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Mahathir’s false accusation of Tunku

by K. Siladass

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former prime minister had indeed accused Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman of having done something not permitted by law by granting citizenship to one million foreign immigrants.

Historians of repute will be quick to confirm how inhuman, unsound, flippant and exasperating is Mahathir’s allegation. The granting of citizenship to “foreign immigrants” was not the work of one man – Tunku alone. Besides, it is wicked of Mahathir to claim that one million or so residents in Malaya were purely immigrants ignoring the fact that they had lived in this country for generations; and had been an integral part in the resistance against the Japanese occupation and in the fight against communism. Those one million or so “foreign immigrants” as Mahathir arrogantly and wickedly describes are the ones who saw the economic progress of this country from the time the East India Company arrived here, under constant perilous conditions.

It is indeed shocking that Mahathir had not acquainted himself of the negotiations among the Alliance Partners consisting of UMNO-MCA-MIC, the predecessor of Barisan Nasional (BN) which played a prominent role in achieving Merdeka. Aside this, it is also shocking that a man of Mahathir’s stature would descend to cheap politics in hurling condemnation against the late Tunku, who was indeed instrumental in ensuring that the radicals from all sides did not scuttle the movement towards Merdeka by their emotional actions. Continue reading “Mahathir’s false accusation of Tunku”

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61-Day Countdown to 13GE – Thanks to Najib and Psy, Malaysians as patriotic duty must ask why Malaysia failed to live up to our potential to be a leading global nation in all fields of human endeavour 56 years after Merdeka

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Pakatan Rakyat is jealous of Barisan Nasional for scoring with Korean “Gangnam Style” star Psy because it derailed DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng’s plans to invite Psy to a function under the Pakatan Rakyat name.

Whether Najib is gullible to believe such a canard when DAP and Pakatan Rakyat just do not have the millions of ringgit to throw around as Umno/BN is doing in the run-up to the 13th General Elections and which would finally be paid by the taxpayers, the Prime Minister should not think that Malaysians as a whole are so gullible as to believe his “tall tale”.

This is reminiscent of his “tall tale” at the 66th UMNO anniversary at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on May 11, 2012, when he made the ludicrous allegation that Bersih 3.0 organisers “want to fight…want to kick at the cops…or their story won’t come out in CNN, Al-Jazeera, BBC”, after defaming Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” at Dataran Merdeka held two weeks before the UMNO anniversary as a “coup attempt by the Opposition to topple the government” with “salt and mineral water bottles”!

It was at the 66th UMNO anniversary that Najib claimed that he was so uplifted by the support and “jubilant mood” shown at the celebration that he was ready to seek an audience with the Yang di Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament the next day.

But nine months later, and with less than a month to go before the fifth anniversary of the watershed of Malaysian electoral politics – the 308 political tsunami of March 8, 2008 general elections – Najib is still dithering on when to hold the 13GE.

Nobody should be “jealous” about Najib’s alleged “coup” with Psy and Gangnam Style. In fact, the nation should be very thankful to Najib and Psy, as Malaysians are now asking why Malaysia failed to live up to our potential to be a leading global nation in all fields of human endeavour 56 years after Merdeka. Continue reading “61-Day Countdown to 13GE – Thanks to Najib and Psy, Malaysians as patriotic duty must ask why Malaysia failed to live up to our potential to be a leading global nation in all fields of human endeavour 56 years after Merdeka”

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The second Merdeka

by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Feb 4, 2013

When food bags were given out by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at Semenyih recently, it is alleged that there was a near stampede to acquire the goodies. Najib must have felt smug satisfaction at being able to control people like that.

One does not want to judge or question why people would demean themselves by pushing others out of the way to receive the goods. Perhaps, the people who grabbed the offerings were poor, and gaining some rice and flour seemed like winning a jackpot.

It is despicable that Najib and his advisers have not learnt to treat people with more dignity. Why should these people be filmed acting like refugees from a war-torn area? Why do political parties make ordinary people feel and act like beggars?

On the other hand, why should the taxpayer be burdened with the extra expense when the money could be put to better use?

If the truth be known, the goods were probably provided by some crony company and sold at exorbitant prices. The organisers arranging the transaction were possibly from another crony company and charging an inflated rate for completing the deal. The transport company delivering the goods may also be another crony company and presenting another excessive bill. In the end, the taxpayer will pick up the tab for the inflated invoices.

If the rakyat stopped rushing up to Najib to receive his goods, his money or his election offerings, Najib would not know how to react and Umno would be flabbergasted. Corruption does not work if there are no takers for the gifts.

People cannot be told what to do, and to stop needy people from taking these goods is easier said than done. There are many underprivileged people whose needs are varied, but what if the majority of us stuck to our principles and stopped giving Najib the attention he craves? Continue reading “The second Merdeka”

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Pengiraan Detik 64 Hari ke PRU13 – Memperingati ulangtahun kelahiran ke-110 Tunku dan menyokong kempen “Cetuskan Perubahan” untuk mencapai Merdeka 2 yang Tunku usahakan pada dekad terakhir hayatnya

Jumaat, 8 Febuari 2013 merupakan ulangtahun kelahiran ke-110 Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Sejarah dan dunia tahu akan sumbangan beliau sebagai seorang negarawan, pembangun bangsa dan sebagai tokoh sejarah yang unik. Beliau melambangkan kesopanan, kepercayaan yang mendalam terhadap kedaulatan hukum dan menghormati tradisi.

Inilah saatnya untuk semua rakyat Malaysia, tidak mengira kaum, agama dan kepercayaan politik bersama-sama memberikan penghormatan kepada seorang insan yang telah membina asas kepada Malaysia yang moden, demokratik dan sekular yang dipaterikan dengan perpaduan etnik, kepercayaan dan budaya yang pelbagai.

Amatlah malang dan kesal apabila kenangan indah dan nama baik Tunku dan nenek moyang kita baru-baru ini difitnah apabila kata-kata menghina dilemparkan oleh salah seorang Perdana Menteri terkemudian yang menuduh Bapa Malaysia memberikan kewarganegaraan kepada satu juga bukan Melayu yang “tidak layak” sebelum Merdeka pada 1957 – dengan hipokritnya mendakwa bahawa pengkhianatan “kewarganegaraan untuk undi” untuk pendatang tanpa izin di Sabah sebagai perbuatan yang lebih terhormat dan layak!

Apabila negara mencapai kemerdekaan pada 31 Ogos, 1957, diikuti dengan pembentukan Malaysia pada 1963, ia menandakan permulaan satu era baru yang mana rakyat Malaya dan kemudiannya Malaysia berani untuk berimpian besar dan mengubah dunia. Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 64 Hari ke PRU13 – Memperingati ulangtahun kelahiran ke-110 Tunku dan menyokong kempen “Cetuskan Perubahan” untuk mencapai Merdeka 2 yang Tunku usahakan pada dekad terakhir hayatnya”

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64-Day Countdown to 13GE –Commemorate Tunku’s 110th “birthday anniversary and support the “Spark the Change” campaign to accomplish Merdeka2 which Tunku dedicated final decade of his life

Friday, 8th February 2013 is the 110th birthday anniversary of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman.

History and the world at large acknowledge his contributions as a statesman, a nation builder and as a singularly unique historical figure. He personified decency, a deeply-held belief in the rule of law and respect for tradition.

This is an occasion for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political beliefs to come together to pay tribute to a man who laid the foundations for a modern, democratic, secular Malaysia welded out of a diverse mix of ethnicities, faiths and cultures.

It is most unfortunate and regrettable that Tunku’s good name and memory and those of our forefathers had recently been sullied when derogatory references were made by one of his successor-Prime Ministers who falsely accused Bapa Malaysia of having granted citizenship to one million “unqualified” non-Malays before Merdeka in 1957 – hypocritically claiming that the treasonous “citizenship-for-votes” rackets for illegal immigrants in Sabah were more honourable and worthy deeds!

When the nation achieved independent nationhood on August 31, 1957, followed by the formation of Malaysia in 1963, it heralded the beginning of a new era where Malayans and later Malaysians could dare to dream big dreams to remake the world. Continue reading “64-Day Countdown to 13GE –Commemorate Tunku’s 110th “birthday anniversary and support the “Spark the Change” campaign to accomplish Merdeka2 which Tunku dedicated final decade of his life”

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Malay politics and Ramleeology

Azly Rahman
Malaysiakini
Feb 2, 2013

“Alif-Mim-Nun-Wau… sarkis!” – said a character in P Ramlee’s movie Pendekar Bujang Lapok.

Of late I have been hit by nostalgia, reminiscing and even romanticising the 60s, 70s and the early 80s before Mahathirism took root.

My last column on Malaysia in the 70s was an enjoyable piece of journaling and from the numerous comments I read from all the blogs that carry it – my own blog Between Cybernetics and Existentialism, my Facebook page, Malaysia Today, etc – I feel that there was a time when a good Malaysian spirit was about to be forged.

This was that sense of a historical block, until May 13, 1969 came, of course; whether it was orchestrated or a victory campaign that went wrong we are beginning to find out, as alternative accounts of it continue to be written.

After languishing in sweet memories of the 70s, I next thought of the 60s; the time when I was growing up in Johor Baru and how the kampong and the city and the school I went to became my “global classrooms”.

My fond memories always go back to a “multicultural Malaysia I knew – especially how I owed my interest in learning and insatiable urge to acquire knowledge through the selfless work of my teachers – Malay, Chinese, Indians, Sikhs, and even my Peace Corps American teachers.

Without them, I would not have been able to write honestly about the need not just to “tolerate” other cultures but to learn from each one of them, embrace the dynamics of each, and to bring out the universality of the values, and next to design good learning systems and environments that will nurture these differences into commonalities and to hybridise the wisdom we will acquire.

This is what has been lacking in our education system – critical sensibility and the embracing of the idea of “cultural action for freedom”, as the Brazilian educational philosopher Paulo Freire would say. Continue reading “Malay politics and Ramleeology”

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Our Malaysia of the 70s

by Azly Rahman
Malaysiakini
Jan 25, 2013

With the state of racial and religious things entire in our beloved Malaysia today – rumours of a festival of Bible-burning, continuing humiliation of the Malaysian Indians especially, the death of critical sensibility in our public universities, the devastating revelations of the ‘Sabah IC-gate’ plot, the issue of ‘stateless Indians’ and the criminalisation of children not able to be schooled because they were born ‘stateless’ and a host of other issues Malaysian-ly unbecoming.

I have decided to travel down the path of nostalgia. I am quite sure many of you reading this column would agree that the late sixties and early seventies presented a good frame of reference of what it means to be Malaysian and what ‘national identity’ could be about. Names upon names came back to me as I conjure fond memories.

There was a certain kind of magic, innocence, and sincerity to foster a Malaysian identity, back then. It didn’t matter what race you were one could love to one’s heart’s content folks like these: P Ramlee, AR Tompel, Aziz Sattar, Saloma, Siput Sarawak, Ayappan, Lim Goh Poh, Andre Goh, Kartina Dahari, Orchid Abdullah, soccer players like V Arumugam the ‘Spider Man’, Soh Chin Aun ‘The Towkay’, Shaharuddin Abdullah the cool guy, Mokhtar Dahari ‘Super Mokh’, Santokh Singh, and many other great names that helped make Malaysian Malaysia proud.

One could laugh at the comedian-ventriloquist Jamali Shadat’s jokes, remember names such a V Sambanthan, Khir Johari, the great statesman Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Tan Siew Sin, Temenggung Jugah (the man with a really cool haircut I so wanted one… ), Aishah Ghani, and of course the reluctant but down-to-earth and benevolent multiculturalist-statesman Tunku Abdul Rahman (right) with his famous uncontrollable blurting of Malay curse words and his philosophy of “oil and water can never mix”. A simple, yet profound life was back then…

Those were the days before today… when hell is breaking loose. What happened to the ethos of that genre, I wonder.

Growing up in the early 70s, different words to describe reality, practices, and possibilities were dancing happily around me. Continue reading “Our Malaysia of the 70s”

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Don’t politicise God

by P. Ramakrishnan
Aliran
9 January 2013

When God is politicised we are in big trouble. That is what is happening in Malaysia. And that’s why we are in such a big mess.

Religious zealots have come out with edicts that defy logic and override the supreme law of the land, the Federal Constitution.

They have paid scant attention to the High Court ruling way back in 2009 that the word “Allah” can be used by the Christians.

The government has appealed against this decision. But nothing has happened for more than three years. Seemingly it is meant to be so! There is no urgency to solve this matter as soon as possible. Most people think that the delay is deliberate and politically motivated.

The claim by some members of certain organisations who had aggressively demonstrated on the premise that Muslims and Christians will be confused if “Allah” is used by non-Muslims is ridiculous and laughable. There is no merit in their claim. There is no justification for this view. What is the basis for this ridiculous claim?

Why is the word “Allah” confusing? And confusing to whom? What is so confusing about the word? It had been in use for thousands of years; yet we have not come across anyone in any part of the world who was ever confused because the word “Allah” was commonly used by Muslims and non-Muslims. Continue reading “Don’t politicise God”

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Five contradictions in restricting the use of ‘Allah’

— Pak Sako
CPI/The Malaysian Insider
Jan 08, 2013

JAN 8 — There are major contradictions in the claim that the word “Allah” belongs only to Muslims and Islam, and does not apply to non-Muslims and other religions (JAKIM), and in the insistence that non-Muslims must convert to Islam to use the word “Allah” (Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria).

The contradictions are as follows:

1. If we disallow non-Muslims from using the word “Allah”, are we implying that Allah has no relation to the non-Muslims, that Allah did not create the non-Muslims, but to whom Allah must belong if He is the Creator of all things?

2. If we say Allah is not the god of the non-Muslims, does this not imply that besides Allah there must exist a second god, specifically for the non-Muslims, the former god of Muslim converts? Does this not clash with the Islamic concept of tauhid, which proposes that there cannot possibly be another god apart from Allah, and that no being can perform the work of a god other than Allah?

3. If we maintain that “Allah” has no relevance to other religions, who then ultimately created these religions if not Allah, the Creator of all things? Are we suggesting that Allah got it wrong before unveiling Islam? But if tauhid is to stand and Allah is the sole Creator, and if Allah is infallible, perfect and all-knowing, does it not mean that Allah happily created, with no games intended, all the variety of religions and religious philosophies including Christianity and Hinduism?

4. Therefore how can it be wrong for a Hindu, a Christian or a freethinker to refer to “Allah” as our one common god? Must Sikhs, who are not Muslims, stop using the word “Allah”, though “Allah” appears numerous times in their holy book, which is not the al-Quran?

5. If non-Muslims must convert to Islam before referring to “Allah”, is that to say Allah was not their Creator prior to them converting? But how can that be if Allah created everything and there is no god other than Allah? If we say non-Muslims are non-believers who do not recognise Allah, then why deny them the use of the word “Allah” to recognise this Supreme Being and Ultimate Cause?

The restrictions on the use of “Allah” conflict with the core tenets of Islam. They conflict also with those of other religions. Continue reading “Five contradictions in restricting the use of ‘Allah’”

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A leader leads by action, not words

– Jacob Sinnathamby
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 26, 2012

DEC 26 – It is really interesting how our last two prime ministers – Abdullah Badawi and Najib Razak – have felt the need to talk about themselves as leaders of all Malaysians.

The truly great and effective leaders of countries and businesses never need stand on the roof top and tell people what they are. It is plain for people to see. In short, their track record and actions speak volumes about them, their character and their decency.

Abdullah loved to talk about being a leader of all Malaysians, but we all know now that it was just spin for political expediency.

He hoodwinked many of us into thinking that he actually cared for non-malays and malays equally.

Now, we know that it was just a charade to get Malaysians to believe that he was different from Mahathir Mohamad and give him a huge mandate in 2004.

With the mandate in the bag, Abdullah reverted to type and became Umno’s servant, not the servant of Malaysians. Continue reading “A leader leads by action, not words”

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We don’t need Santa Claus

— Christopher Kannan
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 25, 2012

DEC 25 — The prime minister has not forgotten the Christians, and that is why we can now travel to Jerusalem.

Should I be grateful?

I tell you what. I would be really grateful if my leader shuts up Perkasa, Utusan and Umno types who bash Christians all year round.

I am still upset that the PM has not clobbered Ibrahim Ali or his ilk. The only consolation is some two-bit politician saying we all have to be tolerant and respect the majority of people. It makes us feel like children of a lesser god, and sometimes, being told we are “pendatang”, “kafir” and whatever that might not pass as an outright insult.

And then once a year, the PM comes around like Santa Claus and says that he has not forgotten Christians!

I do think the country will be better served if leaders protect minorities 24/7 365 days a year, not just on Christmas Day. Continue reading “We don’t need Santa Claus”

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Don’t they know it is Christmas?

— Blue Christmas
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 21, 2012

DEC 21 —I just received a notice that the first school staff meeting in preparation for the 2013 school term would be held on December 24.

At first I let it pass and marked the date on my calendar and then I realised it would be Christmas Eve. That is the time when friends and family call on us, when the general mood is about looking back on a wonderful year and planning for an even more wonderful year ahead.

Took a second look at the schedule and it reads a meeting for every day after Christmas Day all the way to December 29. Now that’s the time when families get their children’s stuff ready for school — new shoes, bags, uniforms and water bottles. That is also the time when old friends come back to their hometowns to their aged parents and ask for forgiveness and blessings for a good year ahead. They take the extra time to bond with old classmates and the malls, restaurants and the teh tarik places get filled up with fun, joy and merriment.

Then it dawned on me that this holiday mood happens on Hari Raya Puasa, on Chinese New Year and on Deepavali and all my friends usually get this extended holidays either through annual leave and through the extra days taken by schools. So why is Christmas different? Continue reading “Don’t they know it is Christmas?”

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Umno and the burning down of 1Malaysia

Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
14 December 2012

The Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has stated that his vision of 1Malaysia is intended to counter the growing national divide between Malaysians on race, religion and other sensitive socio-cultural issues. He has also argued that the aim of the vision is to strengthen national unity on the basis of inclusiveness – “this policy means that we’ll try to be as inclusive as possible, in a sense that we should have a government that is able to reach out to all communities”. (Interview with CNN, Talkasia, 1 Nov 2010)

Not only was this vision of 1Malaysia markedly absent from the recent Umno general assembly but the real driving force of the party – one completely at odds with 1Malaysia – emerged from the shadows during the singing of a song by Tokyo Umno Club representative Arif Yassir Zulkafli.

The lyrics of the song ‘Lagu Warisan’ can be seen to encapsulate the ideological leifmotif of Umno. It provided the emotional and psychological high point of the meeting and explains why the song left delegates in tears and in spontaneous rendition.

It also explains why the Umno mind and mentality has remained unchanged during the last 66 years of the party’s existence – insecure, envious, delusional, un-accepting of other Malaysians, and propagating a bankrupt doctrine of ‘Blood and Soil’ nationalism akin to that of the Nazis and fascists.

Blood and soil nationalism refers to an ideology that focuses on ethnicity based on two factors – descent and homeland. Readers interested in learning more about blood and soil nationalism can read the Wikipedia. Continue reading “Umno and the burning down of 1Malaysia”

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The pathologies of Malay nationalism

by Ahmad Fuad Rahmat
New Mandala
03 December 2012

The nation

The problem begins with the nation-state ideal; for its coherence depends on there being a people deemed as the rightful owners of a land. It is rooted to the belief that territory is property – a thing to own – and that loyalty to the people means, among other things, the readiness to uphold the integrity of territory to ensure it belongs to the nation.

This requires clearly defined, finite, national borders, which – at least at the face of it – appears as a simple enough idea. Matters become complicated when we ask who those borders are meant for. There cannot be a nation-state, if there is no nation to begin with.

But identities unlike land cannot be enclosed and demarcated. Cultures do not flourish in vacuums. They develop out of interactions and fusions with one another. New words, outlooks and practices are adopted while others fade, in a slow, arbitrary and often ambiguous organic process of contact and migration through time.

The nationalist agenda is at odds with this reality. The belief in the congruence of identity and territory – or indeed identity as territory – at the face of inevitable cultural change that can neither be controlled nor predicted, means that each nation will always find itself in the position of having to redefine the conditions of membership, to determine what or who should or should not be excluded. Culture too is given boundaries as a result.

The nationalist imagination must, in other words, assume however implicitly that there is some supposed essence underlying the flux of culture and identity, out of which the ‘Otherising’ so common to nationalist politics is legitimised. The marker could be anything from a common language, religion, ethnicity, race or history. It could even be a set of values or general traits. None of this is exclusive, of course. At any given time, depending on the issue and occasion, different factors can be evoked to proclaim dissimilarity. Continue reading “The pathologies of Malay nationalism”

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Irresponsible threats of May 13 and chaos if Umno loses 13GE, falsely claiming that Malays will lose political power, is best proof of failure and hypocrisy of Najib’s 1Malaysia policy

The irresponsible threats raised by UMNO leaders at the 66th UMNO General Assembly of “May 13” and chaos if UMNO loses the 13th General Election, falsely claiming that Malays will lose political power and will be rendered “destitute in our own land”, is the best proof of the failure and hypocrisy of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia policy.

If the 1Malaysia Policy proclaimed by Najib after he became Prime Minister in in April 2009 is more than election gimmicks for votes in the 13GE, its philosophy “to create a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian will regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic status second” should have been the guiding spirit of speeches of UMNO/BN leaders and their party conferences.

But this is clearly not the case despite the onset of the 43rd month of Najib’s premiership, as illustrated by the 66th Umno General Assembly. Continue reading “Irresponsible threats of May 13 and chaos if Umno loses 13GE, falsely claiming that Malays will lose political power, is best proof of failure and hypocrisy of Najib’s 1Malaysia policy”

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Nation-building or undermining? – Open Letter to PM

By P Ramakrishnan
Aliran
21 November 2012

My dear PM,

You sounded like a great statesman when you urged Malaysians “to disregard political difference and work toward nation-building”.
That was simply fantastic!

It was very heart-warming to hear you say, “We must build the nation together. Irrespective of the political differences that we have, at the end of the day this country is ours.”

That was simply unbelievable!

How we wish that you really meant what you said. If that was your philosophy, by now you would have been proclaimed as the greatest Prime Minister this country has ever had. If that had happened, you need not now scramble around the country desperately trying to get the Barisan Nasional returned to power. Continue reading “Nation-building or undermining? – Open Letter to PM”

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The truth shall set us free

– May Chee
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 13, 2012

NOV 13 – This is 2012. We live in Malaysia, purportedly progressive, modern and the best democracy in the world. We want to trail the Guinness World Records in everything we do, even weddings. Yet, we are deemed unable to think for ourselves and when some of us can, we are threatened with legal action from the powers-that-be. We have been a people for almost half a century; we are not primitive nomads threatened with destruction in a pagan environment. How can anyone, living in today’s reality, think that by wiping out dissent or an alternative way of thinking can protect one’s faith or interests?

How can those of us who write, whether we are supporters or detractors of causes or personalities, commenting on current affairs or for that matter, anything at all, be threatened with such absurdity? How can we continue to flourish as the best democracy in the world if we have to live in a climate of fear? How do we progress as a people if we do not have freedom of thought and speech, among others?

Are the powers-that-be in touch with reality or not? I thought someone said that he would listen to his people. If he did, he would know that the responsibility of thinking and deciding for oneself cannot be entrusted to another, what’s more in progressive, modern and democratic Malaysia. As a liberated people, we cannot be fearful of taking initiatives, especially those that are for the larger good. As liberated people, we cannot expect everything from civic or religious authorities. That could cause us to sink as a people or suffer political tyranny for is it not a dictator who would uses propaganda to convince his people that he is indispensable? Continue reading “The truth shall set us free”

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Let Deepavali 2012 usher in a festival of light over darkness and the triumph of truth, freedom and justice over all forms of corruption, discrimination and exploitation

Let Deepavali 2012 usher in a festival of light over darkness and the triumph of truth, freedom and justice over all forms of corruption, discrimination and exploitation especially in the impending 13th general elections.

Fifty-five years after Merdeka in 1957, many Malaysians have been left out of the mainstream of developments with the fruits of growth and progress hijacked by a small group of privileged people and their cronies, while the large majority of Malaysians regardless of race, religion and territory have been marginalised and discriminated against.

Deepavali 2012 will be most meaningful if it set into motion a train of developments culminating in the 13GE where these historic injustices and inequalities, whether political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious, are put right.

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Rais: Deferment of Tanda Putera decided by cabinet

by Zulaikha Zulkifli
Malaysiakini
Nov 8, 2012

The decision to postpone the airing of the film Tanda Putera to next year was made by the cabinet, said Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim.

Rais said the decision was made after the cabinet ministers found that there were elements that are “inappropriate” to be screened.

“The cabinet has decided for the benefit of the people, that the official premiere of the film is postponed as it contains scenes that may cause conflicts.

“This is because it shows the tragedy of May 13 which is disputed by various parties,” he added.

He said this in reply to reporters after launching the state Himpunan Kasih Sayang at Kampung Puah Lembah this evening. Continue reading “Rais: Deferment of Tanda Putera decided by cabinet”