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RCI on illegal immigrants in Sabah can be established after Tuesday

I have given notice that I will move an amendment on Tuesday to the motion of thanks for the Royal Address in the name of the MP for Kulai, YB Ong Ka Ting, as follows:

“ by adding the following words ‘and resolves that a Royal Commission of Inquiry should be established to resolve the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah to the extent that there is legitimate fear that Sabahans are being outnumbered by foreigners in their own state’ after the words ‘Penggal Pertama Parlimen Yang Kedua Belas’”.

If Sabah and Sarawak MPs from Barisan Nasional support the amendment motion on Tuesday, a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah – a call which had been made in Sabah and in Parliament down the decades – would finally be established.

Are BN MPs from Sabah and Sarawak as well as from Peninsular Malaysia prepared to do what is right?

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Mahathir’s challenge – dare Abdullah pick up the gauntlet?

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has challenged the government to charge him following the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip scandal.

Dare the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, pick up the gauntlet?

This is the AFP report of Mahathir’s cdare:

Malaysia’s Mahathir challenges govt to charge him

JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Saturday challenged the government to charge him for his alleged involvement in a judge-fixing scandal during his rule.

The government on Friday released a report that found evidence of an “insidious” conspiracy to influence the appointment of judges and had listed Mahathir, along with other top figures, as being involved.

Following the release of the report, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s cabinet agreed for the attorney-general’s chambers to immediately investigate the allegations against those identified in the report, including Mahathir.

“I welcome it,” the 82-year-old influential leader said at a meeting in southern Johor state.

“I want them to charge me in court. Only then will I have the opportunity to expose more conflicts faced by the judges, including those who have implicated me,” he told reporters. Continue reading “Mahathir’s challenge – dare Abdullah pick up the gauntlet?”

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Et tu Zaid Ibrahim?

While the Cabinet decision to make public the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip is to be applauded, one jarring note is the police report lodged by the Prime Minister’s Department against several newspapers under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for publishing earlier the findings of the inquiry and its recommendations.

Et tu Zaid Ibrahim?

Before his reprieve from the political wilderness as a result of the March 8 “political tsunami” and surprise appointment to the Cabinet, Zaid had called for a purge of the culture of secrecy “once and for all”, proposing that “official secrets” should be defined and limited to matters of “real” national security such as inter-governmental communications, information from the police and military intelligence, issues affecting public order and Cabinet minutes – “that is, where harm to the nation is actual and probable, not according to the whim and fancy of the government”.

What actual and probable harm had been done to national security or public order by the New Straits Times, the Star, Berita Harian and Sin Chew Daily and others for the publication of the findings of the Lingam Video Tape Royal Commission of Inquiry before Friday’s Cabinet decision to make the report public, as to justify Zaid Ibrahim’s directive to the Prime Minister’s Department to lodge police report against the newspapers concerned.

The police report against the newspapers also runs counter to the renewed pledge by the Prime Minister after the March 8 “political tsunami” for a more open, accountable and transparent society including the promise to introduce Whistleblowers’ Protection legislation. Continue reading “Et tu Zaid Ibrahim?”

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Revocation of passport of Hindraf Chairman – Hamid should make ministerial statement in Parliament

The revocation of the passport of the Hindraf Chairman P. Waytha Moorthy by the Malaysian government is most undemocratic and deplorable.

The Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar should make a ministerial statement for the government’s high-handed action when Parliament reconvenes next Tuesday.

The following is Waytha Moorth’s statement on the revocation of his passport:

I was travelling back to London from Geneva after the HINDRAF briefing with the United Nations High Commissioner’s office on Human Rights on April 21, 2008 and was totally shocked to be informed by the UK immigration officer at Gatwick Airport that the Malaysian government had revoked my passport thus making me de facto stateless.

I see only one purpose. The Malaysian Government had intended that I be deported back to Malaysia by the British authorities so that I too could be arrested under the draconian Internal Security Act and be detained for unspecified period of time without trial and be subject to torture and inhumane treatment for my political beliefs. I have not committed any offence or crime other than to champion the cause of the systematically marginalized, discriminated and alienated ethnic Indian community in Malaysia who remained a permanently colonized community despite achieving independence 51 years ago. Continue reading “Revocation of passport of Hindraf Chairman – Hamid should make ministerial statement in Parliament”

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Donation drive for China and Burma disasters

At 11.30 am this morning, DAP National Treasurer Fong Kui Lun (MP for Bukit Bintang) accompanied by DAP National Organising Secretary Tan Kok Wai (MP for Cheras) and DAP Selangor State Chairman Ean Yong Hian Wah (Exco member and SA for Seri Kembangan) presented a cheque for RM20,000 to the Chinese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on behalf of DAP MPs and Assembly members as humanitarian aid to the victims of the massive earthquak disaster in Sichuan, China.

Fong, who heads the DAP Donation Drive for China and Burma Disaster Victims, announced a week-long nation-wide humanitarian aid collection drive by DAP State committees . Public donation drives would be launched in Ipoh Timor and Ipoh Barat tonight.

Public can hand their donations to DAP MPs, SAs and the respective DAP State Offices. Receipts would be issued on request.

(Media Statement by DAP Headquarters on 16.5.05)

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KJ comes to Amirsham’s rescue

After embarrassing the professional-technocrat non-politician Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Amirsham Aziz with a planted supplementary question and a planted answer during Question Time in Parliament this morning, the Prime Minister’s son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin (MP for Rembau) has aggravated Amirsham’s embarrassment in coming to the former banker’s defence!

Rebutting the suspicion that Amirsham was “under the thumb of the world’s richest unemployed” in reading out a prepared answer to a supplementary question which the Minister should have no prior knowledge, Khairy said:

“The minister is an intelligent man. He was the former CEO of Maybank and I’m sure he anticipated my question. The minister was looking at his facts to answer my question.”

The Oxford graduate is being most condescending in conceding the intelligence of Amirsham. But he was talking bunkum as there were no “facts” for Amirsham to “look at” in his answer to Khairy’s supplementary question. Amirsham was just reading word-for-word the “planted” answer to Khairy’s “planted” supplementary, as if afraid that he might miss out some words or phrases painstakingly prepared for him beforehand!

With such a friend, Amirsham does not need enemies!

KJ’s “kiss of death” is to be found in today’s online New Straits Times “Dewan Dispatches”, as follows: Continue reading “KJ comes to Amirsham’s rescue”

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Three Molotov cocktails thrown at Perak DAP premises must be deplored by all

The three homemade Mototov cocktails thrown at the Perak DAP premises in Ipoh opposite the Perak state assembly at 2.20 am must be deplored by all political parties, the civil society and all Malaysians.

Although no great harm was done, such contemptible action must be nipped in the bud and not be condoned in any manner by any party or individual as all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political belief must demonstrate their democratic credentials and commitment to uphold the system of parliamentary democracy in the country and to peaceful democratic change.

Bernama report on the petrol bomb incident follows: Continue reading “Three Molotov cocktails thrown at Perak DAP premises must be deplored by all”

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Amirsham Aziz – a professional/technocrat in Cabinet or just a Minister under the thumb of “world’s richest unemployed”?

When banker Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in the second Abdullah Cabinet after the March 8 “political tsunami”, he was hailed as a professional and technocrat to oversee the Economic Planning Unit.

Amirsham himself pledged on his Cabinet appointment on 18th March 2008: “I will use my banking experience in the best interest of the country and exercise professionalism in every step I take.”

But what a letdown by Amirsham during question time in Parliament just now. Amirsham’s professionalism was completely absent. What is worse – he shamed himself publicly when he was exposed to be a Minister completely under the thumb of the “world’s richest unemployed”!

This happened when Khairy Jamaluddin (Rembau MP) asked the Prime Minister a highly slanted question on the New Economic Policy. In a supplementary question, Khairy distorted the statement by the Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng on the eradication of NEP abuses of corruption, cronyism and economic inefficiency.

This was not surprising. What created a ruckus in the House was Amirsham’s response, reading from a prepared text to the supplementary question meant to be impromptu and extemporaneous.

It was not only a planted question but also a planted answer.

As I alleged in the House in the ruckus just now, it was clear to all that the “world’s richest unemployed” had not only asked the supplementary question, he had also prepared the answer to be read out by Amirsham! Continue reading “Amirsham Aziz – a professional/technocrat in Cabinet or just a Minister under the thumb of “world’s richest unemployed”?”

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Believe it or not – Malaysia’s improved anti-corruption performance

May 14, 2008 21:28 PM

Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Performance Has Improved – Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Bernama) — Malaysia’s fight against corruption has shown a marked improvement and it is placed among countries which had succeeded in tackling the menace, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

He said the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International last year showed that Malaysia had done better than 76 percent of the 179 countries listed in the report.

“There was a 73.1 per cent improvement from 2006 while from 1995 it was 43.9,” he said in reply to a question by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur).

Lim had urged the government to form a royal commission to find reasons for Malaysia’s drop in the CPI ranking from 23 in 1995 to 44 and 43 respectively in 2006 and 2007. Continue reading “Believe it or not – Malaysia’s improved anti-corruption performance”

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Sabah on fire in Parliament (2)

The problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah today is even worse than more than a decade ago when the resolution of the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah was proclaimed as one of the pillars of Sabah Baru 13 years ago.

In the seventies, there were 100,000 to 200,000 illegal immigrants, which have mushroomed to some one million to 1.5 million at present, to the extent that there are Sabahans who warned that they have been outnumbered as to become strangers in their own country.

At the time when Umno leaders were promising a Sabah Baru to resolve the problem of illegal immigrants in the state, they were actively involved in the racket known as Project I/C to legalise the status of illegal immigrants by issuing them false identity cards to become phantom voters determining the political destiny of Sabah.

The political turmoils in Sabah, which Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders have refused to acknowledge, must be admitted and corrected or they will undermine the international competitiveness both of Sabah and Malaysia.

What I speak represents the cries of the ordinary people of Sabah. Let it be fully heeded.

I said the above in Parliament last year during the debate on the 2007 Supplementary Estimates on 16th April 2007.

It was a voice in the wilderness and ignored by the Barisan Nasional Government.

More than a year later, as a direct result of the March 8 “political tsunami” in Peninsular Malaysia, it has become a full-throated demand in Parliament by Sabah Members of Parliament (DAP and Barisan Nasional) as part of the larger thrust to end the discrimination, marginalization and victimization of the people of Sabah from the mainstream of Malaysian national development. Continue reading “Sabah on fire in Parliament (2)”

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Another NS death

BY: Emergency Physician

Dear YB, please speak up for the many concerned parents regarding the deaths and deaths and deaths in the NS camps… it is very very worrying… authorities don’t seems to concern much

i am a doctor, working as a specialist in emergency department… i can somehow guess what had happened… it is ridiculous for a victim to die like that in Kem Semanggol with a simple answer of unknown fever… ridiculous!!! is a case of neglect and delay treatment..

the victim Too Hui Min… again… if not because of neglect and delay of treatment… WHY WHY WHY should a victim complaining of constipation die… it is not the answer…

i suspect it is the stupidity of the paramedic who did not refer her earlier to the hospital… believe me, i have seen many referral letters written by paramedic to the hospital with stupid diagnosis… just because he didn’t know what’s happening…he might have simply labeled her as having constipation. rather than seeing the non bowel opening as a warning sign to something sinister… he made the wrong diagnosis of keeping her in the camp further and worse still, gave her a pill which could make her worse!! If he is not qualified to make a decision like a doctor, at least he should refer!!!!

My heart really goes out in tears to those who have trusted their children into the hands of these people…only to bring back dead bodies

So, please YB, please speak up on our behalf..numerous letters had been written in Malaysiakini, even in other papers like the STAR, etc.. I for once, wouldn’t want to send my children, when the reach that age…to the hands of potential murderers.

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Sabah on fire in Parliament

Sabah on fire – that is one clear message of the first debate of the new Parliament which ends today with the three-day Ministerial replies starting tomorrow.

Is the March 8 “political tsunami” in Peninsular Malaysia reaching Sabah?

Two outstanding examples:

1. “We (Sabah BN MPs) have never jumped. We can move by simply forming a new party. Then we can decide where we want to sit…here or there”, he said, gesturing in the direction of the opposition and backbenchers. – Datuk Seri Ghapur Salleh (MP for Kalabakan).

2. There is no harm in Barisan Nasional MPs in Sabah defecting to the Opposition. What’s the point of moving to a terrace house if one is already living in a bungalow? However, for some of us, there seems to be no pleasure in living in this bungalow. What’s the point of living in a bungalow if one has to sleep beside the toilet? – Datuk Anifah Aman (MP for Kimanis).

The fire rages on in Sabah to end over four decades of discrimination, marginalization and even victimisation of Sabahans in Malaysia.

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Desecrators, Not Defenders of Malay Honor

by M. Bakri Musa

What strikes me on this latest Raja Petra saga is that the public officials involved were all Malays. Their behaviors besmirch the good name of my race and culture. Contrary to their conviction and assertion, they are not the defenders of Malay honor; they are the desecrators of Malay honor.

Charging Raja Petra Kamarudin as well as author Syed Akbar Ali under the Sedition Act for what they had posted on the Internet is less a crude attempt at intimidating bloggers but more a sinister shadow play (wayang kulit) with many hidden hands each trying to make its puppets move in a particular way in order to convey its threatening message. It is also a blatant abuse of the criminal justice system.

While the government may wish it to be otherwise, this crass manipulation of prosecutorial power would not make citizens refrain from using this new medium, nor will it infringe on its freedom. The Internet is now well beyond the control of any authority, least of all a corrupt and incompetent Third World government.

More significantly, this latest spectacle reflects two unsavory and destructive traits that are fast becoming the norm among our leaders and public servants.

One is their small mindedness and the other, their contemptible habit of misusing government assets for personal gains. The first attribute is closely associated with incompetence; the second, corruption. This pairing is lethal; it will destroy our society very quickly.

There is one other observation which while abundantly clear, is rarely stated openly. As the leadership and public service in Malaysia are increasingly under Malay control, these two odious traits (corruption and incompetence) are now viewed as an integral part of the Malay persona and culture. This is what makes me angry, as it should every Malaysian, Malays especially. Continue reading “Desecrators, Not Defenders of Malay Honor”

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“Beggar Minister” finally admits

“Position of BN component parties like beggars” is the headline of today’s Sin Chew Daily exclusive interview with former Gerakan President Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, with a secondary headline: “Not given equal respect – Lim Keng Yaik”

Keng Yaik, who is now Gerakan adviser, told Sin Chew that Barisan Nasional component parties like MCA, MIC including Gerakan ended up with status like that of “beggars” as they were not given equal position in the Barisan Nasional.

He criticized BN for not treating its component parties equally. He stressed that although Malay special rights are protected under the Constitution, the non-Malays also clearly enjoy their own rights.

This is a gem of an admission from Keng Yaik, who had been a Cabinet Minister for 22 years from 1986 to 2008.

MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other BN component parties had long been criticized for accepting “beggar politics” in the Barisan Nasional and Cabinet.

When did Keng Yaik discover that he had been a “beggar Minister” for 22 years? After his political retirement and the March 8 political tsunami? Continue reading ““Beggar Minister” finally admits”

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Cyclone Nargis and callous Myanmar military rulers – Let ASEAN be first to condemn

Let ASEAN be the first to condemn the Myanmar military junta for its callousness in not suspending its sham referendum to legitimize its 46-year dictatorship in the face of the Cyclone Nargis devastation.

On May 3, 2008, cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta and wiped out entire villages as it left a path of destruction across five regions. Over seven million people were affected by the storm, with estimates of dead ranging from 25,000 to 100,000 and up to a million homeless.

ASEAN governments and leaders cannot remain silent at the irresponsible and inhumane conduct of the Myanmese military rulers which seized a shipment of United Nations food aid intended for victims of the devastating cyclone, declaring that they would accept donations of food and medicine but not the foreign aid workers. Continue reading “Cyclone Nargis and callous Myanmar military rulers – Let ASEAN be first to condemn”

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Lingam Video Clip RCI report – table it in Parliament on Monday

The four-volume 186-page Lingam Video Clip Royal Commission of Inquiry Report, which was submitted to the Yang di Pertuan Agong yesterday, should be tabled in Parliament on Monday, in toto without any abridgement, regardless of whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had read or approved of it or not.

In first-world developed countries where governments are held strictly to international best practices of accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance, it would be completely unthinkable for the reports of Royal Commissions of Inquiry to be withheld from the public.

In fact, it is the practice of these countries for reports of Royal Commissions of Inquiry or other public investigations to be simultaneously released to the public when the reports or findings are submitted to the appointing authorities, whether the ruling monarch, the head of state or government.

Yesterday, Abdullah said he would decide whether to make the Royal Commission report public once he has read it.

He said: “I haven’t seen it yet. If it was submitted to the Prime Minister’s Department, it must have been while the cabinet was meeting.”

Does it really matter whether the Prime Minister had personally seen or read it or not, or whether it had been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Department while the cabinet was meeting? Continue reading “Lingam Video Clip RCI report – table it in Parliament on Monday”

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Abdullah putting pressure on AG to prosecute Karpal – bad and dangerous precedent

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is setting a bad and dangerous precedent in publicly pressurizing the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Gani Patail to charge DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh for sedition and turn a legal issue into a political and racial one.

This is the first time in 50 years that a Prime Minister had so flagrantly and blatantly put public pressure on the Attorney-General to prosecute an Opposition leader, making a total mockery of the absolute discretion of the Attorney-General as entrenched in Article 145(3) of the Constitution “to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, other than proceedings before a Syariah Court, a native court or a court-martial”.

On Thursday, Abdullah said he had instructed Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to lodge a police report against Karpal for making allegedly seditious remarks about the Sultan of Perak when Karpal had reiterated publicly that he had not questioned Sultan Azlan Shah’s prerogatives as the state’s head of religion of Islam.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister has upped the ante by publicly demanding that the Attorney-General speed up the probe against Karpal. Continue reading “Abdullah putting pressure on AG to prosecute Karpal – bad and dangerous precedent”

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Grand Saga – the bully at Bandar Makhota Cheras

by Edward Kok

Yesterday’s ruckus at Bandar Mahkota Cheras is another sad example of the Federal Government’s oppression against its own people whom the Federal Government has pledged to serve and protect.

The FRU, fully armed and protected against hapless residents who merely want to have an access road to their residence.

Why is Grand Saga, the toll concessionaire so eager to re-enact the barricade to block the access to Mahkota Cheras? A few more jam-free days for these traffic weary folks pending the decision of the survey report by the Survey Department would not have hurt Grand Saga one bit. Do they not have a social responsibility to Malaysians, especially after they have their pockets full, contributed by fellow Malaysians? Continue reading “Grand Saga – the bully at Bandar Makhota Cheras”

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Raja Petra: a bohemian rhapsody

by Dr. Azly Rahman

“Is this a real life.. is this just fantasy
Caught in a landslide…. no escape from reality
Open your eyes… look up to the skies and see…I’m just a poor boy.. I need no sympathy.. because I’m easy come.. easy go…
“
— Freddy Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody

There is so much sadness in our nation as we bemoan the imprisonment of a voice of conscience manifested in this individual called Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

There is so much anger in our consciousness as we wonder what justice denied can do to us as we see the rot in our cultural values and political lives — right in front of our eyes, feasted through the media.

Raja Petra is seeking deep in his inner self and journeying deep into the archeology of his consciousness and into the history of his self and his ancestors, seeking solace and guidance in what next to be done in this world in which the self argues and revolts against systems of oppression. His psyche and the journey of his soul perhaps bring him to a hill in Melaka some several centuries ago — a place where the legendary philosopher-king and the Bugis warrior stood on a hill riddled with bullets from the advancing Dutch colonials. Raja Haji died standing. Continue reading “Raja Petra: a bohemian rhapsody”