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Jaundiced justice

By Martin Jalleh
July 23, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

JULY 23 — In the midst of a packed courtroom of members and supporters of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) many of whom wore red T-shirts, the Kuala Lumpur High Court of Justice Su Geok Yiam turned “yellow” yesterday.

Justice was compromised, as a cowed Court caved in and allowed the application by the government, police and home minister to adjourn hearing the habeas corpus applications of six PSM leaders who have been held under the Emergency Ordinance since July 2. Continue reading “Jaundiced justice”

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EU mulls observer group as EC ‘not credible’, say diplomats

By Jahabar Sadiq
Editor
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 24, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Despite Putrajaya’s strident defence of the Election Commission (EC), European Union (EU) diplomats are looking into proposals to send observer groups for the next general election as they found the commission “not credible” after a recent briefing here.

Several diplomats told The Malaysian Insider that EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof’s briefing weeks before the Bersih rally on July 9 did not convince them of the commission’s neutrality as he kept referring to being part of the government.

“They are not credible. Abdul Aziz kept repeating ‘us’ and ‘we in the government’ during the briefing,” a European diplomat told The Malaysian Insider. Continue reading “EU mulls observer group as EC ‘not credible’, say diplomats”

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What’s really choking investments in Malaysia?

by Edwin Yapp
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 21, 2011

JULY 21 — In my many years as a journalist, one of the most oft-asked questions I’ve put to interviewees who have business interests here in Malaysia is: “What are some of the factors that have prompted you to invest in Malaysia?”

The answers that I get, though not exactly the same every time, can be summarised into one or more of the following major points: low costs, multilingual workforce, skilled labour, and political stability. This was especially true in the heydays of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia, when multinationals began pouring their investments into Cyberjaya, building their shared services and outsourcing centres there.

Thus, I read with interest an article last week which quoted our deputy minister of international trade and industry as saying that one of the main features that attracted investors to Malaysia was political stability.

He went on to say that it was “unfortunate” his ministry will now have to rely on other “features” in its bid to promote the country, especially coming off the back of last week’s Bersih 2.0 rally. Continue reading “What’s really choking investments in Malaysia?”

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Bersih 2.0 rally – a basketful of faux pas by BN Government, before during after and still ongoing!

If someone had been assigned beforehand to a special task to script the worst-possible scenarios for the Najib administration in relation to the July 9 Bersih 2.0 peaceful rally for fair and free elections, nobody could be so creative as to pre-plan the basketful of faux pas committed by the Barisan Nasional government before, during and after “709” and still ongoing.

Before

The basketful of faux pax before 709 included:

1. Arbitrary declaration of Bersih 2.0 as unlawful.

2. Ban on Bersih T-shirts and paraphernalia, to include even yellow T-shirts, coupled with indiscriminate arrests.

3. Police and government disrespect to the Yang di Pertuan Agong who had met with Bersih 2.0 leaders and suggested a compromise of a stadium rally instead of a march – accepted by Bersih 2.0 but reneged by the authorities. Continue reading “Bersih 2.0 rally – a basketful of faux pas by BN Government, before during after and still ongoing!”

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Use indelible ink for GE, not on the Economist

Malaysiakini Your Say | Jul 21, 11

‘It would have been more beneficial if the ink was used to blank out racist hate articles in Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia.’

‘Economist’ to investigate censored Bersih report

Malaysian Born: Someone should get a message to Home Ministry Publications Control and Quranic Text Division secretary Abd Aziz Md Nor. Next time you want an opinion on what to do, please check with someone at the ministry and the police who are qualified, preferably someone with a basic level of common sense.
Continue reading “Use indelible ink for GE, not on the Economist”

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Daddy’s letter brought tears to my eyes

Malaysiakini Your Say | Jul 21, 11

‘My son asked what is Bersih and why people want to march? I told him I’m marching so that he does not have to do so in future.’

Why Daddy chose to stand with the crowd

Anonymous 7: Well done, Da Huang Daddy. Your letter brought tears to my eyes. Yes, this is our country, and I want it for my child too. I feel sad for not being there, but thank God for people like you, Da Huang, and the tens of thousands of others.

Judging by the numbers of people at rally, that itself is a victory.
Continue reading “Daddy’s letter brought tears to my eyes”

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Auntie Bersih: The arts my political awakening

By Nigel Aw | Jul 21, 11
Malaysiakini

EXCLUSIVE When Anne Ooi arrived in Kuala Lumpur eight years ago, this Penangite was no political animal. But the move to the city centre was a pivotal change – climaxing in the events of July 9 – the day an iconic picture of ‘Auntie Bersih’ was captured.

The image of a lone, elderly and frail woman clad in a yellow T-shirt, drenched to the bone in chemical-laced water amid the backdrop of a vanguard of riot police flanked by water cannon trucks, has become a symbol of resilience and resistance in the face of oppression.
Continue reading “Auntie Bersih: The arts my political awakening”

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Kit Siang labels Najib, Hisham ‘instant jokes’ over Economist black-out

By Debra Chong
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 20, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 – Putrajaya’s decision to black-out portions of international magazine The Economist’s latest issue has backfired on the prime minister and home minister who both are now the target of jokes worldwide, DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said today.

The veteran opposition lawmaker recommended that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also overhaul the home ministry led by the latter’s cousin Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and appoint as officers in charge those who were more tech-savvy and up-to-date on current affairs.

Lim poked fun at the Najib administration for blotting out large segments of the weekly magazine’s July 16 edition that covered the Bersih 2.0 rally earlier this month, despite the article being also available online . Continue reading “Kit Siang labels Najib, Hisham ‘instant jokes’ over Economist black-out”

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Why Daddy chose to stand with the crowd

Da Huang Daddy | Jul 20, 11
Malaysiakini

EYEWITNESS

My dear daughter, Daddy told you this morning that I was travelling to work; in fact, I was travelling to Kuala Lumpur to participate with the so-called “bad” people, as the TV had labelled them.

Early in the morning, after giving you a kiss while you were sleeping, Mummy took Daddy to the airport. Why didn’t I drive? Because I heard that the police uncles had surrounded Kuala Lumpur, and as such, I might not be able to arrive there by driving.

Mummy: “What if you are caught?”

Daddy: “That is why you must stay – to bail me out.” Continue reading “Why Daddy chose to stand with the crowd”

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The political impact of Bersih 2.0

By Johan Saravanamuttu
Free Malaysia Today
July 20, 2011

The BN is still haemorrhaging from the Sarawak state election of April 16, where it lost the urban vote. Bersih 2.0 shows a continuing slide.

COMMENT

The repercussions of Bersih 2.0 will no doubt be profound. It has already been dubbed as Malaysia’s “Hibiscus Revolution”. The question that is now uppermost in the public imagination is whether the current government will also suffer a severe blow for its inept handling of the event.

Bersih started out in 2006 as a movement of civil society forces and political parties calling for clean and fair elections. Its demands for cleaning up the electoral rolls, reviewing postal votes, including allowing for voting from abroad, fair access to the media, the elimination of corrupt practices are nothing radical or revolutionary and yet the government’s resistance to it has allowed the opposition parties and those not in support of the present government to easily latch on to a ready-made platform for galvanising support.

Bersih’s first political rally on Nov 10, 2007 saw some 40,000 Malaysian streaming into the heart of Kuala Lumpur, setting a benchmark for peaceful political protest in Malaysia. Continue reading “The political impact of Bersih 2.0”

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Najib, the Queen and the Pope

By Luke Hunt
The Diplomat
July 19, 2011

Marrying the demands of international diplomacy with the political realities of home is a tough ask for most countries and their foreign ministries. The two can be a difficult fit, as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has found out all too well.

Some back home seem determined to provide an unwanted backdrop for his whistle-stop European tour designed to shore-up his country’s vastly improving relations with the West and bring in some much needed foreign investment.

However, echoes of the Bersih movement and their demands for electoral reform have dogged Najib and his entourage from London to Rome, while the prime minister’s own supporters have provided the nastiest thorn in his political side with wild and unsubstantiated claims of unwanted foreign meddling in domestic affairs. Continue reading “Najib, the Queen and the Pope”

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Bersih rally was 1Malaysia in action

Yin Ee Kiong | Jul 20, 11
Malaysiakini

EYEWITNESS

There’s light at the end of the tunnel and it is not from an on-coming train.

Malaysians are slowly but surely emerging from the dark hole that we have been in for well over 40 years. I am once again confident of our country’s future; recent events have convinced me of this.

I would be the first to admit that I have often doubted the resolve of Malaysians in the face of repression and abuse of power by its authorities. I look at Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, even Myanmar, and wonder at the courage of their citizens who fight for change against almost insurmountable odds.

Then I look at ourselves and wonder why we seem so useless. Or perhaps we are not really useless – perhaps we are just a little more patient. However, 40 years of abuse of power will wear away even the patience of a saint. On July 9, that patience evaporated. Continue reading “Bersih rally was 1Malaysia in action”

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Utusan hitting the streets with blacked-ou​t headlines, blotches of black and full pages in black if it gets “Economist​” treatment from Home Ministry

The UMNO official organ, Utusan Malaysia, will be hitting the newsstands every day with blacked-out headlines in front or inside pages, blotches of black or even full pages in black if it is given the Economist treatment by Home Ministry “censoring incorrect and misleading information”.

And what a sight it would be!

This is because no other mainstream media in Malaysia could compete with Utusan for the tonnage of garbage, lies and falsehoods it purveys everyday!

It would undoubtedly make Utusan Malaysia the only one newspaper of its kind in the world as to justify to get into both the Guinness and Malaysia Books of Records! Continue reading “Utusan hitting the streets with blacked-ou​t headlines, blotches of black and full pages in black if it gets “Economist​” treatment from Home Ministry”

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Auntie Bersih spooked by Facebook attention

Kow Gah Chie | Jul 20, 11
Malaysiakini

Eleven days after inspiring netizens for her heroic role in the Bersih 2.0 rally, Auntie Anne Ooi has gone into hiding.

Ooi, 65, said she is stunned by the attention she has received on the Facebook page set up for her, which has gained more than 40,000 ‘likes’ to date.

She has been praised as the ‘Malaysian Lady of Liberty’ and held up as an icon of the Bersih 2.0 cause for clean and fair elections.

For a retired teacher who has led a simple life and who has no knowledge of social media, the intense attention has come as a culture shock.
Continue reading “Auntie Bersih spooked by Facebook attention”

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Putrajaya, the days of censorship are over

Malaysiakini Your Say | Jul 20, 11

‘Is this where our indelible ink from March 2008 went, to black out a report on clean elections rally? Shameful and pathetic.’

Economist report on Bersih rally ‘censored’

Lynn: Other than the obvious stupidity of blatant censoring, this also shows how bloated the civil service is – to have people on payroll sitting around manually blacking out thousands of copies of The Economist. What a waste of time and typical of the inefficiencies of our government today.

Jaguh: These cowardly acts indicate shallow thinking. Whoever suggested it has no brains. There is the Internet. This really reflects on the whole cabinet (they all should be in a ‘cabinet’) and frankly, compared to other countries, they have no class, no standards and no morals. A change is imminent.
Continue reading “Putrajaya, the days of censorship are over”

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Bersih rally sounds death knell of tyranny

It seems to me the recent Bersih rally could have sounded the death knell of tyranny and overnight Ambiga has become the people’s iconic hero for electoral reform

By N H Chan

The picture on the front page of the Sunday Star, 10 July 2011 spoke louder than words. It showed the huge crowd of peaceful but bold Bersih supporters flying in the face of the cowardly might of the police who were decked out in full riot paraphernalia. They must be daunted by the sea of placid, mostly young, people facing them.

Those in the front rows were seated on the road and those at the back were standing. All were unarmed and none were menacing the police. They were all peaceful demonstrators who were trying to put across to the imbeciles in power the people’s right to peaceful assembly and to show that they were united in their call for a clean and incorrupt general election. Continue reading “Bersih rally sounds death knell of tyranny”

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Najib/Hisham – have you lost all power over Utusan spin-doctors?

UMNO’s spin doctors in Utusan Malaysia are scraping the bottom of the barrel bringing out of the woodwork discredited personalities to weave lies which positively damage Malaysia’s national interests and international image.

The latest incident is the surfacing of the discredited Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor who gave an interview with Mingguan Malaysia on Sunday alleging the Bersih 2.0 rally could open the door to Jews and Israel to infiltrate Malaysia as there were parties who wanted countries like Malaysia that was against Jews and Israel to be toppled. Continue reading “Najib/Hisham – have you lost all power over Utusan spin-doctors?”

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5,000 private doctors call for Jeyakumar’s release

Malaysiakini | Jul 19, 11

The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations, which represents some 5,000 private doctors nationwide, has joined hands with others in the medical profession in calling for the release of Sungai Siput MP Dr D Jeyakumar.

“We are extremely concerned at the continued detention of our colleague, Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, whom we all recognise and acknowledge as a law-abiding, competent, kind and diligent doctor.

“His public service record is exemplary and, to the very best of our knowledge, he is certainly not a threat to our society,” the federation said in a media statement today.
Continue reading “5,000 private doctors call for Jeyakumar’s release”

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Kit Siang to Hisham: How about NST, Berita Harian?

Malaysiakini | Jul 19, 11

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has urged Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to act fairly and equally against all publications instead of indulging in selective persecution over the coverage of the Bersih 2.0 rally of July 9.

Reacting to the disclosure by a PAS volunteer that he had been falsely accused of holding a knife and rock-throwing during the Saturday demonstrations, Lim asked whether New Straits Times (NST) and sister-publication Berita Minggu would be hauled up by the home ministry to answer claims their reports had distorted the events of that day.

Lim also cited the ministry’s summoning of three Chinese-language dailies last week over claims they had reported favourably on what the authorities had branded were “illegal assemblies”.
Continue reading “Kit Siang to Hisham: How about NST, Berita Harian?”

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‘Economist’ report on Bersih rally ‘censored’

Hazlan Zakaria & Wong Teck Chi | Jul 19, 11
Malaysiakini

Opposition parliamentarians have claimed that the July 16 edition of The Economist has been defaced by the Home Ministry in an apparent attempt to censor a report on the Bersih 2.0 rally for electoral reform.

“The Economist July16 issue has been censored/black inked on Bersih story by Home Ministry,” reads a tweet by Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran.

In photos distributed via micro-blog site Twitter, the report headlines ‘Political affray in Malaysia: Taken to the cleaners’ shows lines blacked out by what seems to be a permanent marker pen.
Continue reading “‘Economist’ report on Bersih rally ‘censored’”