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Time for goodwill, sobriety and sanity to restore unity

by Ahmad Mustapha Hassan
The Ant Daily
31/12/2013

SPEAKING PLAINLY

OUTSPOKEN: 2013 has been a very traumatic year for Malaysia. We have a prime minister who is seldom in the country. We have his wife who has been proclaimed as the first lady of Malaysia or FLOM and who has been given the privilege of using government facilities as if she is a member of the cabinet or government.

We have a racist Home Minister who behaves more like a gangster than a sober and responsible cabinet minister. He is out to flog the Shiites by demonising it as being a deviant sect.

He is out to blemish the image of Mat Sabu, the number two in PAS, as being a follower of this sect and asking him to prove that he is not one. This is the first time someone is being asked to prove his innocence rather than the authorities proving that he is guilty. Continue reading “Time for goodwill, sobriety and sanity to restore unity”

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Najib, are you taking us towards disaster?

by Ahmad Mustapha Hassan
The Ant Daily
9/11/2013

SPEAKING PLAINLY

OUTSPOKEN: It is quite normal for anyone to ask this question: Where are we going and where are you taking us? Since you took over the reins of government, we seem to be moving neither here nor there. Most people are baffled because you seem to enjoy life while the country is facing innumerable critical problems.

Even as these problems are left unattended, more problems are being added. Your words have no meaning whatsoever as your cabinet ministers have been acting to dismantle what you had promised the people before you were given the mandate to run the country.

Your father was so different. Tun Abdul Razak’s words were meant as instructions to all, ministers, civil servants and the people. No member of his cabinet would go against what he desired for the people. All worked towards achieving that aim.

He was very prudent and would not spend people’s money unnecessarily. He limited his overseas travel to no more than twice a year. He would cut out all non-essential expenses. He did not believe in creating unwanted and expensive icons.

He was interested in uplifting the economic situation of the whole nation, not just creating a few wealthy and self-centred individuals. He believed that he should not waste the rakyat’s money by bringing those who did not matter on his overseas trips. Continue reading “Najib, are you taking us towards disaster?”

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The 2014 school year to produce Malaysia’s first batch of “miracle students” who would catapult to top-third of international educational benchmarks in 2021 and 2022 has started but Muhyiddin is still mysteriously silent how this “miracle” is to be achieved

The Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should be the most excited man in the country, as he should be conscious more than anyone else that the new school year of 2014 is the most special, historic and even unique in the nation’s 56-year history.

This is because entering school this year will be Malaysia’s first batch of “miracle students” who would rank among the top-third of world students in international educational benchmarks for critical subjects, whether TIMSS (Trends in International Maths and Science Study) or PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), at the beginning of the next decade.

That is IF the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (MEB) launched by Muhyiddin in September last year is to achieve its objective, that by 2021-2025 or Wave 3 of the National Education Transformations under the MEB, the performance of Malaysian students in international education assessments like TIMSS and PISA would be in the “top third” of the systems.

The opening of the 2014 school year for 449,067 Year One pupils nationwide, which began yesterday for Johore, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan and today for other states, should therefore be specially exciting and challenging for Muhyiddin, if he is really expecting the present batch of Year One pupils to perform an “educational miracle” to double leap-frog from the present bottom-third to top-third of world educational assessments like PISA and TIMSS in a decade.

In fact, not only the eyes of the country but the eyes of the world should be focussed on the present batch of 449,067 Year One pupils to ascertain whether and how they could do what no other country or batch of students had ever done or attained, i.e. to achieve a triple “hop-step-jump” from the bottom-third to the top-third of international educational benchmarks in a decade. Continue reading “The 2014 school year to produce Malaysia’s first batch of “miracle students” who would catapult to top-third of international educational benchmarks in 2021 and 2022 has started but Muhyiddin is still mysteriously silent how this “miracle” is to be achieved”

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Police should show real remorse for wrongly uploading picture claiming to be a bleeding policeman injured at New Year’s Eve protest at Dataran Merdeka by adopting principles of democratic policing to protect the people and not just the government

The Police has rightly apologised for wrongly uploading a picture of an injured man claiming that it was a police officer on duty during the New Year’s Eve anti-price hikes protest at Dataran Merdeka.

The force’s official Facebook had uploaded a picture of a shirtless man with a head injury who was bleeding profusely that it assumed was a police offier on duty during the anti-price hike rally on Tuesday night.

The picture was denounced by many netizens who pointed out that it was inconsistent with the police’s own statement that the three officers injured on duty were only injured on their arms.

The police admitted to the mistake and apologised for the “carelessness in uploading a picture assumed to be a police officer who got injured while on duty on New Year’s Eve”.

A police statement said PDRM “has no intentions of making the situation any worse” and that police officers were “normal humans” who are “prone to mistakes”. Continue reading “Police should show real remorse for wrongly uploading picture claiming to be a bleeding policeman injured at New Year’s Eve protest at Dataran Merdeka by adopting principles of democratic policing to protect the people and not just the government”

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UmnoBN follies but blame it on PR and the States they rule?

Richard Loh
1.1.2014

What is wrong with this nation? Nothing wrong at all. The right question should be, “What is wrong with the 56 years old UmnoBN led government”? The answer would be, too many wrongs that we lost count.

In this article I will just highlight a couple of wrongs which I deem are prerequisite to the overall poor performances of the UmnoBN led government.

Admission of Guilt

No one has ever admitted the wrongs that were originated right from the heart of PutraJaya, starting from the Prime Minister, Ministers down to the civil servants. While it is acceptable to many that they don’t admit their guilt what is worst is that they can use all the highest authorities to defend their wrongs, from Bank Negara, PDRM, MACC and if necessary the judiciary. Cases such as the NFC, PKFZ, the billions of illegal capital flight, ‘Extravagant expenditures’ and the year in year out Auditor General Annual Reports, just to name a few.

It is fine if you do not admit guilt but to continue with the wrongs instead of correcting and putting a stop to it reflects how bad the government is performing. Continue reading “UmnoBN follies but blame it on PR and the States they rule?”

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Barisan risks losing further urban support with 20% toll rebate removal, say critics

by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
January 02, 2014

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government will continue to lose further support in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur by ending the 20% toll rebate for frequent users, even as most Malaysians tighten their belts to face the rising cost of living, say opposition lawmakers.

The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers warned that the latest move, coming on the heels of an impending toll hike, will further burden Selangor and Kuala Lumpur residents who use privatised highways that criss-cross Malaysia’s wealthiest area in their daily commute.

BN has lost the majority of seats in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor in the last two general elections, apart from losing the popular vote in the 2013 elections. The next election is due by 2018 and BN is expected to continue relying on rural seats to keep power. Continue reading “Barisan risks losing further urban support with 20% toll rebate removal, say critics”

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For 2014, church leaders seek respect, equality before Constitution

by Boo Su-Lyn
The Malay Mail Online
January 2, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 — As religious tensions from the five-year-old “Allah” controversy spilled over into the new year, senior Christian clergymen here have appealed for mutual respect from Malaysian Muslims with a reminder that they too have the right to practice their faith according to the precepts of their own religion.

Asked for their wishes for the year ahead, several church leaders here said they want the constitutional rights of Christians recognised and an end to the hate-mongering fueled by the tussle over on word – “Allah” – which has divided Malaysians along geographical and racial lines.

“We are not expecting Malaysia to be a Christian country. The main thing is respect.

“Respect and recognise that each individual has the right to choose whatever they believe,” said Rev Datuk Jerry Dusing, president of the evangelical Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB).

“That’s the central tenet of human rights,” the head of Sabah’s second-largest church told The Malay Mail Online in an interview on his hopes for 2014. Continue reading “For 2014, church leaders seek respect, equality before Constitution”