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Reflections on and from Bersih 4

– Katrina Jorene Maliamauv
The Malaysian Insider
18 September 2015

I wrote these thoughts down immediately after Bersih 4, but I’ve decided to only share them days down the line, once the news-cycle presumably moves on to something else, once the frenzy of pictures and status updates capturing the warmth, excitement, hope and enthusiasm fade away.

As powerful and moving as it is when hundreds of thousands of people come together in an act of protest, it is necessary always for us to remember that for protest to be transformative, it cannot exist as a singular event.

It is also critical for us to remember that acts of change cannot merely be external; we are part of the force for change, in ways that are vital beyond our feet marching in unison, our voices raising together in rally cries, our bodies on the street in acts of overnight resistance. Continue reading “Reflections on and from Bersih 4”

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To the PM and the red-T Malays

by Azly Rahman
Malaysiakini
17 Sep 2015

In conjunction with Malaysia Day, I have these brief messages of peace to both leader and the people led.

Mr Malaysian Prime Minister,

Help all Malaysians not just Malays if you and your coalition ruling party are going to redesign strategies for peace, equality, and social justice.

We are all bumiputras now and that the generation of today’s Malaysians be they from Chinese, Indian, or Malays have been here long enough to call this land no longer Tanah Melayu but Bumi Bangsa Malaysia. We’ve toiled for the soil.

And you must remind yourself that you are prime minister for all.

Poverty now cuts across racial lines, with an increasing number of those in the middle class now falling below the poverty line.

There is no strong rationale any more, after more than 50 years of independence and being a country called Malaysia, to continue policies based along racial lines. Continuing this will guarantee another 50 years of race and class antagonism. Continue reading “To the PM and the red-T Malays”

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There is no such thing as Islamic racism

Zan Azlee
The Malaysian Insider
18 September 2015

What version of Islam is Tan Sri Annuar Musa referring to when he said that racism is based on Islam? I want to know because if Islam really calls for racism, then I’ve been a bad Muslim!

The Umno Supreme Council member said this in his speech when he attended the ‘red shirt’ rally (aka Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu) on Malaysia Day.

In his speech, he also said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi were very touched by the show of support by the rally goers. Continue reading “There is no such thing as Islamic racism”

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Malaysia Fund 1MDB’s Missing Money Problem Grows

By BRADLEY HOPE And TOM WRIGHT
The Wall Street Journal
Sept. 17, 2015

Questions around a troubled Malaysian state investment fund and missing money in the Middle East have widened to include as much as $1 billion more.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that officials in Abu Dhabi were trying to understand why a $1.4 billion transfer that the fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd., said it made to a counterparty in the Middle Eastern emirate wasn’t received. Now, those officials are questioning a further $993 million that 1MDB reported it paid to the Abu Dhabi fund, the International Petroleum Investment Co., but which also appears to be largely missing, people familiar with the matter said.

Officials from 1MDB and IPIC didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The questions deepen the mystery around 1MDB, which was set up by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 to invest in Malaysia’s economy. The fund is now struggling to repay more than $11 billion in debt and is at the center of a corruption scandal that is destabilizing Mr. Najib’s government. Continue reading “Malaysia Fund 1MDB’s Missing Money Problem Grows”

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Najib cannot remain silent or passive when Al Jazeera stands by its “Murder in Malaysia” documentary and Jolley calls for new probe by Malaysian police into fresh evidence in Altantuya murder case

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, cannot remain silent or passive when Al Jazeera stands by its “Murder in Malaysia” documentary and Al Jazeera reporter, Australian-based Mary Ann Jolley calls for new probe by Malaysian police into fresh evidence into the horrific Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.

A day after Al Jazeera Doha headquarters spokesperson said that the network stood by its 101 East current affairs programme “Murder in Malaysia” and denied any ulterior agenda apart from a “detailed and thorough report into a murder mystery that continues to have many unanswered questions” as well as reporting “new developments” relating to condemned convict Sirul Azhar Umar currently held in immigration detention centre in Sydney, Jolley has urged Malaysian police to investigate fresh evidence that she had uncovered and reported in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case amid a probe against her.

Jolley pointed out in a Malay Mail Online email interview that the text messages sent by former police commando Sirul – who was convicted together with Azila, another ex-police commando of killing the young Mongolian woman – to a man named Abdul Salam Ahmad on January 17 this year, in which he had asked for millions of dollars to “remain in Australia and not bring down the PM”, was not hearsay.

The first-hand account of a conversation between Sirul and his relative, in which Sirul alleged that Altantuya’s ex-lover Razak Baginda had shot her, was not hearsay either. Continue reading “Najib cannot remain silent or passive when Al Jazeera stands by its “Murder in Malaysia” documentary and Jolley calls for new probe by Malaysian police into fresh evidence in Altantuya murder case”

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Sabah State Government should offer RM1 million for the best History of Sabah to be written by a Sabahan which should be one of the history books for Sabah students when there is Sabah autonomy for education

Earlier today, I had suggested that Sabah and Sarawak should appoint State Ministers of Education not only in anticipation of grant of education autonomy to the states by Putrajaya, but to discuss with Federal Government and the state stakeholders on the definition and scope of state autonomy on education.

I disagreed with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that state autonomy on education for Sabah and Sarawak should be confined to administrative matters, like his announcement on Malaysia Day that 90% of teaching posts in both states will be filled by Sabahans and Sarawakians within three years, which means the increase of the number of Sarawakian teachers from 32,168 now to 38,082 in the state, with a similar increase in Sabah.

The grant of autonomy in education from Putrajaya to Sabah and Sarawak cannot solely be in terms of increasing the number of teaching posts in the two states to be filled by Sabahans and Sarawakians respectively, but must also involve devolution in the functions, powers and the jurisdiction to the two states in the area of education. Continue reading “Sabah State Government should offer RM1 million for the best History of Sabah to be written by a Sabahan which should be one of the history books for Sabah students when there is Sabah autonomy for education”

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Rafidah Aziz should head the National Goodwill Committee to restore racial peace and social harmony as well as Malaysia’s international image as a model of multi-racial nation and safe haven for foreign investors damaged by Red Shirts Malay rally on Sept. 16

Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, gender, age or even politics, must hold their heads in shame as the country acquires a new infamy in the international society.

As if we have not enough of shame and scandals which had seriously hurt the pride of Malaysians overseas, like the MH370 disappearance, the MH17 disaster, continued unsolved mystery of the motive for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu and the blowing up of her body with military C4 explosives, the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal, the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal banking accounts, Malaysia in the past 24 hours have acquired a new international infamy, a country of “anti-Chinese” demonstrations.

As a Malaysian, I feel very ashamed to read just now the Malaysiakini report “Overseas, red shirts rally seen as ‘anti-Chinese demo’”, as follows: Continue reading “Rafidah Aziz should head the National Goodwill Committee to restore racial peace and social harmony as well as Malaysia’s international image as a model of multi-racial nation and safe haven for foreign investors damaged by Red Shirts Malay rally on Sept. 16”

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A rally in Malaysia today ramped up racial tensions and rhetoric

Steve Mollman
Quartz
September 16, 2015

To an outside visitor, Malaysia’s underlying racial tensions might not be readily apparent. But a pro-government rally today (Sept. 16) in Kuala Lumpur brought them to light. The red-shirted demonstrators were for the most part young Malay men, many bused in from rural provinces with help from the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the nation’s dominant political party.

Ethnic Malays are the majority in the country, but ethnic Chinese make up about a quarter of the population and, overall, have more economic power. UMNO has controlled Malaysia for nearly 60 years, and it has reserved economic and other advantages for Muslim Malays, saying they’re needed to prevent dominance by the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

Today’s rally was in fact a counter-rally. It was a show of force in response to the Bersih rallies held on Aug. 29-30. “Bersih” is the Malay word for clean, and the yellow-shirted protestors were calling for clean elections, clean government, the right to dissent, a strengthened parliament, and the rescue of Malaysia’s faltering economy. They were especially incensed over accusations that prime minister Najib Razak pocketed nearly $700 million from a government investment fund. Continue reading “A rally in Malaysia today ramped up racial tensions and rhetoric”