Day: January 30, 2014

The Malaysian Insider yesterday, in a report by Elizabeth Zachariah and headlined “Malaysia no longer land of peace and tolerance, says Pakistan website”, is an indictment and stain on the efficiency, professionalism and career of the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar .

This follows weeks and months of incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tensions with the police adopting a “hands-off” policy, resulting in the Molotov cocktail attack on a church in Penang on Monday, a day after three provocative banner “Allah is Great. Jesus is the son of Allah” was hung outside five churches in Penang without knowledge of the church authorities and the vandalism of eight gravestones in a Christian cemetery near Kuantan yesterday.

As the writer of the Pakistani website, Masood Khan, said: For the rest of the Muslim world, Malaysia used to be an island of peace and tolerance.

“Sadly, it’s no more as an evil eye has cast its bad shadow on a moderate and progressive country”. Continue reading “Police first duty is to restore Malaysia’s reputation as “a land of peace and tolerance” for different religions and it should not be distracted by proposals to set up a shariah unit or squad to check prices”

A Shukur Harun
The Malaysian Insider
January 30, 2014

Pelbagai pihak kini sedang memerhatikan dengan cemas segala perkembangan yang berlaku di tanah air, yang dilihat sangat membimbangkan.

Ini akibat segala isu yang berbangkit menuju ke arah maraknya api perkauman dan pertentangan agama sedang dibakar oleh pihak tertentu yang mempunyai pelbagai kepentingan dan keadaan ini sangat mencemaskan.

Isu berbangkit yang mana tidak diheret ke lembah perkauman dan pandangan agama sempit? Isu kangkung turun harga, isu kalimah Allah, GST dan keputusan PRU13 lalu di mana ada pemimpin negara menganggap sebagai ‘tsunami Cina’ berikutan kebanyakan pengundi bandar, khususnya pengundi Cina, menolak calon Barisan Nasional. Semuanya diheret menjadi isu perkauman.

Kini selepas lebih enam bulan PRU13, isu perkauman masih dimainkan dalam pelbagai variasi dan bentuk. Semuanya ini sangat membimbangkan.

Sehubungan itu, NGO Islam mengalu-alukan usaha Pakatan Rakyat untuk duduk bersama Umno/BN bagi membincangkan isu perkauman dengan segera bagi mencari formula terbaik demi memelihara kesejahteraan rakyat negara ini.
Continue reading “Selesai segera isu kaum dan agama”

DAP welcomes the Cabinet’s positive response to the “Love and Save Malaysia” overture by the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council for a Barisan Nasional/Pakatan Rakyat Leaders’ Summit to promote national unity and scuttle plans by a small group of traitors out to destabilize Malaysia by creating another May 13.

The Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council had repeatedly made this patriotic call – as reflected in all the three Open Letters I addressed to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on Jan. 8, 22 and 29 where the idea of a Barisan Nasional/Pakatan Rakyat Leaders” Summit “to love and save Malaysia” is the consistent theme.

As I ended in my third Open Letter to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet yesterday, I urged the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to reciprocate the act of patriotism of the Pakatan Rakyat leadership – to jointly endeavor and ensure there is continued harmony, goodwill and tolerance in Malaysia leaving the spectre of May 13 to the cobwebs of history.

The Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat parties and leaders have major differences about the political road that should be taken by Malaysia after more than half a century of nationhood, and these differences have to fought out in the democratic clash of ideas to be finally decided by the Malaysian electorate in the ballot box.

But one thing the BN and PR cannot disagree if both are patriotic movements, that is on the need to unite to save Malaysia from the machinations of a small group of irresponsible and reckless people who are no different from traitors who seek to destabilise the country to cause another May 13 by incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension in the country. Continue reading “DAP welcomes the Cabineet’s positive response to the “Love and Save Malaysia” overture by Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council for a BN/PR Leaders’ Summit to promote national unity and scuttle plans by small group of traitors out to destabilize Malaysia by creating another May 13”

by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
January 30, 2014

An email calendar – titled “The Rise of Malaysia” – circulating in cyberspace spells out what is in store for Malaysians for the rest of the year.

While the source of the creatively presented calendar is unknown, it proudly claims to be “produced by Malaysians, for Malaysians”.

It breaks down the rising cost of living into 12 months – and each month with its own “theme”.

“This calendar was produced to share in our sorrow and help deal with our 2-week memory problem (our leaders say we can only remember bad events for 2 weeks, after that we forgive and love them again). “It (2014) will be a bleak financial year for Malaysians as we face an increase in toll prices, electricity tariff rates, public transportation, possibly further fuel subsidy cuts, impending GST, etc, etc”, it stated.

The “inspiration” was the ordinary Malaysians who had “vented their frustrations” on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Facebook page.

“All facts quoted in the calendar are accurate and reported in the mainstream news.” Continue reading “‘O what fun’ Malaysians will have for the rest of 2014”

by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jan 27, 2014

Umno Baru MPs are euphoric. They have successfully concluded the world’s longest animal behaviour experiment. Decades of living in a police state, run by a one-party system, have conditioned us to behave like laboratory rats.

‘Therapeutic’ methods are designed to make lab rats give up undesirable habits by associating them with unpleasant effects. In Malaysia, troublesome people – like those who dare to express an opinion, who design eye-catching T-shirts, or who interpret constitutional laws – will receive a nasty jolt, in the form of police harassment. Their lives are blighted by years of questioning, and the possibility of fines, jail or both.

These ‘gentle’ methods are sometimes supported by the action of thugs.

Like lab rats, our lives become devoted to pleasing the leaders who designed the experiments. We sacrifice our principles, our consciences and our children’s futures, because we are not prepared to do what is right, to question, and basically do what normal rats do best when in the wild – to live. Continue reading “Taming the ‘pig-beast’”

by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
January 28, 2014

Malaysia’s global image as a moderate and progressive Muslim country is being tarnished by increasing racial and religious intolerance, and more recently, the attack on a church in Penang, a Pakistan online news website reported today.

Despite the millions of ringgit spent by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to promote this moderate image through his anti-extremist Global Movement of Moderates, the Allah row and incidents stemming from it show that this may not be the case anymore, Pakistan Today said.

The writer, Masood Khan, said for the rest of the Muslim world, Malaysia used to be an “island of peace and tolerance”.

“Sadly, it’s no more as an evil eye has cast its bad shadow on a moderate and progressive country,” he wrote. Continue reading “Malaysia no longer land of peace and tolerance, says Pakistan website”