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Another Local Demonstration Gone Global

By Farish A. Noor

Let there be no mistake about it: We live in a globalised world. But then again, what’s new about that? Only someone totally ignorant of the history of greater Asia would be surprised to learn that our neatly-compartmentalised nation-states are, after all, bound together by a common shared history that overlaps across so many levels and interfaces. Long before the European ships arrived on our shores, Asians have been travelling all across the great land mass, making tracks from the furthest end of China, across Southeast Asia and the land of the mighty Indus, all the way to the scorching deserts of Arabia and the Gulf and down the West coast of Africa. What colonialism did, however, was to interrupt this movement of peoples, cultures and ideas in two distinct ways: Firstly by dividing the nations of Asia into distinct nation-states with fixed (and artificial) borders; and secondly by attempting to control the movement of people by commodifying human beings into human capital instead.

The net result has been the creation of the world map as we know it today, with intrusive lines rudely and crudely drawn between areas that once overlapped and communities that were once closer united to each other. The Indian Ocean, for instance, was once the corridor between South and Southeast Asia, and that is why so much of Southeast Asia (till today) bears the cultural imprint of India. It was from India that the religions, philosophies, aesthetics and norms of society and governance of Southeast
Asia were derived; and it was no mere coincidence that the Malay archipelago was once referred to as ‘Greater India’, testimony to how close the two regions were — both geographically and culturally.

Sadly today the division of Asia into neat compartments has managed to sever these long-established bonds, leaving the residents of both regions confused as to why they seem so similar yet different. Many a conservative nationalist in Southeast Asia is still loathe to admit that his or her culture shares so much in common with that of India’s, while many South Asians fail to realise that much of what they regard as familiar there is also present in Southeast Asia next door. Continue reading “Another Local Demonstration Gone Global”

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Hindraf rally – excessive use of police force with firing of tear gas and water cannons

The excessive use of police force with the firing of tear gas and water cannons against the Hindraf gathering in Kuala Lumpur this morning to present a memorandum to the British High Commission is most high-handed, ham-fisted, undemocratic and a grave disservice not ony to the Malaysian Indian community but to Malaysia’s international reputation in wanting to be a first-world developed nation.

If the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had “walked the talk” of creating a Malaysia with “First World Infrastructure, First World Mentality”, today’s disgraceful display of excessive police force would not have happened.

Peaceful demonstrations and marches are common and accepted occurrences in First World developed nations which Malaysia aspires to become. As has been rightly pointed out recently, in Britain, Australia and other modern countries, when people wish to demonstrate, the police typically clear the way and make sure no one gets hurt. The streets belong to the people. And the police, like the politicians, are their servants. It is not the other way around as in Malaysia where the first reflex of the police and the government to any peaceful demonstration is to impose a ban and to fire tear gas and water cannons to deny Malaysians the fundamental right to a voice in national affairs.

During the world-wide anti-Iraq war demonstrations in late 2002, the Malaysian government had applauded mammoth peaceful demonstrations in the Western capitals, whether in London, Paris, Rome or Washington where crowds ranging from hundreds of thousands and even millions came out to peacefully voice their anti-war aspirations.

If the Police had issued a permit to Hindraf for their gathering to submit a memorandum to the British High Commission this morning, the whole incident would have ended in a peaceful, orderly and swift manner, which will not only be a credit to the police but to the nation’s international reputation as well.

This is a case where the Police has failed to make the important distinction between their role from that of their political masters in the Barisan Nasional. Continue reading “Hindraf rally – excessive use of police force with firing of tear gas and water cannons”

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Ambiga as commissioner to ensure credibility and legitimacy of Royal Commission of Inquiry

In completely excluding the Bar Council members as members of the Royal Commission of Inquiry in the Lingam Tape, the government is only undermining its own case and cause that it is concerned about the restoration of national and international confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said yesterday that there was no possibility that Bar Council members could become royal commissioners themselves.

He said: “There is no chance of that happening. How can they act fairly and be unbiased if they have already marched against the judiciary. They have already made their stand.”

This is classic perverse illogic. The 2,000 lawyers who participated in the historic “March for Justice” in Putrajaya on 26th September 2007 did not march against the judiciary. They marched against a judiciary which is subservient, decadent and corrupt. But they also marched for an independent, honest and incorruptible judiciary.

Going by Nazri’s perverse illogic, isn’t the Executive itself compromised by the 19-year history of a tainted judiciary, because of the acts of omission and commission by the Executive, which should render the Ministers unfit and unqualified to exercise powers to appoint members of the Royal Commission concerned about the independence and integrity of the judiciary?

Cabinet Ministers cannot feign innocence in the nearly two-decade-long ravages and degradation of the Judiciary as they are fully part of the process in the undermining of the independence of the judiciary and the undermining of the fundamental doctrine of the Separation of Powers among the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.

Let good sense prevail. The Bar Council should not only be allowed to take part in the Royal Commission hearings, the Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenevasan should be seriously considered as a member of the Royal Commission to ensure its acceptability, credibility and legitimacy. Continue reading “Ambiga as commissioner to ensure credibility and legitimacy of Royal Commission of Inquiry”

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IPCMC Bill – make public after Cabinet Wednesday to give MPs and civil society at least two weeks to study

The current 42-day budget meeting of Parliament scheduled to end on Dec. 13 has been extended by three days till Dec. 19 to debate a spate of bills, seven of which had been presented for first reading while several others have yet to be brought to the House.

One of the bills which have yet to be presented for first reading but which the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has promised would be debated before the end of the current parliamentary meeting is the long-delayed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill proposed by the Royal Police Commission as the most important of its 125 recommendations to create an incorruptible, efficient, professional world-class police service.

The Royal Police Commission had proposed the IPCMC as the centre-piece of its police reform proposals to achieve what it recommended should be the three core objectives of the Police – to keep crime low, eradicate corruption in the police force and uphold human rights.

The Royal Police Commission placed such importance and priority on its IPCMC proposal that it even took the trouble to include a draft IPCMC Bill in its Report to facilitate its establishment, which it envisaged should begin to be operational by May 2006.

However, the Police mounted a strong opposition to the IPCMC proposal threatening even an open revolt in the initial stages, with some top police officers blatantly displaying insubordination to the political masters of the day.

More than 18 months have elapsed from the timeline proposed by the Royal Police Commission for the establishment of the IPCMC, and we are still waiting for the proposed IPCMC bill to surface into the public domain.

The question is whether the final IPCMC Bill when presented to Parliament will still be recognized as basically constituting the external oversight mechanism to check police abuses of power as proposed by the Royal Police Commission or so shorn of the substantive features and “teeth” of the IPCMC proposed by the Royal Police Commission as to be a completely different creature altogether. Continue reading “IPCMC Bill – make public after Cabinet Wednesday to give MPs and civil society at least two weeks to study”

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Aligning Private Aspirations with Public Good

by M. Bakri Musa

Bravo to Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Mohamad Hasan! In awarding RM25,000 to each first-class honors graduate of local public universities, he clearly demonstrated where the priorities should be. He went further and forgave the students’ loans if they were given by his state agency.

To put that cost in perspective, at a total of about RM300,000 it is less than the inflated cost of one corrupt school laboratory construction project. Yet the benefit far exceeds that of any school computer lab, even if it were well built. As a bonus, unlike a poorly built building, this award program poses no danger to anyone.

Malay leaders, especially those in UMNO, continually lament on the generally backward status of our people despite decades of ever increasingly generous preferential treatment. Unfortunately that is all they are capable of doing — lamenting. Occasionally a bright leader might emerge who in a show of bravado would chastise and upbraid us by degrading our cultural heritage and questioning our biological endowment.

Only very rarely would a leader like Mohamad Hasan do something right, like having an appropriate mechanism in place and aligning the incentive system that would encourage the development of those qualities that we desire in our people. My complimenting Hasan would I hope encourage other leaders to follow his fine example. Continue reading “Aligning Private Aspirations with Public Good”

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Truth and justice are no longer Malaysian way

By Michael Backman
The Age
November 21, 2007

THE Government of Australia will probably change hands this weekend. There will be no arrests, no tear gas and no water cannons. The Government of John Howard will leave office, the Opposition will form a government and everyone will accept the verdict.

For this, every Australian can feel justifiably proud. This playing by the rules is what has made Australia rich and a good place in which to invest. It is a country to which people want to migrate; not leave.

Now consider Malaysia. The weekend before last, up to 40,000 Malaysians took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur to protest peacefully against the judiciary’s lack of independence, electoral fraud, corruption and a controlled media.

In response, they were threatened by the Prime Minister, called monkeys by his powerful son-in-law, and blasted with water cannons and tear gas. And yet the vast majority of Malaysians do not want a change of government. All they want is for their government to govern better.

Both Malaysia and Australia have a rule of law that’s based on the English system. Both started out as colonies of Britain. So why is Malaysia getting it so wrong now?

Malaysia’s Government hates feedback. Dissent is regarded as dangerous, rather than a product of diversity. And like the wicked witch so ugly that she can’t stand mirrors, the Government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi controls the media so that it doesn’t have to see its own reflection. Continue reading “Truth and justice are no longer Malaysian way”

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Lee Song Yong one-semester suspension – Mustapha should quash it so that Malaysian undergrads do not become zombies

Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Mohamad should quash the one-semester suspension of second-year computer science student Lee Song Yong by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and send a clear message to all universities to be single-minded in the national objective to create a world-class university system.

The national contribution and challenge of all universities and university administrators in the country is to achieve a world-class university education system without which Malaysia cannot succeed in the transition and transformation from a production-based to a knowledge-based innovative economy.

It is simply outrageous that the UPM should be obsessed with the pettiness of Little Napoleons to penalize independent-spirited students when all universities and university officials should be united by one objective – how to reverse the free fall of international rankings of Malaysian universities confirmed by the latest Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) World’s Top 200 Universities Rankings 2007 which demonstrate that no Malaysian university is competitive internationally.

What is Lee Song Yong’s offence?

On Aug 22, Lee was stopped by security guards at the university’s exit and his notebook was seized on grounds that he was being investigated for being a member of an illegal student organisation.

Lee initially refused to cooperate because the campus officers were not in their uniforms which led to the university accusing him of obstructing its officers from executing their duty.

In the background was the unfair and one-sided rigging of campus student elections, orchestrated by the university student affairs department in cahoots with the campus security personnel.

Should such a minor and trivial matter result in the empanelling of a disciplinary proceeding, where Lee was denied legal representation, leading to his university suspension for six months? Or even the arrogant and contemptuous dismissal of the Suhakam appeal for a suspension of the disciplinary proceedings?

One would have thought from the university’s response that Lee was guilty of some heinous crime, like being a member of some militant terrorist student outfit planning to throw bombs in the campus — when it was nothing of the sort whatsoever.

Lee’s guilt was being too idealistic and independent-minded in wanting to work for change in the university to foster student activism and academic freedom.

Is that a virtue or a vice, or even a crime? Continue reading “Lee Song Yong one-semester suspension – Mustapha should quash it so that Malaysian undergrads do not become zombies”

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Hindraf rally – police stop over-reacting, dismantle roadblocks and issue permit

The police should not repeat their over-reaction and high-handed action on Nov. 10 over the peaceful 40,000-people Bersih gathering to hand over a petition to the Yang di Pertuan Agong for electoral reforms to ensure free, fair and clean elections and should immediately dismantle the roadblocks creating massive jams in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley since yesterday.

The massive Nov. 10 traffic gridlock creating massive congestions in Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley were largely the creation of the police and could have been avoided or ameliorated considerably with enlightened and sensitive police handling of peaceful gatherings by citizens exercising their fundamental constitutional rights to get their voices heard in a meaningful democracy.

If the Police had issued a police permit for the Bersih peaceful gathering on Nov. 10, demonstrating greater sensitivity and respect for human rights guaranteed in the Malaysian Constitution as recommended by the Dzaiddin Royal Police Commission 30 months ago, all legitimate concerns would have been met — the concerns of the police and government with regard to law and order and the concerns of aggrieved citizenry to petition the Yang di Pertuan Agong for an end to electoral abuses.

For the Hindraf rally on Sunday, the Police has not only refused to learn any lesson to respect the human rights of Malaysians to peaceful assembly, but has decided even earlier to impose roadblocks — starting since yesterday on various roads and expressways in the Klang Valley.

Headlines of such traffic gridlocks are already in the media — “Klang Valley chokes up” (The Star), “Roadblocks mounted ahead of Hindraf rally” (The Sun), “Massive traffic jams leading into the city” (New Straits Times) and “Police roadblocks jam up roads, again” (Malaysiakini).

From all indications, the traffic gridlock in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley this time is going to be worse than a fortnight ago — no thanks to the police. Continue reading “Hindraf rally – police stop over-reacting, dismantle roadblocks and issue permit”

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Economic masters and economic slaves

by Dr. Chen Man Hin

The frustration in the hearts of Malaysians at the stubborn attitude of Umno leaders and the greed of their cronies is mounting by the day.

Even the advice of foreign dignitaries like Thierry Rommel had been rejected haughtily by DPM and the Umno Youth chief. The EU envoy had no axe to grind except to see that justice is done.

World Bank statistics have shown that the NEP is jeopardising the economy, and is marginalising the poor whether Malays or non-Malays.

Umno leaders are the economic masters and the non-Malays are the economic slaves. Continue reading “Economic masters and economic slaves”

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An Indictment of Malaysia’s Media

by M. Bakri Musa

Editors and journalists serve as nothing more than as chief errand boys and girls for the establishment.

If you were a Malaysian and had relied only on the mainstream media for news, you could be excused for being befuddled over what happened in Kuala Lumpur on the Saturday of November 10, 2007. You would be confounded too on the day before to see the normally busy streets eerily empty except for police trucks and personnel. Tourists could be excused into thinking that they were visiting a banana republic in the midst of another routine military coup.

It turned out that the only folks befuddled on both days were ministers and officials. The citizens knew exactly what was going on despite the news blackout by the mainstream media. That more than anything demonstrates the irrelevance of these mainstream editors and reporters.

No amount of post event editorial contortions could alter that fact. These editors and journalists have little left of their personal pride and professional integrity; they have completely prostituted themselves to being instruments of the state’s propaganda machinery. They may have fancy titles as Group Editor or Editor-in-Chief, their functions however are nothing more than as “chief errand boys and girls” for the establishment. They acceded only too willingly to orders from their political masters.

Their once informative news pages are today filled with nothing more than ministerial speeches and press releases. Their formerly critical and influential Op-Ed columns are today reduced to carrying unashamedly toadying pieces praising the current leaders.

Malaysians are fully aware of this reality and react accordingly. The mainstream papers’ declining circulation, readership, and influence attest to their lack of credibility. These papers are eagerly read only by members of the ruling party, where the obsession is on tracking which party operatives are being featured on the front page and which ones have been relegated to the middle. The paper is effectively reduced to being the ruling party’s newsletter. Continue reading “An Indictment of Malaysia’s Media”

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Kee Thuan Chye interview (2) – A culture of fearing the truth

Helen Ang
Malaysiakini
Nov 22, 07 12:45pm

{Last week, Kee Thuan Chye opined that many non-Malays have been conditioned to swallow wholesale Ketuanan Melayu propaganda from the exhaustive indoctrination and would probably vote Barisan Nasional again come the general election.

Part 2 of the Q & A continues. The views expressed here are strictly the interviewee’s own and do not reflect the stand of any organisation that he is with.)

Helen: Let’s examine the nuances of non-Malay support for the incumbency. Pundits are predicting that disgruntled Chinese will swing to the opposition this time around. So it may actually turn out that a large percentage of the community will indeed buck the status quo.

What I think is that while Chinese are prepared to secretly (they will refuse to tell anyone who they voted for) cast their once-every-five-years ballot in favour of the opposition, their mindset in the remaining four years and 364 days will remain as you say, conditioned: fearful, refusing to engage and self-centred.

But given the uneven electoral playing field and lack of proportional representation, popular disenchantment may nonetheless not translate into a diminished BN influence. Sadly true?

Kee: The gerrymandering that has been done has really made it harder for the Chinese to swing votes in many constituencies. I was in Balakong a couple of weeks ago and the residents there told me that their constituency used to be opposition-controlled, but lately with the redemarcation exercise, the BN has been winning.

There used to be about 70 per cent Chinese in the constituency but that has been diluted to about 50 per cent. The other 20 per cent has been moved to another constituency. They don’t foresee the opposition winning it back this coming election unless a huge majority of the remaining 50 per cent vote for them. Many Chinese, however, tend to vote BN.

Surely they can see that BN is a gross disservice to their community? Who are those still so blinkered? Continue reading “Kee Thuan Chye interview (2) – A culture of fearing the truth”

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UPM’s one-semester suspension of Lee Song Yong – motion to cut salary of Higher Education Minister

The one-semester suspension of second-year computer science student Lee Song Yong by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) for obstructing campus officers from confiscating his personal belongings in the run-up to the campus polls in October is not only a grave violation of human rights but also a chilling reminder of the stultifying control of Malaysian academia by Little Napoleons which can only perpetuate a culture of mediocrity.

It is most regrettable that the UPM had completely ignored the call by Suhakam to stop the university disciplinary proceedings against Lee to pave the way for Suhakam investigations into complaint of human rights abuse by the university authorities.

This is another case where the higher education authorities have failed to distinguish between the core functions of universities to be centres of academic excellence from the petty details of regulatory control of lecturers and students which are the refuge of “Little Napoleons”.

In the latest world’s Top 200 Universities Rankings released by Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) a fortnight ago, Universiti Putra Malaysia, which had never been listed in the Top 200 Universities Ranking, still slipped 72 slots from No. 292 in 2006 to 364 in 2007.

It is most disappointing that the university administrators are unable set an example in the nation to respond to calls for a “First-World mentality” so that Malaysia can march towards fully developed nation status but continue to be mired by mindsets and approaches which could only produce universities and generations of mediocrity.

I propose to focus parliamentary and national attention on the disease of mediocrity in the Malaysian universities as highlighted by the free-fall of Malaysian universities in international rankings and the Little Napoleon regimes resulting in victimization of free spirits like Lee Song Yong which are antithetical to the development of a creative academic environment and towering Malaysians in keeping with the Abdullah administration’s slogan of “Cemerlang, Gemiling, Terbilang”. Continue reading “UPM’s one-semester suspension of Lee Song Yong – motion to cut salary of Higher Education Minister”

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Exercise best preventive medicine and as important as eating and sleeping

by Dr Chen Man Hin

It is commonly known that exercise has beneficial effects on the human body, especially the heart, lungs, kidneys, bones and muscles.

It also help patients to control their hypertension, diabetes, and mood disorders like stress and depression.

There is increasing evidence that exercise is also beneficial for mental health. Many discoveries have been made

Professor Arthur Krammer from the Beckman Institute in Illinois, USA found clear evidence that aerobic exercise boost performance in key areas of the brain and that exercise could improve ‘decision making’. The research team scanned thousands of rains of voluneers using the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Next, a neuroscientist, Professor Comon at University of California Irvine has found that during exercise, the nerve cells release chemicals (neurotrophic factors) which protect nerve cells from injury and prompt nerve cells to multiply and grow. The frontal lobes have shown to increase in size by MRI scanning.

Other neuroscientists also claim that exercises delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer disease, prevent Parkinsonism and help spinal cord injuries. Continue reading “Exercise best preventive medicine and as important as eating and sleeping”

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Ong Tee Keat has disgraced and insulted his own Minister, Mustapha

Deputy Higher Education Minister, Datuk Ong Tee Keat has disgraced his own Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad in admitting that promoting Malaysian university places to foreign students in overseas trips like a salesman is demeaning and insulting.

During my supplementary question in Parliament yesterday, I had criticized the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad for a misplaced sense of priorities in going on a China tour to promote Malaysian university places to Chinese students at a time when his greatest challenge is to ensure that Malaysian universities win international recognition for academic excellence and quality as world-class institutions.

This is particularly pertinent at a time of Malaysian higher education crisis when the latest world’s Top 200 Universities Rankings released by Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) a fortnight ago showed a continuing “free fall” of Malaysian universities, with not a single Malaysian university in the Top 200 Universities.

University of Malaya, the nation’s premier university only two years ago, had been falling in the THES ranking from 89th in 2004 to 169th in 2005, 192 in 2006 and 246 in 2007 — or a fall of 157 placings in three years! When will this plunge in the rankings for the University of Malaya stop?

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia has plunged from No. 185 in 2006 to 309. The plunge of Universiti Sains Malaysia in the past three years is even worse than University of Malaya — a plunge of 196 places from 111 in 2004, 326 in 2005, 277 in 2006 and 307 in 2007.

More worrying, Malaysia is also losing out not only to universities of developed countries but to more and more developing countries such as Thailand, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa.

I never said that it was wrong for Mustapha as Higher Education Minister to be salesman in foreign countries to attract more foreign students to study in Malaysian universities and colleges, but that his priority particularly at present is to restore Malaysia’s international reputation for university quality and excellence.

Furthermore, the best advertisement and magnet for foreign students to Malaysia is the international reputation of Malaysian universities for academic excellence and quality, and not through any salesmanship even if the salesman is the Higher Education Minister. Continue reading “Ong Tee Keat has disgraced and insulted his own Minister, Mustapha”

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Lingam Tape RCI – what actually did the Cabinet decide yesterday?

Malaysians are utterly confused as to what the Cabinet decided on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape and the Judiciary yesterday.

Did yesterday’s Cabinet, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawai was in Singapore for the ASEAN Summit, make the decisions on the terms of reference, scope of power and composition which are to be announced by the Prime Minister — as was the impression given by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz in his comments to the press at the Parliament lobby?

Or did the Cabinet yesterday just decided that decisions on these aspects of the Royal Commission of Inquiry are put off to the next Cabinet meeting, as appears to be gist of what Abdullah said in Singapore last evening?

Whatever the case, it paints a picture of a bumbling and shambolic Cabinet which is neither serious nor professional in handling vital national issues, especially one so critical in determining Malaysia’s international competitiveness such as national and international confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

It has taken the Prime Minister and the Cabinet two months to decide that there should be a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape, when this would have been the right, proper and immediate thing for a government which is serious about accountability, integrity and good governance to do.

Why is the Abdullah government continuing to drag its feet on the Royal Commission of Inquiry, as if this is the least of its concerns?

Furthermore, why has the Haider Panel Report not yet been made public, another implicit undertaking of the Prime Minister? What has the government got to hide in refusing to immediately making public the Haider Report? Continue reading “Lingam Tape RCI – what actually did the Cabinet decide yesterday?”

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Sothi vs Pokuan – MIC National VP should stop being a lout and unconditionally apologise for his boorish conduct

It is shame that MIC National Vice President and Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Datuk S. Sothinathan is not prepared to admit his wrong in challenging woman DAP MP Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah) to a fist-fight and is instead trying to deny the undeniable.

Yesterday, Sothinathan said: “No man in the right frame of mind would physically fight with a lady. Not in our culture.”

Sothinathan is right this time, and this is why his “right frame of mind” came under question when he challenged Po Kuan to a physical fight, and not to an electoral contest in the next general election as he now claims.

Eye-witness accounts of what happened in Parliament on Monday are more reliable and better testimony than Sothinathan of the despicable behaviour of the MIC National Vice President on Monday.

The body language of Sothinathan was so unmistakable that the Chinese newspapers, Sin Chew Daily, Nanyang Siang Pau, China Press, Guang Ming, Oriental Daily the next day reported the next day that Sothinathan had challenged me to a physical fight outside the Chamber.

The Chinese newspapers were wrong as Sothinathan did not challenge me to a fight. The challenge was directed at Po Kuan in the expanded exchange between DAP MPs with BN MPs.

The mistake of the Chinese newspapers is understandable as there was a lot of confusion in the Chamber at the time, with voices coming from all directions in Parliament. A video of the parliamentary episode is available on YouTube.

This is what Hansard of 19th November 2007 recorded of this challenge by Sothinathan directed at Po Kuan:

Dato’ S. G. Sothinathan: Siapa takut? Berani, mari lawanlah!!

Tuan Pengerusi: [Datuk Dr. Yusuf bin Yacob]: Ya, ya, Timbalan Menteri, teruskan, teruskan.

Dato’ S.G. Sothinathan: Oh, cakap macam lelaki bukan? Mari lawan, mari lawan!! Jangan cakap no gender bias.

Continue reading “Sothi vs Pokuan – MIC National VP should stop being a lout and unconditionally apologise for his boorish conduct”

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Behind the colour of change

by Azly Rahman

In Malaysia, are the leaves turning yellow, too?

Are we witnessing the total deconstruction of the race-based political ideology and a breakdown of the economic and social relations of production?

Is the nation being haunted by a ‘yellow wave’ of change demanded by those alienated by the developmentalist agenda that seems to have favoured a privileged segment of society?

At the speed of how things are turning yellow, it seems that we have to content with such signs and symbols of systemic change as a reality.

Around three decades ago, the ‘yellow culture’ carried a negative connotation especially in relation to the invasion of the ‘decadent aspects of the western culture’. Today, we see a deconstruction of this perception; a mental revolution that is taking the colours of the constitutional monarchy as a symbol of war against the colours of the present race-based regime.

It is a war over the definition of ‘democracy’. It includes the question: who has the monopoly over Malaysian democracy? Can we continue to think like dinosaurs in an age of dolphin-think?

One of the nagging questions for our nation as we enter this challenging period for civil rights is this: what is Malaysian democracy and what is its future?

Key spokespersons of the government think that we are doing fine with the system and that we need to only improve the process.

Key spokespersons representing the wave of change and who challenge the ‘system’ think that the system is no longer working, as we face the realities of changing race-relations.

These are contending views of what ‘Malaysian democracy’ is – an interpretation of what the process of development of the people, by the people, for the people means. These are the views of the words ‘demos’ and ‘kratos’ of what a ‘government of the people’ should mean.

Democracy is rooted in economics. Our existence – including that of the king and the pauper, rebels and reformists, the Sultans and the hamba sahaya – as Marx would contend, is defined by the economic condition we are in or have created.

In Malaysia, the condition is defined by the pie baked by those who created the New Economic Policy that is now becoming a system of the New Economic Plutocracy. Continue reading “Behind the colour of change”

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Which is Malaysia’s premier university? Nobody knows!

Which is the Malaysian premier university?

Nobody knows and this is a big shame as it is caused not by competition by universities to be the best but to avoid the bigger plunge in international rankings.

Is it University of Malaya?

Until two years ago, there was no dispute if University of Malaya claimed to be the nation’s premier university — a position it had occupied unchallenged for over three decades.

It was also internationally recognized as the premier university in Malaysia as reflected by the 2004 and 2005 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) World Universities Rankings for Top 200 Universities, being positioned No. 89 and 169th slots respectively.

However, it was toppled from the pedestal by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) when UKM beat University of Malaya in the 2006 THES ranking, placed No. 185 as compared to the 192nd position for University of Malaya.

Is it UKM then?

UKM’s placing on the top of the university pole in the country lasted one short year as in the 2007 THES Top 200 Universities ranking, UKM plunged a shocking 124 places from No. 185 to No. 309, not only behind University of Malaya’s No. 246 but also Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) which is placed No. 307.

Furthermore, in the recent government ranking for public universities, both UKM and University of Malaya were ranked behind USM, the sole university to be placed on the five-star Outstanding category, with no university rated for the top-rung Excellent Category.

Is it then USM, to lay claim to be the nation’s best university? Continue reading “Which is Malaysia’s premier university? Nobody knows!”

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Sothinathan challenging Po Kuan to a “fight” on YouTube

In his post from London on the thread “Shame of MIC MP challenging a woman DAP MP to ‘fight’ outside Chamber – first time in Parliament in 50 years”, Chong Zhemin asked whether the MIC Vice President Datuk S. Sothinathan had challenged woman DAP MP for Batu Gajah Fong Po Kuan or me to a fight.

He said that from what he saw from the video, he thought the Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Environment was challenging me to a fight. Furthermore, the Chinese newspapers had all reported the next morning that Sothinathan had challenged me to a fight.

Zemin is right about the Chinese newspapers report but they were all wrong. Sothinathan did not challenge me to a fight and the challenge was directed at Po Kuan in the expanded exchange between DAP MPs with BN MPs.

There was a lot of confusion with voices coming from all directions in Parliament and the video of the parliamentary episode, which is available on YouTube, could not capture the full sequence of events. Continue reading “Sothinathan challenging Po Kuan to a “fight” on YouTube”

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RCI on Lingam Tape – refusal to announce Cabinet decisions today does not serve the cause of public confidence

I am very disturbed by the statement by Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak last evening that there would be no immediate announcement of the Cabinet’s decisions today on the terms of reference, scope of power and membership of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape.

Najib, who will be chairing the Cabinet meeting this morning as the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is in Singapore for the ASEAN Summit, must be reminded that it does not serve the cause of public confidence for the government to keep mum after the Cabinet decisions on the terms of reference and composition of the Royal Commission of Inquiry as it will only reinforce widespread anxieties and suspicions that “the leopard cannot change its skin” and that the Royal Commission of Inquiry would be so cribbed, cabined and confined by its terms of reference and scope of power that it would be quite useless in making significant contributions to end the 19-year crisis of confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

Malaysians expect the Cabinet to set an example of “first-world” and “first-class” mentality which does not make a mockery of the pledge of Abdullah to lead an administration characterized by openness, accountability, transparency and integrity.

If the Cabinet slams the Official Secrets Act on its decisionss on the Royal Commission of Inquiry today, refusing to announce them and to ban any reporting or disclosure of the Cabinet decisions, how is the Abdullah administration more open, accountable and transparent than the previous administrations? Instead, we seem to be going into reverse.

If the Cabinet this morning has taken decisions on the Royal Commission of Inquiry, then let Malaysians be informed about them without any delay or the Abdullah Cabinet will be setting a most undesirable example of being evasive and opaque instead of openness, accountability and transparency – completely antithetical to Abdullah’s pledge of wanting to lead a Malaysia with “First World Infrastructure, First-World Mentality”. Continue reading “RCI on Lingam Tape – refusal to announce Cabinet decisions today does not serve the cause of public confidence”