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Will Keng Yaik redeem his political sins in his last few weeks in Cabinet?

Gerakan Minister for Energy, Water and Communications, Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik, with over two decades as Federal Minister, must bear responsibility together with the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister for over 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu for the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians into a new underclass.

Keng Yaik should redeem his “political sins” in his last few weeks in Cabinet before the dissolution of Parliament in the next six weeks by speaking up for the Indians instead of undermining their cause for justice.

The least Keng Yaik should do is to defend the Gerakan Youth vice chief S. Paranjothy who had said that the 30,000 Indians had taken part in the November 25 Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur “to express their frustrations and anger” because the community has been “marginalized, oppressed and ignored”.

Keng Yaik should tell the the Umno Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein that Paranjothy had neither committed any wrong nor indiscipline in speaking the truth and blaming Hishammuddin and the Deputy UMNO Youth Leader Khairy Jamaluddin for racial posturing and inciting racial sentiments among Malays to gain political mileage – citing against the former the keris-wielding episodes and against the latter his berating of the Indian news vendors when the UMNO presidential address of Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was not carried in the press the next day as UMNO general assembly fell on Deepavali, with the next day an annual press holiday. Continue reading “Will Keng Yaik redeem his political sins in his last few weeks in Cabinet?”

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More about SMK BUD4 (3)…

Letters

by Philip Yong

I am writing this e-mail to you regarding your latest post on my former school, SMK BUD4. What the parent has wrote to you is indeed correct. Although I have left BU4 for good but I still do communicate with my friends and teachers of that school. In fact I still do visit it quite frequently.

After hearing about these issues about the new principal I felt that I should play my part as a former student of this school as well. I have a few additional information I would like to share with you. As Valentine’s Day is drawing near, the Scout Troop of SMKBU4 proposed to sell cookies for that occasion to gather some funds for our activities and charity. But to their dismay the Principal rejected the proposal immediately by the reason that she is a Muslim and does not celebrate Valentine’s Day. As far as I know, Malaysia is a multiracial country. The government is trying to promote multiracial values but their civil servant are going against that.

Besides that, our school hold a Talent Night Event for students to show off their capability and talent every year. The new principal has also said that she does not want the event to be held this year. She told a teacher that if we wanted to attend a contest we can go to the US or other Western Countries. After hearing this I felt that this principal has a real narrow mind. I feel sad for her honestly. Continue reading “More about SMK BUD4 (3)…”

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Postmortem on Hindraf rally (1)

By Helen Ang

The authorities are now intimidating Hindraf donors. And Samy Vellu was in India, saying everything’s hunky-dory, defending his Umno bosses. While civil society here is grappling still with the ramifications of the Nov 25 rally.

You may recall that Haris Ibrahim and Nat Tan were the two opinion shapers in cyberspace advancing antipodal schools of thought on the rally.

On Nov 24, Haris posted “Why I will not walk this Sunday and why the walk must not proceed”, while Nat vice versa. Readership for both websites – the People’s Parliament and Nat’s blog – experienced a sharp spike during this period; ours eliciting 105 comments.

Increased site traffic is an indicator of the influence that political blogs wield as opinion movers when information is blacked out or distorted in the mainstream media. In this regard, the lacuna was a dereliction of duty, that is, if MSM did not altogether abdicate duty at the behest of their political masters.

The Indian grassroots agitation must have been building up discernibly, yet the Hindraf groundswell washed upon us as suddenly as the tsunami. Reporters, not Haris and Nat, are paid to do the job of informing the public. When you fork over your money for your day’s paper, you’re part-financing their operations to keep you informed. They did not give readers value for money. They sinned by omission.

Now with the benefit of hindsight, it might be instructive to revisit the events of November that opened the curtain to the Hindraf saga. Continue reading “Postmortem on Hindraf rally (1)”

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The limits of democracy and individualism

by Dr. Azly Rahman

(Part 3 of the speech to Malaysian and Indonesian Muslim students of North America and Canada, Washington DC, December 2007.)

I begin with two familiar quotes:

“A life unexamined is not worth living,” said Socrates.

“Work hard as if you are to live forever, devote your beingness to the Creator as if you are to die tomorrow,” goes a saying attributed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

In this third part of our discussion, we will talk about the world within and this relates to the limits of democracy and individualism. I use the word “personacracy” or “deeply personal democracy” to describe what is it that we need to know about ourselves in order to navigate through the politics of representation of the modern world and signs and symbols of the postmodern environment we inhabit. We need, as an American social critic Frederic Jameson called a “cartography of the self” or a GPS system of our inner and outer world to function in this environment.

But first, what does being and “individual” mean? Let me offer a perspective that you can build upon. I need you to listen carefully to the concepts. They might make sense. Continue reading “The limits of democracy and individualism”

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Hishammuddin sets worst example for sensitivities in plural Malaysia?

I have received and put on my blog another complaint by a parent against a school principal – of SMK Bandar Utama 4 Damansara – about the lack of understanding and respect for the sensitivities and rights of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures in plural Malaysia which are the real assets of the country.

It is most shocking that the never before in the 50-year history of Malaysia have there been more “Little Napoleons” who have become school principals and administrators who lack the most elementary understanding and respect for the rights and sensitivities of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures of plural Malaysia. Continue reading “Hishammuddin sets worst example for sensitivities in plural Malaysia?”

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Is MIC politics the most violent of all political parties – and if so, why?

I received SMS from Malaysian Indians expressing alarm at the statement by Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu yesterday (reported in the Sun) that he wanted to be MIC President for another ten years.

I do not know whether Samy Vellu was serious about wanting to be MIC President for another ten years but the alarm he created among Malaysian Indians to have him around for another ten years as the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister is very real and serious indeed!

This is because the Malaysian Indians have never felt more deprived, alienated and marginalized from the mainstream of national development after Samy Vellu’s more than 28 years as the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister – a fact which Samy Vellu had stubbornly refused to concede.

The investigations into the gangland-style murder of Johore MIC Deputy chief and Tenggaroh State Assemblyman, Datuk S. Krishnasamy last Friday seems to have taken a totally strange and surprising twist. Continue reading “Is MIC politics the most violent of all political parties – and if so, why?”

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Abdullah’s shortest-lived guessing-game for any Prime Minister

Will the 12th general election be held in March this year or next year?

This is the guessing game the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tried to provoke from Spain yesterday, but it is a guessing-game initiated by any Prime Minister which must go down in the Guinness Book of Records as having the shortest life-span, expiring the moment it was ventilated – as nobody is biting!

Abdullah, in Madrid for the First Alliance of Civilisations Annual Forum, had announced that he would be in Senegal in March to hand over the chairmanship of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

He raised the possibility of the next general election being held either this March or next March when asked if polls would be held before or after the OIC Summit. (The OIC website gave March 13-14, 2008 as the Islamic Summit Conference in Dakar, Senegal).

If Abdullah is serious that the next general election is not around the corner, then he should send out a clear and urgent message to the Cabinet and the whole administration to return to normalcy, as the whole government has ceased to operate normally but is on an election footing – making decisions and approvals “on-the-run” solely with voter support in mind although such decisions may only last for a few weeks until the next general election is over.

One good example is the announcement by the MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting which made Chinese front-page headline news today but totally ignored by all English and Bahasa-language media, of a new Finance Ministry guideline to open school and other government contracts for supplies from RM10,000 to RM50,000 to all Malaysians when previously, all such contracts for supplies below RM50,000 were reserved only for bumiputras. Continue reading “Abdullah’s shortest-lived guessing-game for any Prime Minister”

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Yet Another Report on Reforming Higher Education!

By M Bakri Musa

It is a sure sign that local leaders are way over their heads (or refuse to make the tough decisions) when they start calling in expensive international consultants. This is the case with Higher Education Minister Mustapa Mohamad’s commissioning (together with the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department) the World Bank that resulted in its report: Malaysia and the World Economy: Building a World-Class Higher Education System.

You can be certain that the report, 18 months in the making, was not cheap. That would be just the beginning. Consultants have a knack of making themselves indispensable, so expect even greater expenses when they are called in to help implement their recommendations.

Yet for all the expertise, wealth of data, and impressive comparative statistics presented in this 285-page report, its recommendations are nothing new or original. These include, among others, granting greater autonomy, meritocracy both in admitting students and recruiting faculty, rationalizing the role of the private sector, and emphasis on science, technology, and research.

What we lack is the political will to make the tough necessary decisions to implement them. Unfortunately no foreign experts no matter how skillful their powers of persuasion are can help in this arena. My only hope is that as those recommendations now carry the World Bank’s imprimatur, the natives are more likely to listen. Continue reading “Yet Another Report on Reforming Higher Education!”

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BU4 Damansara – another case of “Little Napoleon” and school principal “insensitivity”?

Letters
by MB

I would like to bring to your attention, the latest happening in SMK Bandar Utama 4 Damansara (near Ikano Power Centre). This school has about 85% of its students who are Chinese. Its first HM is a Chinese and followed by a Malay lady. All this while, the school has a proud tradition of good old days where students can wear shorts for PE lesson, celebration of major Chinese festival like Chinese New Year, cheerleading team and secular school type of school assembly.

Unfortunately, all these good times are gone with the coming of a new Malay headmistress who is a religious bigot. With 10% Muslim students, she is now imposing “bacaan doa” during assembly, banning of the cheerleading team, not more wearing of shorts for PE and the worse of all is that for the coming CNY, the school can have a lion dance performance by WITHOUT the DRUM.

This is really absurd because the Chinese drums are very noisy. How can a minority group in the school imposed their values on the majority group – another case of insensitivity among the Muslims

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Is Samy prepared to go in repentance to Cabinet tomorrow to admit marginalisation of Malaysian Indians?

The more MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu speaks, the more he ties himself up in circles.

For instance, his recent statement calling on Indian community not to fall into despair highlight his failure as the sole Malaysian Indian Cabinet Minister for more than 28 years to ensure that Malaysian Indians enjoy an equal place under the Malaysian sun.

In making the appeal to the Indian community “not to fall into despair”, Samy Vellu admitted that he was aware that many Indians were dissatisfied with several matters such as employment and promotions, especially in the public sector. This was reported by New Straits Times yesterday which carried the headline “Samy Vellu wants to hear views of Indian youths”.

Can Samy Vellu explain why after three decades as the sole Malaysian Indian Minister in Cabinet, large swathes of the Malaysian Indian community have “fallen into despair” as illustrated by the unprecedented gathering of 30,000 Indians all over the country who congregated in Kuala Lumpur in response to the Hindraf rally on November 25, which I explained in Parliament the very next day as the “cry of desperation” of Malaysian Indians at their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization in being the new underclass in Malaysia?

But Samy Vellu has taken the public stance of denying that there is any marginalization of the Malaysian Indians, which he reiterated to the Indian media in his highly-humiliating visit to India recently where he was snubbed repeatedly by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi both in Chennai and New Delhi.

If Samy Vellu could admit that there are Malaysian Indians who are “falling into despair”, why is he not prepared to admit that the very cause of this “community despair” is none other than the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysian Indians by MIC and Barisan Nasional policies?

[The Samy Vellu jinx strikes again, preventing the uploading of the second part of this statement]

Three years ago, Samy Vellu was prepared to admit to the problem of the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians. Why is he not prepared to make such an admission now although the marginalization process had worsened in the past three years?

In the first parliamentary meeting after the 2004 general election, DAP MP for Ipoh Barat M. Kula Segaran and I had proposed to Samy Vellu that a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians should be established to find a solution to the crisis faced by Malaysian Indians which should be regarded as a Malaysian problem and not just an Indian problem.

In June 2004, when Samy Vellu and I were attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Selection Committee, I handed him an official letter proposing the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians and asked him to take the issue to the Cabinet for approval. I suggested to Samy Vellu that he be the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee to highlight the issue of marginalization of Malaysian Indians and to propose a masterplan to eradicate it.

[Identified – one paragraph here (which could not be uploaded) which caused the Samy Vellu jinx. Leave it to IT exorcists to solve this mystery]

What is most significant was that when I handed the letter and proposal to him in June 2004, he raised no objection whatsoever and even commended the proposal as a good one.

This could only meant that in June 2004, Samy Vellu agreed that the Malaysian Indians faced the problem of marginalization. Why has Samy Vellu done a somersault and is now denying that Indians in Malaysia have become a new underclass because of marginalization – although he admits that the plight of the Indian community is so desperate that it is pushing many Indians into despair?

Is Samy Vellu prepared to go in repentance to the Cabinet tomorrow to admit that the MIC and Barisan Nasional policies had failed and marginalized the Malaysian Indians, and that it is this long-standing marginalization which is the reason for the 30,000-people Hindraf gathering in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 and that the Cabinet must formulate and announce a New Deal Policy to give justice and fair play to the marginalized Indians?

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Songkok as compulsory uniform for prefects – JB English College backs down

At 20:56,19 hours yesterday, on my thread “Songkok compulsory wear for JB English College prefects”, a blog visitor left the following posting:

However, as far as the “EC prefect wearing songkok issue” is concerned, I am surprised that no one has yet posted that the issue has been resolved amicably as the headmaster himself has announced today during an emergency prefects meeting that it is NOT compulsory for the prefects to wear the songkok for whatever function or duty.

This morning, I phoned and spoke to the principal of Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) Johor Bahru, Haji Zulkifli bin Mahmood and he confirmed the veracity of the posting on my blog – that he had announced that it is not compulsory for school prefects to wear the songkok for whatever function or duty.

I welcome the return to sanity, as the compulsory imposition of the songkok issue has attracted considerable flak and traffic on my blog with three threads and 359 comments in four days, viz: Continue reading “Songkok as compulsory uniform for prefects – JB English College backs down”

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Smarter RCI – summon Lingam first to give him opportunity to admit authencity of Lingam Tape

I read the first day’s proceedings of the Haidar Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape yesterday with dismay and disappointment.

Why wasn’t senior lawyer V.K. Lingam called as the first witness to give him an opportunity to confirm the authenticity of the 14-minute video clip which would have saved time, money and resources and allowed the real issues impinging on the crisis of national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary to be addressed frontally.

If Lingam is prepared to admit upfront the authenticity of the video clip, then the country can be spared the rigmarole of the completely unnecessary testimony of Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) officers going to Lingam’s house in Kelana Jaya to take photographs of its living room and compare it with the location in the clip, finding them to be one and the same as well as other related testimony such as expert evidence from a private laboratory in the Spanish capital, Madrid verifying that the voice on the videoclip matched that of Lingam.

In fact, if Lingam admits to the authenticity of the clip, there would be no necessity to even summon businessman Loh Mui Fah who has surfaced publicly to admit that the video clip was taken by his son sometime in late December 2001 when he and his son had gone to Lingam’s house to obtain legal advice on family and business matters. Continue reading “Smarter RCI – summon Lingam first to give him opportunity to admit authencity of Lingam Tape”

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Samy Vellu jinx in blogosphere – how to exorcise it?

A thread with a title but no content has attracted 95 comments in the past 31 hours. Quite Amazing.

Undergrad is not the only person to think that I had deliberately left the thread blank to provoke comments.

But I did not. I had been struggling for the past 33 hours to upload my media comments in Sungai Siput during the second stop of my 2-day 14-place whistlestop campaign of Perak state over the weekend to spread the important campaign theme of “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” for the next general election. But I had been stumped by the Samy Vellu jinx in the blogosphere.

Yesterday (Sunday 13.1.08) morning. After my failed attempts to upload the thread “Will Samy Vellu contest against in Sungei Siput” – my media comments in Sungai Siput on Saturday, 12.108 at 11 am – I decided to upload the title first, to be followed by the body of the thread.

The title was successfully uploaded, but there was no way I could upload the statement proper. I enlisted the help of Chong Zhemin to post the Sungei Siput statement from London after reading his exchange with Undergrad, another tried to post it from the Antipodes, but all to no avail. Continue reading “Samy Vellu jinx in blogosphere – how to exorcise it?”

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Call for CI into all cases of murdered politicians since 2000 – any link with politics?

In an immediate reaction to the gangland-style killing of Johore MIC deputy chief and Tenggaroh State Assemblyman Datuk S. Krishnasamy in Johore Baru on Friday, MIC President and Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu revealed that Krishnasamy had received death threats week before he was murdered. He ordered all MIC buildings to beef up security.

Many questions cry out for answer. Firstly, why didn’t Samy Vellu, who was informed of the earlier death threats by Krishnasamy, take the threats seriously.

In the past decade, two MIC State Assemblymen had been shot dead in public, the previous case being Lunas State Assemblyman in Kedah, Dr. Joe Fernandez, 54, who was shot three times by two men at the Jalan Maju Jalan Harapan junction in Bukit Mertajam on a motorcycle while driving home from his clinic in Kulim on Nov. 5, 2000. Is there any reason why the two cases of elected representatives shot to death in public places were both from the MIC?

Thirdly, in ordering that all MIC buildings beef up security, is Samy Vellu suggesting that the killing of Krishnasamy is related to his political work? Continue reading “Call for CI into all cases of murdered politicians since 2000 – any link with politics?”

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Call to all political parties to make “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” common general election theme

During the weekend, together with Perak DAP State leaders, including Perak DAP State Chairman and State Assemblyman for Sitiawan, Ngeh Koo Ham, DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Ipoh Barat, M. Kula Segaran, DAP Perak State Assemby representatives, Su Keong Siong (Pasir Pinji), Seah Leong Peng (Pasir Bedamar), Keong Meng Seng (Menglembu), Chen Fook Chye (Keranji), Hee Yit Fong (Jlapang), I made a hectic and grueling two-day 14-place whistle-stop campaign of Perak state to launch “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” as a top campaign theme in the next general election expected to be held within 60 days.

I found great resonance and support from Malaysians regardless of race, religion, gender or age to this campaign theme as it struck a deep chord among all Malaysians who have never felt more unsafe for themselves and their loved ones in the nation’s 50-year history.

All Malaysians and political parties must regard the breakdown of law and order and the endemic crime situation in the country as having reached crisis proportion – where Malaysians have lost the twin fundamental liberties to be free from crime and the fear of crime.

Everyday, Malaysians live in fear about the safety of themselves and their loved ones, whether in the streets, public places or even in the privacy of their homes.

The gravity of the crime and law-and-order crisis in the country was further driven home by the latest crime statistics released by the police on Wednesday, with the Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi confessing that he was “worried” about the rising crime index. Continue reading “Call to all political parties to make “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” common general election theme”

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Will Samy Vellu contest again in Sungei Siput?

Will the MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu contest again in the Sungei Siput parliamentary seat in the next general election which is around the corner?

The question seems to be a no-brainer as the answer appears to be indisputable “yes”.

The truth may not be that simple however.

Many would have no doubt that Samy Vellu would be returning to contest the parliamentary seat of Sungei Siput for the ninth time in the next general election, which he won for the first time in 1974.

There is however no doubt that Samy Vellu has become the lightning road of the long-suppressed anger and frustration of the Malaysian Indians over their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization in the country – as evidenced by the seething ferment demanding change among Malaysian Indians.

Samy Vellu is now the very personification to the Malaysian Indian community of everything that is wrong and unfair about Barisan Nasional policies in the past three decades which have reduced them into the new underclass in Malaysia.

Samy Vellu had compounded this offence in openly going against the struggle of the Malaysian Indians for a just and equal place under the Malaysian sun when he openly denied in India last week that Malaysian Indians are victims of long-standing marginalization.

This is not only untrue – but Samy Vellu knew that he was not speaking the truth! Continue reading “Will Samy Vellu contest again in Sungei Siput?”

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Royal Police Commission’s 125 recommendations – what happened?

The Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should present a White Paper on the status of implementation of each of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission to create an efficient, accountable, incorruptible, professional world-class police service service to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.

It is four years since the establishment of the Royal Police Commission and more than 30 months since the publication of the Commission Report and its 125 recommendations to create a world-class police service in Malaysia.

In the past two years, I had repeated asked in Parliament the status of the implementation of the 125 Commission recommendations and I can say with conviction that none of the two Internal Security Ministers, Datuk Johari Baharum and Datuk Foo Ah Kiow has any real clue as to the answer – as they just read out the reply that will be supplied to them by the police, without any understanding or authority over the subject.

This is one of the greatest flaws of the police system because there is no political authority over the police when this is the most important principle in an elected system of government – where the police is not a law unto itself, but under the political control and authority of the elected government of the day. Continue reading “Royal Police Commission’s 125 recommendations – what happened?”

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Suspend “Little Napoleon” school principals who trample on rights and sensitivities of plural Malaysia

The Cabinet next Wednesday should order the immediate suspension of school principals who acted as “Little Napoleons” in unilaterally and arbitrarily imposing rules and regulations which trample on cultural and religious rights and sensitivities in a plural society – demonstrating that they lack the most fundamental qualification to be school principals.

The latest manifestation of such “Little Napoleons” is Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) in Johor Bahru in making “songkok” part of the compulsory uniform of school prefects in the school.

I put up on my blog the protest letter of a parent of a school prefect in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar who said his son, who is in Form Five, would resign as a school prefect – appointed since Form II because of his exemplary conduct – if he is forced to wear the songkok. There are over 160 responses in the two threads in my blog on this issue in the past 24 hours, showing the intensity of the sensitivities over the matter.

Recently there have been an unchecked increase of incidents whether in schools, universities or involving the government decision-making process showing growing indifference, disrespect and even contempt for the sensitivities and rights of the diverse races, cultures and religions in the country – which are most detrimental to the goals of nation-building and the Vision 2020 objective of creating a Bangsa Malaysia.

Yesterday, Malaysians learn to their shock another incident of the “Little Napoleons” running wild in Malaysia – the confiscation of English language Christian children’s books said to contain offensive caricatures of prophets from several bookshops in Johore Baru, Senawang (Negri Sembilan) and Ipoh by state enforcement officials of the Publications and Al-Quran Texts Control Department under the Internal Security Ministry. Continue reading “Suspend “Little Napoleon” school principals who trample on rights and sensitivities of plural Malaysia”

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Samy cleared Hindraf of terrorist links – police should stop harassing Hindraf donors

The police should stop harassing and intimidating donors of Hindraf on the spurious ground that they are funding a terrorist organization.

Malaysiakini reported two days ago that the police are summoning donors of Hindraf “over a possible offence of funding a terrorist organization”, grounding their investigations under Section 130N of the Penal Code on the “funding of terrorist activities”.

The penalty for the offence are death (if the terrorist act results in death), imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years but not exceeding 30 years and a fine.

This is most absurd, especially as the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister for over 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had admitted in his recent visit to Tamil Nadu that the Malaysian government did not have any evidence that Hindraf had connection with Tamil Tigers or terrorists. Continue reading “Samy cleared Hindraf of terrorist links – police should stop harassing Hindraf donors”

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Songkok made compulsory – latest in series of insensitivities usurping “middle ground”

I have today received a complaint from a parent of a prefect in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) in Johor Bahru expressing the strongest objection to any attempt to make “songkok” part of the compulsory uniform of school prefects and students in the school.

He said his son, who is in Form Five, has been a school prefect in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar since he was in Form Two and had always been an exemplary student, as well has won praise from many teachers for his exemplary conduct and commitment to his duties and studies. He is also a member of the ExCo of the Prefectorial Board.
The parent wrote:

“Recently, in the beginning of this year, there was an instruction from the school, which I believe came from the teacher advisor to the Prefectorial Board, that Prefects have to start wearing the Songkok as part of the official uniform. At first, the instruction was that it would only be required during ‘official functions’ like school assemblies and during interschool events or major events like sports day and speech day. However, this has now been revised to include daily prefectorial duties.

“There are reasons to believe that the practice of getting Prefects to wear the Songkok, is a prelude to getting ALL the students of the school to eventually follow suit.

“My son, after conferring with me, has decided that he will NOT wear the Songkok. He is willing to resign from the Prefectorial Board if forced to wear the Songkok.”

The parent expresses grave regret at the utter lack of sensitivity of the school authorities on this issue, stating in considerable detail his objections – as “the songkok is an emblem of the Malay identity” and “non-Malays should not be forced to don attire which does not reflect their identity”.

I put up the parent’s letter on my blog and in a matter of less than eight hours there had been over 80 responses – demonstrating the strong feelings evoked by another addition to a catalogue of insensitivities recently shown by those in power or in authority in government to the legitimate rights and sensitivities of diverse races, religions and cultures in a plural society – aggravating racial and religious polarization instead of forging greater unity and understanding among the different races, religions and cultures in the country. Continue reading “Songkok made compulsory – latest in series of insensitivities usurping “middle ground””