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Something? No, some things are rotten in Malaysia

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
11 February 2015

The inimitable Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad didn’t quite hit the nail on the head when he paraphrased Shakespeare to say something is rotten in Malaysia.

One, it is not about people not being paid for so-called work done. Or their permits pulled. Or their proposals copied. Or local white knights having their bids to take over companies rejected without even a look.

Two. It isn’t something. It is a lot of things.

here do we begin? Continue reading “Something? No, some things are rotten in Malaysia”

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LIVE: Anwar’s 5-year jail sentence upheld

BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
10 February 2015

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sentence of five years’ jail was upheld by the Federal Court today, ending his public office as oppositon leader and Permatang Pauh MP.

The Federal Court dismissed applications by the defence to lessen the five-year jail sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal and also rejected prosecution’s appeal to enhance the prison term.

Earlier, before sentence was passed, Anwar attacked the five-man bench which convicted him today accusing them of “bowing to their political masters and becoming partners in crime in the murder of the judiciary”.

Anwar told the bench led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria that a full statement was issued by the Prime Minister’s Office barely minutes after the judgment was delivered.

“In bowing to political masters they have disgraced themselves and have become partners in crime in the murder of the judiciary,” Anwar said, before Arifin asked lead defence counsel Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram to tell Anwar to stop.

But Sri Ram told Arifin that his client had the right to address the court, to which Arifin retorted, “yes, on the appeal but not to condemn the court”.

But the opposition leader continued attacking the judiciary, adding “you had the opportunity to right the wrong but you chose to remain on the dark side”.

At this juncture, Arifin and the rest of the bench walked out. Continue reading “LIVE: Anwar’s 5-year jail sentence upheld”

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Wolf in sheep’s clothing

Mariam Mokhtar| January 9, 2015
Free Malaysia Today

The greatest threat to the Malays comes from bigots like Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Umno Baru and extremist Muslim NGOs.

COMMENT

Former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad has dishonoured his profession. He is a disappointing role model to Malaysians and a disgrace to his Muslim brethren. Whilst many Malaysians are trying to rebuild their lives after the devastating floods, it appears that Hamid is keen to sow seeds of hatred and create racial disharmony. There must be a reason for Hamid’s racial attack. His reappearance comes just as the nation is questioning the lack of preparedness of the government and the attitude of the ministers in dealing with the flood crisis in Kelantan.

It is perplexing that Hamid’s inflammatory remarks on race and religion continue to escape censure by the authorities. His comments have come at a time when the rakyat is demanding answers to many problems besetting the government.

Is Abdul Hamid colluding with the government to distract the Malaysian public from issues like 1MDB, the Kassim Ahmad trial and the appeal against the acquittal of the two men implicated in Altantuya’s murder? Or is he acting to divert attention away from the negative publicity generated by the flooding?

According to news reports on January 3, Hamid wrote a letter to Utusan Malaysia to voice his support for a PAS-Umno unity government. The greater strength would enable Malays to stem the rise of Chinese political power, he reportedly said. He said Malay loyalties were divided between PAS and Umno Baru, thus giving the Chinese ample opportunity to exploit the political situation.

He said that after the tsunami in Aceh, the provincial government worked together with the central government in Jakarta to rebuild the county. He strongly hinted that Kelantan should emulate Aceh to form the unity government of PAS and Umno-Baru. He said, “Isn’t there a lesson to be learnt from Aceh? Hasn’t the disaster taught them to repent and start prioritising something bigger like religion and race instead of party interests?” Continue reading “Wolf in sheep’s clothing”

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Church fails to get 9-man bench to hear ‘Allah’ review

by V. Anbalagan
The Malaysian Insider
11 January 2015

The chief justice of Malaysia has turned down a request by the Catholic Church to convene a minimum nine-man panel to deliberate its review application against the ban on the word Allah when the case comes up on January 21.

The church was instead informed that only a five-man bench would be constituted to hear the matter.

The decision by Tun Arifin Zakaria was conveyed to the Catholic Church by the special officer to the chief justice, Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab, in a letter dated December 31.

The letter which was sighted by The Malaysian Insider, said that the request for a full bench could not be entertained. There were no reasons given on why the request was dismissed.

On December 23, a lawyer for the church had sent a letter to Arifin, urging for at least nine Muslim and non-Muslim judges to hear its arguments on fundamental constitutional provisions relating to religion.

The letter, which was also sighted by The Malaysian Insider, had said the church wanted a quorum that reflected the multi-cultural and multi-religious diversity of Malaysian society, given the nature of the issues raised. Continue reading “Church fails to get 9-man bench to hear ‘Allah’ review”

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A wretched, horrendous year, with little cheer

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
31 December 2014

2014 has been a wretched and horrendous year for Malaysia, with very little spots of sunny cheer for Malaysians. All 52 weeks have seen us angry and sad – not quite the happy Malaysia Truly Asia that we portray in tourism advertisements.

Grief has been Malaysia’s main point of unity – from the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on March 8 to flight MH17 that was shot out of the sky on July 17 to the tragic crash of AirAsia Bhd Indonesian affiliate’s flight QZ8501 on December 28, in the last days of the year.

Three commercial plane crashes linked to Malaysia in just a year – what are the chances of that?

And while that dominated the headlines, there has been other events that added to Malaysia’s grief. Statistics showed that 189 people died of dengue so far this year, up from 95 in 2013. Continue reading “A wretched, horrendous year, with little cheer”

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Epitomising Dr M’s criticisms of the gov’t

By Ganeshwaran Kana
Malaysiakini
6:43PM Dec 29, 2014

COMMENT Dear Dr Mahathir Mohamad. I would consider “vociferous” as the best and most suitable word to epitomise your criticisms against Malaysia’s government of the day in recent times. As a citizen of Malaysia, one has the right to speak of and criticise his or her government.

Although some of your arguments have gained public support, the current generation of Malaysia has all the rights to question policies and actions of your governance in the past.

To set the record straight right at the start, I am neither a supporter of Umno nor of “the other side”.

Nevertheless, being a civic-minded citizen of Malaysia, I would like to request your explanations pertaining to various issues spanning throughout your 22 years in your journey as the prime minister of Malaysia.

Although I duly recognise your contributions to Malaysia, any flaw and mistakes that took place under your long premiership should be taken as your mishandling. This is what real leaders do.

And, hopefully, this commentary of mine is not to be seen as seditious. Continue reading “Epitomising Dr M’s criticisms of the gov’t”

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How could an extremist with racial and religious prejudice rise up to become Chief Justice, the top judicial officer of the land?

The question more and more lawyers and Malaysians are asking is how an extremist with racial and religious prejudice like Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad could rise up to become Chief Justice, the top judicial officer of the land.

Last month, Tun Hamid shocked the judicial community and Malaysians when he waded into treacherous waters and warned at the so-called National Unity Convention that Malays will become “Red Indians in their own land” if UMNO and PAS do not co-operate to defend the government from DAP and PKR.

Hamid was never interested in national unity in the sense of Malaysian unity but only in his concept of Malay unity.

He also did not explain how after 57 years of UMNO government under six UMNO Prime Ministers, Malays and Islam are under threat or whether 57 years of UMNO government under six UMNO Prime Ministers had been such dismal failures that Malays and Islam are under siege today. Continue reading “How could an extremist with racial and religious prejudice rise up to become Chief Justice, the top judicial officer of the land?”

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MCA and Gerakan Ministers should explain why they have not raised any objection at Friday’s Cabinet meeting to the unconstitutional proposal to set up a Syariah Federal Court with the same powers as the civil Federal Court

MCA and Gerakan Ministers should explain why they have not raised any objection at Friday’s Cabinet meeting to the unconstitutional proposal to set up a Syariah Federal Court with the same powers as the civil Federal Court.

This unconstitutional move by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom to have a parallel court system at the federal level
was reported on Thursday’s Berita Harian, and MCA and Gerakan Ministers – as well as other Cabinet members – were remiss in their constitutional oath and political responsibilities in failing to object to such a proposal at Friday’s Cabinet meeting and to demand that all Federal Government involvement in such an unconstitutional development be halted immediately.

Instead, the MCA and Gerakan Ministers have chosen to ask their lowly representatives who are neither in Parliament or any State Assembly to raise objections, knowing that such voices would be ignored completely – when the right and proper place for such objections to be raised is the Cabinet on Friday.

The establishment of a Syariah Federal Court with equivalent powers of the civil Federal Court goes against the very structure and foundation of the Merdeka Constitution of 1957 and Malaysia Constitution of 1963, stipulating that the Constitution is supreme and that any law, whether federal or state, primary or secondary, enacted before or after Merdeka, which infringes the Constitution is void. Continue reading “MCA and Gerakan Ministers should explain why they have not raised any objection at Friday’s Cabinet meeting to the unconstitutional proposal to set up a Syariah Federal Court with the same powers as the civil Federal Court”

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Nancy Shukri should avail herself of making a Ministerial statement in Parliament to rectify two major errors she committed in Parliament last week

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Nancy Shukri, should avail herself of the opportunity of making a Ministerial statement in Parliament to rectify two major errors she committed in Parliament last week.

She committed the first mistake on the first day of Parliament on Tuesday, 7th October, when answering the question by the Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who asked the Prime Minister whether the government’s use of the law against Pakatan Rakyat leaders, activists and intellectuals was in line with the prime minister’s commitment to make Malaysia more democratic.

Defending the blitz of sedition prosecutions and the “white terror” launched by the authorities in the past few months, Nancy claimed that the Malaysian government practises and upholds the doctrine of the separation of powers and as such the government does not interfere in the Attorney-General’s Chambers affairs.

Here, Nancy made the grave error about the doctrine of separation of powers, as the Attorney-General is part of the executive and not the judiciary in the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. Continue reading “Nancy Shukri should avail herself of making a Ministerial statement in Parliament to rectify two major errors she committed in Parliament last week”

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Can state Islamic authorities decide what you can’t read?

By Zurairi AR
Malay Mail Online
October 9, 2014

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 9 — In a landmark case that will determine the extent of the freedom of expression in Malaysia, the country’s top court will weigh today the constitutionality of a state Shariah law to ban “religious” publications deemed against Islam.

Local publishing house ZI Publications Sdn Bhd and its director Ezra Zaid are challenging a Selangor state law that essentially criminalises any person who “prints, publishes, produces, records, or disseminates in any manner any book or document or any other form of record containing anything which is contrary to Islamic Law”, or “has in his possession any such book, document or other form of record for sale or for the purpose of otherwise disseminating it”.

If found guilty under Section 16(1) of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Selangor) Enactment 1995, the offender faces a fine not exceeding RM3,000 or two years’ prison, or both.

In addition, Section 16(2) of the same law empowers the state Shariah Court to order any book, document or other form of record to be “forfeited and destroyed”, even when nobody is convicted under Section 16(1). Continue reading “Can state Islamic authorities decide what you can’t read?”

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How far back do we go before being seditious becomes ridiculous?

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
10 September 2014

Today, a Malaysian preacher was charged with sedition for something he wrote in his Facebook account in November 2012. That is about 22 months ago.

How far will the authorities go back to decide what is seditious and what is not?

Would what Tunku Abdul Rahman say about seeking independence or what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said in the constitutional crisis of 1983 and 1993 be considered seditious under the Sedition Act 1948? Continue reading “How far back do we go before being seditious becomes ridiculous?”

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Teoh Beng Hock appeal verdict a turning point?

– Koon Yew Yin
The Malaysian Insider
10 September 2014

In the last few years, the reputation of Malaysia’s judiciary for fairness and adherence to do justice strictly according to the law has taken a severe beating.

Notorious cases such as the Linda Joy, Anwar Ibrahim, Nizar vs Zambry, and other less politically visible cases have raised public doubts as to whether our judges, especially in cases with politically sensitive outcomes, are able to arrive at fair and just decisions.

Or whether in fact the opposite has taken place with judges more concerned with career advancement and playing ball with the powers that be. Continue reading “Teoh Beng Hock appeal verdict a turning point?”

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Court of Appeal reverses open verdict ruling in Teoh Beng Hock’s death

BY V. ANBALAGAN |TMI
5 September 2014

The Court of Appeal has set aside the open verdict by a coroner on the death of Teoh Beng Hock five years ago, ruling that “a person or persons were responsible for his death”.

Judges Datuk Mohamad Arif Md Yusof, Datuk Mah Weng Kwai and Datuk Hamid Sultan Abu Backer delivered separate judgments.

Mah said the coroner and the High Court erred in law in applying the wrong standard of proof.

He said‎ it should be on the balance of probability and not beyond reasonable doubt, adding that a person or persons were responsible for his death.
This unprecedented verdict may force the police to reopen investigations into Teoh’s death.

Coroner Azmil Muntapha on January 5, 2011 returned a verdict that Teoh’s death was neither a suicide nor homicide.

The High Court on December 1, 2011 upheld that decision. Continue reading “Court of Appeal reverses open verdict ruling in Teoh Beng Hock’s death”

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WikiLeaks gag order: open justice is threatened by super-injunctions

Richard Ackland
theguardian.com
30 July 2014

Australian courts have increasingly been issuing suppression orders preventing the publication of legal proceedings – and an implicit dislike of the media is partly to blame

Last month, an Australian judge issued a super-duper injunction preventing the reporting of bribery allegations which involved south east Asian political figures, and in some cases their family members.

The allegations have arisen in a criminal case before the supreme court of Victoria. The super-injunction, which not only prevents publication of the allegations, but the detailed terms of the injunction itself, only came to light because WikiLeaks published the intimate details on July 29.

So while WikiLeaks, anonymous blogs and social media are buzzing with the details of these sweeping court orders, which apply Australia-wide, the mainstream media cannot trespass in this territory for fear of facing proceedings for contempt of court. This is the ludicrous nature of overreaching suppression orders, and this one is to last for five years unless earlier revoked.

The internet has made them so porous as to be useless. Only those who publish above the radar with sizeable assets and readily identifiable journalists and executives (at least ones that are not corralled in foreign embassies) are effectively injuncted from publishing. Continue reading “WikiLeaks gag order: open justice is threatened by super-injunctions”

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Call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to review all flawed judgments by the Malaysian judiciary whether because of racial bias or corruption in the past 26 years after the first judicial crisis of 1988

After the 13th General Elections of May 5, 2013, the country was shocked with the appearance of a former member of the judiciary making racist and seditious statements and speeches undermining the unity, harmony and goodwill among the different races and religions in the country.

One of the most racist and seditious speeches in the nation’s history was made by the former Court of Appeal Judge Mohd Noor Abdullah at the forum titled “GE13 post-mortem Muslim leadership and survival” organised by UiTM Malaysia Alumni Association and Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semanjung in Kuala Lumpur in May 2013 where Mohd Noor warned that the Chinese Malaysians must be prepared for a backlash from the Malay community for their “betrayal” in the recently concluded 13th general election.

He said: “The Chinese betrayal towards the Malay’s hand of friendship – that is true. Because they plotted to seize political power even though they already have economic power”.
Mohd Noor’s racist and seditious speech was defended on the ground that it was “as a whole constructive and within the boundaries of what is in the federal constitution”, and in line with his expertise as a former judge.

Up to now, Mohd Noor has not been able to quote chapter and verse as to which article or part of the Malaysian Constitution justified his making irresponsible, fictitious, inflammatory, racist and seditious allegations that the Chinese in Malaysia “plotted to seize political power even though they already have economic power” or his criminal and gangsterish threat of a “Malay backlash” to a completely non-existent “Chinese betrayal towards the Malay’s hand of friendship” ? Continue reading “Call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to review all flawed judgments by the Malaysian judiciary whether because of racial bias or corruption in the past 26 years after the first judicial crisis of 1988”

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The danger of a former judge dressing up opinions as facts

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
23 July 2014

Want to know what has troubled the Malaysian judiciary all these years? Why it is the butt of jokes and why it has as much credibility as Datuk Ibrahim Ali?

Look no further than former chief justice (CJ) Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad (pic).

This is a man who shades the truth: who spews half-baked nonsense and tries to dress it up as fact. But most alarmingly, this is a man who is not averse to using his standing in society to divide Malaysians. Continue reading “The danger of a former judge dressing up opinions as facts”

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Judges must remain neutral even out of office, says Ambiga

by V. Anbalagan
The Malaysian Insider
4 July 2014

Biased or discriminatory views expressed by judges even after their retirement reflect negatively on the judiciary and undermine public perception of their independence, former Bar Council chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said.

“The prestige of the judiciary is determined by judges themselves, not just when they were on the bench but even when they retire,” she said in a statement, responding to former chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad’s criticism of the Bar Council’s role in the drafting of the National Unity Consultative Council’s (NUCC) three bills to replace the Sedition Act and aligning the Bar with the opposition.

On Monday, Hamid said he did not want to join the NUCC as he feared being used by certain parties, who wanted to cast aside Malay rights and the position of Islam in the country.

He said the opposition had “taken over” the NUCC, and questioned why the opposition, particularly the Bar, was allowed to determine policies and according to their agendas. Continue reading “Judges must remain neutral even out of office, says Ambiga”

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Was justice done to the Herald?

Mohamed Hanipa Maidin
Malaysiakini
July 2, 2014

COMMENT Personally I was upset with the decision by the Federal Court refusing leave for the Herald to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal. As a lawyer I found the decision was weird. As a Muslim I am of the view justice was not done to the Herald.

We all know that the issue raised by the Herald in the Federal Court was very, very important. Needless to say that being the final arbiter of any legal controversy the Federal Court should have held that the Herald ought to be given the leave to appeal.

Yes, an appeal to the Federal Court is not automatic, meaning that the Herald needed to obtain leave to appeal. Nevertheless, the practice has been that the apex court would normally grant the leave when the issue at hand involves novel and crucial legal or constitutional question and the same also attracts public interest.

No doubt the issue raised by the Herald had met all the legal prerequisites for leave to be duly given. It had raised a very important constitutional issue namely the correct interpretation of Article 11 of the federal constitution in particular Article 11 (4). Via the appeal, the Herald sought to be enlightened by the apex court the proper meaning and perimeters of freedom of religion enshrined in Article 11 of our highest law of the land. Continue reading “Was justice done to the Herald?”

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Is anyone running Malaysia?

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
24 June 2014

Who is in charge? What is happening in Malaysia? What’s going on? How can this happen?

Any of these questions or all of the above occupies the minds of many Malaysians these days, coming to the fore with vengeance every time there is a misstep by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his comrades or when the rule of law and provisions of the Federal Constitution are supplanted by racial and religious supremacists.

Increasingly, the sense is that the inmates are running the asylum.

The PM and elected representatives are too afraid to put the extremist elements in their place because their cupboards are full of skeletons or they are unsure if their religious credentials can stand up to scrutiny.

So they go with the flow directed and dictated by fringe groups and Islamic religious authorities.

The result: a heap of a mess and more questions than answers.

Questions that keep Malaysians awake deep into the night such as: Continue reading “Is anyone running Malaysia?”

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Time for A-G to explain his decisions on charges against opposition leaders, say lawyers

BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
The Malaysian Insider
May 15, 2014

Lawyers today demanded Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail (pic) come out of his cocoon and explain several questionable decisions made by his office relating to charges against opposition leaders which were later thrown out of court.

They are particularly aghast that Gani had decided to go ahead and re-charge opposition leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad for his failure to give a 10-day notice to the police under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) to organise a rally.

This was despite the Court of Appeal’s acquittal of Nik Nazmi on April 25 after striking down a punishment provided under the PAA as unconstitutional because it breached the basic rights of citizens to assemble peacefully.

Yesterday, activists Mohd Bukhairy Sofian, Edy Noor Ridzuan and Badrul Hisham Shaharin, or better known as Chegubard, were also granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the lower courts as the judges said they were bound by the Court of Appeal ruling.

The lawyers said that Gani must realise that society’s expectations of him have increased, and he now owes them an explanation.

Gani must defend the integrity of the office he had been holding since 2001, they said. Continue reading “Time for A-G to explain his decisions on charges against opposition leaders, say lawyers”