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Malaysia’s Deplorable Sedition Act

Editorial
New York Times
October 6, 2014

The Malaysian government has increasingly employed the Sedition Act, a British colonial era law, to intimidate and silence political opponents. The law criminalizes speech uttered “to excite disaffection” against the government and defines sedition so broadly that it is an invitation to authoritarian abuse.

Prime Minister Najib Razak had promised to repeal the act, but, since the general elections in May last year, his government has made full use of the law to hound his critics. While Mr. Najib’s ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, won 60 percent of the parliamentary seats in the election, for the first time since independence in 1957, the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, won a 51 percent majority of the popular vote.

The elections seem to have shaken the government enough for it to arrest and prosecute an array of politicians, journalists, academics, students, religious leaders and civil society activists who did not advocate the overthrow of the government. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Deplorable Sedition Act”

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Hit the Islamic State’s pocketbook

Opinion
By PATRICK B. JOHNSTON. AND BENJAMIN BAHNEY
Newsday
October 5, 2014

The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is taking aim at the terrorist organization’s pocketbook. The coalition has launched airstrikes on mobile oil refineries in eastern Syria that the Pentagon believes generate up to 500 barrels of petroleum each day for the group.

The Islamic State has emerged as the world’s richest terrorist group, with estimated assets of $1 billion to $2 billion. Its sophisticated and strategically driven financial scheme is a key reason that U.S. officials say this fight could last years.

An examination of newly declassified financial documents the group created dating to 2005 reveals an organized criminal operation that is funded through rackets like protection, extortion and the co-opting of the region’s oil industry. This makes the group a self-sustaining operation, largely free of reliance on the largesse of wealthy foreign patrons. While airstrikes may disrupt the flow of oil and profits, they will not lead to the group’s financial ruin anytime soon. Based on our research, we estimate the Islamic State will bring in $100 million to $200 million this year. And that’s being conservative. Continue reading “Hit the Islamic State’s pocketbook”

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PR leadership council should meet during Parliament budget session to answer whether PR is still relevant and to restore public confidence

It is now two weeks since the PKR Deputy President Mohamad Azmin has been sworn in as the Selangor Mentri Besar but the question whether Pakatan Rakyat is still relevant to the hopes and expectations of Malaysians who had looked up to PR for political leadership and change have yet to be answered.

There can be no denial that Pakatan Rakyat suffered its worst crisis and haemorrhage and the most serious blow of public confidence in its six-year existence as a result of the protracted Selangor Mentri Besar crisis, and the jury is still out whether PR can recover from such a major crisis in the 14th General Elections.

The saving grace of the protracted and avoidable Selangor Mentri Besar crisis is that the Selangor Barisan Nasiona/UMNO was so weak that they could not exploit it to their advantage.

I can understand Tun Mahathir’s disappointment, frustration and anger that Selangor UMNO was not able to capitalize on the PR “disarray” and “imbroglio” in the Selangor Mentri Besar crisis – but the next time, the PR is not going to be so lucky. Continue reading “PR leadership council should meet during Parliament budget session to answer whether PR is still relevant and to restore public confidence”

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Leveraging Residential Schools

by Bakri Musa
6th Oct 2014

A Modest Proposal for the Champions of Ketuanan Melayu (Part III)

[In Parts One and Two I suggested that we should focus on enhancing Malay competitiveness and productivity instead of forever begrudging the success of non-Malays or bemoaning the presumed deficiencies of our race and culture. We should begin with our young, the best of them, those at our residential schools. Have high expectations of them, put them through a demanding program, and expose them to rigorous competition.]

The key to any high performing school is the teachers. Both Korean schools (Daewon and Minjuk mentioned earlier) actively sought graduates of top universities to be on their staff. Such highly qualified teachers inspire their students. And when it comes to writing letters of recommendations, those teachers carry much weight, especially when students apply to their teacher’s alma mater.

You do not need and it is impossible for all your teachers to have sterling credentials, only that there should be a critical number of them to set the tone and change the culture. Besides, there are many excellent teachers who are graduates of lesser universities.

Look back at MCKK of yore, with Oxbridge and London University graduates on its staff. At KYUEM, a local college prep school with exemplary record of student achievements, most of its teachers are local but there are sufficient graduates of top universities, including the headmaster, to set the pace and establish a high academic ambience.

On another level, it would be difficult for a local graduate to understand the intricacies and nuances of applying to top foreign universities, or the challenges of attending one. Continue reading “Leveraging Residential Schools”

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Islamic State withstands bombing campaign, plots Baghdad invasion

By Rowan Scarborough
The Washington Times
October 5, 2014

The Islamic State holds just about the same number of towns in Iraq today as it did two months ago, when the U.S. began a bombing campaign to whittle down the terrorist army and support Iraqi ground troops trying to retake territory.

More troubling, analysts say, is that the Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL, is ramping up what appear to be operations designed to one day invade Baghdad.

Its objective is to take the international airport and begin conquering the capital, section by section. The Islamic State is continuing its urban attacks with car bombs, some of which have been detonated by foreign suicide bombers.

The Pentagon is not openly confident that the Iraqi Security Forces will hold Baghdad. A spokesman has declined to predict that the sprawling city will stay in government control. Continue reading “Islamic State withstands bombing campaign, plots Baghdad invasion”

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Hold a referendum to let the 50,000 undergraduates and post-graduate students of UM and UKM decide whether to join or boycott the THE university rankings

The Universiti Malaya Students Association (PMUM) has come out in support of Universiti Malaya and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia opting out of the annual Times Higher Education Top 400 World University Rankings.

PMUM president Fahmi Zainol said the two universities deserve praise for their move, pointing out that the institutions have been plagued with problems for being too focussed on rankings.

I can understand the view that quality education is not dependent only on university rankings and that universities should not be too obsessed with them. In fact, it has been asked: “University rankings: reliable or rubbish?”

The Norwegian government has even commissioned a study of the placement of Norwegian universities in global rankings and concluded that university rankings are “useless” as a basis for information if the goal is to improve higher education as they are so based on subjective weightings of factors and on dubious data. This Norwegian report was described as “A Kiss of Death for university rankings” by a Norwegian academician.

There are undoubtedly pros and cons on university rankings.

Have Fahmi thought through the whole subject of university rankings and are his views his personal ones, or the official view of the PMUM Executive Committee, as well as representing that of the UKM Students Council?

Are they the views of the 50,000 undergraduates and post-graduate students in the two universities?

If Fahmi is opposed to UM and UKM taking part in the annual THE World University Rankings, why does he support the two universities taking part in the annual QS World University Rankings and UM’s decision to take part in the THE World University Ranking in 2018 when UM is more ready to compete with other established universities around the world?

It would be a good for hold a referendum to let the 50,000 under-graduates and post-graduate students of UM and UKM decide whether the two university should join or continue to boycott the THE university rankings, and let the proponents of both the pros and cons of the argument to state their case, not only to the university student-and-lecturer population but to the nation at large.

This referendum proposition is a subject which PMUM and the UKM Students Council should seriously consider to take up with the university authorities. Continue reading “Hold a referendum to let the 50,000 undergraduates and post-graduate students of UM and UKM decide whether to join or boycott the THE university rankings”

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Hong Kong protests face test of stamina as city returns to work

By John Ruwitch and Donny Kwok
Reuters
35 minutes ago

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong started to return to work on Monday after more than a week of pro-democracy protests disrupted the Chinese-controlled city, with the protest movement facing a test of its stamina after more clashes with police and pro-Beijing opponents.

Civil servants began arriving for work at the main government offices of Hong Kong’s leader, Leung Chun-ying, which have been the focal point of protests that initially drew tens of thousands onto the streets. The bureaucrats were allowed to pass through protesters’ barricades unimpeded.

Numbers of protesters fell sharply overnight into the hundreds. The protesters remained at a stalemate with Leung’s pro-Beijing government and there was no sign of movement on talks that were proposed to end the stand-off.

The protests have ebbed and flowed over the past week, with people leaving the streets overnight to return later. The test on Monday will be whether that pattern continues in the face of the government’s determination to get Hong Kong back to work. Continue reading “Hong Kong protests face test of stamina as city returns to work”

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In hunt for Malaysians joining Islamic State, a faceless menace

by Yiswaree Palansamy

Malay Mail Online
October 6, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — It could be anyone. The next Malaysian leaving to join the Islamic State (IS) jihad in Syria could be the besuited man reading from his tablet computer sitting to your right on the train to work.

Or it might be the typical college-goer, clad in jeans and a T-shirt, seated your left and scrolling through his smartphone.

This is how obscure the profiles of young Muslims aspiring to join jihadist militant movement that police investigators are discovering in their bid to stem the tide.

According to Bukit Aman’s counter-terrorism division senior official Datuk Ayub Khan, gone are days when those involved were the stereotypical bearded men wearing serbans and carrying prayer beads.

“They come from various backgrounds now. Not a specific group like in the case of now defunct terrorist group, Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM), or Malaysian Mujahideen Movement, where religious schools were used to recruit for jihadists cause.

“It is all encompassing- from those in the private sector, your local grocery shop owners and even businessmen,” Ayub told Malay Mail Online. Continue reading “In hunt for Malaysians joining Islamic State, a faceless menace”

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PAS badly needs to rejuvenate to stay relevant

By Mohamed Hanipa Maidin
Malaysiakini
Oct 5, 2014

MP SPEAKS It is a great relief the crisis of Selangor MB has finally been laid to rest. But rest assured Pakatan’s nightmares are far from over. A lot of soul searching needs to be done. The top leaders of Pakatan badly need to go to the drawing board again to devise and revise its strategies and priorities in order to reclaim the support from all Malaysians.

As far as I am concerned PAS is the most vulnerable at this juncture. Its flip flop stands in Selangor fiasco puzzled not only its friends in Pakatan but also some of its own leaders. Maybe Umno also shared the same puzzlement so much so it did not feel there was a need to capitalise the issue to its political advantage.

Umno’s inefficiency in capitalising on the Selangor issue appears to have upset former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad. To be fair to Umno, when its political enemies had assumed Umno’ role in self-destructing their own political survival, what more it could do to aggravate the damage?

No doubt PAS is the most important partner in Pakatan. Whatever one may perceive about PAS, the destruction of PAS is not good for Pakatan. In the same vein the strength of PAS is a bonus to Pakatan.

Be that as it may, the partners in Pakatan must galvanise all the options they have to ensure PAS remains in Pakatan. No doubt the only winner if PAS is out from Pakatan would be BN. Continue reading “PAS badly needs to rejuvenate to stay relevant”