exploded into a cosmopolitan metropolis of shopping malls, luxury hotels and sprawling suburbs.

But with modernity and urbanization came an unwanted corollary: a soaring crime rate that has blighted Kuala Lumpur, previously considered one of Asia’s safest cities, and other urban areas across Peninsular Malaysia. It is hard to find someone in Kuala Lumpur today who does not have a story about a purse snatching, a burglary, or worse.

“Whatever defense we put up is not enough,” said Chong Kon Wah, a British-trained engineer who was burglarized twice at his home in the Kuala Lumpur suburbs and robbed once while in his car — all within 10 days in August.

Residents in middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods have begun to gate their communities, often without local government permission. And the demand for personal guards has soared, with the number of certified security companies nationwide more than tripling over the past decade to 712 from 200, according to the Security Services Association of Malaysia, which trains guards. Continue reading “Soaring Crime Rate Takes a Growing Malaysia by Surprise”

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It’s just another ordinary Sunday as Sarawak churches sound with the echo of Allah

by Desmond Davidson
The Malaysian Insider
October 20, 2013

Christian worshippers recited the word Allah as they fulfilled their Sunday obligation across churches in Sarawak today, shrugging off a court ruling that said the Arabic word for God was not central to their faith.

At the St Columbas Anglican church in Miri this morning, the native faithful intoned the words Allah Taala in Iban, God Almighty in English, as they have been doing all their life.

Parishioners who attended the 7am Iban service were reminded during sermon that there would be no change in the way prayers are said and that the church would continue using the word Allah.

The priest, referring to the statement made by Archbishop Datuk Bolly Lapok earlier this week, said the church would “continue to reverently worship their Allah until the Kingdom comes”. Continue reading “It’s just another ordinary Sunday as Sarawak churches sound with the echo of Allah”

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Umno can’t change, will soon be extinct, says former NST chief editor

by Jennifer Gomez
The Malaysian Insider
October 20, 2013

Umno is unable to bring change and just like the dodo bird, will soon become extinct, writes the former group chief editor of Umno-controlled New Straits Times.

The analogy of the now-extinct bird species from Mauritius is made by Datuk A. Kadir Jasin on his latest blog posting.

He writes that whether there were 2,000 or 140,000 delegates who took part in the just-concluded Umno polls, it is obvious that the party could not make the leap forward as it could not elect a fresh line-up of future leaders.

For Kadir, the only consolation in the Umno vice-presidential race is that those who accused of being involved in money politics have been rejected.

According to Kadir, while the status quo for the veep line-up was a good sign for Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the same could not be said for the party. This is because it could not vote in a new generation of leaders except for a few who made it to the supreme council. Continue reading “Umno can’t change, will soon be extinct, says former NST chief editor”

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Malaysia should move forward to end the half-year of drift and even regression to forge national reconciliation to build a united, inclusive, competitive and prosperous Malaysia for all Malaysians

All eyes were on the Umno party elections yesterday for indications whether the government and country will continue to be haunted, as in the half-year since the General Elections, by the politics of hate and lies projecting the completely false image that Malays and Islam are under siege or whether the government and country will be able to set off on a new trajectory of nation building and development.

Former Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam played the race card to the hilt in the Umno party elections, continuing to indulge in Chinese-bashing for his defeat in the Malay-majority Bukit Katil parliamentary seat in Malacca, oblivious to the fact that he would not have lost in the May general elections if he had not also lost the support of the Malay voters in his constituency.

Is Ali going to blame the Chinese again for his loss in the Umno Vice President contest yesterday, where even the overwhelming majority of the Umno divisions in his Malacca state did not vote for him?

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir was equally irresponsible, ruthless and reckless in playing the race card, reiterating the preposterous allegations and lies since his failed attempt to racialise the Gelang Patah battle in the 13th General Elections that the Chinese in Malaysia were out to oust the political power of the Malays and dominate Malaysian politics.

But the Umno party elections yesterday is further confirmation that Mahathir’s aura and magic have been on an unchecked decline, not only among the Malaysian and Malay public from his 13th general elections campaigns in Gelang Patah, Shah Alam and Pasir Mas but also inside UMNO. Continue reading “Malaysia should move forward to end the half-year of drift and even regression to forge national reconciliation to build a united, inclusive, competitive and prosperous Malaysia for all Malaysians”

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Tiga soalan “ketamadunan” untuk Naib Canselor dan Menteri

– Prof Dr. Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi
The Malaysian Insider
October 19, 2013

Saya ingin berkongsi suatu perkara yang penting yang telah berlaku sejurus selepas kuliah saya di UTM baru-baru ini.

Dua orang mahasiswa Melayu datang ke pejabat saya untuk bertanyakan beberapa isu. Pada kebiasaannya mahasiswa atau mahasiswi yang datang ke pejabat saya akan bertanyakan tentang soalan berkaitan senibina dan juga tugasan yang diberikan.

Tetapi, pada hari itu, kedua-dua mahasiwa ini telah bertanyakan tiga soalan yang kini seluruh negara kita sedang berhadapan tetapi tidak terjawab. Saya perturunkan tiga soalan ini dengan jawapan saya tetapi sebahagian jawapan saya adalah soalan kepada pucuk pimpinan universiti awam dan pimpinan negara. Ketiga-tiga soalan itu berkisar terhadap isu ketamadunan, perkauman dan kemanusiaan.

Soalan pertama yang telah diajukan kepada saya oleh salah seorang dari dua orang mahasiswa yang hadir ke pejabat saya di UTM adalah:

“Dewasa ini kita sering dengar banyak sekali yang diperkatakan tentang Islam oleh ustaz-ustaz dan tokoh-tokoh ugama. Tetapi yang saya pelik adalah dalam melaut perbincangan tentang ugama Islam, kenapa tahap kemanusiaan kita makin hari makin rendah?” Continue reading “Tiga soalan “ketamadunan” untuk Naib Canselor dan Menteri”

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Government is Playing Politics with ‘Allah’

By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
19.10.2013

Firebombs didn’t go off in mosques. Pigs’ heads were not thrown into mosque compounds. These things did not happen after the Court of Appeal ruled against the High Court’s 2009 decision to allow the Catholic weekly newspaper The Herald to use the word ‘Allah’ in referring to God.

They did not happen despite Muslim group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia’s adding insult to injury by telling Christians to accept the verdict or leave the country. Its president, Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman, said, “They can choose to move to another country if they cannot accept the supremacy of Islam and the royalty that protects the supremacy of the religion.” It was irrelevant, uncalled-for and provocative, but the community that was targeted did not retaliate with violence. This of course is to its credit.

It did, however, react angrily to the verdict. Rev Eu Hong Seng, chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, declared: “This is yet another erosion and infringement of the constitutional protection to the freedom of religious communities to profess and practise their faith and to manage their own affairs. The decision might encourage and fuel further misunderstanding and mistrust between the Muslim and Christian communities which will further undermine the unity of Malaysians.” Continue reading “Government is Playing Politics with ‘Allah’”

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‘Allah’ verdict continues to draw ridicule abroad

Malaysiakini
Oct 19, 2013

Five days after the Court of Appeal ruled on the ‘Allah’ issue the controversial decision is still drawing ridicule from some Muslims worldwide as, among others, “bizarre” and “grossly wrong”.

“Now, as a fellow Muslim, I will be honest to the Malaysians who have given this verdict or those who support it: This is one of the most illogical, insensible and childish decisions I have heard in my life. It is sheer nonsense,” wrote a columnist for Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News today.

Mustafa Akyol, who appears to write for several Turkish and international publications, called the verdict that The Herald cannot use the word ‘Allah’ as it leads to confusion amongst Muslims and brings the threat of propagation “grossly wrong”, “un-Islamic” and “irrational”.

“Why? Well, first of all, the word ‘Allah’ simply means ‘the God’ in Arabic, and it certainly is not exclusive to Islam,” he wrote, mirroring the much repeated explanation that seems to fall on deaf ears amongst the local Muslims in authority. Continue reading “‘Allah’ verdict continues to draw ridicule abroad”

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Moving beyond May 5 and October 19

– Ranjit Singh
The Malaysian Insider
October 19, 2013

The year 2013 will go down in the annals of Malaysian history for two important dates. First, May 5, when the Opposition won the popular vote in the 13th General Election, and second, October 19, when the second echelon of power in Umno will be decided.

While May 5 saw the incumbents retain power, October 19 will decide if they have enough firepower to ensure that they hold on to the power in the general election due in 2018.

The very fact that the candidates vying for the vice-presidents’ posts were not allowed to debate was a real missed opportunity for Umno members to evaluate the calibre of their future leaders.

Prime Minister Datuk Najib Razak’s seismic shift from 1Malaysia to the right, in a move seen by many as “playing to the gallery”, has actually undone all the ambitious programmes under his transformation programme and has sowed seeds of anger and distrust among the non-Malays. Continue reading “Moving beyond May 5 and October 19”

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Mahathir cannot be more wrong – three generations of Malaysians regardless of religion have been singing the state anthems of seven states invoking the name of Allah to bless and protect the Sultan and people

Former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir cannot be more wrong when he said that non-Muslims insisting on the use of the word ‘Allah’ in peninsular Malaysia are disrupting what was already a working arrangement, claiming that “insisting to do so creates tensions between different religions” as non-Muslims in the peninsula do not traditionally use the word.

This is because three generations of Malaysians regardless of race or religion have been singing the state anthems of seven states, Johore, Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu invoking the name of Allah to bless and protect the Sultan and people. Were they wrong? Continue reading “Mahathir cannot be more wrong – three generations of Malaysians regardless of religion have been singing the state anthems of seven states invoking the name of Allah to bless and protect the Sultan and people”

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RoS: Drop EGM to censure Liow

by Adrian Lai
New Straits Times
19.10.2013

PRESERVING UNITY: Registrar urges MCA to refer him to disciplinary committee instead

KUALA LUMPUR: CONCERNED over the worsening leadership crisis plaguing MCA, the Registrar of Societies (RoS) has issued a letter to party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, urging him to consider dropping a move to censure his estranged deputy, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) tomorrow.

RoS principal senior assistant director Desmond Das told the New Straits Times yesterday that Dr Chua’s office had received the letter on Thursday morning.

“The letter was written by RoS director-general Mohammad Razin Abdullah, in which he expressed concern about the ongoing tiff between Dr Chua and Liow. Continue reading “RoS: Drop EGM to censure Liow”

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Religion In Protest

by Allan CF Goh
(A Poem)

Religion is there for mankind
To discover his soul and its kind
It’s there for his spiritual need
Be better based on enlightened deed
Religion must preach righteousness
Built up with karma of real kindness
So as to enhance his belief
To bring benign religious relief
Religion clothed in intemperance
Demeans its true holy forbearance Continue reading “Religion In Protest”

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Chua Should Keep His Word and Quit

By Kee Thuan Chye
msn.com
19.10.2013

Chua Soi Lek is being extremely unreasonable in telling his deputy, Liow Tiong Lai, to quit the leadership of the MCA before he himself will step down. And his push for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to overturn the party’s resolution not to take up government positions in light of its poor performance at the last general election (GE13) is a betrayal of his pre-GE13 promise.

On these two issues alone, he has lost all dignity and should just slink into a corner and disappear. He should not be blustering like he is doing in order to try and get things his way. It only makes him appear more and more like a dictator, and an irrational one, to boot.

No wonder there are groups within the party campaigning to bring about his downfall. Like the Save Party Committee 3.0 and the ABC (Anything But Chua) movement. The latter was initiated by newly-elected central delegate Lee Hwa Beng, who was summarily sacked from the party last week at a meeting chaired by Chua, clearly to get rid of the latter’s opponents. Continue reading “Chua Should Keep His Word and Quit”

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Allah decision binding on all Malaysians, says retired AG Abu Talib

by V Anbalagan
The Malaysian Insider
October 19, 2013

All Malaysians are bound by the Court of Appeal ruling on the Allah issue, says former attorney general Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman, who is puzzled that Putrajaya believes the controversial judgment does not affect Christians in Sabah and Sarawak.

The appellate court agreed that the Home Minister could ban the word Allah in the Catholic weekly Herald, but two Cabinet ministers had insisted the decision did not include the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia bible widely used in Sabah and Sarawak, and other Christian publications in East Malaysia.

“It has the effect of a binding precedent and all have to respect that decision, whether you agree or disagree,” he told The Malaysian Insider, adding it was binding until set aside by the country’s highest court, the Federal Court.

Abu Talib, who was the chief legal adviser to the government for 13 years from 1980, said there could be no two sets of law when “we have one nation and one supreme constitution”.

“So, there cannot be exemptions given to Sabah and Sarawak on this religious issue based on region or state,” he said.

Abu Talib said this in response to Cabinet ministers Tan Sri Joseph Kurup and Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili who had taken the position that Christians in the Borneo states were not affected by the appellate court ruling on Monday and could use the word in their religious practices. Continue reading “Allah decision binding on all Malaysians, says retired AG Abu Talib”

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Is ‘Allah’ issue interpreting the constitution or a will?

Mohamed Hanipa Maidin
Malaysiakini
Oct 17, 2013

MP SPEAKS Freedom of religion as enshrined in Article 11 of the federal constitution has never been absolute. Nowithstanding that, the constitution definitely allows Christians to use ‘Allah’ in their Catholic weekly publication The Herald.

Thus, it is indeed shocking to learn that the Court of Appeal unanimously invoked the constitutional ground to affirm the decision of the home minister in preventing The Herald from using the word Allah in its publication.

As far as I am concerned, the issue is rather simple and straightforward, namely whether Allah exclusively belongs to Muslims. If the answer is in the affirmative, then it is the end of the matter.

In other words the Christians or other religious adherents do not have any constitutional right to use Allah’s name. The rule is so simple – you cannot claim any right which is not yours in the first place.

Truth to be told, Allah is not the exclusive possession of any Muslim. The non-exclusivity of Allah to the Muslims is in fact derived from the Muslim’s main sources of guidance, which are the Quran and the hadith. Continue reading “Is ‘Allah’ issue interpreting the constitution or a will?”

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Don’t secede, just leave BN!

– Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
October 18, 2013

We do not have to wait for GE14 to oust Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional (BN). Nor have we reached a stage where conscientious lawmakers forget about being partisan and agree on a vote of no confidence against the PM. BN presently has the numbers and has the support of an equally partisan speaker.

Any motion of no confidence will be defeated. Jeffrey Kitingan’s talk about secession is super brave. It can be seditious or can be treated so. If the government wants to, it can treat Kitingan’s proposal as seditious. Umno and BN foot soldiers will likely do what they normally do – make police reports against Jeffrey and others dong the same brave talk.

If you look at point 7, it says there is no right of secession. What do Sabahans and Sarawakians want? Since secession is not possible, the next best thing is to kick out the Federal government which is the source of much of the East Malaysians’ discontent. Work with people who can make that possible. Continue reading “Don’t secede, just leave BN!”

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Strange reasoning

— Clive Kessler
The Malay Mail Online
October 16, 2013

OCT 16 — The more I think about the Court of Appeal’s recent judgment in the case of the government’s appeal against the lower court’s determination in favour of The Herald, the crazier, and more infuriatingly wrong-headed, it seems.

The legal reasoning of Justice Mohamad Apandi Ali seems not just “innovative” but arguably bizarre and, to the historically minded, even absurd. It seems hardly sustainable.

It rests upon and promotes the radical idea that the enjoyment by minorities of their religious freedom “in peace and harmony” was, as a form of words, not intended as a constitutional guarantee or assurance to them but as a way of making that freedom of theirs subject to the pleasure, discretion and the inflationary whims of the majority.

With that “contrarian” spin, these words are now made to serve as the practically enabling condition or mechanism of the minority’s subordinate and infinitely ever more constrainable situation.

That is to say, of a situation where the exercise of any of the potential freedoms of religious conscience that the minority might claim is now to be made conditional upon continuing, and always revocable, majority consent — upon the majority’s increasingly reluctant and unlikely forbearance. Continue reading “Strange reasoning”

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Has Najib’s 1Malaysia Policy degenerated in four years into a 2Malaysia Policy with different interpretations of constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion for two different regions in Malaysia?

Has Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Policy degenerated in four years into a 2Malaysia Policy with different interpretations of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion for two different regions in Malaysia?

This is a question that cries out for answer after the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup told Sin Chew Daily that the Cabinet had decided after the Court of Appeal judgment on the “Allah” case that in keeping with the earlier 10-point solution, the word “Allah” can be used by Sabahan and Sarawakian Christians in their worship, including in the Malay-language bible Al-Kitab.

Many queries have been spawned, including whether the Cabinet can override the Court of Appeal judgment by executive fiat, which no lawyer, whether in Cabinet, government, Parliament or in the country would ever claim.

What then is the legality, legitimacy and longevity of the Cabinet decision attempting to override the Court of Appeal “Allah” judgment? Continue reading “Has Najib’s 1Malaysia Policy degenerated in four years into a 2Malaysia Policy with different interpretations of constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion for two different regions in Malaysia?”

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After the Allah decision, Putrajaya in futile bid to salvage Malaysia

NEWS ANALYSIS BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
October 17, 2013

There is irrationality and irony in the Cabinet’s decision that the word Allah can be used in worship and in the Bahasa Malaysia bibles in Sabah and Sarawak – because one cannot compartmentalise religion by regions.

Nor can the Cabinet override the court’s decision.

Or the fact that the Bahasa Malaysia section of the Catholic weekly, the Herald, is actually meant for East Malaysians where most of the Catholics speak and read the national language more than anywhere else in the country.

After all, what are the chances that a non-Catholic would be able to lay his or her hands on one of the 14,000 copies printed weekly in Malaysia for some one million Catholics in the country?

If anything, the Cabinet decision that the Court of Appeal ruling would not affect Christians in Sabah and Sarawak shows that at the end of the day, everything is about politics. Continue reading “After the Allah decision, Putrajaya in futile bid to salvage Malaysia”

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Bar questions premise for ‘Allah’ judgment

Christopher Leong
Malaysiakini
Oct 16, 2013

COMMENT The Malaysian Bar is deeply concerned by the decision of the Court of Appeal delivered on Oct 14, 2013 in what is commonly referred to as the ‘Herald’ or ‘Allah’ case.

The concerns arise from the court’s interpretation of Article 3(1) of the federal constitution on the status of Islam and other religions and Article 11(1) and (4) on the fundamental right to profess and practice a religion.

Any interpretation of the constitution must invite the greatest scrutiny as it impacts on the fundamental freedoms guaranteed to all citizens. Continue reading “Bar questions premise for ‘Allah’ judgment”