Posted on

Muhyiddin should relinquish his portfolio as Education Minister as he had spearheaded the BN campaign and won the Pengkalan Kubor by-election in Kelantan at the expense of his duties to the future of 500,000 UPSR pupils

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has reasons to feel very proud as he can claim chief credit for the Umno/BN victory in the Pengkalan Kubor by-election in Kelantan, winning with an even bigger majority than during the 13th general elections last May.

I don’t think there is another Cabinet Minister from outside Kelantan who had spent so many days and visited Tumpat so many times as Muhyiddin during the 13-day by-election campaign period.

But this by-election victory for BN/UMNO has come at a heavy price – Muhyiddin’s abdication of his responsibilities as Education Minister and in particular his duties and responsibilities to the future generation of Malaysians as since his return from the ASEAN Education Ministers’ Meeting in Vientianne, he headed immediately for Tumpat and his sole pre-occupation since then was to win a bigger victory for Umno/BN in Pengkalan Kubor by-election instead of personally dealing with the outrageous educational scandal in the leak of UPSR examination papers.

During this period, Muhyiddin had only time for one meeting in the Education Ministry on the leak of UPSR Science and English papers – on Sept. 15 when he chaired the special meeting to scrutinize the Standards Operating Procedures (SOPs) used for preparing the UPSR examination papers.

This special UPSR SOP meeting has become a great farce, as Muhyiddin did not appear to know at the meeting that there had been leaks of more UPSR papers including Maths and Tamil, and the UPSR pupils, their parents and the Malaysian public were not informed until Monday on Sept. 22 that the UPSR Maths and Tamil papers had leaked and UPSR pupils are required to resit for these two papers on Oct. 9. Continue reading “Muhyiddin should relinquish his portfolio as Education Minister as he had spearheaded the BN campaign and won the Pengkalan Kubor by-election in Kelantan at the expense of his duties to the future of 500,000 UPSR pupils”

Posted on

DAP call for scrapping of re-sitting of UPSR English, Tamil and Maths papers as the 500,000 primary school pupils should not be made to suffer because of the incompetence and lack of professionalism of the Education Minister and his Ministry

DAP calls for the scrapping of the re-sitting of the UPSR English, Tamil and Maths papers as the 500,000 Std. 6 primary school pupils should not be made to suffer because of the shocking incompetence and lack of professionalism of the Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his Ministry.

It is the height of irresponsibility and gross negligence of the first magnitude that the Education Ministry took13 days to announce the leak in the UPSR Maths and Tamil papers and the requirement for UPSR pupils to resit for these two papers on Oct. 9.

The Education director-general Datuk Dr. Khair Mohamad Yusof announced on Monday that the date was fixed after the Examinations Syndicate confirmed on Sunday that the papers sat by the UPSR pupils on Sept. 10 were leaked.

What boggles the mind is that after the disgraceful leak of the UPSR Science and English papers on Sept. 10 and 11, which were discovered on the very same day itself, it has taken the Examinations Syndicate, the Education Ministry and the Education Minister almost a fortnight to discover that the UPSR Tamil and Maths had also been leaked.

If this is not incompetence and lack of professionalism of the first order, I do not know what would qualify to come under the rubric of these two terms. Continue reading “DAP call for scrapping of re-sitting of UPSR English, Tamil and Maths papers as the 500,000 primary school pupils should not be made to suffer because of the incompetence and lack of professionalism of the Education Minister and his Ministry”

Posted on

Ironically, Najib will be speaking as the most “transformational” leader at the UN General Assembly tomorrow, representing Malaysia as the world’s most seditious country instead of being the world’s best democracy

Ironically and most tragic as well, Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be speaking as the most “transformational” Malaysian and even world leader when he takes the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow to give his third UNGA speech in five years, representing Malaysia as the world’s most seditious country instead of fulfilling his three-year promise to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world”.

Najib has not only beaten all the previous five Prime Ministers in chalking up the most number of sedition prosecutions in any Malaysian administration, including that of his father Tun Razak and his former mentor Tun Mahathir in a 22-year premiership, he can even claim credit as the only leader in the contemporary world who has sanctioned the most number of prosecutions under the arcane colonial law of sedition to suppress freedom of speech, criticism and dissent.

May be, Najib will be best remembered in history for his “transformation” in deviating from his promise to make Malaysia the world’s best democracy to become the world’s worst democracy with the “white terror” reign of malicious and selective misuse and abuse of the Sedition Act against the opposition, critics and dissent.

Can Najib explain to the United Nations General Assembly why Malaysians have suddenly in the past five years become the most seditious people in the nation’s 57-year history as well as being the most seditious people in the world, judging by the number of seditious prosecutions particularly in the past six weeks? Continue reading “Ironically, Najib will be speaking as the most “transformational” leader at the UN General Assembly tomorrow, representing Malaysia as the world’s most seditious country instead of being the world’s best democracy”

Posted on

Going gaga over Rara

by Rashvinjeet S. Bedi
Star Online
September 23, 2014

EXCLUSIVE: DAP’s Syefura Othman, better known as Rara, is not cowed by the criticism she has received for joining the party.

KUALA LUMPUR: It was by accident that Young Syefura Othman (yes, that is her real name but more about that later) – better known as Rara was thrust into the political limelight.

She had sent an application form to join DAP to Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, who then tweeted a group picture of them.

This was in July, just two days before Ramadhan.

The rest they say is history. The picture went viral on social networking sites with the DAP news organ Roketkini labelling her “awek cun” in a report.

“I am not really comfortable about that because I think it’s a bit sexist. I will however try and take it positively,” the demure and soft- spoken lass told the Star Online in an interview. Continue reading “Going gaga over Rara”

Posted on

Targetting Anwar on sedition for his 2011 speech worst form of political vendetta and gross abuse of power – would Zahid ensure police would investigate Mahathir “within 24 hours” when sedition report lodged against former PM?

Targetting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim under the Sedition Act for his ceramah speech in March 2011 is the worst form of political vendetta and gross abuse of power in the latest regime of “white terror” to create a climate of fear to stifle criticism and dissent in the country.

Amnesty International’s deputy Asia-Pacific director Rupert Abbot hit the nail on the head when he described as “blatant persecution” Putrajaya’s move to probe Anwar for sedition for what he said in a ceramah more than three years ago.

If what Anwar said in March 2011 did not warrant any police investigation under the Sedition Act for more than three years, what is the merit and justification now to probe Anwar for sedition for what he said more than three years ago apart from being a disgraceful case of persecution, political vendetta and gross abuse of power?

It may be argued that there is no statutory limitation for sedition but this should apply indiscriminately to everyone, whether in government or otherwise.

There is also also no statutory limitation for corruption offences, but no one in the pinnacles of power in Malaysia seems to need to worry about this! Continue reading “Targetting Anwar on sedition for his 2011 speech worst form of political vendetta and gross abuse of power – would Zahid ensure police would investigate Mahathir “within 24 hours” when sedition report lodged against former PM?”

Posted on

DAP Selangor will extend its fullest support to Azmin Ali to provide him with every opportunity to prove himself to be the best Menteri Besar Selangor has ever had

Tony Pua
DAP Selangor Chairman and MP for Petaling Jaya Utara
22 Sep 2014

DAP Selangor welcomes the appointment of the state assemblyman for Bukit Antarabangsa, Azmin Ali as the new Menteri Besar of Selangor which brings to an end a unnecessary and frustrating protracted political crisis in the state.

While DAP Selangor is gravely concerned over how the will of the majority in the state assembly has been trampled upon, it is equally important that we end the political crisis swiftly so that we can resume normal service to serve the people of Selangor.

Hence, DAP Selangor and our state assemblymen will give the fullest support and cooperation to the new Menteri Besar to ensure that we maximize the opportunity over the next 3 years to prove to the people why the crisis and their patience is worth the while.

With the appointment of Azmin Ali, the new Government has been given a fresh start to succeed where the previous administratrion has failed, and to achieve a higher level of success than Pakatan Rakyat did in the first 5 years of our administration from 2008-2013.

DAP Selangor looks forward to an administration led by Azmin and the new Exco line-up which is more consultative, inclusive and people-centric to fulfill Pakatan Rakyat’s promises to the people. We believe that by working as a team, Azmin Ali will be able to take Selangor to greater heights by making it the best-run state in the country. Continue reading “DAP Selangor will extend its fullest support to Azmin Ali to provide him with every opportunity to prove himself to be the best Menteri Besar Selangor has ever had”

Posted on

An open letter to Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar of Selangor

BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
23 September 2014

Dear Azmin Ali,

Selangor gets a new menteri besar today in you and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) gets to continue running the country’s wealthiest state after a messy nine months of politicking that has left people wondering why it even happened.

How different will you be from the previous occupant of the office in Shah Alam, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim? Continue reading “An open letter to Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar of Selangor”

Posted on

Can Zahid also swear to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of a complaint against UMNO Ministers and leaders, including himself?

Yesterday, Malaysiakini in its report “Zahid swears to God sedition probes to go on” quoted the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi taking an oath to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of a complaint.

In a speech at an UMNO Lumut event on Sept. 20, Zahid said: “As the minister responsible for the Royal Malaysian Police, wallahi billahi tallahi (I swear to Allah) that if police reports are lodged against any individual who impinged on a sensitive issue, the police will start investigations immediately, if possible within 24 hours.”

Zahid said although he can promise an investigation, the decision on whether or not to prosecute can only be made by the attorney-general.

I want to ask Zahid whether he can also swear to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of a complaint against UMNO Ministers and leaders, including himself? Continue reading “Can Zahid also swear to God that police will commence investigations using the Sedition Act “within 24 hours” of a complaint against UMNO Ministers and leaders, including himself?”

Posted on

Three reasons why Najib must unambiguously and unconditionally denounce ISIS in his United Nations speech on Friday

There are at least three reasons why the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should unambiguously and unconditionally denounce ISIS in his United Nations General Assembly speech on Friday.

Firstly, because his first reference to ISIL/ISIS was quite laudatory, exhorting UMNO to emulate what he described as the “brave exploits” of ISIL/ISIS if the party wishes to survive.

Speaking to more than 1,000 Umno members at the Cheras UMNO Branch’s 20th anniversary dinner on June 24, Najib outlined six virtues that UMNO needed to survive and flourish in the country, among which bravery as displayed by ISIL/ISIS terrorists was a requisite trait.

Singing praises of ISIL/ISIS’ exploits in defeating an Iraqi force outnumbering it, Najib said: “For example, when someone dares to fight to his death, he can even defeat a much bigger team”.

Najib said: “Whether we agree or not is another matter, the group ISIL with the strength of just 1,300 people, can defeat an Iraqi army of 30,000 soldiers, until four, five generals with three, four stars run for their lives, jump out of window at night.”

Although the Prime Minister’s Office later clarified that Najib’s remarks glorifying the ISIL/ISIS terrorists had been taken out of context, as the Prime Minister’s brief mention and “in passing” of ISIL “in no way indicated any support” for ISIL, Najib himself failed to clarify his own statement until more than two months later – raising the question whether his condemnation of ISIL/ISIS was half-hearted because of his secret admiration for the ISIL/ISIS terrorists. Continue reading “Three reasons why Najib must unambiguously and unconditionally denounce ISIS in his United Nations speech on Friday”

Posted on

The many colours of Malaysia

by Dyana Sofya
The Malay Mail Online
September 22, 2014

Dyana Sofya suffers from dysania and is using her superpowers to pen down her thoughts late into the night. Political Secretary to Lim Kit Siang by day and she tweets from @dyanasmd.

SEPTEMBER 22 ― One tip for anyone intending to make the trip to the Sabah interior: have a bottle of minyak cap kapak handy!

Last week, I visited a few kampungs in Tenom and Keningau, two towns in the interior of Sabah about two hours’ drive from Kota Kinabalu. The journey required traversing the Crocker Range via the notorious Kimanis-Keningau highway.

This highway is reputed to be the steepest and most dangerous in Malaysia, with a gradient ranging from 10 to 25 degrees. And as if that isn’t challenging enough, add low visibility from severe fog conditions.

Hence, you can see why minyak angin became a necessity! Continue reading “The many colours of Malaysia”

Posted on

A Modest Proposal for the Champions of Ketuanan Melayu

M. Bakri Musa

First of Three Parts: Have High Expectations Of Our Young

Hardly a day goes by without those self-proclaimed champions of Malay race and defenders of Malay rights frothing at the mouth demanding that they (non-Malays) do this or that so we Malays could be the unquestioned Tuans (masters) of Tanah Melayu. When these Hang Tuah wannabes are not consumed with their theatrics of brandishing their ketchup-soaked kerises, they are obsessed with denigrating our culture and national character. To them we are lazy, dishonest, and know no shame.

Strip the rhetoric and those expressions of frus (“Manglish” for frustration) and fury are understandable if not predictable. We are frustrated because with the billions spent on us and the ever-generous special privileges heaped upon us, we still lag behind the others. We are furious because despite not being mollycoddled by the government, they thrive.

We are so angry that we cannot even pause to ponder perhaps they prosper precisely because the government leaves them alone and does not direct their lives, or that the massive “help” we get is anything but that. There is an art in helping. Done right and you open the door to the world for those you help; done wrong and you have a dependent invalid.

Our futile and unenlightened reactions do not solve our dilemma; they hinder by hiding the glaring reality and fundamental issue: Malays are not competitive or productive. Continue reading “A Modest Proposal for the Champions of Ketuanan Melayu”

Posted on

Will Najib revisit his two earlier speeches to the UN General Assembly and admit the failure even in Malaysia of his initiative on the Global Movement of Moderates?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, will be making his third address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Friday since becoming the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia in 2009.

The thrust of his two earlier UNGA speeches were his initiative on the Global Movement of Moderates for “moderates of all countries, of all religions to take back the centre, to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalize the extremists”.

Or to use Najib’s own words, a clarion call “to reject extremism in all its forms because the real divide is not between East and West or between developed and developing worlds or between Muslims, Christians and Jews. It is between moderates and extremists of all religions”.

In his September 2010 speech in the United Nations, Najib even offered Malaysia as an example of a country practicing such principles of moderation – “a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and democratic society that has benefited from the positive interaction and synergy between the various communities.” Continue reading “Will Najib revisit his two earlier speeches to the UN General Assembly and admit the failure even in Malaysia of his initiative on the Global Movement of Moderates?”

Posted on

Address terrorism, not flimsy sedition

By Azly Rahman
Malaysiakini
Sep 19, 2014

‘Dewan ulama delegate pays tribute to slain militant, saying he was a martyr’ – The Malaysian Insider

That was what I read yesterday – a most dangerous symbolic act Malaysia is seeing from an influential political party- the romanticising of diabolism, and if a political party can do this, imagine what we will be facing in these immediate years to come – home grown ISIS!

We ought to be afraid and to be very afraid – when the modus operandi of ISIS is to strike global fear through the broadcasting of beheadings, rape, mayhem, murder. My question to the government is, what are you going to do about this celebration of martyrdom and diabolism?

What is martyrdom or “shahidism in jihadism…”? I am still grappling with these words. Continue reading “Address terrorism, not flimsy sedition”

Posted on

Entering DAP’s second phase with semi-urban constituencies

I thank the DAP Policy Forum, an informal grouping of elected reps who are interested in policy matters, for organising the DAP Semi-urban Caucus meeting. DAP Policy Forum is a reflection of DAP’s maturity with more and more elected reps and party leaders getting involved in working out the policy alternatives of a different Malaysia under a new government. It is also a manifestation that DAP understands the expectations of the Malaysian voting public who wants more from their political leaders.
 
Semi-urban constituencies are indeed a new experience for the DAP. In many ways, it is an advent of a second phase for the DAP.
 
Previously, DAP was mostly confined to urban constituencies with high concentration of working class non-Malay voters. It is not that the DAP did not attempt to represent semi-urban constituencies but the previously prevailing circumstances worked against such efforts.
 
But since the political tsunami in 2008 and followed by the last elections in May 2013, DAP made substantial gains in multi-ethnic semi-urban constituencies, both at the parliamentary and at the state levels. Continue reading “Entering DAP’s second phase with semi-urban constituencies”

Posted on

Congratulations Najib for the Democracy Setback of the Decade and making moderation sedition and his brainchild the Global Movement of Moderates virtually a seditious organisation

The Cabinet meeting yesterday has come and gone and there are no signs that it has achieved any historic distinction when Cabinet Ministers drew the line in the sand to declare their repudiation of the sedition dragnet in the past month and their commitment to move forward to be among the world’s best democracies and not going backwards to be among the world’s worst democracies.

There are no inklings that the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Dato Sri Idris Jala had raised serious objection, led alone led the charge of conscientious and conviction Ministers in their opposition to the obnoxious dragnet of the draconian sedition law to stifle dissent and criticism to crate a climate of fear in the country reminiscent of the Internal Security Act (ISA) days especially during the th 22-year Mahathir premirrship.

On the contrary, congratulations are in order to the Primer Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on three grounds: Continue reading “Congratulations Najib for the Democracy Setback of the Decade and making moderation sedition and his brainchild the Global Movement of Moderates virtually a seditious organisation”

Posted on

Saying one thing but doing another

Terence Fernandez
The Malaysian Insider
17 September 2014

“Sedition and seditious and defamatory libel are arcane offences – from a bygone era when freedom of expression wasn’t seen as the right it is today.

“Freedom of speech is now seen as the touchstone of democracy, and the ability of individuals to criticise the state is crucial to maintaining freedom.

“The existence of these obsolete offences in this country had been used by other countries as justification for the retention of similar laws which have been actively used to suppress political dissent and restrict press freedom.”

The above statement is the words of UK justice minister Claire Ward in 2009 when she announced that the government was doing away with sedition offences. Continue reading “Saying one thing but doing another”

Posted on

Scottish independence: Final day of campaigning ahead of vote

Robert Pigott reports on the last hours of the campaigns
BBC
17 September 2014

Both sides in the Scottish referendum debate are making their final pitch to voters on the last day of campaigning.

It comes as the latest polls suggested the result remained too close to call, with a slender lead for a “No” vote.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has written to voters appealing to them to vote “Yes”, saying “let’s do this”.

Key figures from the pro-Union Better Together campaign were out meeting nightworkers into Wednesday, ahead of a Love Scotland, Vote No rally.

Three new polls, one by Opinium for the Daily Telegraph, another by ICM for the Scotsman and a third by Survation for the Daily Mail, were published on Tuesday evening.

With undecided voters excluded, they all suggested a lead for “No” of 52% to 48%. Continue reading “Scottish independence: Final day of campaigning ahead of vote”

Posted on

Pak Lah’s inaugural blog most welcome but is he prepared to consistently take up the cudgel to champion moderation against baneful developments like the upsurge of intolerance and extremism and the sedition dragnet which have created a climate of fear

Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s inaugural blog on Malaysia Day yesterday is most welcome, especially as it addressed the biggest issue haunting Malaysia since his premiership – the rearing of the ugly head of intolerance and extremism among a raucous few preaching the politics of hatred and falsehoods, causing the worst racial and religious polarization in the history of plural Malaysia.

As a result, we have the sad spectacle yesterday of the former Higher Education Minister, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, who as Chief Executive Officer of the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMM), which is one of the initiatives of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who have to ask for no media coverage of a forum on the country’s future co-organised by GMM because of the climate of fear engendered by the recent selective and malicious sedition dragnet.

Although the “no media coverage” was to protect the participants at the GMM forum from falling victim to the current sedition spree, there is the feeling that even Saifuddin himself may not be safe from the sedition dragnet, although he was former Deputy Minister and hand-picked by the Prime Minister himself to be the CEO of GMM!

It would appear that the only persons who need not fear the sedition dragnet are those who had since Abdullah’s premiership and who have become more blatant in the Najib premiership been inciting racial and religious hatred and conflict through lies and falsehoods, the very people who had succeeded in forcing Abdullah’s early retirement as the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia in the first place. Continue reading “Pak Lah’s inaugural blog most welcome but is he prepared to consistently take up the cudgel to champion moderation against baneful developments like the upsurge of intolerance and extremism and the sedition dragnet which have created a climate of fear”

Posted on

Scotland Independence Vote Raises Specter of ‘Ununited’ Kingdom

By JON WILLIAMS
ABC News
17th September 2014

Of all the many crises this summer — from ISIS, to Ukraine, Ebola to Libya — who’d have thought jolly old England would be on that list?

Technically, it’s the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But for how much longer? On Thursday, after 307 years, Scotland may vote for independence and with it, potentially change the world order that has lasted since the end of the Second World War. Decisions taken across the highlands and lowlands of Scotland will echo far beyond the shores of a disunited kingdom. Continue reading “Scotland Independence Vote Raises Specter of ‘Ununited’ Kingdom”

Posted on

Scotland Chooses: 10 Factors for Independence Referendum Voters

By Dara Doyle, Ben Sills and Svenja O’Donnell
Bloomberg
Sep 17, 2014

Here are some of the fault lines in tomorrow’s referendum on Scottish independence.

The Currency

“Yes” side: Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond says the pound is just as much as Scotland’s currency as the rest of the U.K. Retaining the pound as part of a formal currency union is the best option for the nation after independence, a panel of advisers has told him.

The “yes” side argues that Scotland is the second-biggest market for the rest of the U.K., which would be damaged if the pound was taken away from the Scots. The currency would also continue to benefit from being backed by North Sea oil.

Salmond said the Bank of England will continue to decide monetary policy day to day, with Scotland seeking input in the bank’s remit and governance.

“No” side: the Better Together campaign, led by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and backed by the three biggest U.K. political parties, says that if Scotland leaves the U.K. it loses the pound. It says Salmond can’t guarantee what money Scots would use, and it’s not clear if an independent Scotland would seek to adopt the euro, set up an unproven national currency or use sterling unilaterally without any input into monetary policy making.

They say uncertainty will push up Scottish interest rates, meaning consumers and companies face higher borrowing costs. Continue reading “Scotland Chooses: 10 Factors for Independence Referendum Voters”