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Koh defends private screenings of Tanda Putera

by Koh Jun Lin
Malaysiakini
Mar 28, 2013

Private screenings of the controversial film on the May 13, 1969 racial riots, Tanda Putera are allowed because the cabinet decision to postpone its screening is restricted to public screenings only.

“There have been some private screenings for people to make some judgments and decisions.

“As long as there is no public screening, for that is the decision that was made by the cabinet,” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Koh Tsu Koon said today.

Asked why was this allowed despite charges that the film was racially divisive, the de facto unity minister questioned such a charge.

“I don’t know how many screenings there have been, but has it led to racial strife? I don’t know. You better check the facts before reporting on that,” Koh told reporters.

Information Minister Rais Yatim had previously said that Tanda Putera’s premier has been deferred because of ‘inappropriate’ scenes in the film. Continue reading “Koh defends private screenings of Tanda Putera”

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Ambiga: Four ‘good’ reasons, my foot!

RK Anand| March 28, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

The Bersih chief dismisses the four reasons given by the Star’s group editor-in-chief for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s delay in dissolving Parliament.

KUALA LUMPUR: In a comment piece published on the front-page of the Star today, the MCA-owned daily’s group editor-in-chief Wong Chun Wai stated four reasons for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s feet-dragging on the dissolution of Parliament.

However, Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga is not convinced with the four “good” reasons, which were:

*A caretaker government cannot enter into agreements at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima).

*Finishing touches to some projects and programmes.

*Barisan Nasional’s candidates’ list not finalised.

*Impossible at the moment for politicians to campaign freely in Lahad Datu.

Commenting on the first reason cited, Ambiga told FMT that it is not a licence to dig into the public coffers to embark on a spending spree.

“Lima contracts were all foreseeable. If this was an aim, then why lead the public on a merry ride and threaten to dissolve Parliament for more than a year?” she asked.
Continue reading “Ambiga: Four ‘good’ reasons, my foot!”

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14-Day Countdown to 13GE: Unhealthy Federal-State relations where Negri Sembilan State Assembly automatically dissolved midnight last night because of a “kiasu” and “kiasi” Prime Minister

Another dubious record by Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia – Malaysian history’s first “automatic” dissolution of a State Assembly at midnight last night not because of a conscious and deliberate decision by the Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar but because of a “kiasu” and “kiasi” Prime Minister embroiled in a Hamlet agony unable to decide when to dissolve Parliament for fear of becoming the last Umno/BN Prime Minister.

The automatic dissolution of the Negri Sembilan State Assembly last night, with Negri Sembilan now without a single elected State Assembly members in the sixty days until May 26 – the last date for the election of the new Negri Sembilan State Assembly – is a major blow to healthy Federal-state relations, as it is a classic case where a State Government has been deprived of its constitutional right to seek a new mandate from the electorate solely because of extraneous and even unconstitutional considerations – the indecisiveness of the Prime Minister!

This is not the Federal-state relations which the country’s forefathers and the founders of the country’s Constitution had ever envisaged or desired more than half a century ago – for the autonomy, independence and prerogatives of each state government in the federation of Malaysia is to be jealously protected and honoured.

I am sure if Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Tan Cheng Lock or Tun Sambanthan had been asked 56 years ago whether under the 1957 Merdeka Federal Constitution a state government would be deprived of the power and have to surrender its prerogative to dissolve the State Assembly to seek a new mandate at the end of its five-year term to the Prime Minister until he could decide when to dissolve Parliament, the answer from all the fathers of Merdeka would be a loud, clear-cut and categorical “No! No! No!” Continue reading “14-Day Countdown to 13GE: Unhealthy Federal-State relations where Negri Sembilan State Assembly automatically dissolved midnight last night because of a “kiasu” and “kiasi” Prime Minister”

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Najib leaves Taib video expose to MACC probe

by Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
March 27, 2013

The Financial Times reported that the prime minister declined to address the expose by Global Witness directly during the interview. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — Barisan Nasional (BN) is “equally as concerned about corruption” as its critics but the problem cannot go away overnight, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in a Financial Times (FT) interview carried today, in the wake of a damning expose on Sarawak’s timber scandals.

The international financial daily reported that the prime minister declined to address the expose by Global Witness (GW) directly during the interview, pointing out that Malaysian graftbusters were already investigating the allegations against Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

“Prostitution and corruption are two things that mankind has had to live with for so long. But we are determined to tackle it. It is a scourge. But it is something that will not go away overnight,” he was quoted saying.

In the article describing the likely heated contest that Najib will face in Election 2013, FT noted that Umno is vulnerable on the topic of corruption, which the federal opposition will use as its key weapon on the campaign trail. Continue reading “Najib leaves Taib video expose to MACC probe”

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15-Day Countdown to 13GE – Unprecedented automatic dissolution of Negri Sembilan State Assembly at midnight tonight further highlights the “illegitimacy” of the Najib premiership particularly after the fifth anniversary of the “political tsunami” on 8th March

The unprecedented automatic dissolution of Negri Sembilan State Assembly at midnight tonight further highlights the “illegitimacy” of the Najib premiership particularly after the fifth anniversary of the “political tsunami” on 8th March nineteen days ago, giving his Cabinet and Government an “expired” character.

Is Najib really heading for the automatic dissolution of Parliament, now claimed to be April 30 and not April 27, 2013, after the further “automatic dissolution” of the State Assemblies of Pahang, Johore, Malacca, Selangor, Perak, Perlis and Kelantan before Parliament’s “automatic dissolution”, to be followed by the other states of Sabah, Penang and Terengganu?

It is not only a supreme irony, but most pathetic, that after almost four years as the country’s longest unelected Prime Minister and on permanent campaign mode, Najib is still trying to scrape the bottom of the barrel to eke out as many days as possible before he faces the ultimate and unavoidable “tryst with destiny”, the dissolution of the 12th Parliament for the holding of the 13th general elections in the country.

I agree with the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz that it is within Najib’s power to allow Parliament to be automatically dissolved before the holding of the 13GE, but he surely knows that this is an act which raises the most eloquent question about Najib’s credibility and legitimacy as Prime Minister of Malaysia. Continue reading “15-Day Countdown to 13GE – Unprecedented automatic dissolution of Negri Sembilan State Assembly at midnight tonight further highlights the “illegitimacy” of the Najib premiership particularly after the fifth anniversary of the “political tsunami” on 8th March”

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16-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib has become a “kiasu” and “kiasi” Prime Minister, mortally afraid that the most famous political prophecy of RAHMAN in Malaysia will come true with him as the last UMNO/Barisan Nasional Prime Minister!

By 12 midnight in 16 hours time, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak would have created double “history” – firstly, first time in nation’s 56-year history, allowing a State Assembly (Negri Sembilan) to be automatically dissolved before Parliament; and secondly, establishing a record of “indecisiveness” as Prime Minister, even putting the fifth Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdullah to shame, while he continues to agonise on when to dissolve Parliament for the 13th General Elections!

There are no signs that Najib would dissolve Parliament before midnight tonight, ahead of the automatic dissolution of the Negri Sembilan State Assembly.

In fact, it now looks likely that another State Assembly, Pahang, will automatically dissolve on Apri 5, 2013 before the dissolution of Parliament.

This raises the question whether Najib will allow six other State Assemblies to be dissolved before the automatic dissolution of Parliament on midnight on 27th April 2013 – namely Johore and Malacca (19th April), Selangor (20th April), Perak, Perlis and Kelantan (26th April).

Already, Najib has chalked up many dubious “records”, including:

*the longest unelected Prime Minister without a mandate from the voters;

*leading an “expired” Cabinet and Government, as the present 12th Parliament is 18 days past its five-year natural life, as it was elected on March 8, 2008; and

*a Prime Minister who has been on election campaigning mode for the longest period in history – four years in a week’s time when it will be the fourth anniversary of Najib’s becoming the sixth Prime Minister on 3rd April 2009.

Continue reading “16-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib has become a “kiasu” and “kiasi” Prime Minister, mortally afraid that the most famous political prophecy of RAHMAN in Malaysia will come true with him as the last UMNO/Barisan Nasional Prime Minister!”

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Najib throws more election goodies

Anisah Shukri| March 25, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

The prime minister announces four changes to the 40,000 staff of seven statutory bodies ahead of the polls.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak today announced sweeping benefits for the 40,000 staff of seven government statutory bodies, ahead of the general election which must be held within weeks.

The benefits to be given to LTAT (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera), LHDN (Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri), EPF (Employees Provident Fund), Tabung Haji, Perkeso, Perhebat (Armed Forces Veteran Affairs Corporation), and Bank Simpanan Nasional are:

*a pension fund set up for all personnel;

*fixed housing allowances equivalent to that of civil servants;

*gratituities for retirees; and

*streamlining employer contribution towards the EPF.

The benefits come in the wake of Najib’s announcement yesterday that the government would award 10,000 individual permits to taxi drivers, in what can be seen as a last-minute attempt to woo voters before polls are held.
Continue reading “Najib throws more election goodies”

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19-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib will commit supreme abuse of power if he toys with the UMNO/BN “Dirty Tricks” department with the ploy of illegally banning DAP to exclude Rocket symbol in 13GE as it will be the “last straw that break’s the camel’s back”

In response to a question from a reporter after visiting Taman University market in Gelang Patah yesterday morning, I stressed that there is absolutely no legal, constitutional or any legitimate ground for any punitive action by the Registrar of Societies against the DAP, whether suspension or deregistration.

The DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections last December had been above-board and a transparent and democratic process although there was an honest mistake from a computer glitch when announcing the results.

The DAP CEC has no doubt that there can be no justification whatsoever for the Registrar of Societies to take any action against the DAP for the party elections, especially as the DAP leadership had not received any complaint from party delegates on the CEC elections while the DAP had fully co-operated with the Registrar of Societies with regard to queries and requests for clarification.

This is why I am baffled how the Utusan Malaysia today could carry a front-page headline report that the ROS were facing “difficulties in its probe” on the DAP CEC elections last December. Continue reading “19-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib will commit supreme abuse of power if he toys with the UMNO/BN “Dirty Tricks” department with the ploy of illegally banning DAP to exclude Rocket symbol in 13GE as it will be the “last straw that break’s the camel’s back””

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Walk your talk on corruption, Najib

Joseph Tawie | March 22, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is under tremendous pressure to act against Sarawak’s Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s alleged abuses and corruption.

KUCHING: Sarawak opposition DAP has called on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to “walk his talk” in fighting corruption which was one of his national key result areas (NKRA) launched in 2010.

Reminding Najib, party secretary Chong Chieng Jen said: “It is time for Najib to prove that he walks the talk when it comes to fighting corruption as one of his NKRA.

“If Najib is serious about fighting corruption as one of his NKRAs, he should immediately do the following:

(1) arrest all the personalities mentioned in the Global Witness video clip for investigation;

(2) obtain a full disclosure of the amount of state land being alienated to Taib’s family members’ companies at fractions or even as low as 10% of market prices; and,

3) freeze all bank accounts and assist personalities mentioned in the video clip. Continue reading “Walk your talk on corruption, Najib”

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Malaysia’s looming election – Video nasties

Economist
Mar 23rd 2013 | KUALA LUMPUR

– A two-year election campaign nears its climax

WITH a tight election coming up, it is politics as usual in Malaysia—only more so. This month alone has seen the opposition accused of colluding in a foreign invasion of the state of Sabah in Borneo; the death of a private investigator, reviving stories of the grisly murder in 2006 of a beautiful Mongolian woman linked to a friend of the prime minister, Najib Razak; the leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, denying that he was one of two men appearing in grainy pictures online in an affectionate clinch; and a film shot on hidden cameras that appears to show large-scale corruption in the government of the other Malaysian state in Borneo, Sarawak.

Sailing blithely above the mud and filth that make Malaysian political waters so murky, Mr Najib went on national television on March 19th to deliver the scorecard on the “transformation programme” his government has implemented. He had a good story to tell, of robust economic growth of 5.6% in 2012, poverty virtually eliminated, inequality reduced and 400 legal cases against corruption initiated. And he was able to announce that a scheme to give cash handouts to poorer households will become an annual event.

All should be set fair, you might think, for Mr Najib’s ruling coalition, the Barisan Nasional (BN), to romp home again at the election, as it has done in every ballot since independence in 1957. Mr Najib is expected to dissolve parliament any day now, with the voting to follow in mid-April after a brief official campaign period (the unofficial one has now lasted two years or more). If he does not dissolve parliament, its term will expire at the end of April, and the election must then be held by the end of June.

In fact, the outcome is in doubt, for the first time in Malaysia’s history. Continue reading “Malaysia’s looming election – Video nasties”

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Political rivals in a strategic battle

— Lim Sue Goan
The Malaysian Insider
March 22, 2013

MARCH 22 — BN has made an all-out effort to create a feel-good atmosphere but its political strategy is not as flexible as Pakatan Rakyat’s.

Pakatan Rakyat has started to unveil its candidates and display its strength. BN, meanwhile, is still carefully selecting candidates and considering constituency exchanges, causing election campaign activities in some constituencies to now lag behind.

Take the DAP as an example. Some candidates have been decided such as Negri Sembilan DAP chairman and Lobak state assemblymen Anthony Loke, who will be contesting the Chennah state seat, party parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang will contest the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat and Himpunan Hijau chairman Wong Tack will contest the Bentong parliamentary seat.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also announced on Wednesday some PKR parliamentary candidates. His daughter Nurul Izzah will seek re-election in Lembah Pantai and PKR strategic director Mohd Rafizi Ramli will contest the Pandan parliamentary seat. Also, five Sarawak parliamentary candidates have also been decided.

There are also some signs showing the deployment of PAS candidates, including party vice-president Salahuddin Ayub who will be contesting in Johor while former Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin will be contesting the Changkat Jering state seat. Continue reading “Political rivals in a strategic battle”

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One Small stride by Kit Siang, One Giant Step nearer to Putrajaya

by Sakmongkol AK47
Thursday, 21 March 2013

The return of Lim Kit Siang to Johor should not matter to UMNO and BN. Why should it cause worry? Isn’t it mathematically impossible for PR to go from 1 seat to 15 parliamentary seats? The Johor Chinese are different. They have an unshakeable allegiance to the state. So the Johor Chinese are by definition, naturally indifferent to what is happening around in the country.

The Chinese are a very practical people says Chua Soi Lek. Soi lek must of course be referring to the Chinese apparent indifference to his sexual escapades. By that reasoning, the Chinese must also be indifferent to whatever stories are said of Anwar Ibrahim and they should be indifferent to Najib’s overextended and boring self-praising assessment of his Alphabet Soup vision. Ah Jib Gor does what Ah Jib Gor does best-tell tall stories mostly about himself.

Being practical they want to know, whether we can establish a good government. Which will practise good governance. Consists of good, selfless and dedicated people. They want to go about making wealth under a government that upholds the rule of law. Which in turn require that the institutions that safeguard the rule and implementation of law be strong and independent and are established on principles of integrity. The Chinese want to live peacefully with the other major races in Malaysia. These are hallmarks of practical people.

I don’t think being practical means, they accept corruption, wheeling and dealing with the powers that be, accepting hegemony from others. If they are like that- that’s not being practical but being sly and acting like hustlers. The ‘thing’ that made the Chinese practical is economic independence. So being practical as in economically independent, the Chinese can exercise wider choices. They will chose to side with PRakyat. That’s practical and acknowledging reality. Continue reading “One Small stride by Kit Siang, One Giant Step nearer to Putrajaya”

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21-Day Countdown to 13GE – The empty drumbeats from Pemandu (Part 1)

The EPT Annual Report for 2012 prepared by PEMANDU and launched by the Prime Minister with great fanfare is nothing more than a public relations effort.

The report has been written and delivered as part of the electioneering effort mounted by a Government that is desperately attempting to convey to a disbelieving electorate a picture of progress and achievements together with promises of attaining the promised land of a High Income country by 2020.

Taken as a whole, the Report is a document that attempts to project illusions, highly massaged selective facts to lull the electorate. The primary objective is to gain a return to power at all costs.

The Report contains glossy charts and graphs and statements that cannot be substantiated.

It fails dismally by not providing a true and candid assessment of the challenges the nation faces because of squandered opportunities for mounting genuine economic reforms particularly needed in view of the uncertainties linked with weaknesses in the global economy that emerged in 2007. Continue reading “21-Day Countdown to 13GE – The empty drumbeats from Pemandu (Part 1)”

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22-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib deserves an “F” in his National Transformation Program (NTP) report card for failing to acknowledge, much less tackle the issues of Corruption, Crime and Education

Najib released his National Transformation Program (NTP) Report Card yesterday evening in his ‘State of the Union’ address that was broadcast live on mainstream media and also online. To no one’s surprise, he gave himself top marks in both the Government Transformation Program (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Program (ETP).

Nearly all of the KPIs set were met, if not surpassed, in each of the National Key Results Areas (NKRAs) and the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs).

But to borrow a phrase from a popular author, there are ‘lies, damned lies, and KPIs’.

If we compare the stellar achievements of Najib’s report card in just three areas – Corruption, Crime and Education – to reality and also other more credible evidence, we are left with no choice but to give Najib an “F” for his NTP Report Card. Continue reading “22-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib deserves an “F” in his National Transformation Program (NTP) report card for failing to acknowledge, much less tackle the issues of Corruption, Crime and Education”

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As the Altantuya Murder Plot Thickens

By Kee Thuan Chye
from Yahoo! Malaysia

Private investigator P. Balasubramaniam is gone, and his untimely death from a heart attack makes it all the more pressing for Malaysians to find answers to the mystery of the murder of the Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Who actually did it? Logically, it would seem unlikely that the two police personnel who have been convicted acted on their own. What would be the motive of Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri? They didn’t even know Altantuya before they whisked her away and dealt the fatal blow. It would seem they were merely hitmen.

Furthermore, according to Sirul’s cautioned statement, they were offered RM50,000 to RM100,000 to dispose of Altantuya. If this is true, who made the offer?

Other questions float in limbo like ghosts whose souls have not been put to rest. How did these two men get their hands on the C4 explosive used to blow Altantuya’s body to smithereens? It’s something that is difficult to procure. Did they have help from certain quarters? Continue reading “As the Altantuya Murder Plot Thickens”

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24-Day Countdown to 13GE – Malaysians deserve a Cabinet and a Government which is not a laughing stock of the world because of the frequency of stupid statements and foolish acts by Ministers

I believe we are entering the final week when the 12th Parliament will at last be dissolved to pave the way for the holding of the long-awaited and much-postponed 13th General Elections next month.

This explains why UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders are getting more and more panicky, with some even making hysterical statements, under the intense pressure of the impending 13GE, which cannot be postponed much further after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had put the country on an election campaign footing for close to four long years and breaching the five-year natural life of Parliament – and now just a week ahead of the automatic dissolution of the Negri Sembilan State Assembly on March 26!

Najib has said he wants Malaysia to become the world’s best democracy. Then Najib and Umno/BN leaders must first learn to accept Lesson One of the most basic prerequisites of a functioning normal democracy, i.e. to accept that their power in government is not a divine right but a trust granted by the people once every four or five years to be withdrawn or renewed in every general elections.

Up to now Najib and all the Umno/BN leaders have been conspicuously silent on what would be very routine and matter-of-fact in developed democracies all over the world – that they will submit to the verdict of the electorate in the impending general elections and if they lose the mandate to continue as the Federal government for the first time in 56 years, they would peacefully and democratically ensure a peaceful transition of power from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat and they would all serve the role of a loyal Opposition in Parliament as the DAP had done in the past 47 years since the formation of DAP in 1966. Continue reading “24-Day Countdown to 13GE – Malaysians deserve a Cabinet and a Government which is not a laughing stock of the world because of the frequency of stupid statements and foolish acts by Ministers”