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New Deal for Malaysia

– Liew Chin Tong
The Malaysian Insider
24 January 2016

With mega crises on all fronts, (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) and Umno look doomed. But they might just survive politically by creating a “Low Yat incident” every other week.

The game plan is simple: pit underprivileged kids of one race against another, then they will be so busy fighting each other that they will forget who keeps them poor to begin with. The accusation of “poor Malay cheated by Chinese handphone taukeh” is untrue. Why would a “rich” young Chinese work for a handphone shop for meagre pay?

Can we, DAP, see the shared fate of the bottom 60% of the economy – youngsters who are Malay as well as Chinese and other races? Can we articulate their wishes and aspirations in a single breath?

The even more crucial question is this: do we even actually know them? Do we actually know who the Malays are? What the Malays are? Where the Malays are?

It is sad to note that some of us see the Malays as one single entity with a set of stereotypes. For example, we didn’t even realise that we are being racial when we see most Malays as policemen, enforcement officers, Mat Rempit, etc.

The same is true for others who only see Chinese as rich people and business owners who always cheat Malays. After 50 years, the narrative has stayed the same. This is sad. Continue reading “New Deal for Malaysia”

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‘The Economist’: While Indonesia fights Islamic State, Malaysia politicises Islam

Malay Mail Online
January 24, 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 ― Indonesian social movements are attempting to counter jihadist influence, but the Malaysian government has completely politicised Islam until there is little space for more peaceful interpretations, The Economist said.

In an analysis of the Jakarta bombings published yesterday, the London-based weekly publication noted that supporting or joining the Islamic State (IS) is not illegal in Indonesia, though the Indonesian government is considering preventive detention laws to curb terrorism.

“The country’s two biggest Muslim social movements — Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama — have been trying to counter jihadist propaganda.

“In Malaysia, however, the government itself has thoroughly politicised Islam, leaving little room for dissent from its harshest rules. A study last year found more than 70 per cent of Malaysia’s ethnic-Malay, Muslim, majority support hudud laws such as stoning for adultery. Another found that 11 per cent of Malays viewed IS favourably,” said The Economist in an article titled “After Jakarta.” Continue reading “‘The Economist’: While Indonesia fights Islamic State, Malaysia politicises Islam”

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Hasan Arifin should resign as PAC Chairman if he is not prepared to be a second “Nur Jazlan” who will delve into the bottom of Najib’s twin mega scandals without fear or favour

The Hasan Arifin Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a far cry and a pale shadow of the Nur Jazlan PAC.

Nur Jazlan Mohamad as Chairman of the PAC created parliamentary history in raising credibility and public respect for PAC to such a high pedestal that it became the only hope for Malaysians that there would be an independent, professional and non-holds barred investigation into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s twin mega scandals – the RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal.

In Nur Jazlan’s own words, for the first time, Malaysians harboured high hopes that there was still someone in UMNO who wanted to do the right thing.

All these hopes were dashed when Najib purged his government at the end of July last year, sacking the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the Senior Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, followed by a campaign of fear and intimidation at high levels of government with the arrest or immediate transfer of recalcitrant officers in the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Bank Negara, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Police and the dissolution of the high-powered multi-agency “Four Tan Sri’s” Special Task Force on 1MDB.

PAC, which was launching into a full-scale probe into 1MDB led by PAC Chairman Nur Jazlan, was sabotaged and derailed for four months from continuing with 1MDB investigations with Najib’s power-play of appointing Nur Jazlan as Deputy Home Minister as well as the promotion of three other Barisan Nasional members of PAC into executive branch of government. Continue reading “Hasan Arifin should resign as PAC Chairman if he is not prepared to be a second “Nur Jazlan” who will delve into the bottom of Najib’s twin mega scandals without fear or favour”

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Of emigration and the trust deficit

Julia Yeow
The Malaysian Insider
10 January 2016

Malaysia’s brain drain problem is far from a new one and, to be fair, is not exclusive to our country.

However, the rise in the number of highly-skilled Malaysians moving abroad to work or live is especially troubling for a country that is hoping to become a developed, high-income nation in less than five years.

The most recent World Bank report states that more than 300,000 Malaysians moved overseas in 2013 alone, joining the millions who are now spread across the globe. Continue reading “Of emigration and the trust deficit”

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Is there ever a positive side to beauty pageants?

Syerleena Abdul Rashid
The Malaysian Insider
22 January 2016

On a personal level, I have to admit, beauty pageants make me queasy because it sends out a pretty clear message that only beautiful women succeed in life.

Beauty pageants and other similar events where women are made to prance around all dolled up with fake smiles plastered on their faces have increasingly becoming more controversial.

The negative impacts it has will definitely resonate especially on young girls. Continue reading “Is there ever a positive side to beauty pageants?”

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PAC should table the Auditor-General’s interim report on 1MDB at the Special Parliament next Tuesday or Wednesday as part of the PAC Interim Report on 1MDB so that the AG’s interim 1MDB report could be made public and studied by Malaysians

Malaysians must make clear their protest and opposition to the shocking though expected announcement by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Datuk Hasan Arifin two days ago that the PAC report into its investigations into the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal will not be ready for tabling in the Dewan Rakyat in the March/April meeting.

This is because Hasan’s announcement will open the way for an indefinite postponement of PAC report on its investigations into the 1MDB scandal, which had already stained Malaysia’s international reputation by giving the nation the third ranking in the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015”.

In fact, I will not be surprised if the “cari makan” PAC Chairman will find some reason to further postpone submission of the PAC Report into 1MDB in the May meeting of Parliament – kicking the ball to the end of the year for the 25-day budget meeting from 17th October to 24th November 2016.

Just as “justice delayed is justice denied”, the “cari makan” PAC Chairman must also understand that “accountability delayed is accountability denied”! Continue reading “PAC should table the Auditor-General’s interim report on 1MDB at the Special Parliament next Tuesday or Wednesday as part of the PAC Interim Report on 1MDB so that the AG’s interim 1MDB report could be made public and studied by Malaysians”

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‘Flawed democracy’ Malaysia slips down in The Economist unit’s ranking, behind Indonesia

Malay Mail Online
January 22, 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — Malaysia stayed mired among countries rated as “flawed democracies” in The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Democracy Index 2015 released this week, losing three positions from the previous year.

According to the EIU table, Malaysia is now 68th out of the 167 countries measured, after it scored 6.43 in the index, down from 65th in 2014, putting it behind Indonesia (49th) and the Philippines (54th), but ahead of 74th placed Singapore.

“These countries also have free and fair elections and, even if there are problems (such as infringements on media freedom), basic civil liberties are respected.

“However, there are significant weaknesses in other aspects of democracy, including problems in governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation,” the EIU explained.
Continue reading “‘Flawed democracy’ Malaysia slips down in The Economist unit’s ranking, behind Indonesia”

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Najib should immediately suspend Jamil Khir as Minister and Johari Bahrom as Deputy Minister if Kedah Wanita UMNO chief is telling the truth that she had been tricked into the press conference against Mukhriz

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, should immediately suspend Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom as Minister and Datuk Johari Baharum as Deputy Minister if Kedah Wanita chief Datuk Maznah Hamid is telling the truth that she had been tricked into the press conference yesterday declaring loss of confidence in Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir as Kedah Mentri Besar.

I do not want to be entangled in the question whether Mukhriz is the best person to be the Kedah Mentri Besar, but the revelations by Maznah is most shocking, outrageous and unacceptable, totally against the fifth Rukunegara precept of “Morality and Good Behaviour”.

If what Maznah said is true, then Jamil Khir and Johari Baharom are not fit to be Minister and Deputy Minister respectively, as Malaysians are entitled to question as to how persons who have no respect or regard for the Rukunegara principles and who acted totally without the most elementary sense of political morality can be allowed to be Minister or Deputy Minister. Continue reading “Najib should immediately suspend Jamil Khir as Minister and Johari Bahrom as Deputy Minister if Kedah Wanita UMNO chief is telling the truth that she had been tricked into the press conference against Mukhriz”

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Anyone surprised by Hasan Arifin’s announcement that PAC report on 1MDB will not be ready in time for the March meeting of Parliament?

Anyone surprised by the announcement yesterday by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Datuk Hasan Arifin that the PAC report into its investigations into the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal will not be ready for tabling in the Dewan Rakyat in the March/April meeting?
I believe the majority of Malaysians share my feeling of not in any way being surprised at all.

In fact, I will expect the PAC under the “cari makan” chairman will even miss the following Parliamentary meeting from May 16 to 26, which will mean that the PAC report on the 1MDB will be kicked to the end of the year, when Parliament meets for 25 days from 17th Oct to 24th Nov, 2016.

Again, nobody will be very surprised if the net result demanding full accountability for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Raza’s twin mega scandals by the end of this year will conclude not very much differently from that of last year – where the Prime Minister disappeared from Parliamentary chamber on the last day of the 25-day budget meeting although Ministers have proclaimed to the world that all the answers about the Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal would be answered on Dec. 3, 2015, the last day of the Parliamentary meeting, but there was absolutely no answer to the teeming questions about the scandal!

There is no sense of urgency in the PAC investigations into the 1MDB scandal since the appointment of Hasan as PAC Chairman, after the derailment of the PAC investigations for more than three months after the “purge” in the government of personalities in favour of full and satisfactory accountability of the 1MDB scandal, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muyhyiddin Yassin, Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, officers in the AG’s Chambers, Bank Negara, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Malaysian Police. Continue reading “Anyone surprised by Hasan Arifin’s announcement that PAC report on 1MDB will not be ready in time for the March meeting of Parliament?”

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What Indonesia Knows About Blocking the Islamic State

Joshua Kurlantzick
Bloomberg
January 20, 2016

Smart strategy has made the largest Muslim-majority nation a tough environment for the Islamic State.

In the wake of last week’s attacks in Jakarta, which killed seven people, fears are growing that the largest Muslim-majority nation in the world is going to be hit by a wave of Islamic State-linked bombings and shootings. The potential for mayhem seems obvious. Indonesia’s open society and high social media penetration make it easy for young Indonesians to access Islamist sites and Facebook pages, and the Sunni Muslim insurgency has released several videos in Indonesian in an apparent recruiting effort.

Indonesia is a country of thousands of islands, with porous borders and many soft targets: The militants launched bombs and opened fire in broad daylight in one of the busiest neighborhoods in Jakarta. And Indonesians have fought in Syria and Iraq and returned. The Soufan Group, a consulting security consulting group, believes that at least six hundred Southeast Asians have traveled to Syria to fight with the Islamic State and then come back to their home countries. Indeed, the alleged ringleader of last week’s Jakarta attacks, a militant named Bahru Naim, is currently living in Raqqa, Islamic State’s hub. Continue reading “What Indonesia Knows About Blocking the Islamic State”

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Islamic State Eludes Southeast Asian Authorities With Telegram App

By NEWLEY PURNELL and RESTY WORO YUNIAR
Wall Street Journal
Jan. 19, 2016

Terrorist group using encrypted messaging app to recruit members in Malaysia, Indonesia

Communications app Telegram Messenger is in the spotlight after the deadly terrorist attacks in Jakarta last week, with experts in Indonesia and Malaysia saying Islamic State radicals in Syria have used the platform to recruit members from Southeast Asia.

The revelations underscore both the apparent popularity of the Berlin-based app among members of the terror organization and the challenges it poses to authorities in tracking its private, encrypted chats.

Malaysian police on Saturday said its counterterrorism unit last week arrested four suspects, three of whom were recruited to join Islamic State in Syria by a Malaysian national via Telegram and Facebook Inc.’s social-networking platform.

Telegram, which in November said it blocked 78 of its public channels across 12 languages related to Islamic State, was one of the first apps to explicitly cater to privacy enthusiasts after reports in 2013 alleging widespread surveillance by U.S. intelligence.

Islamic State has used Telegram, a free platform that can be accessed via mobile devices and desktop computers, to disseminate public statements, such as its claim of responsibility for the November attacks in Paris. Continue reading “Islamic State Eludes Southeast Asian Authorities With Telegram App”

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Who is to bell the cat?

While Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will get the national thumbs down when he claimed in his 2016 New Year Message that his RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB scandal had been resolved and were no more issues for the new year, the Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz received unanimous national applause and support for her statement that Malaysians wish to see the investigation into 1MDB concluded so that they can move on.

When can Malaysians shake off the adverse political, economic and good governance effects of Najib’s twin mega scandals?

This question had been posed again and again in the past six months since the Wall Street Journal revelation of RM2.6 billion deposits in Najib’s personal bank accounts on July 2, 2015, and Najib’s failure to sue Wall Street Journal despite the American newspaper’s reiteration of the veracity of its allegation.

The Malay Rulers, in a historic and unprecedented joint statement on Oct. 6 last year, expressed their worry that if the issues confronting the nation, especially Najib’s twin mega scandals, were not handled wisely and allowed to drag on, not only Malaysia’s economy and the livelihood of the people could be jeopardized, public order and national security could also be threatened.

Will Malaysia be haunted and hounded by Najib’s twin mega scandals so long as Najib remains as Prime Minister of Malaysia? Continue reading “Who is to bell the cat?”

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Now that I have made an outright denial of the RM1.2 billion allegation against DAP, will MyKMU ask Najib to fully explain or make an outright denial of the RM2.6 billion (or RM4 billion) donation allegations?

Pro-UMNO portal MyKMU.net has challenged me to explain allegations that the party had received RM1.2 billion “donations” from an Israeli source to fund its 13th general election campaign.

In a posting late evening yesterday, the portal said it was putting the pressure on me as I had similarly pressured the BN government to explain RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal implicating Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

I would not go to the extent of calling the MyKMU bloggers “blank heads”, an epithet in one of the MyKMU comments, but this post has only confirmed that people with high IQ and with a modicum of integrity will never condescend to become UMNO cybertroopers (or anyone’s cybertroopers) as to post such garbage like this posting on MyKMU.

My explanation of the RM1.2 billion allegation from an Israeli source against the DAP is a flat and outright denial as this is the concoction of the fevered imagination of two persons, one Razali Abd Rahman, who had the temerity to describe himself as Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng’s “former special officer” when he was never in such or any other capacity connected to the Penang Chief Minister, and one Dr. Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki, purportedly PAS Research Center’s Chief Operating Officer, raising questions as to how doctorates could be indiscriminately given out in Malaysia that it could be conferred on someone who could be so gullible and undiscerning as to fall prey, willingly or willingly, to a character like Razali.

I wonder whether the MyKMU bloggers have the intellectual capacity to realise that by re-hashing Razali and Zuhdi’s allegations, they are in fact questioning the competence, efficiency and professionalism of important government agencies like Bank Negara, the Police in particular the Special Branch and even the Prime Minister himself as RM1.2 billion is not a small sum which could wrapped in old newspapers and hidden under the mat.

Is MyKMU questioning the competence, efficiency and professionalism of Bank Negara, the Inspector-General of Police and the Prime Minister as they do not seem to know anything about the serious allegation of RM1.2 billion to DAP from an Israeli source to fund the 13th General Election campaign (made some four years ago), and if there even one iota of evidence in such allegations, all of three should be sacked immediately for gross incompetence and inefficiency.

Now that I have given a flat and outright denial of the allegation of RM1.2 billion to DAP from an Israeli source, will MyKMU publish a fulsome apology for retailing such baseless lies? Continue reading “Now that I have made an outright denial of the RM1.2 billion allegation against DAP, will MyKMU ask Najib to fully explain or make an outright denial of the RM2.6 billion (or RM4 billion) donation allegations?”

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Enough of this nonsense! Malaysia was created as a secular nation

— Clive Kessler
Malay Mail Online
January 19, 2016

JANUARY 19 — Enough of this nonsense! Enough already!

Malaya and then Malaysia was created as a secular nation.

Denial of this basic fact has become commonplace in recent times.

The pioneers in promoting the revisionist myth that there was or is nothing secular in the nation’s origins or about its Constitution have been the creative legal innovators and myth-makers of the PPMM: Persatuan Peguam Muslim Malaysia (Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association) –- notably Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar — and their like-minded associates in CENTHRA, the Putrajaya-based and Saudi-friendly Centre for Human Rights and Advocacy, headed by on Azril Mohd Amin.

Their lead is followed, and their disruptive views are echoed, by a horde of Utusan Malaysia scribes and ideologues and, in their wake, a claque of well-connected writers and publicists and ambitious politicos.

In the absence of any clear refutation, their increasingly unchallenged view now threatens to become “the default position”, the received and undeniable truth.

But are they right?

In short, no. And for three main reasons. Continue reading “Enough of this nonsense! Malaysia was created as a secular nation”

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Did MACC submit any recommendation for any charge against Prime Minister Najib in relation to the SRC International investigation, and if so, how many?

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has denied recommending 37 charges against Prime Minister Najib Razak in relation to the SRC International investigation.

It said that the article by Sarawak Report yesterday which said MACC had recommended 37 separate charges against Najib involving the SRC International case is untrue.

What Malaysians want to know is whether the MACC had submitted any recommendation to the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali for any charge against Najib in relation to the SRC International investigation, and if so, how many.

Furthermore, on a question which MACC should no equivocate, is whether it is true that the total sums of money deposited into Najib’s personal bank accounts meant for the last general election were not just RM2.6 billion but RM4 billion. Continue reading “Did MACC submit any recommendation for any charge against Prime Minister Najib in relation to the SRC International investigation, and if so, how many?”

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Our politics created Malaysian Isis

– Saefullah Norhaidi
The Malaysian Insider
19 January 2016

I was recently in Kuala Lumpur when Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) carried out its attack in Jakarta, marking the entrance of a new terrorist movement, in the Southeast Asian region.

It is clear now, Isis wants its voice to be heard, its presence felt. I have no idea whether this has any connection to it, but that very evening, I saw police forces walking in the miscellaneous places we were walking around in Kuala Lumpur.

Now is definitely the time when governments in this region will start to become intensely vigilant and more vehement in deterring the harmful growth of Islamic radical movements in their respective countries. Continue reading “Our politics created Malaysian Isis”

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Shahbudin: No need for PAS to drag in God

Joe Fernandez | January 19, 2016
Free Malaysia Today

PAS Information Chief Nasharudin Tantawi urged to re-confirm whether God really indicated to him that he need not apologize to Guan Eng at the end of a defamation case.

KUALA LUMPUR: A political analyst, taking to his blog on a reported out-of-court settlement on a defamation suit between Lim Guan Eng the plaintiff and Nasharudin Tantawi, wonders whether it was really necessary to drag God into the case. “What’s important is proof based on the facts of the case.”

The case between Guan Eng and PAS Information Chief Nasharuddin was not one between Islam and non-Islam, pointed out Shahbudin Husin the analyst, but involves character values and the behaviour of human beings, something that can happen to anyone irrespective of religious leanings and race. “So, why invoke God by name as a factor, why sell the almighty’s name in a defamation suit?”

“Such an attitude will only serve to further blacken the image of Islam.”

Shahbudin wants Nasharudin to re-confirm whether God really indicated to him by a sign that he need not apologize to Guan Eng at the end of the defamation case.

If it was really true that God told Nasharudin not to apologise to Guan Eng, also DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister, the analyst wonders whether the Almighty also advised him to withdraw part of his allegations and pay compensation to the plaintiff, the victim. “Does that mean that God doesn’t like the idea of apologising?”

“Did God really tell Nasharudin not to tender an apology and go on to advise the PAS Information Chief on other aspects of the defamation suit?”

Again, wonders the analyst, why didn’t God advise Nasharudin to fight Guan Eng to the bitter end in the defamation suit. Continue reading “Shahbudin: No need for PAS to drag in God”

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UMNO leadership should consider Onn’s 66-year proposal that UMNO open its membership to non-Malays to defend and save democracy in Malaysia

Yesterday, I gave as the reason why the UMNO leadership should consider founding UMNO President, Datuk Onn Jaafar’s 66-year proposal that UMNO open its door to non-Malays the simple and basic one as to whether UMNO is a loyal and patriotic Malaysian party or just a communal Malay party – how the nation could have a Prime Minister from UMNO who could be a Prime Minister of all Malaysians when the ration d’etre of his political existence is to be the champion of one race against the other races.

I was responding to the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Salleh Said Keruak, who had asked why UMNO must open its membership to non-Malays as UMNO has never claimed to be a multi-racial party.

Datuk Shabery Cheek, who was shunted off from the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia in the Cabinet “purge” reshuffle on July 28 last year, tried to come to his successor’s rescue, declaring that UMNO’s opening up its membership to non-Malays is not as simple as opening up a durian.

In a way, Shabery is very right.

If UMNO just opens up its membership to non-Malays, no non-Malay would want to be an UMNO member unless UMNO can change its political culture from a race-based party to a Malaysia-based national party.

But this is not adequate. Continue reading “UMNO leadership should consider Onn’s 66-year proposal that UMNO open its membership to non-Malays to defend and save democracy in Malaysia”

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Malaysia’s hollow economy, flaws of high income nation ambition

– Anas Alam Faizli
The Malaysian Insider
18 January 2016

Allow me to share with you a blindspot moment here; not many took note that in 2014, 29.1% of our total imports were from electrical and electronic (E&E) products. The same year, 35.7% of our total exports were also E&E products.

What is actually going on here?

Well, simply put, our economy is kind of hollow. Continue reading “Malaysia’s hollow economy, flaws of high income nation ambition”

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Time for UMNO leadership to consider Onn Jaafar’s proposal 66 years ago for UMNO to open its membership to non-Malays so that UMNO leaders can also be leaders of all Malaysians

The Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak asked why UMNO must open its membership to non-Malays, describing this as a non-issue because UMNO has never claimed to be a multi-racial party.

It is sad and pathetic that present-day UMNO Ministers and leaders are quite proud about their national blindspot and their inability to see or understand what the founding UMNO President Datuk Onn Jaafar saw very clearly and vividly 66 years ago in 1950, which was why he proposed that UMNO open its doors to non-Malays in order to lead in the building of a united nation.

How can the nation have a Prime Minister from UMNO who could also be Prime Minister for all Malaysians when the very ration d’etre of his political existence is to be the champion of one race against the other races?

This anomalous situation may be understandable and acceptable in the early years of the communal politics of plural Malaysia, but it should become increasingly anachronistic with passing decades of Malaysian nation building, especially based on the Rukunegara principles proclaimed in 1970 – which should see the old mould of the politics of race give way to the new mould of the politics of national issues of justice, freedom, good governance, integrity, progress and prosperity for all.

Onn Jaafar have the foresight and vision that we cannot build a united nation out of our diversity of races, religions, languages and cultures unless we go beyond the colonial tactics of “divide and rule” and create a common national identity where there is an overarching common national identity and consciousness, and where what is close to one ethnic community is not only articulated and championed by that ethnic group only but also by other ethnic groups transcending ethnic barriers. Continue reading “Time for UMNO leadership to consider Onn Jaafar’s proposal 66 years ago for UMNO to open its membership to non-Malays so that UMNO leaders can also be leaders of all Malaysians”