Month: August 2015

By AMBIGA SREENEVASAN
New York Times
AUG. 20, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s ruling party is facing its greatest crisis of legitimacy yet. Long seen as a modern and moderate Muslim democracy, Malaysia has been riding on its economic growth and good diplomacy for years, and the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which has led coalition governments for nearly six decades, has been claiming the credit.

But rampant corruption, curbs on freedom of expression, a slowing economy and a currency in free fall have eroded public trust in the government’s stewardship. It hasn’t helped that Prime Minister Najib Razak recently reshuffled the cabinet, and sacked the deputy prime minister and the attorney general for asking uncomfortable questions. Or that once again the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN), is using its influence over government agencies to bypass or manipulate electoral rules to its advantage, most recently through gerrymandering in the eastern state of Sarawak. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Many Scandals”

Syerleena Abdul Rashid
The Malaysian Insider
21 August 2015

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said this at an international Islamic forum: “Even though universal human rights have been defined… in our country, human rights are defined in the context of Islam. Though it is difficult to defend internationally, we must defend our definition of human rights.”

Throughout the forum, he continued to demonise several communities – especially the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered – which echoed the diatribe he unleashed at the National Quran Recital Competition a little over a year ago, where both ideals of humanism and liberalism were reduced to being “retrograde as it glorifies human wants and desires”.

Islam has always been a religion that upheld peacefulness, egalitarian values and humanism. Islam is never the type of religion that curbs personal liberties and freedom.

By definition, Islam in Arabic means submission and surrender to Allah, the Almighty. The Quran upholds the sanctity and absolute value of human life (Surah 6: 151) and reiterated that “the life of each individual is comparable to that of an entire community and, therefore, should be treated with the utmost care” (Surah 5: 32) – both clearly representing the essence of universal values. Continue reading “Stop demonising human rights”

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Pemimpin-pemimpin politik boleh bertemu dan membincangkan cadangan menarik Mahathir untuk melihat sejauh mana ia boleh membawa kepada matlamat “Menyelamatkan Malaysia”

Pada Mac tahun ini, saya telah menyarankan agar rakyat Malaysia mengumpul keberanian untuk memikirkan perkara-perkara yang tidak terfikirkan, termasuk membayangkan kemunculan seorang Perdana Menteri baru dan gabungan kerajaan baru sebelum Pilihanraya Umum ke-14 dalam tempoh tiga tahun ini bagi “Menyelamatkan Malaysia”, mempertahankan Perlembagaan Malaysia, kedaulatan undang-undang dan membentuk urus tadbir yang baik.

Menerusi beberapa kenyataan media dan ucapan sepanjang Mac dan April, saya telah membincangkan kemungkinan wujudnya satu pakatan besar “Menyelamatkan Malaysia” pasca-BN dan pasca-PR.

Saya juga telah menyatakan dengan jelas bahawa jika pakatan besar “Menyelamatkan Malaysia” pasca-BN dan pasca-PR itu dibentuk, ia mestilah tidak terhad kepada hanya kaum atau agama tertentu tetapi meliputi semua kaum, agama, dan daerah, atau dalam ungkapan lain, sebuah kerajaan gabungan yang jamak-kaum, jamak-agama dan jamak-daerah, meliputi Muslim dan bukan-Muslim, Melayu dan bukan-Melayu, serta warga Malaysia dari Semenanjung Malaysia, Sarawak dan Sabah.

Gabungan itu juga mesti melampaui pakatan dan parti politik sedia ada, merangkumi Ahli-Ahli Parlimen dari kedua-dua kubu politik dan juga kedua-dua sisi Laut Cina Selatan, iaitu meliputi Sabah, Sarawak dan Semenanjung Malaysia, bagi mempertahankan perlembagaan dan kedaulatan undang-undang dengan seorang Perdana Menteri baru dan sebuah kerajaan Malaysia yang baru. Continue reading “Political leaders can meet and discuss Mahathir’s interesting proposition to see how far it could advance the cause of “Save Malaysia””

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should send a clear directive to the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to facilitate and ensure the success of Bersih 4 to demonstrate to the world the Malaysian Government’s respect of the people’s rights to free expression and peaceful assembly and readiness to listen to the people’s legitimate views and criticisms.

There has been a lot of irresponsible talk recently by those in power about plots to topple the elected government of Malaysia.

There are no such subversive plots involving violent and/or unconstitutional means to topple the elected Prime Minister or elected government, as I dare say after five decades in politics that Malaysians regardless of race or religion do not want any violent or unconstitutional change of government, and everyone is committed to upholding the fundamental principles of the Malaysian Constitution – which means a change of the elected government only by peaceful, democratic and constitutional means, not just during a general election, but also at times in between general elections as by a vote of no confidence in Parliament. Continue reading “Call on Najib to help ensure the success of Bersih 4 as it is Malaysia’s “coming of age” as a democracy in the world stage”

By Ambiga Sreenevasan
Malaysiakini
Aug 20, 2015

COMMENT We have to fix this nation for the next generation. We cannot hand them a broken nation

There is no change in the usual anti-Bersih rhetoric. “It is anti-government, it will ruin businesses, it will cause chaos.”

Pictures of (Bersih chairperson) Maria (Chin Abdullah) are being defiled. They have simply run out of ideas, and no one is really listening to them.

Judging by the thousands of t-shirts being sold every day, Bersih 4 is set to see a massive turn out. Why? Because people are sick to death of the dishonest governance of our beautiful nation.

And it is time our leaders know they are not fooling us with their ridiculous responses. Continue reading “Ambiga: Why we need Bersih 4”

The 2015 Sabah earthquake which struck Ranau with a magnitude of Richter 6.0 on 5th June lasted for 30 seconds, but it killed 18 people on Mount Kinabalu and caused some 90 aftershocks for the following next three weeks.

Similarly, the convulsions in the very sanctum of Federal government in Putrajaya in the last days of July, which saw the sacking of the Attorney-General and Deputy Prime Minister on 28th July and the arrests and harassment of top government officers in key institutions are still having their aftershocks – like yesterday’s sudden and abrupt transfer out of the Special Branch (SB) of the deputy director of the police intelligence agency, Datuk Abdul Hamid Bador to the Prime Minister’s Department reporting directly to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak!

Abdul Hamid, who had been with the Police force for 37 years, was completely in the dark on the reasons for his abrupt transfer to the Prime Minister’s Office, reminiscent of the sudden transfer of two Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) directors, Bahri Mohd Zin (special operations division) and Rohaizad Yaakob (strategic communications) at the height of the recent stand-off between the Police and MACC over investigations into 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion Najib personal accounts, which also saw the most extraordinary solat hajat (special prayers) by MACC officers seeking divine intervention to allow MACC officers to carry out their anti-corruption duties.

Although the immediate and punitive transfer of Bahri and Rohaizad out of MACC to the Prime Minister’s Department had been cancelled because of adverse public reactions, penalties are being considered to punish the two MACC directors – which the powers-that-be should know could not be kept secret but would have to be fully explained and accounted for when Parliament reconvenes on October 19 for the 2015 Budget meeting.

And what of Abdul Hamid? Continue reading “Did the new Attorney-General start off his tenure making a public statement which is far from the truth when he said that the purported corruption charge sheet against the Prime Minister was a fake?”

By Group of 25
Malaysiakini
Aug 19, 2015

COMMENT The success of the transformation and development of the Malaysian economy and its financial system has been primarily due to an empowering legal framework and sound institutions that operate on structured processes and with strong accountabilities, underpinned by a good governance framework.

Malaysia is indebted to visionary leaders whose dedicated focus and emphasis on building strong institutions have provided the foundation to support the development of the Malaysian economy.

These institutions continue to be led by strong leaders with a vision, a culture of integrity and competence which is imbued with values and virtues of hard work and prudence. This institutional framework has been the most important aspect of the growth and resilience of the economy today.

The ‘invisible hand’ does not work, by itself: it requires help from the rules of the game which govern how the market and its participants interact with each other. Institutional quality not only has a significantly positive impact upon income per capita, but it is also positively auto-correlated with the level of economic integration and trade (Rodrik & Subramanian 2003).

An improvement in institutional quality raises GDP directly, as well as promotes closer integration into the global economy, hence, enabling the economy to benefit from international trade and foreign investment flows. The auto-correlation also implies that higher national income and exposure to developed markets tend to lead to demand for improved institutions, thus enforcing a benign cycle. Continue reading “Sustaining strong institutions for clean gov’t”

I commend the Foreign Minister Anifah Aman for declaring publicly that he has not received any funding from Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts in AmBank in 2013 for 13GE campaign.

Malaysians are intrigued why Anifah is the only one out of 69 Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Senators will have to be excluded) who dare to declare that the has not received any funding from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts for 13GE campaign.

Although my 96-hour notice to all Cabinet members to demonstrate that the Najib administration is serious when it proposed the National Consultative Council on Political Funding by individually declaring whether they had received any funding from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts for the 13 GE campaign, and if so, how much they received and spent, Cabinet Ministers could still declare whether they had been connected in any way to Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts.

Since the DAP forum “Ke Mana Halatuju Malaysia” at Tropical Inn, Johor Baru on Monday night, I had named 18 Ministers and two deputy ministers and asked them to declare whether they had received funds from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts for the 13th General Election campaigning, and if so, to state the amounts.

Anifah is the only Cabinet Minister to respond and in the negative. Continue reading “Why is Anifah Aman the only one out of 69 Ministers and Deputy Ministers who dare to declare that he has not received any funding from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts?”

David Pilling
Financial Times
August 19, 2015

Once a model of development, the country’s reputation is sinking and so is that of the PM

The story is that in March 2013 one or more unnamed Middle Eastern donors transferred a total of nearly $700m into the personal account of Najib Razak, prime minister of Malaysia. The generous amount was a donation to be lavished on that year’s election campaign of the ruling United Malays National Organisation as Mr Najib saw fit. So sordid are the goings-on in Malaysia these days that, astonishingly, this is not the case being mounted against the prime minister. This is the case for Mr Najib’s defence. Malaysia’s widely lampooned prime minister is in such a deep, dark and money-stuffed hole that this is the version of events being promoted by his allies.

It was also the finding this month of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. It turns out that an anonymous donation from a foreign benefactor is the least damaging explanation of how 2.6bn ringgit found its way into Mr Najib’s account. The prime minister has denied committing any wrongdoing or accepting money for personal gain.

If this is the positive take, the negative version is worse. Continue reading “Najib Razak has too much power for Malaysia’s good”

Y-Sing Liau and Lilian Karunungan
Bloomberg
August 19, 2015

While Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s cabinet overhaul may have achieved the “unified team” he was seeking in the face of probes into his bank accounts, global funds have been voting with their feet.

The ringgit has slumped 6 percent, the benchmark stock index lost 8 percent and sovereign bond risk jumped to a four-year high since the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on Aug. 3 said Najib had received 2.6 billion ringgit ($634 million) from donors and not state investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd. The conclusion failed to help 1MDB’s bonds, which are trading at 82 cents on the dollar.

PineBridge Investments LLC has cut Malaysian sovereign bond holdings, while Schroder Investment Management Ltd. says it’s too early to buy Asia’s worst-performing currency, as political uncertainty clouds the outlook for an economy rocked by plunging oil prices and an emerging-market selloff. Najib denies taking money for personal gain and has counterattacked against what he described as a campaign to oust him, by reshuffling his cabinet, suspending a leading newspaper and seeking the arrest of a newsletter’s founder. Continue reading “Escaping Najib’s Malaysia, Investors Also Flee Currency and Stock Market”

The Malay Mail Online
August 19, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) must remain free of political influence and be allowed to execute its duties professionally, a group of Malay ex-civil servants said amid rumours of pressure on the central bank’s governor.

Citing economic uncertainty fuelled by the declining ringgit as well as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, the so-called G25 urged the federal government not to cast aspersions on BNM officials as well as those among the country’s vital institutions.

The group pointed out that confidence in BNM’s ability to carry out its duties has been the most important factor contributing to investor confidence and economic development for Malaysia, as speculation remains that Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz may be forced to leave over an alleged leak of information from an investigation into 1MDB.

“While there were doubts on the independence of the judiciary and capacity of other institutions, the confidence in the strength and capability of Bank Negara Malaysia in steering the financial sector to support economic growth has always been sustained and has been the single most important factor contributing to investor confidence and favourable economic prospects for Malaysia,” the statement read. Continue reading “Amid economic uncertainty, G25 warns against undermining BNM’s Zeti”

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“Sokongan” PAS kepada undi tidak percaya terhadap Najib – Saya akan percaya hanya apabila ia benar-benar berlaku

Timbalan Presiden PAS Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man dan pengarah pilihanraya PAS Mustafa Ali telah menyatakan bahawa PAS akan menyokong undi tidak percaya terhadap Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Tuan Ibrahim dan Mustafa Ali bukan Ahli Parlimen, dan kenyataan mereka bahawa PAS akan menyokong undi tidak percaya terhadap Najib di Parlimen itu hanya saya akan percaya setelah mereka benar-benar melakukannya.

Pakatan Rakyat berkubur setelah tujuh tahun memikul harapan dan keyakinan rakyat tidak mengira kaum, agama, atau daerah, ke arah perubahan politik kerana PAS di bawah pimpinan Presiden-nya, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, tidak boleh dipercayai dan kata-katanya tidak boleh dipegang sebagai janji.

Berkali-kali PAS di bawah Hadi melanggar komitmen dan janji mereka, sama ada janji untuk setia terhadap Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat mahupun prinsip muafakat yang bermakna tidak ada satu parti atau seorang pemimpin mana-mana parti boleh membatalkan atau melanggar keputusan yang dicapai menerusi Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat, sama ada berkenaan ketetapan untuk bertanding satu lawan satu di semua kerusi Parlimen dan Dewan Undangan Negeri pada pilihanraya umum ke-13, keputusan untuk melantik Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail sebagai Menteri Besar Selangor atau keputusan sebulat suara bahawa rang undang-undang hudud atau sebarang usul persendirian PAS berkenaan hudud akan dibawa ke Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat sebelum dikemukakan di Parlimen. Continue reading “PAS “supports” no-confidence vote against Najib – I’ll believe it when I see it”

The best response to Barisan Nasional’s (BN) strategic communications director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s denial that he had confirmed in his Star Online interview that there was a draft of a corruption charge sheet against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is Abdul Rahman’s own words: “Excuse me. I was not born yesterday.”

Abdul Rahman has asked me to re-read his Star Online interview, and I have done so, and I reiterate that anyone reading it will come away with the ineluctable conclusion that there was an attempted coup against the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak by criminalising him and toppling him from office; and “given that scenario”, a “flurry of action” was taken by the Prime Minister, including drastic action to “take these people out first, so that things will get back to normalcy and see what happened next”.

Those who were “not born yesterday” would realise that Abdul Rahman was giving a very graphic account of the atmosphere of great distrust, suspicion and division in the corridors of power and the “cloak-and-dagger” power play in Putrajaya in the last days of July 2015, where he was undoubtedly one of the main backroom players.
Continue reading “Call for Commission of Inquiry by Malaysian Elders on whether there was an attempted “coup” to topple Najib as Prime Minister, the sacking of Gani Patail as AG and Muhyiddin as DPM, the arrest and harassment of top government officials and whether they are related to the twin scandals of 1MDB and RM2.6 billion in Najib’s personal accounts”

I have given the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the expanded Cabinet of 37 Ministers 96 hours to prove that they are sincere in political funding – and this 96-hour challenge expires at the Cabinet meeting later in the morning.

Will there be any surprises from Najib and the Ministers in announcing steps and measures to demonstrate that they are sincere in political funding as a follow-up to the Prime Minister’s recent proposal for a national consultative committee of political parties, NGOS, civil societies and youths to formulate guidelines on political funding with the aim of ensuring that funds are sourced with integrity?

Malaysians do not expect any surprises, and will in fact be shocked if the Cabinet could produce a rabbit from the hat and come up with initiatives to demonstrate that it is sincere about regulating the baneful effects of money politics in Malaysia.

Najib suffers from a grave case of trust-deficit in the country, but he is making a grave error if he thinks Malaysians suffer from an equally serious case of judgment-deficit.

All Malaysians can see through what Najib is up to when he proposed a National Consultative Council on Political Funding which will be given a year to come up with proposals and guidelines in place in time for the next general election.

Najib wants to buy time for up to one whole year to be able to continue stonewall from giving a full and satisfactory account of the RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013 before the 13th General Election – where the money had come from, who had received handouts from Najib’s accounts, what is the remainder in the accounts after the 13th General Election, and whether there is any truth in last Saturday posting on Sarawak Report website that over US$650 million (RM2 billion) was transferred from Najib’s AmPrivate Bank account in Kuala Lumpur to an account in Singapore after the 13th general election. Continue reading “Will Cabinet today resolve that all Ministers and Deputy Minister should seal their lips on the amounts of funds they received from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts for 13GE campaigning?”

– K. Haridas
The Malaysian Insider
18 August 2015

Who gives a donation amounting to RM2.6 billion? All that Malaysians would like to know are details about this amazing donor. Is such a person alive? We would like to know what motivated him or even a brotherly nation to give such a sizeable amount to Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Was it really for Umno or was it a personal donation or as also claimed for supporting anti-Isis positions?

This is the biggest lie that has been floated on Malaysian citizens. Believe me, the way money has entered into Najib’s accounts stinks of misuse of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds. If this is revealed, it is a crime of great magnitude. So, present it as a donation and the kampong and Umno folk will then buy it.

The way the money was moved from account to account and then disappeared raises questions regarding deceptions. Umno diehards who are loyal to Najib are not interested in these questions. The scale of the amount and the manner in which money was brought into the country smells of dishonesty, intrigue and exploitation. Continue reading “From trust deficit to moral and ethical bankruptcy”

A Shukur Harun
The Malaysian Insider
18th August 2015

Sehari suntuk mengikuti sekumpulan ulama progresif dalam majlis Nadwah Ulama Nahdhah Jadidah 2015 (Nunji ’15) di Shah Alam Sabtu lalu mendedahkan kita kepada keterbukaan fiqh yang merangkumi politik Islam sesuai dengan keadaan masyarakat majmuk di negara ini.

Nunji ’15 itu berjaya mengumpulkan ulama yang berfikiran terbuka dan mendukung aspirasi Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) yang bercita-cita membawa rakyat Malaysia kepada Islam sebagai “Rahmatan lil Alamin” (Rahmat seluruh alam) dengan sifatnya yang teguh, anjal, toleran dan adil.

Ini satu perkembangan baharu dalam memahami kemurnian tasawuur Islam, terutama mengenai hukum-hakam yang dilihat sering diselubungi kejumudan dan shadid (keras), menyebabkan wajah Islam yang sepatutnya ceria dan ramah menjadi bengis, malah menakutkan. Continue reading “Himpunan ulama progresif serlah keterbukaan politik Islam”

By Mohd Shahrir Asri
Malaysiakini
18th August 2015

“DAP parti komunis cina. Mereka hendak melenyapkan Melayu dan Islam di Malaysia. Cina2 babi semua tu”. I have been hearing that from almost all Malays since 1987 (I have been interested in politics since I was 12 years old) and I thought it will still be that for years to come.

However, despite all that, I decided to join DAP on July 10, 2015 because I see hope in them and I think I can contribute to make things better for Malaysia, Pakatan and DAP. By the way, my name is Mohd Shahrir Asri and I am a Malay. Continue reading “The DAP and I”

M. Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com

The arrival of Islam was “the most momentous event in the history of the Malay archipelago,” to quote Syed Naquib al-Attas. It came not through the point of the sword but peacefully through trade. Islam did not land in a cultural and religious vacuum as Malays were already steeped in Hindu and animist traditions. Nor did the Arabs come to emancipate our ancestors; there was no messianic zeal or even an inclination to engage in their salvation.

Those Muslims came only to trade; there was no intention to dominate or colonize. Their Islamic faith and the prevailing Malay culture interacted through gradual and mutual accommodation. The result was that “the local genius of the people shone through” in the melding of the two, to quote Farish Noor, respected scholar and frequent commentator on Malaysian affairs.

This was vividly illustrated with my matriarchal Adat Perpateh. It coexisted peacefully with traditional male-dominated Islam, demonstrating a brilliant and workable synthesis of the two. Malays did not repudiate our traditional ways to become Muslims, and Islam was not adulterated to accommodate Malay culture. Both were remarkably malleable to and adaptive of each other. Continue reading “The Arrival of Islam as a Momentous Event in Malay Culture”

The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should ensure that the police focus single-mindedly on fighting crime to make Malaysians safe in their homes, offices and public places instead of playing the game of their political masters like probing the Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi’s ridiculous claim of a campaign to topple the government, when no offence has been disclosed.

Khalid was very proud to say yesterday that the police had received three reports in relation to Zahid’s calim that there is a campaign to topple the government and that the reports will be investigated under Section 124B of the Penal Code on “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” which carries maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.

Did Khalid sense the nation-wide gasp of disgust and disbelief that the police under his leadership are continuing to squander scarce police resources and precious police time to play the game of their political masters and go on a wild goose chase when the police priority should be an unerring agenda to slash the crime rate to make Malaysia a safe country for citizens and investors?

Firstly, can Khalid explain what offence had been disclosed by the so-called three police reports based on Zahid’s claim that there is a campaign to topple the government? Continue reading “IGP should ensure that police single-mindedly focus on fighting crime to make Malaysians safe instead of playing the game of their political masters like probing Zahid’s ridiculous claim of a campaign to topple the government”

Dr. Dzukefly Ahmad, the secretary of Gerakan Harapan Baru, expects a new Islamist party to be formed by Merdeka Day on August 31.

If a new Islamist party is formed by Merdeka Day, hopefully a new Pakatan Baru, whether called Pakatan Rakyat 2.0, Harapan Rakyat or any other name, would be formed by Malaysia Day and be the rallying point of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region for fundamental political changes in Malaysia to save Malaysia from the disasters of a rogue and failed state.

The seven-year Pakatan Rakyat from 2008 to 2015 had been a seminal period in the political life of Malaysia, arousing anew the hopes and aspirations of Malaysians, cutting across race, religion, region, gender and age, for the fulfillment of the Malaysian Dream where every Malaysian can achieve his or her potential in the country, and to be treated as an equal citizen with political freedom, human rights, economic justice and enjoying all the human dignity and basic socio-economic rights which every human being in a modern society in the 21st century is entitled to.

Unfortunately, the Pakatan Rakyat died after fighting one general election in 2013, breaking the hearts of all Malaysians who had vested such high hopes and trust in PR. Continue reading “If a new Islamist party is formed by Merdeka Day, hopefully a new Pakatan Baru would be formed by Malaysia Day”