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We are all The Malaysian Insider

Jahabar Sadiq
Malaysiakini
14 Mar 2016

COMMENT | The Malaysian Insider shuts down tonight. No words can adequately express the entire spectrum of feelings I have for this moment, and all the moments since late 2007 when a few of us thought of setting up a news portal.

I was in Reuters Television then, and had signed a contract to work in Jakarta as a senior producer. It would be good to look at Malaysia from afar, after having spent a decade as a television producer in Malaysia.

The job was never just about Malaysia, as it involved the region.

To cut a long story short, I came back in 2010 to run The Malaysian Insider and take care of my parents. and It has been a roller coaster ride focussed just on Malaysia.

There were no more exotic locales or tales from the wild side, I thought. This is Malaysia, easy enough to cover with predictable storylines. But Malaysia was changing and I had to keep up with the changes too. Continue reading “We are all The Malaysian Insider”

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Another infamy chalked up in Najib’s seven-year premiership – the death of The Malaysian Insider

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s seven-year reign as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia had added another casualty in its long list of infamies – the death of news portal The Malaysian Insider (TMI) from midnight.

Najib and his new Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak may feel proud of their “achievement” in the death of TMI, especially with the government blocking of the news portal last month, but to decent and thinking Malaysians, there can be no joy but immense sadness at the death of TMI, whose travails in the past eight years reflect the agonies and trials of Malaysia to become a normal democratic country where the fundamental liberties enshrined in the Merdeka Constitution in 1957 are living guarantees and not meaningless words.

Clearly those in power have forgotten the 20-year Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) guarantee of “No Internet Censorship” with the Malaysian government under Najib prepared to take Malaysia backwards to the dark age instead of forward to the Information Society.

Malaysians pay tribute to the TMI editor Jahabar Sadiq and all the TMI journalists for their contribution in bringing Malaysia towards the light of information and accountability, fighting the darkness of censorship and secrecy. Continue reading “Another infamy chalked up in Najib’s seven-year premiership – the death of The Malaysian Insider”

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Goodbye from The Malaysian Insider

BY JAHABAR SADIQ, EDITOR
The Malaysian Insider
14 March 2016

Goodbye readers from near and far, and those reading us in Malaysia despite the government block.

The Edge Media Group has decided to shut down The Malaysian Insider from midnight today, for commercial reasons. Perhaps it is fitting that we go offline at the start of the Ides of March.

I hope we have served you well since our first day of going live on February 25, 2008. And I hope others will continue to serve you in our absence.

We worked as impartial journalists to inform Malaysians and other readers so that they make informed decisions. We worked to make all voices heard in this marketplace of ideas.

But our work in The Malaysian Insider has now come to an end in a Malaysia that more than ever requires more clarity, transparency and information. Continue reading “Goodbye from The Malaysian Insider”

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Voters in 12 parliamentary constituencies in Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis which I visited after the signing of the “Citizen’s Declaration” of March 4 support Save Malaysia campaign calling for Najib’s removal as well as democratic and institutional reforms

Kuala Perlis is my seventh stop in the visit to four parliamentary constituencies in Kedah and three parliamentary constituencies in Perlis yesterday and today.

Kangar (which includes Kuala Perlis) is the 92nd parliamentary constituency I am visiting since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22 for demanding full and satisfactory accounting from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib for his RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals.

The seven parliamentary constituencies in Kedah and Perlis I visited in the last two days are: Sungai Patani, Merbau, Kuala Kedah, Alor Setar, Padang Besar, Arau and Kangar.

The purpose on my nation-wide visit of the parliamentary constituencies is to take the pulse of the people on Najib’s twin mega scandals, and there is no doubt that uppermost in everyone’s minds are teeming questions as where the billions in Najib’s personal banking accounts came from, where they have gone to, and whether the RM2.6 billion (mushroomed now to RM4.2 billion) donation scandal is part of the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal.

So many question, and which are increasing by the day, which remain unanswered – sending out the disturbing message not only to Malaysians but to the world that Najib has got many things to hide!

In the whole process for the past year, Malaysia is acquiring the notoriety of being among the most corrupt nations in the world – how sad for patriotic Malaysians!

Since March 4, there is an added issue which I am taking the pulse of the people during my visit to the parliamentary constituencies – the people’s reactions and feedback to the Citizen’s Declaration to Save Malaysia signed by 45 political and civil society leaders, involving former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as well as former Cabinet Ministers, bridging the political divide with signatories from the government coalition and the Opposition, calling for Najib’s removal as well as for democratic and institutional reforms. Continue reading “Voters in 12 parliamentary constituencies in Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis which I visited after the signing of the “Citizen’s Declaration” of March 4 support Save Malaysia campaign calling for Najib’s removal as well as democratic and institutional reforms”

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Selling the Save Malaysia movement to a sceptical Malaysian

Julia Yeow
The Malaysian Insider
13 March 2016

It’s been slightly more than a week since former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced he was championing a “people’s movement” to call for the resignation of his hand-picked successor Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Malaysians have been largely divided as to whether or not they should celebrate a loose coalition that claimed to want to save the country, or if they should run as fast as they could from another marriage of convenience between parties that have too many fundamental differences to be taken seriously as a team.

The largely ambivalent response to Dr Mahathir’s new grouping has led to prominent anti-Najib activist and former de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim to make an impassioned plea for Malaysians to put aside their political leanings for this season of time, and come out in full support of this initiative. Continue reading “Selling the Save Malaysia movement to a sceptical Malaysian”

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Dr Mahathir and Ku Li, two peas in a pod?

– Koon Yew Yin
The Malaysian Insider
13 March 2016

During the past 10 years I have written a great deal about our national politics and the country’s leadership. In particular I have focused on our prime ministers. What I have written has really been in response to the policies they have initiated and the way they have managed the key issues and challenges of our multi-racial society and developing economy.

Besides writing on the three prime ministers – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Abdullah Badawi and Datuk Seri Najib Razak – that we have had during the past 30 years I have also written extensively on two political figures who could have become prime ministers but never quite made it – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Readers will note that my view of Dr Mahathir has not been charitable. In fact, it will be considered unkind. He – and most Malaysians, including a majority of Malays today, will agree with me – is a failed leader who has let down the country badly.

Malaysians of my generation with longer memories than the current generation who know of the stability, harmony and prosperity that we enjoyed as well as experienced the high standards of governance inherited from the British, see the son of Mohamad Iskander Kutty, Dr Mahatir, as the principal cause of our badly dysfunctional economy and society. Continue reading “Dr Mahathir and Ku Li, two peas in a pod?”

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Arrest of Australian journalists latest climax of Najib’s twin mega scandals haunting and hounding Malaysia to a new international level

Malaysia is today a greater news in the world than in the country, for three reasons:

Firstly, there is media control and censorship in the country.

Secondly, the arrest of two Australian journalists from ABC Four Corners programme for “aggressively” posing questions to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Kuching.

Thirdly, catapulting Sarawak general elections into international news even before the dissolution of the Sarawak State Assemby and the holding of Sarawak state general elections, as Najib was in Kuching to carry out pre-dissolution general election campaign.

I have just read the report that the Attorney-General’s Chambers is considering action against the two ABC News journalists , reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louis Eroglu, who were in Malaysia to investigate a local corruption scandal and who have had their passports seized despite being released after questioning yesterday.

They were previously detained for allegedly approaching the Prime Minister aggressively.

I am horrified by the very clumsy and ham-fisted manner in handling the case of the ABC Four Corners journalists. Continue reading “Arrest of Australian journalists latest climax of Najib’s twin mega scandals haunting and hounding Malaysia to a new international level”

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Five things for Najib to do to establish his bona fides in support of democratic and institutional reforms to “Save Malaysia”

I have been asked what I meant when I said in Sungai Patani yesterday that I am prepared to work with any Malaysian to Save Malaysia, not only Tun Mahathir and Tan Sri Muhyiddin, but even with Datuk Seri Najib Razak if the Prime Minister is prepared to admit that he had led the country on a wrong tangent and that Malaysia must be saved with far-reaching democratic and institutional reforms.

I said in Sungai Patani that I believe that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, race or politics, love this country and can subordinate self-interest to national interests and support a Save Malaysia campaign to stop the country hurtling down the slippery slope towards a failed and a rogue state.

I am glad that the people of Sungai Patani, Semiling, Anak Bukit and Alor Star which I visited yesterday had given me full endorsement for taking a strong stand to “Save Malaysia”, even to work with Mahathir and Muhyiddin and all like-minded political and civil society leaders who could agree with the two major thrusts in the Citizen’s Declaration – the removal of Najib as Prime Minister and far-reaching democratic and institutional reforms.

But if Najib is to come board the “Save Malaysia” campaign, there are at least five things he can and should do immediately: Continue reading “Five things for Najib to do to establish his bona fides in support of democratic and institutional reforms to “Save Malaysia””

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Thanks to 1987 Operation Lalang, half a dozen ISA detainees incarcerated for 14 -16 years got released or they might have become the world’s longest-held detainees because they were forgotten by the authorities

We gather tonight for “Tribute to ISA detainees”. The Internal Security Act (ISA) which had detained without trial over 10,000 people in its 51-year iniquitous history, including political leaders and literary giants like Ahmad Boestamam, Abu Bakar Al Bakir, Burhanudin Al-Helmy, Ishak Muhammad (Pak Sako), Aziz Ishak, Syed Husin Ali, Kassim Ahmad, Samad Ismail, Anwar Ibrahim, Karpal Singh, P. Patto, Mohamad Sabu, Lim Guan Eng, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw, Khalid Samad, Kamaruzaman Ismail, Nashir Hashim, Hishammudin Rais, Saari Sungib, Goh Kean Seng, and Lee Hai Chew.
I was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) twice, first time for 17 months in 1969 after my first election as Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka and the May 13, 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur and second time, under Operation Lalang for 18 months.

Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng and I were among the first to be detained when the Operation Lalang dragnet was launched on Oct. 27, 1987, resulting in the arrest of 106 detainees from a whole spectrum of national life. Although the 49 persons formally detained under the ISA after the custodial detention and interrogation of 60 days were released in batches, Guan Eng and I were the last two to be released after 18 months of detention in April 1989.

I still remember that when I was transferred to Kamunting Detention Centre after being held for 60 days at the ISA Remand Centre in Batu, Kuala Lumpur, I was welcomed by half a dozen ISA detainees in another compound and who had obviously been incarcerated for quite some time.

I asked them how long they had been detained in Kamunting Detention Centre and I was shocked when I was told that they had been detained from 14 to 16 years. They had been languishing in the Kamunting Detention as they seemed to have been forgotten by the authorities. Continue reading “Thanks to 1987 Operation Lalang, half a dozen ISA detainees incarcerated for 14 -16 years got released or they might have become the world’s longest-held detainees because they were forgotten by the authorities”

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Confirmation of Muhyiddin statement that the “Citizen’s Declaration” is Mahathir’s brainchild

I confirm the statement made by former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, that the “Citizen’s Declaration” calling for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s removal as Prime Minister was first formulated by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and his comrades.

Muhyiddin made this disclosure in his interview with Sinar Harian, while rebutting vitriolic demonisation campaigns by UMNO leaders and propagandists claiming that the Citizen’s Declaration was an Opposition initiative, and that Mahathir and other UMNO leaders like former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Cabinet Ministers Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal were trapped by DAP or by the Opposition.

Muhyiddin also expressed shock and surprise at the selective, mischievous and tendentious reporting of the historic event of the Citizen’s Declaration last Friday on 4th March 2016 and the ensuing events in the past week.

He said the joint declaration was not about personalities like him, Dr Mahathir, former Kedah mentri besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir or Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is now in prison, had also expressed support, commenting: “That is extraordinary, because we know the history between Dr Mahathir and Anwar.” Continue reading “Confirmation of Muhyiddin statement that the “Citizen’s Declaration” is Mahathir’s brainchild”

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Semiling Challenge to Najib to immediately hold 14th General Election to ascertain whether the Citizen’s Declaration to Save Malaysia represent the majority view of Malaysians

I have just read the news that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak claimed in Kuching that the Citizen’s Declaration to Save Malaysia signed by 45 political and civil society leaders last Friday does not represent the majority view of Malaysians.

He said that the Declaration was mooted only to promote the agenda of a select few.

Najib cannot be more wrong which shows how serious is his problem of being consistently cut off from the ground.

Although there are some voices of qualification and reservation among Malaysians as to whether the Declaration could lead to Najib’s removal as Prime Minister as well as the fate of democratic and institutional reforms to ensure that a second Najib with world infamous mega financial scandals cannot appear again in Malaysia, there is no doubt that the Declaration has the support and endorsement of the majority of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region even politics.

Najib seems to have forgotten that he is the first minority Prime Minister who does not have majority support of the popular vote in Malaysia. Continue reading “Semiling Challenge to Najib to immediately hold 14th General Election to ascertain whether the Citizen’s Declaration to Save Malaysia represent the majority view of Malaysians”

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Greatest naivety for anyone to think that there are those among the 45 signatories of the Citizen’s Declaration to Save Malaysia who believed that the day after signing the Declaration, Najib would be removed as Prime Minister

It is the greatest naivety for anyone to think that there are those among the 45 signatories of the Citizen’s Declaration to Save Malaysia who believed that the day after the signing of the 304 Declaration on March 4, 2016 that Datuk Seri Najib Razak would be removed as Prime Minister.

The road to fundamental political changes in Malaysia is a long and arduous one, with the Citizen’s Declaration on March 4 only the first step.

Malaysia is in uncharted political waters and we can only take the political tests and challenges we have assumed with the signing and proclamation of the Citizen’s Declaration on March 4 one step at a time, fully putting national interests above all racial, religious, regional, party and individual interests.

As stated in the Citizen’s Declaration to Save Malaysia, the signatories are fully aware that leadership change must be accompanied by democratic and institutional changes or the country would be back to square one. Continue reading “Greatest naivety for anyone to think that there are those among the 45 signatories of the Citizen’s Declaration to Save Malaysia who believed that the day after signing the Declaration, Najib would be removed as Prime Minister”

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Paul Low must be the only Minister responsible for integrity in the world who was neither moved nor concerned about revelations of mega money politics and corruption like Mukhriz’ and Idris Haron’s disclosures of RM1.5 billion or more spent in 13GE

Paul Low Seng Kuan must be the only Minister in the world responsible for integrity who is neither moved nor concerned about revelations of mega money politics and corruption like former Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir’s disclosure of RM1.5 billion spent by Barisan Nasional – Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Idris Harun said its more than RM1.5 billion – in the 13th General Election.

It is rather amusing, even comical but most outrageous that Paul Low had protested that he was “definitely” not sleeping on the job, when evidence had just surfaced publicly that he was doing exactly that – “sleeping” on the job.

Can Paul Low explain what he had done as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of integrity and good governance to Mukhriz’ shocking disclosure when speaking to UMNO grassroots members at a function in Kelantan on Monday that Najib had revealed that BN spent RM1.5 billion for the 13th General Election in a meeting with UMNO liaison chiefs?

Mukhriz has recounted that he was told about this after quizzing Najib in a meeting of the Prime Minister with UMNO liaison chiefs about the RM2.6 billion that was deposited into the latter’s personal bank accounts, which the prime minister stated was a political donation from the Middle East. Continue reading “Paul Low must be the only Minister responsible for integrity in the world who was neither moved nor concerned about revelations of mega money politics and corruption like Mukhriz’ and Idris Haron’s disclosures of RM1.5 billion or more spent in 13GE”

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Sanusi: Instead of Kit Siang, Umno should be wary of Jho Low

Malaysiakini
11 March 2016

Umno veteran Sanusi Junid has hit out at some in Umno for demonising DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, arguing instead that the person who is more dangerous to Umno and the country is billionaire Low Taek Jho, popularly known as Jho Low.

Jho Low has been linked to the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion scandals which are threatening to tear Umno apart.

“The Chinese that we should abhor, is Chinese like that Jho Low… and the scoundrels that are his friends, those are the ones we should hate, but that is the person which is seen as a good person (by Umno).

“If he is asked to go before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), he wants that his testimony be kept secret. Cannot be revealed to the people, because it might show his bad side,” he lamented in an exclusive interview with Blogger Din Turtle.

Sanusi sarcastically pointed out that despite being opposed to Umno for many years, Lim has not done Umno and the people any harm, hinting that Jho Low has perhaps had a hand in worse things. Continue reading “Sanusi: Instead of Kit Siang, Umno should be wary of Jho Low”

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Parliament Speaker Pandikar should disclose how many oral questions, particularly on Najib’s twin mega scandals, had been rejected for the current five-week Parliament

Parliament Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Mulia Amin has yet to explain why there are such a large number of oral questions by Members of Parliament which had been rejected by him in the current five-week Parliament meeting on the ground of violation of Standing Orders, especially on the vexing subject of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals.

From random reports, it would appear that the current meeting of Parliament has probably set a new record in the 57-year history of the Malaysian Parliament in the number of oral questions rejected by the Speaker – a dubious record which no Parliament Speaker has reason to feel proud, especially one who is talking the “parliamentary reform” language.

Pandikar should make public the full list of oral questions which had been rejected by him for the current five-week Parliament meeting, for scrutiny not only by MPs but the Malaysian public about the rationale and justification for the rejection of these parliamentary oral questions. Continue reading “Parliament Speaker Pandikar should disclose how many oral questions, particularly on Najib’s twin mega scandals, had been rejected for the current five-week Parliament”

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Goldman Sachs Hire Came as Bank Pitched 1MDB

By TOM WRIGHT in Hong Kong and JUSTIN BAER in New York
Wall Street Journal
March 10, 2016

Wall Street firm hired daughter of close ally to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. hired the daughter of a close ally to Malaysia’s prime minister around the time the firm’s bankers were pitching business to the country’s government investment fund, people familiar with the matter said.

Goldman is looking into the hiring as part of its investigation into the firm’s actions related to the Malaysia fund and into the Wall Street firm’s former Southeast Asia chairman, Tim Leissner, said one of the people.

The probe is also part of its broader investigation into the hiring of relatives of government officials or other well-connected people, the person said. Goldman is among several international banks under investigation by U.S. authorities to determine whether their hiring practices violated antibribery laws, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bans U.S. companies from giving anything of value to a foreign official to gain an unfair advantage or business favors. Goldman has declined to comment on the U.S. probe.

Neither Goldman nor Mr. Leissner have been accused of wrongdoing. Continue reading “Goldman Sachs Hire Came as Bank Pitched 1MDB”

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Ministry of Defence should not be a ‘black hole’ of information

— Liew Chin Tong
Malay Mail Online
March 10, 2016

MARCH 10 — Yesterday, my parliamentary question on the expenditures of AV-8 (8×8 armored vehicle) and Second Generation Patrol Vessel (SGPV) projects was turned down because it was classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

I am disappointed by the Speaker’s decision to gag this legitimate question.

Why is the Ministry of Defence refusing to give answers about the financial implications of the two projects?

While I fully understood the sensitivity of defence capability development, the financial aspect of the two projects should still be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Particularly since these projects are the largest scale defence development programmeme in Malaysia’s history.

The rakyat deserve to know how their money is being spent on defense projects. Continue reading “Ministry of Defence should not be a ‘black hole’ of information”

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Fears Over Malaysia Mecca Fund Test Najib’s Main Support Base

Shamim Adam
Bloomberg
March 10, 2016

For Malaysia’s 18 million Muslims, the ultimate in holy duty is to travel to Mecca, a pilgrimage that can require decades of saving. Now the fund that holds much of their money is under a cloud, a fresh challenge for a scandal-hit government.

Concerns over unpopular and unprofitable investments at the government-linked fund may erode loyalty to Prime Minister Najib Razak among his main supporters — rural-based ethnic Malays — and potentially do more damage than a clutch of political funding probes that have been running for months.

The premier has so far weathered the fallout from a $681 million donation investigation and alleged financial impropriety at state investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd. But controversy over the Hajj fund known as Lembaga Tabung Haji — a statutory agency under the Prime Minister’s Department — cuts to the heart of religion in the secular Muslim nation, and the fund has almost 9 million depositors. Continue reading “Fears Over Malaysia Mecca Fund Test Najib’s Main Support Base”

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Call on youths and students to make the ban on Asia’s best debater, Syed Saddiq 23, in public universities the cause célèbre in Malaysia to demand academic and democratic freedom for youths and students

Asia’s best debater, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, 23, has been banned from a third public university, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), after he had earlier been banned from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (Usim) and Universiti Tenaga National (Uniten).

The Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh had passed the buck of responsibility for the ban on Syed Saddiq by Usim and Uniten to the public universities concerned, claiming that the ban was because of the autonomy which his Ministry had devolved to the public universities.

Idris cannot wash his hands from responsibility for the ban on Syed Siddiq so easily.

Everybody knows that Idris was evading his responsibility as Higher Education Minister and was trying to pass the buck of the ban by Usim and Uniten to the public universities concerned.

But the third ban on Syed Siddiq by Unimas provides irrefutable proof that there was a directive from the Higher Education Ministry to all public universities to declare Asia’s best debater as persona non grata in the campus of all public universities. Continue reading “Call on youths and students to make the ban on Asia’s best debater, Syed Saddiq 23, in public universities the cause célèbre in Malaysia to demand academic and democratic freedom for youths and students”

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A Chinese view of the Citizens’ Declaration

Rama Ramanathan
The Malaysian Insider
10 March 2016

Last week 45 prominent persons signed “a Citizens’ Declaration”. They signed in their personal capacity. However, when we see many of them, we immediately recall the organisations or histories they represent.

The organisations include Bersih 2.0, the coalition for free and fair elections which has evolved into a movement to restore parliamentary democracy, and C4 (Centre to Combat Cronyism and Corruption).

The histories include victims of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) to silence those who criticised his reign which was characterised by cronyism, corruption and erosion of public institutions. Even, Lim Kit Siang of DAP and Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu (who was formerly of PAS) signed.

They signed the declaration at the invitation of Dr Mahathir. The declaration called for the removal from office of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Some have denounced those who signed. They’ve given many reasons. I’ll list just six: Continue reading “A Chinese view of the Citizens’ Declaration”