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With Hishammuddin clarification, the UMNO “Magnificent 7” who are currently under investigation for disciplinary action cannot be related to any “no confidence” motion against Najib in the forthcoming meeting of Parliament

UMNO Vice President and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday that former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had not betrayed UMNO by calling on the Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down as Prime Minister and the voters of Pekan to vote out Najib in Pekan.

Hishammuddin said: “In terms of the party, it is not a betrayal. (But) it should not go on and should not be entertained as it could break the party apart.”

Hishammuddin said such attacks could damage the party but so far, no damage has been done.

With Hishammuddin clarification, UMNO/BN MPs do not have to feel as if they are traitors to the nation or party if they are inclined to the position that Najib should not continue as Prime Ministere and want to discuss with the Opposition the proposal of no confidence motion against Najib as PM. Continue reading “With Hishammuddin clarification, the UMNO “Magnificent 7” who are currently under investigation for disciplinary action cannot be related to any “no confidence” motion against Najib in the forthcoming meeting of Parliament”

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Keris waving: A decade later

— Liew Chin Tong
The Malay Mail Online
July 20, 2015

JULY 20 — A decade ago on 20th July 2005, the then Umno Youth chief Hishammudin Hussein gave his infamous keris-wielding speech during the Umno Youth General Assembly, in a gesture that has come to symbolise Umno’s turn to right-wing politics since then.

His act of Keris waving is arguably the image that defined the last decade of Malaysian politics. Coupled together with Umno’s right turn, it paved the way for Umno’s dramatic decline.

The Keris waving act was part of the push to the right by certain groups within Umno during the 2005 Umno General Assembly.

The resolution of the said General Assembly was the introduction of a “Malay Agenda” and the reintroduction of the New Economic Policy, which had been downplayed in the early 1990s .

The keris waving act and Umno’s right turn did not gain Umno much new Malay support as the Malay middle ground dislikes harsh and extreme acts. Continue reading “Keris waving: A decade later”

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Najib should explain his role in the 1MDB-Tabung Haji fiasco, in particular whether he had approved or directed LTH in the 1MDB land sale

The Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) Chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahman has announced that following advice from the Prime Minister, the plot of prime land in the Kuala Lumpur city centre which LTH purchased from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is to be sold to the highest of three bidders within the next two weeks.

This has however not ended the storm over the scandal and stigma of criminal breach of trust of pilgrim funds to bailout 1MDB, which is acquiring increasing gale force with rising chorus for the resignation of the Chairman and the four top executives of LTH, the termination of the 1MDB-LTH land deal and the refund of the payment made by LTH, and even for the resignation of the Prime Minister himself.

The Prime Minister cannot continue with his policy of elegant silence while giving private and meaningless assurances that “he will not protect those involved” if there was any wrongdoing.

Even his cousin-UMNO Vice President, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein had broken ranks and joined Deputy UMNO President, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and UMNO Vice President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal to express concerns about the government’s credibility as to suggest an international, independent auditing firm to examine 1MDB accounts – which tantamounts to a vote of no confidence in Najib’s initiative in early March asking the Auditor-General to audit the 1MDB accounts. Continue reading “Najib should explain his role in the 1MDB-Tabung Haji fiasco, in particular whether he had approved or directed LTH in the 1MDB land sale”

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Two speeches by UMNO Ministers in Permatang Pauh yesterday highlighted the urgent need for UMNO to get a real education in democracy by being sent to Opposition benches with the end of its national monopoly of power since Merdeka in 1957 and Malaysia in 1963

Two speeches by UMNO Ministers in the Permatang Pauh by-election campaign yesterday highlighted the urgent need for UMNO to get a real education in democracy by being sent to Opposition benches with the end of its national monopoly of power since Merdeka in 1957 and formation of Malaysia in 1963.

The first was the haughty, arrogant and insufferable statement by the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who said that applications for agricultural funds and projects in Permatang Pauh will not be approved if Pakatan Rakyat wins the by-election again.

Speaking at the Kuala Mengkuang polling district, Ismail said:

“This is an agricultural area. I will surely approve if it is Suhaimi Sabudin (BN candidate) who is making the applications.

“If it is (PKR’s president and candidate Datuk Seri Dr) Wan Azizah (Wan Ismail), she will not even get past my office lobby.

“There is no reason for me to see her. She is from the opposition.”

Ismail, of the “call to Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses” notoriety, who not only highlighted the ingrained racist thinking of certain UMNO Ministers but also the double standards in the “administration of justice” by the Police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, clearly had no notion that his Ministerial responsibility is to 30 million Malaysians regardless of race, religion, territory or political affiliation; that he is not paid by UMNO funds but by public funds by all taxpayers and his duty is to be a Minister for all Malaysians, and not just to UMNO (which, eventually, ends up in only UMNO cronies)!

In a truly democratic administration, a Minister who make such petty-minded, anti-people and undemocratic sentiments would be immediately hauled up by the Prime Minister and made to retract his statement, even facing the risk of being sacked from the Cabinet, with or without such a retraction. Continue reading “Two speeches by UMNO Ministers in Permatang Pauh yesterday highlighted the urgent need for UMNO to get a real education in democracy by being sent to Opposition benches with the end of its national monopoly of power since Merdeka in 1957 and Malaysia in 1963”

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Has Zahid Hamidi been caught red-handed telling another lie?

I applaud the Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for his prompt response and clarification that he had never written a letter stating support for any individual to the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) now or during his time as Home Minister.

Hishammuddin was asked about this today, as I had issued a statement last Friday asking previous Home Ministers, in particular Zahid’s predecessor Hishammuddin as well as former occupants of this key post like Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad and Datuk Azmi Khalid to “speak up and clear themselves and to put the record straight” whether they had also written clarification letters to FBI has Zahid had done.

This was because Zahid had made the astonishing claim in his statement last Thursday when trying to exonerate himself from any wrong in his infamous letter to the FBI vouching for the character of alleged gambling kingpin Paul Phua, standing trial in Las Vegas, Nevada for illegal gambling, that previous Home Ministers before him had also written such clarification letters.

Has Zahid been caught red-handed telling a lie, unfairly, unjustly and dishonourably implicating other Ministers whether of this administration or previous regimes? Continue reading “Has Zahid Hamidi been caught red-handed telling another lie?”

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Najib’s Cabinet must not skirt issues raised by Dr M

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
20 August 2014

Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been the Malaysian prime minister for more than five years now but going by what his Cabinet colleagues say, the Pekan MP’s only success is handling the flight MH17 incident.

His cousin, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, said as much when defending Najib against stinging criticism from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, who stepped down in 2003.

Hishammuddin cited accomplishments, such as the handling of the remains from the MH17 incident, saying Najib succeeded where US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had failed.

But the defence minister hastened to add that he respected Dr Mahathir’s views, similar to some of his Cabinet colleagues, who straddled the fence in saying that Najib and the blunt political veteran should be equally respected. Continue reading “Najib’s Cabinet must not skirt issues raised by Dr M”

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Opposition angry Hishammuddin will not be around for MH370 briefing

by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
April 01, 2014

Pakatan Rakyat MPs are seething at Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s decision to attend the Asean Defence Ministers meeting in Hawaii, instead of briefing them tonight on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

Describing it as the “height of irresponsibility and an utter contempt of parliament”, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said they wanted Hishammuddin to brief them, and not his officers.

“This is proof that the Barisan Nasional government is not serious, especially on the roles that MPs can play on this matter,” Lim said in a press conference at the Parliament lobby today. Continue reading “Opposition angry Hishammuddin will not be around for MH370 briefing”

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Failing to manage MH370 crisis exposes leadership limit

The Malay Mail Online
March 12, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Malaysia, aspiring to become a developed nation in six years, is finding that more than 50 years under one coalition and tight control over information is a mismatch for handling a rapidly growing crisis followed across the world.

China is calling on Malaysia to be more transparent as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak lets his cousin, Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, be the face of the investigation into why a Malaysian Airline System Bhd. plane vanished on March 8. It was en route to Beijing with 239 people on board. Investigators from at least nine countries are trying to locate the jet.

Najib’s United Malays National Organisation leads the coalition governing the Southeast Asian nation. Only in recent years has it seen a move toward competitive elections, in some districts, that put a premium on public speaking. The government’s lack of a clear message, compounded by a series of false leads on the plane’s whereabouts and questions on coordination, risks undermining its image internationally.

“They’re handling a huge global issue as if it was domestic politics,” said Clive Kessler, Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, who has analysed the nation’s politics for half a century.

“With the cause of the disappearance still unknown you can understand the need for discretion and caution but it’s being perceived in Malaysia and elsewhere in the region as a bid to hide the truth.” Continue reading “Failing to manage MH370 crisis exposes leadership limit”

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Trapped in a vicious cycle

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Aug 5, 2013

“Malaysia is more dangerous than South Africa,” were the parting words of a retired couple who returned to Johannesburg after a failed attempt to live in Malaysia under the ‘Malaysia My Second Home’ (MM2H) programme. Friends of the couple said they had feared for their own and their family’s safety.

Unlike this South African couple, ordinary Malaysians are trapped in a vicious cycle of emboldened criminals, an inept police force and a government in denial. Few have access to guns like the Tan Sri who recently shot dead a thief at a clinic in Kuala Lumpur.

Owning a gun is not what Malaysians desire. We want a police force which is committed to tackling crime and not being the lapdog of Umno Baru. Cabinet ministers deny that a state of lawlessness exists. They issue statements and are then trapped by their own spin.

Former home minister Hishammuddin Hussein, more noted for his incompetence than his achievements in office, had complete disregard for the concerns of the public. He ridiculed the rakyat after they complained about rising crime levels and told them that increased crime was only a “perception”. Continue reading “Trapped in a vicious cycle”

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Hisham is endorsing political violence, says Pakatan

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 26, 2013

PETALING JAYA, March 26 — Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s recent remarks that he expects more disruption of opposition events soon is tantamount to endorsing political violence, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders alleged today.

The federal opposition coalition said that since the home minister had failed to give his assurance that the authorities will do its bit to protect them, PR is bracing for more political violence prior to and during Election 2013.

“The politics of slander and violence is definitely on the rise and we the leadership of PR is bracing for this,” Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told reporters after chairing the pact’s leaders council meeting at PKR’s headquarters here.

Anwar, the de facto leader of PR’s anchor party PKR, said the anticipation comes amid the pact’s preparation to launch its polls campaign nationwide.

Speaking at the same press conference, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang blasted Hishammuddin’s statement as unbecoming of a minister tasked to protect internal security.

“This will make it the dirtiest elections. This trend must be checked and stopped. We are becoming the laughing stock of the world,” Lim said.

The Ipoh Timur lawmaker added that Hishammuddin had also indirectly supported violence against the opposition by inciting hatred among government supporters in his speech on Sunday.

Party workers had shouted “Kill Tian Chua” when the Umno vice-president urged them to rally behind Barisan Nasional (BN) and “eliminate traitors” like PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, better known as Tian Chua, whose allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have been accused of instigating the Sulu invasion of Sabah. Continue reading “Hisham is endorsing political violence, says Pakatan”

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Pointing fingers to cover up incompetence in Sabah

— The Malaysian Insider
March 24, 2013

MARCH 24 — Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein took time off from leading the war against the Kiram clan in Sabah to remind the youth to rally behind Barisan Nasional (BN).

The Umno vice-president said PKR leaders like Chua Tian Chang had insulted the country’s armed forces despite several of them losing their lives to protect Malaysia’s sovereignty.

“What is going on in Sabah should not be politicised, this is an issue on our sovereignty.

“Whose hand is it is behind the intrusion, is there a third party involved? Who is this person who would forsake his own race and nation just because he wants power?” Hishammuddin told some 1,000 party youth supporters who responded with loud shouts of “Kill Tian Chua”.

This comes from the home minister who sent a tweet on February 18 describing the Sulu gunmen as “Fact: Most of the intruders old or malnourished. Wear sarongs/slippers…a few… hv arms.”

All hell broke loose a few weeks later and eight Malaysian policemen and soldiers are now dead. Continue reading “Pointing fingers to cover up incompetence in Sabah”

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BN must be destroyed

Dean Johns
Malaysiakini
Mar 6, 2013

I’ve expressed this obvious message in so many ways over the years – in attempts to spice it up with variety – all to no apparent avail thus far, that it strikes me that I should try mindless repetition for a change.

This will be terribly tedious for us all of course, but the possible gain could be well worth our collective pain. Because repetition of the patently, blatantly obvious has worked a treat in the past.

Most famously, as history recalls, for Cato the Elder, who in the years between 175 and 146BC bored his fellow ancient Romans witless by ending his every speech in the senate with the statement that “Carthage must be destroyed”.

Four words that for years rendered Cato a figure of fun. But finally taken seriously and given force by the Roman sword, they proved to be a death sentence to the dreaded Carthage.

Thus my hopes for the similar success of my mantra for the foreseeable future, or at least until Malaysia’s endlessly-awaited 13th general election: BN must be destroyed.

Admittedly, BN is not a foreign threat to Malaysia as Carthage was to Rome. But this criminal coalition is arguably as dangerous to the future of the Malaysia and Malaysians as any external enemy might be.

For more than 50 years, and especially in the past 30, BN has been an insidious, creeping evil attacking and infesting Malaysia by stealth.

Steadily stealing as much of the nation’s land, oil, timber, corporate wealth and hard cash as it can get away with, and simultaneously robbing Malaysians of all possible forms of defence or redress.

BN may not be an invader, but it is certainly an all-pervader. It has systematically colonised and co-opted the civil services at every level from federal to local with its own relatives, cronies, sycophants and place-seekers. Continue reading “BN must be destroyed”

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Questions about Lahad Datu Crisis

By Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysian Digest
6.3.2013

Malaysians cannot but be shocked by what is happening in Sabah. And although our security forces are now hunting the remaining Sulu Sultanate intruders after having bombarded them in Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu, the crisis is far from over.

Meanwhile, questions abound in the minds of the lay public.

How did the intruders sneak into Lahad Datu from Feb 9 onwards, more than three weeks ago? There were reportedly as many as 300 of them, some heavily armed. How did that escape detection? Our Special Branch is highly regarded as being among the best intelligence units in the world. Did it not get wind of this incursion early enough?

Once the intruders had entered Lahad Datu, and after they had openly declared their intentions for intruding – which was to reclaim the area as their ancestral homeland – why did the Malaysian Government not react quickly enough to get them out?

A claim like that is a serious one and if it was not immediately nipped in the bud could lead to bigger implications. As it has turned out, these implications are beginning to emerge.

And yet, for two weeks, the Government humoured the intruders by engaging in, so the public was told by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, diplomatic negotiations. Political commentators called it giving them kid gloves’ treatment. Continue reading “Questions about Lahad Datu Crisis”

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Fighter jets bomb Kg Tanduo, villagers flee area

Live Reports
Malaysiakini
8:22AM Mar 5, 2013

The operation to remove the foreign intruders from Kg Tanduo, where more than 100 gunmen have holed up for three weeks began at 7am today.

——————————————————————————–

LIVE REPORTS

10.17am: Quoting a report from ANC News Channel, InterAksyon.com reports that bombs were being dropped about a kilometer away from where Azzimudie Kiram and his men were located.

Leader Azzimudie says his group could not yet determine if the bombs were meant to target them or their followers, but they remained safe and secure and were ready to fight back.

Meanwhile in Manila, a group of protesters have arrived at the Malaysia embassy to condemn the attack.

10.15am: Azzimudie Kiram, leader of the intruders, vents his anger at the Philippine government in a radio interview with InterAksyon.com, the online news portal of Philippine TV channel TV5.

“The government is ordering the arrest of our companions even if we haven’t done anything bad,” he said. “It’s like we aren’t Filipinos.”

Meanwhile, Abraham Idjarani, spokesperson of the sultanate, tells radio station dzBB that Azzimudie had phoned to inform them of the start of the assault.

“There is nothing to be done about that now,” Idjirani said in a separate interview with AFP.

He stressed that Azzimudie’s earlier announcement that they will fight to the end remains.

“We are not intruders. They (Malaysians) are the ones occupying our ancestral land,” he says.

10.09am: Police have set up a checkpoint on the main road in Tanjung Labian, which is about 5km from the site of hostilities. No one are allowed into the area.

The sounds of bombings have stopped in the last one hour. It is unclear whether ground troops have moved in as Kampung Tanduo has been off-limit to journalists since the stand-off began.

10.05am: In Manila, a team of police and journalists are gathering outside the Malaysian embassy. They are expecting a group of protesters to arrive there.

9.55am: Azzimudie Kiram confirmed during an interview with ABS-CBN’s dzMM radio that Malaysian forces are using fighter jets in the latest attack on their position in Lahad Datu.

The royal army’s leader also expressed his disappointment over Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s position on the crisis.

He said that the governments of Malaysia and the Philippines has obviously stopped listening to their calls for a peaceful resolution of the standoff. Continue reading “Fighter jets bomb Kg Tanduo, villagers flee area”

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The worst home minister

— Willy Gomes
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 03, 2013

MARCH 3 — You are off the hook, Syed Hamid Albar. You are no longer the worst home minister Malaysia has had. And for that you can thank your fellow politician from Johor, Hishammuddin Hussein.

Syed Hamid, you will forever be remembered as the minister who ordered the arrest of a journalist under the ISA for her own protection! You also ignited the Allah debate by not allowing the Malay section of the Herald to use the word Allah.

Bravo!

But you have nothing on Hishammuddin. The man is clueless about everything. He looks like a tourist in Lahad Datu and actually thinks that it is reassuring for Malaysians to hear that he will not leave Sabah until the incursion situation has been resolved.

Can someone get him out of there and allow the police or army to handle this grave situation? His handling of the incursion has been a joke as have the portrayal of the Sulu fighters. Continue reading “The worst home minister”

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Two M’sians among 12 killed in Lahad Datu

From fb

Tweets:

1. Most shocking at death of 2 police cammandoes n 2 injured. http://goo.gl/YMnkq 2 M’sians among 12 killed in Lahad Datu (Mkini)

2. Death of two police commandoes unacceptable as Msian police enjoy superior security strength/logistics. Hisham also told press conference today “no deaths”

(From Malaysiakini) A spokesperson of the sultanate of Sulu claimed that 10 people were killed and four others wounded in a exchange of fire between Malaysian security forces and the Sulu sultanate intruders in Lahad Datu this morning.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that two Malaysian police commandoes were killed in a mortar attack, and that another two injured soldiers have since been airlifted to a hospital.

ABS-CBNnews reported that Sulu sultanate spokesperson Abraham Idjirani said he had just talked to the self-proclaimed Sulu sultan Jamalul Kiram’s (left) brother Azzimudie Kiram, who heads the armed group in Lahad Datu. Continue reading “Two M’sians among 12 killed in Lahad Datu”

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Bilakah Najib akan meletak ketepi dahulu kempen hariannya untuk PRU13 dan pergi melawat mereka di Lahad Datu untuk memastikan penyelesaian segera kebuntuan dengan penceroboh Sulu yang sudah masuk minggu ketiga

Saya mengalu-alukan lawatan Ketua Menteri Sabah Datuk Seri Musa Aman dan Kabinetnya ke Felda Sahabat 16 di Lahad Datu semalam bagi mendapatkan pandangan terus berkenaan kebuntuan antara pasukan keselamatan Malaysia dan yang kononnya Tentera Diraja Kesultanan Sulu.

Ini merupakan salah satu objektif lawatan saya ke Felda Sabahat 16 di Lahad Datu dua hari lalum bersama-sama dengan wakil yang dilantik DAP Sabah, termasuklah Jimmy Wong Sze Phing, Naib Pengerusi Negeri Frederick Fung, Setiausaha Negeri Dr. Edwin Bosi, Setiausaha Publisiti Negeri Chan Foong Hin, Ahli Parlimen Kota Kinabalu Hiew King Cheu, DAP Penolong Setiausaha Penganjur Kebangsaan Vincent Wu.

Lawatan kami ke Lahad Datu pada 20 Feb mempunyai objective berikut:

  • Misi mendapatkan fakta untuk menentukan keadaan sebenar di tempat kejadian berkenaan kebuntuan yang berlaku;
  • untuk memahami kebimbangan penduduk tempatan;
  • menunjukkan solidariti dengan rakyat di Lahad Datu yang terkesan dengan kejadian itu; dan
  • menghantar mesej yang jelas kepada Kerajaan Persekutuan dan kerajaan negeri Sabah, khususnya Perdana Menteri dan Ketua Menteri Sabah, untuk memberi keutamaan kepada siatuasi buntuk di sana bagi memastikan penyelesaian segera kerana semakin banyak masalah timbul kepada rakyat Sabah.

Saya gembira kerana kami telah mencapai matlamat sejauh mana melibatkan kerajaan negeri Sabah, kerana sejurus selepas lawatan kami, pada hari berikutnya Ketua Menteri Sabah dan rombongan Kabinetnya telah melawat Felda Sahabat 16 untuk mendapatkan taklimat di pos keselamatan General Operations Force (GOF) di sana. Continue reading “Bilakah Najib akan meletak ketepi dahulu kempen hariannya untuk PRU13 dan pergi melawat mereka di Lahad Datu untuk memastikan penyelesaian segera kebuntuan dengan penceroboh Sulu yang sudah masuk minggu ketiga”