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Malaysia “implosion” very different from Las Vegas “implosion”

On Tuesday, Malaysians saw on CNN the spectacle of the implosion of the 16-storey 1,000-room New Frontier casino-hotel, collapsing the second resort that opened on the Las Vegas Strip half-a-century ago with 1,000 pounds of explosives.

It was a spectacular engineering feat to behold, the precisely-planned and delicately-balanced demolition operation — to give way to a US$2 billion, 3,000-room megaresort Las Vegas Plaza, featuring a 500-ft tall Ferris Wheel similar in size to the famous London Eye, set to open in 2011.

Malaysia has also our own implosion on the same day, but it was a most shameful and ignominous one – the collapse of the RM4.5 million Perak State Park Corporation’s two-storey administration building on a hillslope on the edge of Tasik Banding in Gerik.

Star said the structure “collapsed like a house of cards” while New Straits Times said the complex “collapsed into a heap of rubble”.

Malaysia’s very own implosion was no spectacular engineering feat but spectacular building failure and government negligence. Continue reading “Malaysia “implosion” very different from Las Vegas “implosion””

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LingamGate – Give Rais’ book “Freedom under Executive Power in Malaysia” to all Cabinet Ministers

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz announced yesterday that three senior ministers have been appointed to study the three-man Haidar Panel report on the Lingam Tape on the perversion of the course of justice on fixing of judicial appointments and court judgments.

Nazri said that the three Ministers, i.e. Home Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, Culture and Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim and he himself, were given the task by the Cabinet due to their legal background and because all three had been in charge of law affairs in their ministerial portfolios and to make recommendations on the appropriate action to be taken at the next Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The Cabinet had also decided that each minister be given a copy of the report.

Two questions immediately come to mind.

Firstly, why wasn’t the Haider Report made public immediately? Why must Cabinet Ministers read the Haider Report first, to find out whether it is good or bad for the government, before deciding whether it should be made public?

We should follow the best international practices of countries which fully practice accountability, transparency and integrity where such inquiry reports, whether by Royal Commission or inquiry committees, are made public at the same time they are submitted to the appointing authorities — to show that the government has nothing to hide, regardless of the findings.

Secondly, why should there be another three-man Ministerial Committee to study the Report of the three-man Haider Panel on the Lingam Tape? One does not need to have any legal background or experience in Cabinet in charge of law affairs to decide what is right and proper to be done on a question of accountability, transparency and integrity, not only about the Lingam Tape revelations about the perversion of the course of justice on fixing of judicial appointments and judicial decisions but the urgent need for judicial reforms. Continue reading “LingamGate – Give Rais’ book “Freedom under Executive Power in Malaysia” to all Cabinet Ministers”

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Lingam Tape – all three members of Haidar Panel unanimous in separately recommending Royal Commission of Inquiry?

Sin Chew Daily today reported from its sources that all the three members of the Haidar Panel established to determine the authenticity of the Lingam Tape had one common recommendation — to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

If this is true, then the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would have no option but to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry or he would be facing his greatest crisis of confidence in his four years as Prime Minister.

Then the questions are the terms of reference and composition of the Royal Commission of Inquiry.

In such circumstances, the Prime Minister should undertake a proper and meaningful consultation with representative personalities and groups to ensure that the Royal Commission of Inquiry when established would not become another divisive issue, either because of its restricted terms of reference, controversial composition or procrastination.

Such a Royal Commission must have full and untrammeled powers to inquire into the deep-seated causes for the series of crisis of confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary which have tainted Malaysia’s system of justice to one held in high international esteem and regard two decades ago to one looked askance nationally and internationally by all respectable jurists, legal and civic organizations.

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Of Public Protests, Pondans and a Pea-Brained Minister

by Martin Jalleh

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz has trouble in understanding why 40,000 people took to the streets recently to submit a memorandum calling for electoral reforms, to the King.

The Minister is actually quite consistent in his lack of understanding especially when it comes to the right of assembly. Well, he had found it difficult to comprehend why 2,000 lawyers walked to Putrajaya to submit a memorandum on judicial reform to the PM.

Nazri displayed his sterling ignorance when he asked in parliament recently: “The opposition has won seats in the previous elections, especially in Kelantan, why are they calling for the Election Commission (EC) to be freer and fairer?”

The answer is rather simple — if they do not press for an electoral reform, they may even lose all their seats in the next coming general elections due to the farce, flaws and fraud that has been and still is increasingly evident in the electoral system.

Nazri told parliament: “… it would be pointless to try and understand the reason behind the rally as the brains of opposition members do not function well… the wires in their heads are severed. I don’t understand why they claim that the EC is unfair.”

Nazri was over-confident of the “wiring” in his own brains, for it was only recently that he had in fact quite loudly told opposition MPs “not to get over-excited about the ‘independence’ of the EC, when it does not exist” (Malaysiakini, 23.10.07)!

Nazri had added: “We all know that we have the EC Act. If you take that into account, the EC is bound to the legislature and it is also tied to what we would approve… So, don’t get too excited when discussing the EC’s independence because it cannot act freely — it is tied to the legislature.”

Contrary to what Nazri had claimed, the EC is established and given a specific mandate by the Constitution. It is not answerable to the Executive nor to the Legislature. In other words, Nazri’s brains are not functioning as well as he would like us to believe.

Nazri should not confine himself in the comfort of his air-conditioned office in Putrajaya. He should join the rakyat in the next walk for justice or electoral reform — get a feel of reality. It would enhance his short memory and prevent his thinking faculties from short-circuiting. Continue reading “Of Public Protests, Pondans and a Pea-Brained Minister”

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Check annual 4-figure brain drain of STPM and Chinese Independent Secondary School students

The national shame of Malaysia falling completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)-Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings had been equaled by the scandal that this Malaysian ignominy had been totally ignored by last week’s Umno General Assembly, whether by Umno delegates or leaders.

This shows the superficiality of the commitment of Umno leaders to the slogan of “Cemerlang, Gemilang and Terbilang” and to transform Malaysia into a knowledge-based innovative economy marked by a world-class university system.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had after the Umno General Assembly expressed his concern about the fall of Malaysian universities from the international league of best universities, but why wasn’t there a single reference to this shocking result in the Umno General Assembly, touted as the most important national political assembly of the country?

Further details have shown that Malaysian universities have suffered a very serious drop in the international league of the world’s best universities.

For the first time, there is not only not a single university in the Top 200 Universities list, there is also not a single university in the separate ranking of Top 100 Universities for five subject areas — Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities; Life Sciences and Biomedicine; and Engineering and Information Technology.

For the Top 200 Universities List, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) had fallen out of the ranking, with UKM plunging from 185th slot last year to 309th while University fo Malaya plunged from 192nd last year to 246th spot. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which was ranked as the only “outstanding” five-star university in a recent government survey, has fallen to 307th spot from 277 last year. In 2005, USM was in the 326th spot. Continue reading “Check annual 4-figure brain drain of STPM and Chinese Independent Secondary School students”

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Haider Report on Lingam Tape – who is boss in Cabinet, Najib or Abdullah?

I commend the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for countermanding the decision of his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to bypass the Cabinet and defer consideration of the Lingam Tape scandal, in particular the findings of the three-man Haidar Panel.

Yesterday morning, Najib indicated that the Cabinet would be by-passed when he told reporters after opening the 35th Asean Chemical Industries Council Conference (ACIC) that the Government will assess in a matter of days the Haidar Panel report on the authenticity of the Lingam Tape.

Najib said: “Yes (we have received it). I don’t have time to look at the report yet (but) I would assess the report in a matter of days and I would discuss with the PM (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) on what to do.”

Najib’s announcement had come as a shock for it meant at least two things:

  • That the top Barisan Nasional leadership in government are living in a world of their own, without any sense of urgency and completely cut off from the primary concerns of thinking Malaysians, in this case over the worsening crisis of confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary which had been rocking the country for nearly two months with the explosive allegations of the perversion of the course of justice contained in the Lingam Tape;
  • That the Cabinet is not only “half-past six” but completely expendable. It was not consulted when the decision to establish the so-called Haider Independent Panel to probe into the authenticity of the Lingam Tape was made — when what should be set up should be a Royal Commission of Inquiry — and the Cabinet is again utterly irrelevant in the decision-making as to the next step to be taken after the submission of the Haider Report.

If the Cabinet is by-passed on the Haider Panel Report today, because Najib was too busy to read the report (it must be the thinnest and briefest inquiry report in Malaysian history), then the entire Cabinet should be censured for its irresponsibility and irrelevance. Continue reading “Haider Report on Lingam Tape – who is boss in Cabinet, Najib or Abdullah?”

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“Pondan” – An open letter to Nazri

Letters
by TT

13th November 2007

Dear Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz,
Prime Minister’s Department,
Bangunan Parliament,
Jalan Parliament,
Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.

Subject – : Parliament on 12th November 2007 And Bersih Rally.

Dear Datuk Seri,

With reference to the above subject, I, as a concerned rakyat of our beloved and peaceful country, Malaysia, if allowed and with much due respect, would like to comment on the words you used in the august hall.

Be it for opposition parties/people and/or to any other people who are gifts fm The Man above, words like ‘pondans’, ‘wimps’, ‘wires in their heads are severed’, ‘bodoh’, ‘racist’, ‘perkauman’, etc., to my honest opinions, should not be used in the august hall where people all over the world are watching us, especially with what is happening in our country lately. Also, especially coming from someone who is serving the country and her citizens under the prime minister’s department. Those kind of words like ‘pondans’, ‘wimps’, ‘wires in their heads are severed’, ‘bodoh’, ‘racist’, ‘perkauman’, etc., are, to my honest opinion, definitely uncalled for.

Yes, I, as a concerned rakyat of our beloved and peaceful country, Malaysia, know those may be one of the spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, but those kind of spur-of-the-moment thing has been happening very frequently lately and has been repeated time after time. Perhaps Malaysiakini and Youtube have tons of the articles and video recordings to prove it. Continue reading ““Pondan” – An open letter to Nazri”

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PM AAB insulted the King

Letters
by Loh Meng Kow

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the BERSIH gathering and petition were “tantamount to dragging the institution of the monarchy, and the king, into politics”.

PM AAB is underrating the wisdom of the King. When he makes his routine audience with the King before Cabinet meetings, what has PM AAB taken it to be? Does he consider it a chore having to brief the King on the affairs of the state, and the government plans of action? Does PM consider it a formality only, and that the King’s role was to spend time listening to what the PM had to say as though the PM was talking to a tape recorder, with no playback. The government was elected by only the majority of the population, but government actions affect all nationals who are equal subjects of the King. While the PM may be a PM for his family, or a sector of the population, the King has the welfare of the people of Malaysia at heart. Though the King does not directly implement policies, the King could offer his wisdom which the PM might not follow. We certainly have a thinking King. Continue reading “PM AAB insulted the King”

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Khairy, Dont forget also to remove the Housing subsidy for Bumis

Letters
by Richard Teo

Mahathir was right when he said that we have a indecisive PM with half past six cabinet ministers. Even his accusation that his son-in law Khairy was calling the shots from the 4th floor of the PM’s office was proven correct.

During the recent UMNO General Assembly Khairy gave a long winded exposition why there should be a two tier subsidy system for petrol and diesel subsidy. He questioned the wisdom of giving subsidy to rich towkays who owned luxury cars. This racist insinuation of course implied that most rich owners were mostly Chinese while most Malays were driving around in Kapchais (Honda cub).

However, Khairy’s proposition would have been more creditable had he also said that subsidy for Bumis to buy houses should also be removed since it was also benefitting the rich Malay class. Why should non-Malays have to subsidise rich Malays to buy luxurious houses and condominium costing a few million? Shouldn’t we implement a housing policy that would subsidise those who are poor and irrespective of race. Continue reading “Khairy, Dont forget also to remove the Housing subsidy for Bumis”

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Zam – Minister for Misinformation and Disinformation (YouTube on parliamentary exchange)

See on YouTube the parliamentary exchange during question-time this morning where I said it is a misnomer to call Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin Minister for Information when he is really Minister for Misinformation and Disinformation. I observed that Zainuddin had “made a fool of himself” in his interview with Al Jazeera over the mammoth peaceful 10-Eleven BERSIH rally and petition on electoral reforms to the King, and whether this was why Zainuddin dared not appear in Parliament during question time, leaving it to his Deputy “Misinformation” Minister, Datuk Zahid Hamidi to hold the floor.

Malaysiakini had reported this episode as follows:

Kit Siang: Zam ‘minister of misinformation’
Yoges Palaniappan
Nov 13, 07 3:09pm

Minister of Misinformation – this was the new title conferred upon Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin by Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The issue started when Deputy Information Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (photo) answered a supplementary question posed by Raime Unggi (BN-Tenom).

Raime had asked Ahmad Zahid what action would be taken against the international media for their wide coverage on the mammoth rally held over the weekend.

The rally, organised by the opposition-backed Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), saw some 40,000 people taking to the streets and the submission of a memorandum to the King.

“The media gave a very biased coverage of the illegal gathering until it indicated that our country is in a big mess.

“How would (state-owned television station) RTM straighten this out? And what kind of action would be taken against the media that reported inaccurate facts?” asked Raime.

Responding, Ahmad Zahid (BN-Bagan Datok) said RTM, in its coverage of the rally, showed that demonstrations must not be used as a medium to gain people’s support.

“Even though RTM used the gathering as its lead story, we used the story to send across the message that demonstrations are not the right way to gain support from the public. This is because demonstrations are very undemocratic and could ruin our country’s image and drive away foreign investors,” he said. Continue reading “Zam – Minister for Misinformation and Disinformation (YouTube on parliamentary exchange)”

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Whether Cabinet is “half-past six” will depend on its handling of two major current issues tomorrow

Will the Cabinet meeting tomorrow prove that it is a “half-past six” one with no constructive responses on two major current issues – the BERSIH petition to the Yang di Pertuan Agong for electoral reforms for clean, free and fair elections in Malaysia and the Lingam Tape scandal on the perversion of the course of justice, dealing another lethal blow to the skyrocketing crisis of confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary in Malaysia?

The mammoth peaceful BERSIH gathering and petition to the Yang di Pertuan Agong on Saturday for transparency and integrity of the electoral process had also highlighted the deplorable state of press freedom in Malaysia.

I said in Parliament during question time that Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin’s ministerial portfolio was a misnomer as he should be properly described as Minister for Mis-Information.

This was why when the Deputy Information Minister, Datuk Zahid Hamidi, who was representing his Minister during question time, demanded that I retract the statement that his boss was “Mis-Information Minister”, I refused, pointing out that Zahid is no better as “Deputy Mis-Information Minister”.

I made this remark during my supplementary question deriding Zainuddin’s criticism of Al Jazeera of “unfair reporting and conspiring with the Opposition to paint an untrue picture of the situation in Malaysia” on its coverage of Saturday’s BERSIH gathering when it was Zainuddin who is most guilty of the allegation, as he presided over RTM’s “unfair reporting” and “conspiracy with the Barisan Nasional to paint an untrue picture of the actual situation in Malaysia”. Continue reading “Whether Cabinet is “half-past six” will depend on its handling of two major current issues tomorrow”

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ASEAN must not allow Myanmar military junta to again indulge in “One step forward, two three steps backward” tactics

The United Nations Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar Sergio Pinheiro is now in Burma surveying the human rights situation in the country, and according to reports, visited the infamous Insein jail outside Yangon.

Last week, the United Nations Secretary-General’s special advisor on Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari made his second visit to the country after the crackdown of the “saffron revolution” in September.

What is shocking and outrageous is up to now, neither ASEAN nor the international community know what was the death toll and how many people were detained in the junta’s bloody suppression of the pro-democracy “saffron revolution”.

The Myanmar military junta claims 10 people died and only 91 of the 3,000 originally detained were being held.

Nobody believes these figures — as the death toll from the “saffron revolution” is believed to be in scores if not in hundreds. Monks have reported that at least five of their brethren were killed. Amnesty International has estimated that 700 people arrested over the September protests are still in detention.

Although the Myanmar military junta has recently shown a more accommodating face, as in permitting Aung San Suu Kyi, who had spent 12 of the past 18 years under house arrest, to meet key members of her National League for Democracy (NLD), the question is whether the Myanmar military junta is indulging in its favourite tactics of “one step forward, two three steps backwards” as part of its long-standing diversionary tactics to deflect international criticism and maintain its grip on power. Continue reading “ASEAN must not allow Myanmar military junta to again indulge in “One step forward, two three steps backward” tactics”

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BERSIH mammoth peaceful petition – video of Nazri berserk in Parliament

See on YouTube Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz “berserk” in Parliament during question time yesterday over BERSIH’s mammoth peaceful rally and petition to the Yang di Pertuan Agong on Nov. 10, 2007 for electoral reforms for clean, free and fair elections in Malaysia.

Malaysiakini had reported as follows:

Opposition are ‘pondans’ – Nazri’s tirade
Nov 12, 07 6:23pm

Insults were rained on the opposition in the Dewan Rakyat today over the massive rally held in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

Without mincing his words, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz lashed out at the opposition, calling them among others, “pondan” (wimps).

It started when Che Azmi A Rahman (BN-Kuala Nerus) told Nazri that he failed to grasp the logic behind the rally which called for electoral reforms.

The rally, organised by the opposition-backed Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), saw some 40,000 people taking to the streets and the submission of a memorandum to the King.

“The opposition has won seats in the previous elections, especially in Kelantan. Why are they calling for the Election Commission (EC) to be freer and fairer?” asked Che Azmi.

“Are they implying that their respective victories were a result of the EC’s failure to be free and fair?” he added.

Responding to this, Nazri (BN-Padang Renggas) said it would be pointless to try and understand the reason behind the rally as the “brains of opposition members do not function well.”

“If I were to describe this in the language of today’s youths, I would have to say that the wires in their heads are severed. I don’t understand why they claim that the EC is unfair,” he added. Continue reading “BERSIH mammoth peaceful petition – video of Nazri berserk in Parliament”

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RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal — why is the government on-the-run?

This is the question I posed in Parliament today — “Why is the government-on-the-run on the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal?”

During the 2008 Budget committee stage debate on the Finance Ministry, I started my speech protesting against government ministers kicking the issue of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal from one Ministry to another, evading accountability by refusing to give a direct answer to many pertinent questions which I had posed — with the ball being kicked among the Prime Minister’s Department, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport with no one wanting to give a proper answer.

I simplified the questions on the PKFZ scandal which cry out for answer, viz:

1. Was it true that when the Port Klang Authority and the Transport Ministry insisted on buying the 1,000 acres of Pulau Indah land for PKFZ at RM25 psf on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis, in the face of strong objection by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Treasury which had recommended that the land be acquired at RM10 psf, the Cabinet had given its approval subject to two conditions: (i) categorical assurance by the Transport Minister that the PKFZ proposal was feasible and self-financing and would not require any public funding; and (ii) that every RM100 million variation in the development costs of PKFZ would require prior Cabinet approval.

2. In the event, the first condition was breached when the PKFZ project ballooned from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion requiring government intervention and bailout while the second condition was breached with the original PKFZ development costs of RM400 million ballooning to RM2.8 billion without any prior Cabinet approval ever sought for every RM100 million increase in development costs.

3. The Transport Minister had unlawfully issued four Letters of Support to Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB), the PKFZ turnkey contractor — to raise RM4 billion bonds, which were regarded as government guarantees by the market. The Transport Minister had no such powers to issue financial guarantees committing the government, as it could only be issued by the Finance Minister and only after Cabinet approval. The first Letter of Support was issued by the former Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik on May 28, 2003, which was Liong Sik’s last day as Transport Minister while the other three were issued by Kong Choy. Continue reading “RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal — why is the government on-the-run?”

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You Have Been Challenged, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi!

by M. Bakri Musa

“Saya pantang dicabar!” (lit: “I am allergic to challenges;” fig. “Don’t challenge me!”) declared Prime Minister Abdullah in an uncharacteristically bold assertion to the media on the eve of BERSIH’s massive street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, November 10, 2007.

You have now been challenged, Mr. Prime Minister, openly and publicly by your own citizens, and you have emerged impotent! That huge street rally may be illegal to you, but the King had consented to receiving its leaders and their petition. In effect, the King too has challenged you, Abdullah! In case you did not get the message, you had just been served a very public royal rebuff.

I too, challenge you, Abdullah! Instead of arresting those ordinary citizen demonstrators, I dare you to arrest their leaders, Anwar Ibrahim, Hadi Awang, Lim Kit Siang, and Raja Petra Kamarudin. Those ordinary folks were merely exercising their basic rights as citizens of a democracy: the right to free assembly and to petition the authorities.

As per the refrain of the Ghostbusters theme song, “Who are you gonna call now!” Mr. Prime Minister? Your fabulous Fourth Floor boys? Your son-in-law who is using you as his “protection?” Imagine being considered as such by your son-in-law!

Khairy Jamaluddin obviously had not heard of your “demonstrations are not part of our Malay culture” bit. Either that or Khairy had blissfully ignored it as when he led that pathetic street demonstration against your official guest, US State Secretary Rice.

In a speech earlier in the week, Khairy demanded that the authorities “come down hard” on the BERSIH demonstrators. While there were some water cannons and tear gas canisters unloaded, the demonstrations went ahead smoothly and successfully to the palace. The police even released most of those arrested. Your son-in-law challenged you to be tough on the demonstrators, and you came out lembik (limp). Continue reading “You Have Been Challenged, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi!”

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BERSIH petition to King – acid test whether it marks the burial of Abdullah’s 4-yr pledge to hear the truth

The negative and irresponsible responses of the government and its leaders to Saturday’s mammoth peaceful BERSIH gathering petitioning the Yang di Pertuan Agong for electoral reforms to ensure clean, free and fair elections is most disappointing though not unexpected.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the BERSIH gathering and petition were “tantamount to dragging the institution of the monarchy, and the king, into politics”.

This is a baseless allegation completely unworthy of the Prime Minister as nothing could be further from the truth.

The Yang di Pertuan Agong symbolizes the fountain of justice in Malaysia, and it is completely within constitutional norms for Malaysians who are shut out from all avenues of redress to seek justice to appeal to the Yang di Pertuan Agong for intervention — and it will be beholden on the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to give such petitions to the Yang di Pertuan Agong serious consideration and not to dismiss them in a most arrogant, cavalier and undemocratic manner.

In this particular case, the mass petition to the Yang di Pertuan Agong is all the more pertinent as the government has turned a deaf ear to widespread and legitimate calls for electoral reforms to ensure that there is a level playing field for all contestants so that clean, free and fair elections could be held in Malaysia.

This is why I said during question time that the government should uphold the important symbol of the King as the fountain of justice by giving serious and positive consideration to the petition to the Yang di Pertuan Agong supported by the mammoth and peaceful BERSIH gathering on Saturday or the government will be doing an injustice to the system of monarchy. Continue reading “BERSIH petition to King – acid test whether it marks the burial of Abdullah’s 4-yr pledge to hear the truth”

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A Wake-Up Call for the Government: Malaysians Want Their Country Back

By Farish A. Noor

That elections should be free, fair and transparent is perhaps one of the most basic requirements of any working democracy, and to demand that elections should be free, fair and transparent is perhaps one of the most fundamental rights of any society. When citizens demand such things it can and should be seen as an act of civic responsibility and they should commended for it. Indeed, it ought to be seen as a test of civic participation and citizenship that all citizens should demand that their state works and functions properly and accountably, to serve the interest of the nation as a whole and not a select coterie of landed elites and entrenched class interests.

That was exactly what happened in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on 10th November and for that reason alone Malaysians should be proud to say that they are in the process of reclaiming the state and demanding their country back. As in the cases of Pakistan and Burma — as well as the pro-democracy movements that swept across Southeast Asia in the 1980s and 1990s which led to the fall of dictators like Ferdinand Marcos and General Suharto — what happened in Malaysia was, in many ways, a landmark moment in the country’s postcolonial history.

Yet ironically elements in the Malaysian government — the very same elements that ostensibly supported the recent pro-democracy campaign in Burma — were at the forefront of demonising their fellow citizens and doing their utmost to prevent the demonstration in Kuala Lumpur from taking place. Leaders of the ruling UMNO party issues a continuous stream of warnings to the general public, warning them not to take to the streets. UMNO leaders and members who were willing to join in the rallies calling for democratic reform in Burma were suddenly taking the opposite side when the very same demands were being articulated in Malaysia by their fellow Malaysians. Malaysians were told that they would be arrested if they attended the rally; that the demonstrators were a nuisance and a security threat; that the demonstration would deter foreign investment into Malaysia. Yet the mind boggles at the logic of such arguments, when it should be clear that what is deterring investment into the country is not public demonstrations but rather mismanagement of the economy, allegations of corruption and abuse of power by the elite instead.

For a nation that has always been cast in a passive light as docile and apathetic, Malaysians defied their own stereotype by coming out in huge numbers and braving the rain from above and the tear gas and batons on the ground. Contrary to the scare-mongering campaign of the government, the rally proved to be ordered and peaceful. What does this say about Malaysia today and where the country is heading? Continue reading “A Wake-Up Call for the Government: Malaysians Want Their Country Back”

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sharing my personal experience on the bersih gathering/march and what i have learned…

Letters
by TT

“people should not be afraid of their governments, the governemts should be afraid of their people”…

precisely!…

when i got up approx 1100 hours on 10th october 2007, i know i will be part of the history in malaysia!…

just want to briefly share what i experienced in the bersih gathering/march which i attended with much enthusiasm!…

as most of you already know there are 4 meeting points for meet-up before we marched to dataran merdeka before we proceed to the palace to submit the memorandum to the king on asking for a massive reformation to the electoral roll…. i went to the sogo meeting point…

expecting the massive traffic out there… i took the public transport… i boarded the ktm komuter in kl sentral at approx 1145 hours… waited for at least 30 mins before the train actually moved an inch… apparently they have some ‘technical problems’ at the station in front… but, there was about 3 trains opposite the coach am in passed us by from the station in front of us!… ‘technical problems’ eh?!?… want to delay/deny us, say so lah… we understand the fear and uncertainties of certain people… :) …

reached sogo approx 1245 hours, not before going though tens of police personnel staring at you as if you are a criminal, took my lunch and walked around and more and more people can be seen… i knew this is gonna be huge, really huge!… police personnel were all over the place inside and outside sogo then and helicopter right above us drowning the noise of the people… a real low way of doing things eh?!?… Continue reading “sharing my personal experience on the bersih gathering/march and what i have learned…”

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Can we trust PM AAB to keep his promise on the limit placed on NEP continuation?

Letter
by Loh Meng Kow

PM AAB said the New Economic Policy (NEP) was being continued to help develop professional classes among the Malays and eradicate poverty among Malaysians regardless of race, and it was never intended to make Malays rich by seizing the wealth of non-Malays. (The Sun, 9 November 2007)

If PM AAB is sincere that he wanted only to implement what he has stated in the paragraph above, through the extension of NEP, then he should declare that two new programmes, namely one, Development of Malay Professional Class, and two, Eradication of Poverty for Malaysians are hereby established, and NEP is abolished forthwith. Indeed a policy which was established 37 years ago can hardly be known as New.

PM AAB will not be truthful if he does not accept the fact that implementations of NEP until now, beginning especially from the reign of TDM 26 years ago have deviated from the stated objectives. By retaining the name NEP, PM AAB will not be able to stop government departments continuing with what they have been wrongly doing in the name of NEP. It is not unlike a mouse carrying an elephant through the gate of NEP. If he retains NEP, then PM AAB shows his intention of speaking with a fork tongue, and of utilizing skillfully the boiling frog syndrome.

PM AAB might have his subordinate BN component parties believed that for the sake of political expediency, he had to retain the term NEP. If he does not have the political will to remove NEP, then he would not have the political guts to stop UMNO continue with the old practices in the name of two programmes he has identified. Continue reading “Can we trust PM AAB to keep his promise on the limit placed on NEP continuation?”

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Mammoth BERSIH gathering – People have spoken but will Abdullah listen or will he remain deaf, blind and mute?

Malaysians have spoken loud and clear in the peaceful mammoth BERSIH gathering yesterday to support the petition to the Yang di Pertuan Agong for electoral reforms for clean, free and fair elections – but will the Prime Minister, Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi listen and act or will he remain deaf, blind and mute?

When he became Prime Minister four years ago, one of Abdullah’s first public pledges was to listen to the truth however unpleasant.

However, Abdullah had not been listening in the past four years. Last month, the Information Minister, Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin assumed the new roles as Abdullah’s “Truth Gatekeeper” and Press Censor, laying the law to the media that Abdullah’s pledge to hear the truth was limited to Barisan Nasional leaders and top government officials and not to the public or the press.

It is significant that in my parliamentary exchange with Zainuddin on press freedom which is accessible on YouTube, thanks to RTM website, Zainuddin did not specifically deny that he had become the new “Gatekeeper” as to what is the truth to be conveyed to the Prime Minister.

This has resulted in all the printed media today playing down yesterday’s biggest peaceful public gathering during the four-year premiership of Abdullah to petition the Yang di Pertuan Agong on electoral reforms for the simple reason that the Prime Minister had refused to listen to the voice of the people.

No newspaper dared to publish photographs of the mammoth peaceful gathering, which is a tribute to Malaysians for their love of peace and commitment to democracy. This is because of Zainuddin’s directive to the printed media that no such photographs were to be published. All that the newspapers could print were pictures of massive traffic jams!

The mainstream media were not allowed free and independent reporting of yesterday’s gathering, which was completely peaceful except when marred by excessive force by police in firing tear gas and water cannons.

Newspapers dared not give an estimate of the mammoth peaceful gathering, and were forced to use the official figure by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan putting the gathering at 4,000 people.

If the Inspector-General of Police had not been misquoted, then the country’s top police officer suffer from the grave ailment of innumeracy or difficulty with numbers — as there is at least one zero missing when Musa said only 4,000 people responded at the mammoth Bersih peaceful gathering yesterday. Continue reading “Mammoth BERSIH gathering – People have spoken but will Abdullah listen or will he remain deaf, blind and mute?”