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Nazri: An unrepentant boor

By Tunku Abdul Aziz

Accustomed as I am to Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz’s often outlandishly over the top and predictably uncharitable innuendoes about people and their integrity, coupled with imputations of improper motives, I was, for all that, flabbergasted to read an account in the New Straits Times of Thursday, July 16, 2009 about Nazri resorting to slanderous language, obviously intended to damage and harm the reputation and standing of three well-known public figures, Tun Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Hanif Omar and Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman, currently Chairman of Suhakam.

Nazri of all people should not be too quick off the mark to denounce the trio or any one else for that matter as “crooks” because I expect he himself would be the last to claim that he is a person of complete moral rectitude and that he has not once offended against the code of ethics of his chosen profession, if one could dignify the practice of politics as a profession, in the best sense of the word.

Before I go on, let me say that Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz has always been kind and courteous to me, a gesture I greatly appreciate and happily reciprocate. I write this more in sorrow than anger.

I would not normally give two hoots about Nazri’s boorish and tiresome behaviour, but when he has the gall to go out of his way to blacken the good name of a distinguished former civil servant and a fine gentleman of great honour and integrity, then I feel duty bound to say that his remarks are clearly beyond the pale. I cannot claim to know the other two gentlemen as well as I have known Hanif, but that does not mean that I am not equally saddened by Nazri’s totally uncalled for remarks about them. Nazri has overstepped the bounds of common decency.
Continue reading “Nazri: An unrepentant boor”

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I will ask Anwar and Hadi to come along to impress on Najib why for the sake of the credibility of MACC and his premiership, there is no option but for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death from plunge from 14th floor of MACC hqrs

Yesterday morning, I sent an urgent fax to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak asking for a meeting at the first available opportunity on his return from overseas over the unusual plunge to death of Teoh Beng Hock, political secretary to DAP Selangor State Exco and Seri Kembangan Assemblyman, Ean Yong Hian Wah from the 14th floor of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Thursday.

I made clear in my fax that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss Teoh’s unusual death in MACC custody which has created nation-wide anger and outrage from Malaysians regardless of race, religion or political affiliation apart from a handful of top MCA, Gerakan, MIC and UMNO leaders.

If I meet Najib on his return from overseas, I will impress on him that the MACC after six months of creation is on trial, the police is on trial and most important of all, Najib’s premiership is on trial in their handling of Teoh’s unusual death and public anger as to how a healthy, vibrant and idealistic young political worker could enter the MACC hqrs as a witness in its investigation only to end up as a corpse in a plunge from the 14th floor of the building.

I am prepared to meet Najib even at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) when he returns from abroad tomorrow.
Continue reading “I will ask Anwar and Hadi to come along to impress on Najib why for the sake of the credibility of MACC and his premiership, there is no option but for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death from plunge from 14th floor of MACC hqrs”

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Let Us Clean Up The Police Force And MACC To Make Malaysia Safe For Our Children

by Lim Guan Eng

I do not know Teoh Beng Hock.

But now every Malaysian who reads will know who is Teoh Beng Hock – his open pleasant face, his distraught fiancé and his twisted body lying grotesquely on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) building imprinted indelibly in our minds.

I vaguely remembered meeting him once. He was one of the many idealistic, bright and young Malaysians who joined the DAP after the political tsunami on 8 March 2008 that transformed our political landscape.

Teoh wanted to participate in the flowering of democracy and forge the real changes that promised equal opportunity, good governance and justice. Teoh wanted to be part of this amazing transformation shaping his country and future. He wanted to serve the public, through his position as a personal assistant to a Selangor State EXCO member.

This wish to serve has tragically cost Teoh his life, taking him away from his loved ones. Denying his parents of a son, his fiancé of her husband and his unborn child of a father.

Teoh is not the only one. Before him there were many others, Indians Malays and Chinese but he was the first DAP member to die so cruelly. Continue reading “Let Us Clean Up The Police Force And MACC To Make Malaysia Safe For Our Children”

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LKS wants to meet Najib at the first available opportunity after his overseas trip

Note: This fax was sent at 9.38am

18hb Julai 2009

Y.A.B. DATO’ SRI MOHD. NAJIB BIN TUN HAJI ABDUL RAZAK
Perdana Menteri Malaysia
Pejabat Perdana Menteri,
Blok Utama, Bangunan Perdana Putra,
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan,
62502 PUTRAJAYA.

Menerusi Fax (603-8888 3444) & Emel (ppm@pmo.gov.my)

YAB Dato’ Seri,

Per: Meminta satu perjumpaan dengan YAB segera

Saya menulis untuk meminta supaya satu perjumpaan dengan YAB boleh diaturkan secepat mungkin selepas kepulangan YAB dari lawatan ke luar negara.
Continue reading “LKS wants to meet Najib at the first available opportunity after his overseas trip”

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A sobering thought

by Hussein Hamid

At what stage in his tenure as Prime Minister did Mahathir decided that the end justifies the means? When he did that he threw away accountability and responsibility of his actions to the people. It is one thing for a businessman to take chances in making his business decisions because the consequences of his actions, good or bad, will be for him and him alone to bear – and another when the consequences of your actions affects the nation. There must have come a time when Mahathir had some self doubts as to the rightness of his decision making process – he was wrong with Musa, with Anwar, with Pak Lah. He was wrong with Eric Cheah, Abdullah Ang, Tajuddin Ramli. He was wrong about Privatization…or if you want to be tedious – the implementation of it was flawed. But what I would want to pin him to is that he was the one who brought the culture of materialism into the UMNO physce and in so doing, into the Malay consciousness – and by default, into the minds of the people. When you decide that the acquisition of material wealth is the path you want to take in your life, then whatever you do from then on, will reflect the importance of that choice in your life…and that my friend has been the undoing of UMNO and the many other things that is now wrong with our country. No longer will decency, family values, religion, honour, duty to country and all those values that hold together the fabric of society be considered important. Look at Khir Toyo – what need is there for him to acquire and flaunt such trappings of wealth with his new found wealth (while he was MB) with such haste. Did it ever occur to him that there would be questions asked or has the actions of other leaders that went before him precluded the need to hide his ill gotten gains? Greed is good? Yes Proton, KLCC, KLIA, the many many Highways that were built, and so many mega projects etc etc all these are Mahathir’s legacies… Continue reading “A sobering thought”

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Najib should emulate his father Tun Razak and appoint a new IGP still with four or five years of service brimming with ideas to plan out and implement police reforms

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should start the new practice of appointing a new Inspector-General of Police still with four or five years of service brimming with ideas to plan out and implement police reforms instead of the current practice of appointing senior police officers left with one or two years’ service more interested about post-retirement arrangements.

This issue becomes very pertinent at a time when the Prime Minister must appoint a new IGP or give Tan Sri Musa Hassan a second extension as IGP.

Musa’s Hassan further extension as IGP is highly objectionable for two reasons:

Firstly, it makes nonsense of Najib’s pledge of “People First. Performance Now” and his commitment that his administration gives top priority to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), when Musa’s KPIs as IGP in the past three years are one of dismal failure.

If proof is needed, just look at the crime situation today as compared to the scenario and targets worked out by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry in 2005.

In fact, under Musa, Malaysians are even more unsafe from street crimes now than when he became IGP in September5 2006. Can Musa or the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein prove me wrong.
Continue reading “Najib should emulate his father Tun Razak and appoint a new IGP still with four or five years of service brimming with ideas to plan out and implement police reforms”

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Najib will lose credibility and wipe out all the popularity ratings he clawed back from 45% to 65% just before end of his First Hundred Days if there is no Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s extraordinary plunge to death from 14th floor MACC hqrs

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should be forewarned that he will lose credibility and wipe out all the popularity ratings he clawed back from 45% to 65% just before the end of his First Hundred Days if there is no Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Teoh Beng Hock’s extraordinary plunge to death from 14th floor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Shah Alam on Thursday.

Any refusal to establish a RCI into the unusual death of the political secretary to DAP Selangor State Exco and Seri Kembangan Assemblyman, Ean Yong Hian Wah, will be regarded by a very skeptical public that the Najib administration is not prepared to come clean in the first case of death in MACC custody, occurring on the 105th day of Najib as Prime Minister.

After the scandal of the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s “black eye” while in police custody in 1998, which Anwar was accused of having inflicted on himself, there is just no public trust that the police can be depended on its independence, impartiality and professionalism when dealing with politically high-profile cases – like the present Teoh case.

Who will believe Teoh, 30 would commit suicide by leaping from the 14th floor of MACC headquarters when he is to register his marriage to teacher Soh Cher Wei, 28 the next day and that Soh is two-month pregnant?
Continue reading “Najib will lose credibility and wipe out all the popularity ratings he clawed back from 45% to 65% just before end of his First Hundred Days if there is no Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s extraordinary plunge to death from 14th floor MACC hqrs”

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Teoh Beng Hock’s first death in MACC custody defining test for MACC and Najib’s commitment to accountability, transparency and rule of law

The first death in Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) custody, Teoh Beng Hock, political secretary to DAP Selangor State Exco and Seri Kembangan Assemblyman, Ean Yong Hian Wah, is the defining test for the MACC as to its independence and professionalism as well as for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s commitment to accountability, transparency and the rule of law.

The heartless, cruel and insensitive statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz on Teoh’s death has aggravated the outrage of ordinary Malaysians regardless of race and religion demanding full accountability and transparency as to how an idealistic political activist who is to register his civil marriage the next day could take his own life after oppressive overnight questioning allegedly from 6 pm to 4 am by the MACC as a witness and not as an accused!

Nazri said he was informed by the MACC that Teoh was released earlier yesterday morning, and he should have gone home instead and asked: “How would we know that he would jump out of the building” (PDF)?

He said Pakatan Rakyat should not blame MACC for Teoh’s death.

My three responses are:

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Doing the nation a favour, the Najib way

by Augustine Anthony

First it was Yb Lim Kit Siang and now Yb M. Kulasegaran joining the concern few leaders of the opposition that prime minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak’s popularity is a warning to the bickering politicians within the opposition to put aside their differences and present a united and strong opposition or face irrelevance.

Beyond the warring ruling and opposition parties, it must be noted that the approval rating for the prime minister in reality augurs well for the nation as a whole for various reasons among others.

That such high approval rating of 65% within the first 100 days and the need to maintain a continuing rise in the approval rating of the prime minister throughout the period leading to the 13th general election will from now onwards be keenly observed by Malaysians.

Continue reading “Doing the nation a favour, the Najib way”

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Which is better, learning maths and science in Bahasa Malaysia or in English?

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life adviser

THE CRUX OF THE PRESENT CONTROVERSY IS WHICH IS BETTER, TO STUDY MATHS & SCIENCE IN BAHASA OR TO STUDY MATHS AND SCIENCE IN ENGLISH?

So as not to confuse the issue, it is necessary to point out the fact that all are agreed that Malaysian students must study Bahasa Malaysia and be fluent with the language.

It is also generally accepted that students should study English as it is the common language in the world and it is the language of commerce, diplomacy, of business and in science and technology.

For some mistaken rationale, the Ministry of Education has after months of debate and dialogue decided that students should use Bahasa to teach Maths and Science in secondary schools.

This has caused considerable disbelief and distress among many parents who prefer to have their children learn Maths and Science in English. They want their children to fit into the new world which has become global, and where English is the currency acceptable in most countries and in most fields of human endeavour.
Continue reading “Which is better, learning maths and science in Bahasa Malaysia or in English?”

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Twitter Updates on twitter.com/limkitsiang

MACC now says TeohBengHuat merely a witness,why was he treated like criminal n interrogated from 7pm till 4am? What happened 2criminals?
07/16/2009 10:07 PM

Flowers candles and pictures of TeoBengHock. Assemblywoman for Subang Jaya Hannah Yeoh weeping
07/16/2009 09:56 PM

Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud: MP Kota Raja speaking
07/16/2009 09:53 PM

Crowd getting bigger. Klang MP Charles Santiago spoke. State Assemblyman Weng San speaking. Asked MACC on Khir Toyo.
07/16/2009 09:51 PM

MB Khalid, Excos Teresa, Auyong, Ronnie, MPs Gobind Tony, Nie Ching SAs Jenice Nik Nazmi at the demo. Police light strike force just arrived
07/16/2009 09:37 PM

An instant peaceful multiracial demonstrations by hundreds against unusual death of TeoBengHock at MACC going on now at Shah Alam MACC hqrs
07/16/2009 09:24 PM
Continue reading “Twitter Updates on twitter.com/limkitsiang”

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First case of death-in-custody in MACC HQ

Question: How did Sel Exco/Serdang SA Ean Yong Hian Wah’s political secretary, Teo Beng Hock in custody at 14th floor Sel MACC Hqrs since yesterday, died from fall?

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Malaysiakini.com

Jul 16, 09 5:10pm
Teo Beng Hock, 30, an aide of Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, has plunged to his death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Selangor headquarters in Shah Alam.

Teo’s body was found on the rooftop of a building next to the towering block which houses the MACC headquarters.

He was believed to have jumped from the 14th floor of the tower block where MACC Selangor is located.

Yesterday, Teo was taken to the MACC headquarters for questioning in relation to a probe concerning several Pakatan assemblypersons.

When the news broke, Pakatan leaders, including Ean, rushed to the building.

Other DAP leaders who are at the MACC headquarters included Ronnie Liu, Teng Chang Khim and Tony Pua.

Both Liu and Teng, after having waited for over one hour at the building, confirmed that Teo had died. Continue reading “First case of death-in-custody in MACC HQ”

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Parental campaign for option for their children to be taught maths and science in English in primary and secondary students should be respected by Cabinet Ministers and MPs

A parent C.W. Leong today sent me a petition he had started in his son’s school in Subang Jaya canvassing support for parents to be given the option for their children to be taught mathematics and science in English in primary and secondary schools, reporting good response.

This is Leong’s message to all parents who are against the abolishment of teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI):

We are the silent majority.

Our mistake is, we did not lobby loud enough in the first place.

This is a signature campaign to appeal to the Minister of Education, to review the decision to abolish PPSMI,

MOST IMPORTANTLY AT THE SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL

Give parents the option to choose English.

This campaign is by parents concerned for their children’s education.

Many parents are doing something similar to this in schools all over the country.

The more action taken, the better will be the results.

Please forward to as many parents as possible, and get as many signatures as possible.

Then send the petition to the address shown in the pdf attachment.

Continue reading “Parental campaign for option for their children to be taught maths and science in English in primary and secondary students should be respected by Cabinet Ministers and MPs”

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An Open Letter to a Muslim Journalist “Spy”

Saudara,

I just read that recently you and a friend visited one of the churches that I belong to. I was surprised that you had to do it in disguise. You should have told the Catholic community there that you were coming and we would have given you a grand welcome.

Such was the experience of the MP for Shah Alam, Khalid Abdul Samad from Pas, who was even given a standing ovation when he visited and had a dialogue with the parishioners of the Church of the Divine Mercy in Shah Alam last year.

Some time back I was attending a Mass (Catholic worship) in a Catholic church in Petaling Jaya and was very moved by the presence of a group of Muslim students together with their Muslim professor who had taken them there as part of their “exposure programme”. None of them were converted.

You see we are not an underground church nor do we function in a clandestine manner. Our hearts are on the holy and not on the hideous. We even pray for Najib the PM, though I feel we do not pray enough for the Opposition. We also pray for people like you who do more harm than good to the name of your religion of peace, tolerance and compassion.

Continue reading “An Open Letter to a Muslim Journalist “Spy””

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Meeting with Hishammuddin on the need for a new IGP to fulfill Najib’s pledge of “People First. Performance Now” and provide new police leadership and culture to reverse the tide of crime in the past five years

I propose to meet the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein on the need for the country to have a new Inspector-General of Police to fulfill Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s pledge of “People First. Performance Now” and to provide new police leadership and culture to reverse the tide of crime in the past five years.

I will seek confirmation that Hishamuddin is backing Tan Sri Musa Hassan’s renewal for another term as Inspector-General of Police although he failed on all counts in his three years as IGP (one year as IGP and two years as renewal of his term) on what the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission have outlined as the three core functions of an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service – to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights.

Musa is now talking about the police giving priority to stamp out street crimes, when this is one of his greatest failures as IGP in the past three years.

I don’t think Musa himself can remember the number of times he had declared an “all-out war against crime” in the past three years which have all ended up in “all thunder but no rain”!

If an IGP with such dismal KPIs on the core functions of the police service could have his term renewed a second time, all the talk of Prime Minister Najib of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” would be totally discredited.

Dare Musa make public his report card of what he had achieved in his three years as IGP in the three core police functions outlined by the Police Royal Commission?

Continue reading “Meeting with Hishammuddin on the need for a new IGP to fulfill Najib’s pledge of “People First. Performance Now” and provide new police leadership and culture to reverse the tide of crime in the past five years”

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Let Tee Keat tell PAC – which of the three Transport Ministers since 2002 must bear greatest responsibility for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

The Malaysiakini headline “Liong Sik’s memory lapse impairs PAC meeting” tells it all – and it was what I had anticipated.

In my statement dated 5th July, 200, I had cautioned Ling against competing with his old boss, Tun Dr. Mahathir in a contest of selective amnesia when appearing before probes into their dubious past – as Mahathir had said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times during his 90-minute testimony before the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of Inquiry in January last year.

How many times did Ling say “I cannot remember” or its equivalent in his two-hour appearance before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal?

I understand that Ling beat Mahathir’s record of selective amnesia at the PAC inquiry yesterday. With his PAC testimony, Ling has formally inaugurated the Three Tuns for Selective Amnesia comprising Tun Mahathir, Tun Ling and Tun Eusuff Chin, the former Chief Justice who said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 18 times in his testimony before the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of Inquiry last year.
Continue reading “Let Tee Keat tell PAC – which of the three Transport Ministers since 2002 must bear greatest responsibility for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?”

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The next general election is for Pakatan Rakyat to lose

by Hussein Hamid

I could write about what Anwar (as in Ibrahim) and what he represents for the many Malaysians who yearns for a Malaysia that is free from corruption, nepotism and all the promises that a ‘Man who would be King’ can promise before his ascent to the throne..but I will not.

I can write about Mahathir and what he has done for our country in the years he has been in power – that he has made Malaysia into a conglomerate that made strange bedfellows of business and politics – where his brand of ‘take no prisioners’ reign tolerated no opposition to his rule – where UMNO and himself was the ruler par excellance…but I will not.

I can write about Pak Lah who came in with a bang and left without even a whimper…but I will not.

I can write about Najib, Rosmah, Altantuya, leaping frogs and things that go bump in the night – but I will not.

I am no card carrying member of the “I am a Melayu/Bumiputra” brigade but I am a Melayu that has benefited greatly from the largeness of UMNO in the years that it has effectively dominated the politics of our country.
Continue reading “The next general election is for Pakatan Rakyat to lose”

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Empathy and Myopia: How Malaysians No Longer Understand One Another

By Farish A. Noor

Malaysia is once again landed with yet another predictable mini-controversy (as there are too many controversies at the moment, this one has been relegated somewhat) involving a report that was purported written by two Muslims for the magazine al-Islam. The report was written by the two Muslims who claimed that their intention was to investigate the allegations that Muslims were being converted to Christianity in the country, but the cause of the controversy lies in the fact that the two writers chose to pretend to be Christians and took part in Christian rituals of worship in the Church. For many Christians the most offensive aspect of the investigation lay in the claim that the writers took part in the rituals without revealing who they were, and that they consumed the holy wafer/bread of Christ, then spat it out, and photographed the remnants of what they had consumed later.

Now of course this begs the obvious question: How would Muslims had reacted if some non-Muslim journalists had done the equivalent; to enter a mosque, take part in rituals, photographed them, and then published the report in some journal?

In response to the clamour of complaints that have been issued, the authorities now claim that the two writers will be investigated, and if found guilty of carrying out acts detrimental to public order may even be imprisoned. This would not, however, address the key issue which is this: Have levels of emphathy and understanding in Malaysian society dropped to such an extent that someone could even contemplate doing such a thing without considering its wider impact on society and the consequences to others and themselves? Could the writers of the article not even consider the potential offence that they might have caused by assuming a fake identity only to take part in rituals they did not believe in; and did they not realise that this might have been seen as outrageous by others?
Continue reading “Empathy and Myopia: How Malaysians No Longer Understand One Another”

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Slim majority in Manek Urai – Pakatan Rakyat parties and leaders must go back to drawing board to sustain public confidence, support and hope

Although the formidable Umno challenge has been fobbed off, the slim Pas majority in Manek Urai by-election in Kelantan yesterday is nonetheless a shocker.

It is a salutary warning to Pakatan Rakyat parties and leaders who think that Pakatan Rakyat can indulge in the luxury of excesses and internal strife, mistakenly believing that Pakatan Rakyat is riding on such an irresistible political wave that it could not possibly lose in any by-election or in the next general elections.

Pakatan Rakyat parties and leaders must go back to the drawing board to sustain public confidence, support and hope which suffered grievous blows particularly in the last month.

Pakatan Rakyat’s string of by-election victories in Permatang Pauh, Kuala Terengganu, Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau and Penanti have fed a false sense of security and worse, the notion of the inevitability of Pakatan Rakyat victories in the next general elections.
Continue reading “Slim majority in Manek Urai – Pakatan Rakyat parties and leaders must go back to drawing board to sustain public confidence, support and hope”