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Call on Najib and Cabinet to endorse the Open Letter of 25 Eminents to send a clear message to the nation and the world that Malaysian government fully committed to moderation against intolerance, extremism and bigotry

The Open Letter by 25 Malay former top civil servants and personalities on December 8 asking the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to show leadership against festering extremism and intolerance is undoubtedly the No. 1 News Event of the Year.

Never before has an Open Letter by the citizenry struck such a resounding chord in our multiracial, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation, as evidenced by the enthusiastic support from all groups of Malaysian society, not confined to Malays and Muslims, like ‘I am #26’ online petition with over 5,000 supporters; “KamiJuga25” (We, too, are 25),signed by over 1,600 supporters; 95 NGOs in Malaysia, 22 Muslim activists and a multitude of support demonstrated by diverse groups and strata of Malaysian society in the past fortnight.

But the reaction has started, and the assaults on the 25 Eminents will escalate in personal attacks, character-assassination and viciousness employing the full resources of the intolerant and extremist media and social as we witnessed in the past two days.

This is the time for all moderates, crossing race, religious, gender, age and even political party lines to take a stand for moderation and marginalize, isolate and defeat intolerance, extremism and bigotry which are the greatest threats and enemies of a plural society like Malaysia.

This is the time for the positive politics of inclusion to replace the negative politics of exclusion! Continue reading “Call on Najib and Cabinet to endorse the Open Letter of 25 Eminents to send a clear message to the nation and the world that Malaysian government fully committed to moderation against intolerance, extremism and bigotry”

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Najib should stop being “absentee PM”, declare national economic crisis, form a bipartisan BN-PR Council for National Economic Salvation and summon emergency Parliament

(Winding-Up Speech at the DAP Gelang Patah forum “1MDB in RM42 billion debt – Is Malaysia on the Verge of Financial Turmoil” in Johor Baru on Tuesday, 16th December 2014 at 10.30 pm)

During the Q-and-A session, a member of the audience asked what should be done in the face of the multiple national crisis confronting the country.

I will make four proposals:

Firstly, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should stop being an “absentee PM”.

Secondly, he should declare a national economic crisis to rally all Malaysians to focus on the multiple economic challenges facing the country, now that Malaysia is regarded as South East Asia’s weakest spot with the multiple plunge of forex and equity markets and current slide in prices of global crude oil and other commodities.

Thirdly, form a bipartisan Barisan Nasional-Pakatan Rakyat Council for National Economic Salvation.

Fourthly, Najib should be a Prime Minister for all Malaysians, and not for any race, religion or region. As such he should steer clear of politics and policies of exclusion and extremism and advocate politics and policies of inclusion and moderation, where every Malaysian, regardless of race, religion, region, gender, age or even political party, can unite on a common platform to save the country from the looming economic crisis. Continue reading “Najib should stop being “absentee PM”, declare national economic crisis, form a bipartisan BN-PR Council for National Economic Salvation and summon emergency Parliament”

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Never before have there been so many time-bombs ticking away in Malaysia which could spell disaster for the nation if they are not defused or detonated

(Speech at the DAP Gelang Patah forum “1MDB in RM42 billion debt – Is Malaysia on the Verge of Financial Turmoil” in Johor Baru on Tuesday, 16th December 2014 at 8 pm)

My first book “Time Bombs in Malaysia” in 1978 quoted my speech in Parliament on the Third Malaysia Plan in July 1976 where I warned that several time bombs were ticking away in Malaysia and unless these time bombs were defused, Malaysia could be blown to smithereens.

I would never imagine that today, more than 36 years later after the first edition of “Time Bombs in Malaysia”, we are faced with even greater dire straits as never before in our nation’s history have we a situation where so many time-bombs are ticking away in Malaysia which could spell disaster for the nation if they are not defused or detonated.

The RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, which is the subject of tonight’s forum, is one such Time Bomb in today’s Malaysia.

This mega financial scandal, exposed by Pakatan Rakyat MPs Tony Pua and Rafizi Ramli, is now also being questioned by UMNO forces led by former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir, his cohorts like Tun Daim, to the extent that a police report against 1MDB has been lodged by an UMNO division leader, creating huge waves in UMNO.

Until the seventies, when there was greater regard for good governance, public integrity and financial probity, the biggest financial scandal was the RM65 million Bank Rakyat scandal.

The then Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn, who could not stomach any corruption or misuse of power, was shocked by the RM65 million Bank Rakyat scandal and insisted on parliamentary accountability and a White Paper was issued following a Price Waterhouse inquiry into the Bank Rakyat scandal – and the RM65 million Bank Rakyat was the subject of parliamentary debates and scrutiny in 1979.

Since the eighties, corruption and financial scandals increased by leaps and bounds from the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal, the RM600 million Maminco tin-buying scandal and the RM1.5 billion Co-operatives Finance scandal in the 80s, to the RM30 billion Bank Negara foreign exchange scandal and RM11 billion Perwaja scandal in the 90s, and the multi-billion ringgit Scorpene and defence procurement scandals and the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal in the last decade.

Now, Malaysia has shot into the stratosphere of mega-financial scandals running into tens of billions of ringgit which is becoming the rule rather than the exception, with the RM42 billion 1MDB Scandal reigning currently as the King of Mega Scandals – and I leave to Tony Pua who, together with Rafizi, have become the unchallenged authorities on this “mother of all scandals” to elaborate later at this forum.

But the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal is not the only Time Bomb now ticking away in Malaysia. We are faced with a host of economic, financial, political, education, race and religion, nation-building Time Bombs which if not defused or detonated will spell disaster for Malaysia. Continue reading “Never before have there been so many time-bombs ticking away in Malaysia which could spell disaster for the nation if they are not defused or detonated”

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Will MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah/Sarawak BN component parties leave Barisan Nasional if UMNO Assemblymen in Kelantan support hudud implementation in the Kelantan State Assembly special meeting on Dec. 29?

The man who is today preening himself with pride in successfully carrying off the “greatest political coup in UMNO history” will be none other than the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, who hatched his political plot par excellence with a statement in Parliament on March 27 which completely took PAS leaders by surprise – that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government was prepared to assist the Kelantan PAS State Government to implement hudud laws.

This was a plot to save UMNO and BN, which former Election Commission Chairman/Secretary for 25 years have said are in their “death throes”, and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin conceded that UMNO/BN would be ousted from power if the ruling coalition loses just two per cent of voter support in the next general elections – by creating division in Pakatan Rakyat over the issue of hudud implementation.

But there is also a bonus in the plot – in providing a life-line to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who is facing relentless attack and the greatest pressure in his five-year nine-month premiership over the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal.

Najib has attracted brickbats over the mega 1MDB scandal not only from Pakatan Rakyat led by MPs Tony Pua and Rafizi Ramli but also from inside UMNO led by none other than the formidable fourth Prime Minister of 22 years, Tun Mahathir, and others like Tun Daim.

The Kelantan Special State Assembly on Dec. 29 on the implementation of hudud would be like manna from heaven for Najib, as it would provide precious diversion and distraction from the mega 1MDB scandal! Continue reading “Will MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah/Sarawak BN component parties leave Barisan Nasional if UMNO Assemblymen in Kelantan support hudud implementation in the Kelantan State Assembly special meeting on Dec. 29?”

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Over 5,000 pages are missing from the RCI Report on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah released by the government on Dec 3 – call on Najib to immediately release the missing pages

Firslty, let me thank the packed capacity for attending this forum organised at very short notice for taking part in a straw vote by show of hands that not a single person in this hall support the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) Report released in Kota Kinabalu on Dec. 3, and the unanimous show of hands showing disappointment or rejection of the RCIIIS Report.

This is confirmation of the deep and widespread disbelief, dismay and disquiet by the people of Kota Kinabalu and Sabah over the RCIIIS Report, which has been such a great letdown after the high hopes and expectations of the people that finally, there would be a solution to the four-decades-old problem of illegal immigrants which has changed the political demography in Sabah as well as the social, economic and security circumstances and landscape for Sabahans.

In fact, I had said – and I find confirmation tonight – that if the RCIIIS Report had been released before the 13GE in May last year, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would not be the Prime Minister today, and that if a Sabah state general elections is held now, the RCIIIS Report will be one issue which will be cause of the downfall of the UMNO/BN State Government in Sabah. Continue reading “Over 5,000 pages are missing from the RCI Report on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah released by the government on Dec 3 – call on Najib to immediately release the missing pages”

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Rise of the moderate Malays

By Stephen Ng
Malaysiakini
Dec 11, 2014

COMMENT The open letter by 25 top former civil servants urging Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to show leadership in handling the intolerant right wing groups is a clear sign that the moderate Malays are finally speaking up.

It marks the rise of the voice of moderation – something that we have been waiting for in the past six years, or longer. These 25 eminent retirees have broken their silence and spoken up for the sake of preserving our decaying social fabrics.

They are like salt to decaying meat. Without such salt, the meat will continue to decay until it is no longer safe for consumption. We certainly do not want this nation to get to the extent of becoming another South Africa during the apartheid era. Continue reading “Rise of the moderate Malays”

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Malaysian government has a very funny way of celebrating Human Rights Day in 2014 – by summoning the US envoy for expressing support for human rights in Malaysia!

The Malaysian Government has a very funny way of celebration the Human Rights Day yesterday on 10th December 2014 – by summoning the United States Ambassador Joseph Yun to expressing support for human rights in Malaysia!

What was Yun’s offence?

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Yun said that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s decision to retain the Sedition Act raised human rights concerns.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman disagrees, claiming that the Sedition Act 1948 does not hinder a vibrant democracy and a “preventive measure to ensure that no parties would incite religious and racial tension that could jeopardize peace and stability in the country”.

Anifah may even believe that Yun’s remarks were unwarranted and disappointing, but is this justification for him to flex his muscles and call up the US Ambassador for a “dressing”?

Why don’t Anifah go the whole hog and demand that the United States President Barack Obama recall Yun and replace him with a more amenable Ambassador – as Anifah will only joining the lengthening list of Cabinet Ministers who are making a fool of themselves in both the national and international arena? Continue reading “Malaysian government has a very funny way of celebrating Human Rights Day in 2014 – by summoning the US envoy for expressing support for human rights in Malaysia!”

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Malaysian Dream Phase 2 – Call on Malaysians, regardless of political party, race, religion, region, gender or age to unite and stand up as patriots and moderates of Malaysia to practise the politics of inclusion to save the country from extremism, intolerance and bigotry

When I contested Gelang Patah in May last year in the 13th General Elections, it was in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream which envisions Malaysia as a plural society where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic and regional differences as the common grounds binding them as one citizenship exceeds the differences that divide them because of their ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural and regional divisions.

Nineteen months after the 13th General Elections, the Malaysian Dream is more relevant and even more important than ever.

The UMNO General Assembly in the last week of November is the classic example of the divisive and deleterious politics of exclusion in Malaysia, which emphasises and deepens the differences among Malaysians especially over race and religion, which will even condemn Malaysia to the fate of a failed state if these trends are not checked and arrested, with worsening disunity and greater racial and religious polarisation as happened in the past 19 months since the 13GE.

In the UMNO General Assembly, as well as at the various conferences running up to it, Malaysians saw the worst examples of the politics of fear, hate and lies, creating imaginary fears and fighting imaginary enemies – that the Malays and Islam are under threat, that the Chinese are out to grab the political power of the Malays, that ”if UMNO loses, Malays may never rule again”, that the Malays have become slaves in their own land, that the Malays could suffer a fate similar to Red Indians in the United States and the “mother of all lies”, that the Chinese in Kedah burnt the Quran “page by page during a prayer ritual”.
Continue reading “Malaysian Dream Phase 2 – Call on Malaysians, regardless of political party, race, religion, region, gender or age to unite and stand up as patriots and moderates of Malaysia to practise the politics of inclusion to save the country from extremism, intolerance and bigotry”

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Najib’s Sedition Act U-turn was to court instant popularity at UMNO General Assembly and had nothing to do with any professional security assessment

The United States Ambassador to Malaysia Joseph Y. Yun said the United States is “puzzled” with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s decision to backtrack and retain the Sedition Act.

The answer is very simple – Najib’s U-turn on the Sedition Act was to court instant popularity at the UMNO General Assembly and had nothing to do with any professional security assessment of the country’s laws.

This was why the former Information Minister, Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, blogged a day after Najib’s U-turn on the Sedition Act in his presidential speech at the UMNO General Assembly on Nov. 27:

“If Datuk Seri Najib is a smart politician, he would be able to understand that the thunderous applause of the delegates, who welcomed his announcement to maintain the Sedition Act, was actually Umno’s rejection of his leadership that is liberal and weak.

“If he hadn’t made that announcement, all the Umno members would have buried him, and his future in Umno would have been destroyed.”

Zainuddin seemed to be sounding a note of regret that Najib pre-empted the “burial” which UMNO rightists and extremists were preparing for the Prime Minister at the UMNO General Assembly. Continue reading “Najib’s Sedition Act U-turn was to court instant popularity at UMNO General Assembly and had nothing to do with any professional security assessment”

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Call of 25 prominent Malays for moderation will fall on Najib’s deaf ears and only ordinary Malaysians can ensure the triumph of moderation and save the country from the perils of extremism and intolerance

It is indeed the irony of ironies. The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak travels the world to preach moderation, and even founded the Global Movement of Moderates, but at home in Malaysia, he shies away from taking a stand against extremism although the cause of moderation is facing its worst attack on the nation’s history.

This is why the Open Letter yesterday by a group of 25 prominent Malay personalities calling on moderate Malays, Muslims and Malaysians to stand up and be counted and to speak out against extremist, immoderate and intolerant voices have struck such a responsive national chord, coming like a breath of fresh in a very polluted atmosphere.

The 25 signatories said:

“Given the impact of such vitriolic rhetoric on race relations and political stability of this country, we feel it is incumbent on us to take a public position and urge for an informed and rational dialogue on the ways Islam is used as a source of public law and policy in Malaysia.

“More importantly, we call on the prime minister to exercise his leadership and political will to establish an inclusive consultative committee to find solutions to these intractable problems that have been allowed to fester for too long.

“We also urge more moderate Malaysians to speak up and contribute to a better informed and rational public discussion on the place of Islamic laws within a constitutional democracy and the urgency to address the breakdown of federal-state division of powers and finding solutions to the heart-wrenching stories of lives and relationships damaged and put in limbo because of battles over turf and identity.”

The 25 prominent Malays include retired senior civil servants such as former Secretaries-General, Directors-General, ambassadors and prominent Malay individuals who have contributed much to Malaysian society, is a roster of Towering Malays/Malaysians representing the cream of the best produced by the nation. Continue reading “Call of 25 prominent Malays for moderation will fall on Najib’s deaf ears and only ordinary Malaysians can ensure the triumph of moderation and save the country from the perils of extremism and intolerance”

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Call on all Malaysians to unite to expose The Big Lie that after 57 years of UMNO government under six Umno Prime Ministers, Malays and Islam are under threat and facing life-and-death struggle

I fully endorse what the DAP MP for Raub, Datuk Mohd Arif Abdul Aziz, said in the latest entry in his blog Sakmongkol AK47 that all right-thinking Malaysians must expose The Great Lie – that after 57 years of UMNO government under six UMNO Prime Ministers, Malays and Islam in Malaysia are under threat and facing a life-and-death struggle.

In the recent UMNO General Assembly, The Great Lie was the underlying theme of all the UMNO, UMNO Youth, Wanita and Puteri assemblies, even in various State UMNO Conventions and UMNO-sponsored conferences in the run-up to the UMNO General Assembly proper.

This was why both before and during the UMNO General Assembly, the rhetoric and politics of fear, hate and lies were in full swing, full of racist, extremist, provocative but baseless statements and warnings which do not bear up to a second of scrutiny, like “If Umno loses, Malays may never rule again”, “We have become slaves in our own land”, call for the use of “1Melayu” in replacement of “1 Malaysia” slogan and the lie of all lies that the Chinese in Kedah burnt the Quran “page by page during a prayer ritual”.

Of the six UMNO Prime Ministers, the first three have passed away – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein.

Tonight, I want to challenge the three remaining UMNO Prime Ministers, Tun Mahathir who was the longest PM of Malaysia for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, Tun Abdullah who was the fifth Prime Minister for five years five months and Datuk Seri Najib Razak who has been Prime Minister for five years eight months to explain to all Malaysians, and in particular to the Malays, how Malays and Islam in Malaysia are under threat and facing a life-and-death struggle after 57 years of UMNO government, and specifically, after 33 years of Mahathir, Abdullah and Najib as Prime Minister?

If Mahathir, Abdullah and Najib cannot explain how after 57 years of UMNO government, and 33 years of their stewardship as Prime Minister, Malays and Islam in Malaysia are under threat and facing a life-and-death struggle, it is then the patriotic duty of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, to unite to expose The Big Lie which will be the greatest poison of united Malaysian nation-building. Continue reading “Call on all Malaysians to unite to expose The Big Lie that after 57 years of UMNO government under six Umno Prime Ministers, Malays and Islam are under threat and facing life-and-death struggle”

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Why didn’t Muhyiddin tell Obama to “shut up and mind his own business” when the United States President praised Malaysia at the United Nations General Assembly in September and yet bristle with rage over Biden’s tweets?

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is the highest government leader to fly into a rage at the United States Vice President Joe Biden’s tweets expressing concerns about the Sedition Act and other laws being used to stifle the opposition, as well as expressing hope that Anwar Ibrahim’s final appeal against his Sodomy II conviction would give Malaysia a chance to put things right and promote confidence in its democracy and judiciary.

Why didn’t Muhyiddin tell the United States President Barack Obama to “shut up and mind his own business” when Obama praised Malaysia at the United Nations General Assembly in September and yet bristle with rage over Biden’s tweet?

Muhyiddin should have told the United States President that Malaysia does not need his praises!

In any event, is this the position of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet?

In fact, the Umno/Barisan Nasional Cabinet Ministers and government were in seventh heaven at Obama’s praise at the UN General Assembly in September, with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak immediately claiming at a black-tie dinner attended by Malaysian students in New York the next day that Malaysia topped the list of countries praised by the United States President for developing entrepreneurship and heading towards an advanced economy. Continue reading “Why didn’t Muhyiddin tell Obama to “shut up and mind his own business” when the United States President praised Malaysia at the United Nations General Assembly in September and yet bristle with rage over Biden’s tweets?”

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Najib would have lost his premiership and UMNO/BN kicked out of Putrajaya if the RCIIIS Report had been written and released before the 13th General Elections

Datuk Seri Najib Razak would have lost his premiership and UMNO/Barisan Nasional kicked out of Putrajaya if the 368-page Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) had been written and released before the 13th General Elections on May 5 last year.

If a Sabah state elections is held now, I have no doubt that UMNO/BN would be kicked out of state government and power by the single issue of the Report of the RCIIIS.

This is the measure of the disappointment, disbelief, disquiet and dismay which had greeted the release of the RCIIIS Report in Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday, both in Sabah and in Malaysia.

This may explain for the cloak-and-dagger arrangements for the launching of the Report of the RCIIIS, where the DAP MP for Kota Kinabalu Jimmy Wong, the DAP Sabah State Assemblyman for Kepayan Edwin Bosi, former Senator Maijol Mahap as well as NGO representatives were unceremoniously barred from the event, as if the authorities had something to hide instead of marking a historic event for the state and nation. Continue reading “Najib would have lost his premiership and UMNO/BN kicked out of Putrajaya if the RCIIIS Report had been written and released before the 13th General Elections”

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TI CPI 2014 nothing for Najib to crow about when he has done worse in TI CPI rankings in his five years as PM than Abdullah’s five years and Mahathir’s 22 years

There is nothing for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to crow about for Malaysia’s improvement in Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2014, moving up to 50th spot among 175 countries from the 53rd position last year.

Although any improvement is to be welcomed, there is no ground for Najib to be ectastic to talk about “not rest on our laurels”, as Malaysia has yet to achieve any laurels on the anti-corruption front under his premiership.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Najib premiership (2009-2014) has registered a lower TI CPI ranking than under the two previous Prime Ministers, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah.

This is illustrated by the following chart on TI CPI 1995-2014:

Prime Minister Best ranking Best score Worst ranking Worst score
Mahathir 23(1995) 5.32/10 (1996) 37 (2003) 4.8/10 (2000)
Abdullah 39(2004) 5.1/10 (2005/7/8) 47 (2008) 5/10 (2004/6)
Najib 50 (2013) 52/100 (2013) 60 (2011) 4.3/10 (2011)

No wonder of Mahathir had always boasted that corruption is worse now than during his 22 years as Prime Minister (although Abdullah can also make the same boast about his five-year premiership).
Continue reading “TI CPI 2014 nothing for Najib to crow about when he has done worse in TI CPI rankings in his five years as PM than Abdullah’s five years and Mahathir’s 22 years”

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Sarawak and Sabah State Assemblies should meet first to take a stand on the issue before a bill is presented to Parliament on amendment to the Sedition Act to categorise calls for secession of Sarawak and Sabah from Malaysia as sedition offences

Last Friday, I had pointed out the gross injustice of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in buckling under pressure to the rightists and extremists in UMNO and UMNO-sponsored NGOs to renege on his promise in 2012 to repeal the repressive colonial law of Sedition Act and to announce its strengthening by roping in calls for secession of Sarawak and Sabah from Malaysia as offences under the Sedition Act without consulting the two states.

DAP does not support any call for secession of Sarawak and Sabah from Malaysia but we also do not support the retention and amendment of Sedition Act by adding new offences as calling for secession of Sarawak and Sabah from Malaysia as sedition crimes under the Act.

Nobody is surprised at the cavalier and contemptuous treatment meted out by UMNO to MCA, Gerakan and MIC leaders (PPP President had cogently spelt out the rules of the game for these Barisan Nasional component parties – “There are only two rules in the game: the boss is always right. If the boss is wrong, refer back to Rule 1.” ) but it violates a fundamental principle of the Malaysia Agreement when legislation directly affecting Sarawak and Sabah are not made in consultation with the two states.

Do the people, governments and legislatures of Sarawak and Sabah agree that the Sedition Act should be “strengthened” by the amendment to make calls for secession of Sarawak and Sabah from Malaysia as sedition offences? Continue reading “Sarawak and Sabah State Assemblies should meet first to take a stand on the issue before a bill is presented to Parliament on amendment to the Sedition Act to categorise calls for secession of Sarawak and Sabah from Malaysia as sedition offences”

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Call on Najib to give assurance that there will be no further “merry-go-round” procrastination manoeuvre to the 40-year problem and that the implementation of the Report of the RCIIIS will begin on 1.1.2015

The long-delayed Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) to deal with the 40-year problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah which has changed the political demography and caused unprecedented socio-economic crisis to the state is to be made public in Kota Kinabalu later today.

The RCIIIS has been the longest in gestation, as there had been calls for the establishment of the Royal Commission of Inquiry as far back as the past few decades but the problem was allowed to mushroom from some 100,000 some 40 years ago into a humongous and runaway figure ranging from 1.5 million to 1.9 million out of 3.3 million state population today.

As a result of persistent and growing pressures, the Cabinet took a policy decision to set up the RCIIIS on February 8, 2012, but it took another six months to finalise its terms of reference and its membership, another month before the RCIIIS started work, a year for public hearings and preparation of its Report and recommendations, and although the Report of the RCIIIS was officially handed over to the Federal Government on May 14, 2014, it was cold-storaged for six months until its publication later today.

The question uppermost in everyone’s mind apart from the contents and recommendations of the RCIIIS Report is whether we have come to the end-game of the 40-year problem of illegal immigrant problems in Sabah, or whether we are only seeing the latest “merry-go-round” procrastination manoeuvre which will kick the problem for the next few years with no real solution in sight until 2020, when the problem would have snowballed to some three million illegal immigrants in Sabah, reducing native Sabahans into a minority in their own land! Continue reading “Call on Najib to give assurance that there will be no further “merry-go-round” procrastination manoeuvre to the 40-year problem and that the implementation of the Report of the RCIIIS will begin on 1.1.2015”

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BN Ministers and MPs should not fail Sabahans and Malaysians a third time and should demand that the Joseph Pairin Review Committee on the Report of the RCIIIS should complete its review and make public its report before end of year

Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs should not fail Sabahans and Malaysians a third time and should demand that the Joseph Pairin Review Committee on the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) should complete its review and make public its report before the end of the year, so that the new year of 2015 can begin with the serious resolution of the 40-year problem which had changed the political demography in Sabah as well as created unprecedented socio-economic problems for Sabahans as to make native Sabahans foreigners in their own land.

The BN Ministers and MPs had earlier failed miserably in being unable to rise to the occasion in the middle of last month to demand that the Report of the RCIIIS should be tabled in Parliament before the end of the 28-day budget meeting of Dewan Rakyat on Nov. 27 so that there could be a full-scale parliamentary debate.

The first failure of the BN Ministers and MPs was to allow the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to sit on the Report of the RCIIIS for more than six months doing nothing, as a parliamentary answer to my question revealed that the RCIIIS Report was submitted to the Federal Government on May 14.

Can the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, or any Barisan Nasional Minister or MP from Sabah enlighten the public as to what was done by the authorities with regard to the RCIIIS Report in the past six-and-a-half months since it was submitted to Putrajaya. Continue reading “BN Ministers and MPs should not fail Sabahans and Malaysians a third time and should demand that the Joseph Pairin Review Committee on the Report of the RCIIIS should complete its review and make public its report before end of year”

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Cabinet wages war on the rakyat

By Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Dec 1, 2014

Watching the succession of cabinet members spewing inflammatory rhetoric at the Umno Baru general assembly (GA) was like observing notorious class bullies playing to a crowd of their most loyal sycophants. The men and women who took to the podium are an embarrassment to their party, the nation and their community. The Father of Independence,Tunku Abdul Rahman, laid the foundations for a united Malaysia. Najib Abdul Razak consigned Tunku’s ideals to the bin.

At the finale of this year’s Umno Baru conference, Home Minister Zahid Hamidi told the delegates to adopt a “war mindset”, to “attack our enemies on the outside” and that “the best form of defence was to attack”. He claimed that Umno Baru’s training and research bureau had the blessing of the PM to use cyber and psychological war tactics to win the 14th general election (GE14).

Since when do leaders of a nation lead a clarion call to wage a war against it own people? Shame on you, Zahid and Najib!

Why are Umno Baru’s party conferences filled with hostility? Where are the words of reconciliation, national unity, 1Malaysia, harmony and cooperation, to address corruption, injustice and to uplift people’s lives? These supposedly illustrious men of the cabinet, including the disgraced former women, community and family development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, behaved like thugs.

The public are disgusted with blatant corruption, injustice and abuse of power. They only desire a harmonious, multiracial, secular Malaysia. Continue reading “Cabinet wages war on the rakyat”

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Mohd Zaidi and Mashitah’s racist, extremist and incendiary hate speeches at UMNO GA are “must watch” videos on YouTube for all Malaysians to realize that the time has come for moderates regardless of race or religion to unite to Save Malaysia by marginalizing extremism and promoting wasatiyyah

The extremist and incendiary hate speeches by two UMNO General Assembly delegates Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said (Penang) and Mashitah Ibrahim (Kedah) should be “must watch” videos on You Tube for all Malaysians to realize that the time has come for moderates regardless of race or religions to unite to save Malaysia by isolating and marginalising extremism and promoting wasatiyyah or moderation.

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had been preaching to the world in the past four years – three times at the United Nations General Assembly since Sept. 2010 – that “the fight against extremism is not about Christians versus Muslims, or Muslims versus Jews, but moderates versus extremists of all religions”, and calling for a “coalition of moderates – those willing to reclaim their religion and pursue the path to peace”.

Unfortunately, Najib has allowed extremists in UMNO free rein, to the extent that UMNO delegates could even make extremist and incendiary hate speeches in the face of Najib, Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi and the whole phalanx of UMNO Ministers and leaders at last week’s UMNO General Assembly, enjoying immunity and impunity from sanctions of the law.

More than two months ago, at an UMNO Lumut function, Zahid swore: “As the minister responsible for the Royal Malaysian Police, wallahi billahi tallahi (I swear to Allah) that if police reports are lodged against any individual who impinged on a sensitive issue, the police will start investigations immediately, if possible within 24 hours.”

Why then the silence and inaction by the police to the numerous police reports which had been lodged against Mohd Zaidi and Mashitah for sedition and other crimes of hate speech in the past few days – well exceeding the 24-hour deadline in Zahid’s public oath? Continue reading “Mohd Zaidi and Mashitah’s racist, extremist and incendiary hate speeches at UMNO GA are “must watch” videos on YouTube for all Malaysians to realize that the time has come for moderates regardless of race or religion to unite to Save Malaysia by marginalizing extremism and promoting wasatiyyah”

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Dr M is biggest winner at Umno general assembly

By Koon Yew Yin
Malaysiakini
Dec 1, 2014

COMMENT Syabas Dr Mahathir Mohamad – you were undoubtedly the biggest winner at the Umno assembly meeting. Although some observers have dismissed your influence over Umno and party thinking, you knew that your finest hour was at hand. This is why, despite being sick and possibly against doctor’s orders, you made your way to the meeting.

There, surrounded by thousands of your admirers and supporters, your cup can be said to have runneth over.

You witnessed the humiliating surrender of the prime minister in his attempt to repeal the Sedition Act. How dare Najib Abdul Razak dismantle the Act which has been one of your main weapons to ensure Umno’s supremacy in the country? Is the man so ignorant of the country’s political history that he is not aware that the selective application of the Act has enabled the party to muzzle its opponents and extend the party’s shelf life?

You had repeatedly urged its retention. To see the prime minister not only put up the white flag but also announce that the Act would be further strengthened was indeed sweet satisfaction. Continue reading “Dr M is biggest winner at Umno general assembly”