Day: May 3, 2014

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammddin Hussein in his statement yesterday repeated ad nauseum that “we have nothing to hide” demonstrating a grave guilt complex on this issue.

In fact, Hishammuddin’s reiteration umpteenth time yesterday that “we have nothing to hide” is the most potent proof that he realizes that he is fighting a losing battle in the credibility war both nationally and internationally because of lack of openness and accountability in the MH 370 disaster crisis management.

While continuing to declare that “we have nothing to hide”, he continues to evade accountability and responsibility for what happened in the crucial and critical first few hours of the first day of the missing MH 370 tragedy on March 8, and even enlisted the help of Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) chief Angus Houston in the latter’s first public appearance in Malaysia yesterday since heading the multinational search for MH370.

I could not believe it when I read the media report that when asked about the Malaysian government’s preliminary report on the missing MH 370 made public on May 1 and how much attention should be given to past mistakes, Houston parroted Hishammuddin saying that efforts should be focussed “wholly and solely” on the ongoing search. Continue reading “Hishamuddin’s reiteration umpteenth time yesterday that “we have nothing to hide” is most potent proof he realizes he is fighting losing battle in the credibility war both nationally and internationally because of lack of openness and accountability in MH 370 disaster crisis management”

by Anisah Shukry
The Malaysian Insider
May 02, 2014

Judges at the Court of Appeal used to eagerly anticipate Karpal Singh’s presence before them, and news of his appearance would immediately give them a ‘lift’, a former appellate court judge recalled this evening.

Speaking at a memorial service for Karpal in Petaling Jaya, Datuk Mahadev Shankar remembered how the fiery lawyer was popular with the judges, all of whom held him in high esteem.

“After I became a judge, I had the opportunity to watch Karpal in action, and I found that he was the best lawyer who ever appeared before me.

“I would rank him the best lawyer in the country,” Mahadev told some 100 people at the memorial organised by Karpal’s former schoolmates from SMK La Salle and St. Xavier’s Institution.

Other speakers at the memorial were Karpal’s son and Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo, DAP advisor and Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang and former deputy minister of ‎Land and Cooperative Development and former Penang deputy chief minister Dr Goh Cheng Teik.

“He never wasted the court’s time. When he came into court, he went straight for the jugular, without mincing his words.

“More often than not, I agreed with him. Other times, I did not, and I judged against him.

“But this was the opinion of all the judges that time: we put him as number one. When we heard he was coming to court that day, we immediately got a lift,” said the former judge. Continue reading “Karpal thrilled us with his delivery in court, former judge recalls”

Neil Khor
Malaysiakini
May 2, 2014

COMMENT Come June 2014, some 56 years after independence, Malaysian parliamentarians will decide whether we are going to evolve into an Islamic State as a private members bill allowing the implementation of Hudud Laws in Kelantan is put to them.

For those committed to secularism like this writer, the mind boggles with questions of how we came to this cross-roads after half a century of urbanization and industrialization?

Did Globalization pass us by and left us more conservative or did we take a peek at the world and have decided to reject it.

Confucius said that one has to walk in the shoes of others to understand their perspective. To some Malaysians, the journey from independence through nation building is only meaningful if we recover our full integrity by returning this land to its original state prior to Western colonialism.

To them, Malaya continues to be defined not by its multiculturalism but by its Islamic heritage. Society can only fully recover if Muslims live by the laws of their religion. Continue reading “Hudud, Islamic State and Malaysia’s future”

by Sheridan Mahavera
The Malaysian Insider
May 03, 2014

As the country marks one year after arguably the most fiercely fought general election, The Malaysian Insider takes a step back to look at how the country has come since then. In this first part, we look at what has changed since then and if we are better off under the second Barisan Nasional administration of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

One year after winning an even smaller majority and his first personal mandate, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Barisan Nasional (BN) find themselves in the same position as before GE13 – running a country divided by race and religion, and a majority dissatisfied with the ruling government.

Islamic fundamentalists want the Shariah criminal law, hudud, which prescribes amputation for theft; racial friction remains as right-wing groups stoke issues; inflation spiked to 3.5% in March; while three out of five people surveyed are against a 6% consumption tax due April 2015.

Loss-making flag carrier Malaysia Airlines has mysteriously lost a Boeing 777-200ER with 239 on board without any trace after a hunt that now enters its 57th day after days of confusion over its location. It has yet to be found.

Political scientist Dr Wong Chin Huat has described the atmosphere of the past year after the May 5 general elections as being the same as the first four years when Najib took over in 2009 from predecessor Tun Abdullah Badawi who quit over BN’s historic loss of the two-thirds parliamentary super-majority in Election 2008.

“The Najib government in the year after May 5 is characterised by both active suppression of dissents and minorities and passive failure in governance.

“(This is) represented by the persecution of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders and marginalisation of non-Muslims, and its failure in managing the MH370 crisis,” Wong told The Malaysian Insider. Continue reading “A year after GE13, Malaysia remains in a political rut”

Malaysiakini
May 2, 2014

Deceased Teluk Intan MP Seah Leong Peng was a true party loyalist who had stood by the DAP in its darkest days since he became a member in 1995, said secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Lim said Seah had stood by the DAP whether from crushing electoral reverses or from the mindless persecution and prosecution of party leaders by the BN “totalitarian” government.

“He was an idealist and a fighter, who refused to bow down to threats and a determined defender of the underdog in his 19 years with the party and 15 years as a wakil rakyat,” the Penang chief minister added.

Seah, 48, died of cancer yesterday after he was diagnosed of the sickness in February. Continue reading “Guan Eng: Seah a resolute defender of the underdog”