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“916” Not A Failure

by Bakri Musa

When (it appears less of an “if” now) Anwar Ibrahim takes over the government, he will face the monumental twin problems of undoing the damage wrecked upon our institutions as well as containing the inevitable implosion of UMNO.

Failure in either would effectively doom Anwar, Pakatan, and Malaysia. The good news is that both challenges could be handled simultaneously through the same strategy, and with the subsequent success benefiting all.

The blight on our institutions and governmental machinery, as well as the urgent need to rectify it, is well appreciated. Less recognized is the need to manage UMNO’s certain breakup.

For those who venture that UMNO’s fate is the least of Anwar’s (or our) concern, consider this. The tumultuous and unpredictable demise of the Soviet System may have ended the Cold War, but the world paid a severe price, one that could have been mitigated had the breakup been more orderly.

The world is still paying the price. There is the recurring nightmare that the Soviet’s old nuclear warheads might fall into unscrupulous hands. Those still unconvinced of the price being paid, just ask the Georgians and Ukrainians.

UMNO dominated Malaysia for over half a century; its implosion too will have unpredictable fallouts. If not skillfully managed, the consequences on Malaysia would be on a scale similar to that inflicted on Eastern Europe by the collapse of the Soviets. Continue reading ““916” Not A Failure”

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P. Patto – Pioneer warrior of Makkal Sakti

I thank the Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar bin Jamaluddin who in his speech declared his support for naming a road in Ipoh to honour the late P. Patto for his contributions and sacrifices for the welfare of Malaysians in the service of Ipoh, Perak and Malaysia.

Patto was the pioneer warrior of Makkal Sakti who had dedicated his life to “People’s Power” for all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.

He was at various times elected as Perak State Assemblyman for Gopeng, MP for Menglembu and MP for Bagan (Penang).

In DAP, he rose to become Deputy Secretary-General and had served as National Organising Secretary, Editor of Rocket and DAPSY National Secretary.

In 1978, he kept me company when we were arrested, charged and convicted under the Official Secrets Act in connection with my expose of the scandal in the purchase of four Swedish-made SPICA-M fast strike crafts by the Royal Malaysian Navy though we effected a RM9 million reduction in the final contract.

In 1987, Patto and I were among DAP MPs who were detained under the Internal Security Act in Operation Lalang and served time in Kamunting Detention Centre.

Other DAP MPs who “graduated” from Kamunting Detention Centre included Karpal Singh, Lim Guan Eng, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw, Lau Dak Kee and the late V. David.

DAP lost an outstanding leader and the people a great Parliamentarian and a true Malaysian son when he suddenly died of a heart failure at the Ipoh General Hospital on 12th July 1995. Continue reading “P. Patto – Pioneer warrior of Makkal Sakti”

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2 more options, increasing to 5, open to Abdullah to mull over his political future

The month of September has given birth to two momentous dates – first “916” and then “926”.

“916” signifies political “sky-change”. Its importance does not lie in whether the change in federal power takes place on Sept. 16 but in the sea-change in the political mindset, attitudes and expectations of Malaysians about power change.

Six months ago, the Barisan Nasional was so monolithic and impregnable that it was unthinkable and impossible to envisage that it could be toppled from the federal government level.

In the past six months however, the dream and possibility of change of federal power have spread like a prarie fire among Malaysians that it is no exaggeration to say that today the overwhelmingly majority of Malaysians believe that change of federal power is possible while a clear majority would want such a change to take effect immediately.

This is what is most important about the “916” magic – not whether the “skychange” took place on September 16, 2008 (which it did not) but that the political moment in Malaysia has arrived when change of federal power is no more an impossible dream but has become a practical possibility and it is only a matter of time when this “skychange” transforms the political landscape in the country.

When the “916 skychange” takes place remains a very immediate political agenda in Malaysia – whether 1016, 1116, 1216 or in an early 13th general election. Continue reading “2 more options, increasing to 5, open to Abdullah to mull over his political future”

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Abdullah’s premiership de facto ended yesterday (26.9.08)

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s premiership de facto ended yesterday, September 26, 2008 – 54 months after scoring the most stunning landslide electoral victory for any Prime Minister in the nation’s 51-year history.

How far and how fast Abdullah has fallen!

All the Umno heavyweights are now engaged in a marionette play – how to plunge the dagger into Abdullah’s back without blood being seen to be drawn or better still even camouflaging from the Malaysian public the act of dagger-stabbing altogether.

Although Abdullah claimed that it would be his decision, “whether to contest or not” the post of Umno President, there could be no doubt that if Abdullah departs from the script and fails to announce by before October 9 that he would not be offering himself as a candidate as Umno President, the marionette play would be abandoned and the dagger-stabbing would be a very public and bloody one.

Even the sweet-sounding praises by Umno leaders yesterday over the scuttling of Abdullah’s original mid-2010 power-transition plan and the postponement of the Umno general assembly from December to March next year sounded rather ominous if Abdullah ignores the unmistakable signal that he should not dilly-dally any more in making his exit. Continue reading “Abdullah’s premiership de facto ended yesterday (26.9.08)”

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Abdullah’s mid-2010 transition plan scuttled – can he salvage his premiership when the writing is on the wall?

The fifth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is now on his last leg. He has at most six months. The end could come even faster, in a matter of weeks.

A coup d’etat was staged at this morning’s emergency UMNO Supreme Council meeting, where Abdullah’s mid-2010 power-transition plan was scuttled for good.

Although Abdullah declared after the meeting that he had not decided whether to defend the Umno President’s post in March next year, asserting that “The decision is mine, you can go on guessing”, these are empty brave words as the writing is clearly on the wall of another Prime Minister and Umno President being forced out of office.

Can Abdullah salvage his premiership to leave behind some honourable legacy to future generations?

Continue reading “Abdullah’s mid-2010 transition plan scuttled – can he salvage his premiership when the writing is on the wall?”

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Emergency Umno Supreme Council meeting – for the sake of Abdullah or Malaysia?

Today’s emergency UMNO Supreme Council meeting, second in a week, exposes Umno in a white-heat crisis to Malaysians.

There were all sorts of rumours last week, including the quite “unbelievable” one (which I mentioned in my blog) that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had been given up to Sept. 26 to step down as Prime Minister – although nobody was able to explain why Sept. 26 as the deadline for at least a clear-cut announcement of his retirement intention rather than the more believable Oct. 9.

But as they say, there is no smoke without fire! This explains the emergency Umno Supreme Council meeting today.

The full effects of the political tsunami of the March 8 general election, which dealt a fatal blow to Umno political hegemony, destroyed the hitherto unchallenged Barisan Nasional mould of race and money politics, and gave heart to Malaysians that there is hope after all for Malaysia to fulfill her great potential and promise of human, intellectual and natural resources, end and reverse the costly brain-drain, taking her rightful place in the global community – have still to be played out.

These are the pains, trials and tribulations of Malaysia becoming a more normal country after 51 years of nationhood so that Malaysia can truly join the ranks of the fully-developed nations. Continue reading “Emergency Umno Supreme Council meeting – for the sake of Abdullah or Malaysia?”

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Terrible price being paid by Malaysians for Abdullah’s failure to establish IPCMC

Two ghastly news within 24 hours –the robbery-cum-murder of Thor Joo Lee, wife of former Penang State Assemblyman for Bukit Tambun, Lai Chew Hock at her Tambun Indah house in Penang and the robbery of Datin Chang Lee Lee, wife of former Penang Exco and Pulau Tikus Assemblyman Datuk Dr. Teng Hock Nan in her Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman house in Penang.

These two cases of robbery (and one murder) of the wife of two former Penang Assemblymen are horrible reminders of the terrible costs being paid by Malaysians for the failure by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to heed the important recommendation of the Police Royal Commission to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to create an efficient, professional and world-class police service to keep crime low in the country.

As a result, it has become an important factor why Malaysia is losing out in the international competiveness stakes to other countries in attracting foreign investment as low crime, personal safety and security of property always rank as one of the top considerations for any foreign investor in the important decision-making process whether to invest in a country or not.

I have no doubt that Malaysia would have broken the back of the worsening crime problem if the IPCMC had been fully accepted and started functioning from May 2006 as recommended by the Royal Police Commission, making Malaysia a safe haven not only for Malaysian citizens, but also for investors and tourists.

Abdullah has failed as Home Minister for eight years from 2001-2008 as he presided over a worsening crime situation in the country with Malaysians, investors and tourists unable to feel safe whether in the streets, public places or in the privacy of their homes.

The current Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar is also heading for another dismal failure as a Home Minister as he has not been able to inspire public confidence that his No. 1 responsibility is to reverse the rising tide of the crime index in the past decade to make Malaysia a safe country for her citizens, investors and tourists. Continue reading “Terrible price being paid by Malaysians for Abdullah’s failure to establish IPCMC”

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Race Relations Act – why now?

By Azly Rahman

This sounds like a good idea; but after 51 years of independence?

We should have had this act to prevent the emergence of race-based parties and to ensure that all citizens be given equal opportunity and the rights and privileges accorded to them as a result of surrendering their natural rights to the state.

After 51 years of the institutionalisation of ethnocentrism and many times outright racism in terms of allocation of resources, open-secret indoctrinations, and the exploitation of racial and religious issues for political gain, we are now proposing an act to improve race-relations?

I am now puzzled – by the inherent contradictions we are confronting and will continue to confront vis-à-vis this proposed act. Continue reading “Race Relations Act – why now?”

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“Malaysians want fundamental change, and they want it now!”

Statement by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
September 23, 2008

I write this as a Malaysian, as someone who, over forty seven years of political life, has had the privilege of playing some small part in the formation our country, the building of its institutions, and our achievement of a degree of economic sufficiency. I write out of deep concern about the present state of our country.

In the lives of nations as of individuals, there come moments of profound possibility, when the potential for self-transcendence and for self-destruction are simultaneously present.

As before some critical examination in our youth, we come to the daunting realization that we hold our future in our hands, when how we will fare many years hence, and whether we shall flourish or languish, will depend on how we conduct ourselves now, in this small window of time.

We are in a political impasse that threatens to metastasize into a Constitutional crisis. Political crises come and go, but the present crisis might well be the beginning of a cascade of failures leading to long-term instability and destruction. Continue reading ““Malaysians want fundamental change, and they want it now!””

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All eyes on MCA Ministers in Cabinet today – censure Hamid for RPK ISA detention and harassment of Wee Meng Chee?

The formal detention of blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) hours before his habeas corpus application hearing at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday is a gross violation of human rights, a blatant abuse of power and downright contempt of court by the Home Minister and a travesty of the rule of law in Malaysia.

One would have expected that being a lawyer by training, the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar would have greater regard, respect and understanding of the principles of a just of rule and would not do anything to frustrate the legal process as in RPK’s habeas corpus application hearing yesterday. But Hamid has proved everyone wrong.

The Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail should explain whether he was privy to the Home Minister’s decision on Monday night to frustrate the legal process over RPK’s habeas corpus application hearing yesterday challenging the police detention under Section 73 of the Internal Security Act (ISA) by the simple but most cynical and irresponsible expedient of the Minister signing a formal detention order under Section 8 of the ISA.

Was the Attorney-General consulted and his agreement sought to this irresponsible ploy to frustrate RPK’s habeas corpus application and did he advise the Home Minister against such flagrant contempt of court and to trust in the impartiality and integrity of the judicial system to pronounce on the legality of the police detention of RPK under the ISA under Section 73?

Whose idea was it that the Home Minister should abuse his powers to expedite the formal detention of RPK under Section 8 of the ISA in order to frustrate RPK’s habeas corpus application, when RPK had been detained for only 10 days under Section 73 which provides for a 60-day police custodial detention?

All eyes are on the four MCA Ministers in Cabinet today – will they censure Hamid and demand immediate release of RPK under ISA? Continue reading “All eyes on MCA Ministers in Cabinet today – censure Hamid for RPK ISA detention and harassment of Wee Meng Chee?”

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Abdullah ultimate failure in battle against corruption – Malaysia’s worst ranking in 14 years of TI CPI (No. 47)

It is another day of shame for Malaysia when the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2008 was unveiled, with the country placed at No. 47th position, its worst ranking in 14 years since the introduction of the annual TI CPI ranking in 1995.

It is also the ultimate failure of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s campaign against corruption, which he promised to place at the very top of his agenda when he became the fifth Prime Minister five years ago –a campaign rich in paying lip service but doomed to failure as it lacked the political will to produce results.

It is most ironic and tragic that one man who will feel most vindicated by the TI CPI 2008 is former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Abdullah had promised that his campaign against corruption will be one area which will distinguish the difference of his premiership from that of his predecessor. It was his promise to bring in a refreshing wind of change after 22 years of “cronyism, corruption and nepotism” (KKN) of Mahathir administration that created the unprecedented Barisan Nasional landslide electoral victory in the 2004 general election.

However, in just a year after the 2004 general election, Mahathir was able to adopt a “holier than thou” attitude towards the Abdullah premiership by publicly warning in May 2005 that corruption under Abdullah for a little over a year was even worse than under him for 22 years, that “corruption might be getting to a point of no return”, becoming “a culture in Malaysia with corruption almost at the ‘above the table’ level” and “more and more people no longer trying to hide the fact that they were corrupt”.

The TI CPI 2008 has proved Mahathir right in his adverse judgment on the Abdullah administration on its dismal performance in the battle against corruption.

What a sad and tragic end reminding one of the Shakespearean quote in Macbeth: “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Continue reading “Abdullah ultimate failure in battle against corruption – Malaysia’s worst ranking in 14 years of TI CPI (No. 47)”

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Pak Lah Desecrating Ramadan

by M. Bakri Musa

When President Nixon ordered the bombing of Hanoi during Christmas of 1972, I knew then that his fate was sealed. I am not a Christian, but living in the West I am very much aware of the spiritual significance of Christmas. As such I found Nixon’s action, coming from a self-professed Christian who regularly had Billy Graham pray with him in the White House, abominable beyond comprehension.

A Just God would not let such a barbaric action go unpunished. Sure enough, a few months later the Watergate scandal broke out that would ultimately lead to Nixon’s resigning under threat of impeachment. This was less than two years after he won a landslide re-election victory.

As a Muslim I feel profoundly the spirituality of Ramadan. It was the month that Allah first revealed the Quran to His Last Messenger, Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w. That was a measure of His generosity upon us. It is said that the gates to Heaven are wide open, and to Hell closed shut, during this season, again reflecting His mercifulness during this blessed month.

We are expected to reciprocate this divine gift by being generous to our fellow beings. Ramadan is thus a season to be charitable, to be forgiving of each other and the seeking of forgiveness from others. All faiths have such a special period in their calendar when their followers are expected to be extra generous to and tolerant of their fellow human beings.

Imagine my horror, shared by many, when Prime Minister Abdullah, the self-declared Imam of Islam Hadhari, chose this particular month to incarcerate Raja Petra Kamarudin and others under the draconian Internal Security Act that allows for detention without trial, or even the filing of charges.

I would have expected the reverse. That is, during Ramadan the Prime Minister would grant amnesty to deserving prisoners as a gesture of the government’s generosity and charity of spirit.

I have yet to see this happen in Malaysia, or any other Muslim country for that matter. Instead we have the odious act of the police bundling up Raja Petra and others into prison, right in front of their families. Where in the Quran or the sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., did Imam Abdullah find the justification for such a cruel act? Where is the spirit of generosity or sense of forgiveness demanded from each of us by our faith during this holy month?

As a Muslim Abdullah will be paying his zakat fitr (tithe) this Ramadan, and come Hari Raya he will be generous with his duit raya to the children calling upon the gates of Sri Perdana. That is the extent of his understanding of the concept of charity and generosity called for in our faith: simplistic, ritualistic, and materialistic. Those he jailed under the ISA or the millions made miserable through escalating living costs as a consequence of his economic policies never enter his heart. Continue reading “Pak Lah Desecrating Ramadan”

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I accept challenge of a legal suit

Threats have been issued to institute legal proceedings against me over my statement that the police report by a MCA Operative triggered the Internal Security Act arrest of Teresa Kok.

I have issued a statement yesterday.

I am now outside the country. But I accept the challenge of a legal suit.

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Abdullah fights for his political life – will Najib “sink or swim” with him?

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has decided to fight for his political life.

The question is who will be the protagonists in the looming “battle royal” in UMNO – and what are the stakes involved.

Will the protagonists in the Umno Presidential battle be Abdullah vs Najib, or will Najib “sink or swim” with Abdullah in a Abdullah-Najib battle against the rest?

What are the stakes involved? This question would be obtuse or even stupid in the past five decades when whoever is Umno President is automatically the Prime Minister.

But this is no more the case after the two political tsunamis in the past six months – the first in the general election of March 8 and second in the Permatang Pauh by-election on August 26.

As a result, the battle to be the Umno President at the end of the year is no more automatically about who is to be the next Prime Minister but probably the next Parliamentary Opposition Leader.

Although Umno Information Chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib Monday yesterday slammed as “opportunists” those who leaked information on matters discussed in the party’s supreme council meeting (which includes Muhammad himself), the facts remain uncontradicted that at last Thursday’s Umno Supreme Council meeting, Abdullah was pressured to have a quicker exit plan and not wait until mid-2010 according to his earlier power transition plan with Najib. Continue reading “Abdullah fights for his political life – will Najib “sink or swim” with him?”

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“What’s Tunku doing in DAP?”

“Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim raised many eyebrows, not least from associates, when he joined DAP in August and was promptly named a vice-president of the party. The co-founder of the Malaysian chapter of Transparency International has no intention of being a token Malay presence in the multi-racial but Chinese-dominated party. He has found a new platform in the DAP to advocate transparency, accountability, justice and equality.

“The Edge Financial Daily caught up with him recently where he spoke about the challenges facing the DAP, especially in reaching out to the Malay community, what ails the country, the spirit of the nation’s founding fathers and his plans in the party. While many would have rested on their laurels at age 74, Tunku Aziz, a former Bank Negara adviser and former group director of Sime Darby, has the enthusiasm of a young man, and is all geared up to help push the ideal of creating a better Malaysia. ”

Read The Edge Daily

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We are all class-ed multiculturalists now!

By: Azly Rahman

Growing up in a Malay kampong in Johor Bahru, having been born in a British Military hospital in Singapore, schooled in Kuantan, Seremban, Shah Alam and moving from one realm of cultural experience to the next, living in from one enclave to another in the process of being schooled and in the process of being and becoming an educator, ending up in a town a half and hour’s drive from New York City where I have lived for several years, I sometimes wonder if all these makes me a “cultural construction” of “multi-ethnicity” or a “Malay” still? Or — how “Malay” am I still? Or — what is a Malay”? as I would ask what is an “American”?

Here in the United States where I teach a course called “Cross-Cultural Perspectives” in which trying to engage my students in the works of Edward Said, Clifford Geertz, Renato Rosaldo, and the like, I find myself again, having to interrogate my “subjectivity and objectivity” as a “culturally-constructed being” in my attempt to play the role of Socrates in dialogue with my students in our exploration of the multiple meaning of culture.

Each semester is a learning experience, teaching me newer ideas of what “culture, race, and ethnicity” means. I look forward to the intensive classroom discussions by the “hybrid and hyphenated human beings” in my class — those whose family background present a rich tapestry of ethnicity in a sea of creativity called the human race.

I have had pure Afghans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans, Turks, Greeks, Irish, Australians, Ghanaian, Nigerian, Russian, Israeli, Cuban, Iranian, Taiwanese, mainland Chinese, Australian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, Jamaican, Egyptian, Bangladeshi, Saudi Arabian, and a hybrid of all many of these. There were Indonesians too. But no Malaysians yet. Continue reading “We are all class-ed multiculturalists now!”

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Will 4 MCA Ministers resign en masse if Anwar arrested under ISA?

On Tuesday, the MCA Central Committee called for “a comprehensive review of the Internal Security Act (ISA) so that it will apply strictly to cases relating to terrorism and subversive elements”.

Are the four MCA Ministers prepared to take the lead in the Cabinet to make it very clear that any ISA arrest of Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will result in their mass resignation?

This is because the detention of Anwar Ibrahim under the ISA seems to be on the cards after the uncharacteristically belligerent accusation by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Wednesday that Anwar is a threat to the national security and economy who wanted to “destroy the country and exploit the people’s trust and tarnish the country’s image abroad”, followed by equally truculent statements against Anwar by Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar in the past few days.

Are the MCA Ministers and leaders going to make it very clear to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister that the deepening multiple crisis of confidence in the past six months since the first political tsunami on March 8 will take drastic turn for the worse as nobody in his right senses would believe that Anwar should be detained under the ISA? Continue reading “Will 4 MCA Ministers resign en masse if Anwar arrested under ISA?”

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Is the MCA Operative who lodged the report triggering Teresa Kok’s ISA arrest a MCA member?

At the SSS (Support, Sympathy and Solidarity) Candlelight Vigil for DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok demanding her immediate release from Internal Security Act held at Ipoh Timor Garden East, Ipoh on Thursday, 18th September 2008 – the eve of Teresa’s seven-day incarceration – I said that a key MCA operative in Puchong had lodged a police report making false allegations against Teresa over the azan controversy on Thursday, 11th September 2008, which triggered her ISA detention the next day on Sept. 12 at 11.18 pm.

I repeated this the next day at Teresa’s media conference on her ISA release at DAP PJ hqrs the next day at 3.30 pm.
Is or was the “key MCA operative in Puchong” a MCA member? Let MCA leaders tell Malaysians.

Suddenly, MCA leaders like its vice president Datuk Ong Tee Keat have become very bold and courageous in throwing challenges wanting me to prove that “police reports lodged by members of an MCA division in Selangor had led to the detention of DAP’s Seputeh MP Teresa Kok under the Internal Security Act (ISA)”. (New Straits Times online)

But not a bleat from them when Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar virtually told them to shut up and declared that there is not going to be any repeal or review of the ISA.

The MCA Central Committee met on Tuesday, 16th September 2008 and called for “a comprehensive review of the ISA so that it will apply strictly to cases relating to terrorism and subversive elements”.

Why didn’t the four MCA Ministers formally table this proposal at the Cabinet meeting the next day on Wednesday, 17th September 2008? Continue reading “Is the MCA Operative who lodged the report triggering Teresa Kok’s ISA arrest a MCA member?”

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With seismic events afoot, who do you believe?

(1) KUALA LUMPUR: An English daily’s report that certain Umno Supreme Council members had asked Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to speed up the transition plan at their meeting on Thursday was inaccurate, Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday.

(2) In Shah Alam, Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Mu-hammed Taib said members who supported the call for Abdullah to speed up the transition of power to his deputy were not supporting the Pakatan Rakyat’s moves to wrest control of the Federal Government.

One of the two Umno leaders-cum-Ministers is telling a lie. Which one?

The marvel is that these gems of contradictions appear in the same report in Star today, “Hishammuddin: English daily’s report inaccurate”.

Hishammuddin was referring to Star’s front-page report yesterday “Pak Lah under pressure to exit” by Joceline Tan, viz: Continue reading “With seismic events afoot, who do you believe?”

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“No repeal or review of ISA” – will all MCA, Gerakan, Umno and BN Ministers/leaders “blindly accept” Hamid’s decision?

Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar has shown utter disrespect and contempt for Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders who had been calling for repeal or review of the draconian and nefarious detention-without-trial law, the Internal Security Act (ISA), when he summarily and categorically declared in Johor Baru yesterday that the ISA will not be reviewed or repealed.

Only yesterday, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting announced that the MCA had enough of Umno political hegemony and “will not blindly accept every decision made by BN without being consulted”.

He said:

“It is only proper to have a discussion with the parties in the coalition before a decision or policy is made. That is what you call sharing of power and it is in line with the BN spirit…

“However, at times we were not kept in the loop when certain decisions were made. If a decision was made without the knowledge of the MCA, then it is not fair to use BN’s motto of ‘Friendship and Unity’ (Kesetiakawanan).”

Hamid’s contemptuous dismissal of calls for repeal or review of the ISA is an open slap in the face for Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders who had been making such proposals, including the MCA Central Committee which had expressed disagreement with the recent spate of ISA arrests and demanded the release of Raja Petra Kamaruddin. Continue reading ““No repeal or review of ISA” – will all MCA, Gerakan, Umno and BN Ministers/leaders “blindly accept” Hamid’s decision?”