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Quo Vadis Malaysia?

by Dr. Chen Man Hin

At the last UMNO general assembly, it was put to the delegates to reject the objective of Bangsa Malaysia and opt for a Ketuanan Melayu Malaysia. The proposal was accepted by deputy prime minister.

So it came to pass that former prime minister, Dr Mahathir’s dream of a VISION 2020 where the people are one – Bangsa Malaysia- and the status of a developed nation was swept aside.

Since then there has been various moves to promote the concept of a Ketuanan Melayu, and announcements by the prime minister that the NEP would be extended indefinitely.

We in the DAP view with great concern the rejection of Bangsa Malaysia, as the very idea has caused deep uneasiness among the people, and shaken the bond of national unity and testing their tolerance.

The implementation of NEP while it has eradicated the association of race with economic function, as there is a sizeable Malay middle class – successful businessmen and professionals – has slowed economic progress since the implementation of NEP in 1971.

The fact is that the NEP was redistributing wealth but it could not create wealth fast enough. It could not increase the size of the national cake! Continue reading “Quo Vadis Malaysia?”

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Lingam Tape – a grand conspiracy to “kill” it at the technical level on its authenticity?

With the one-week ultimatum given by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice president Sivarasa Rasiah and party adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s political co-ordinator Sim Tse Tzin to reveal the source of the eight-minute Lingam videoclip or face action under the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 entailing two years’ jail, RM10,000 fine or both, every concerned Malaysian is asking:

Is there a grand conspiracy to “kill” the Lingam Tape scandal at the technical level casting doubts on its authenticity to avert any inquiry into the rot of the judiciary in the past 19 years and who are the people and parties privy to this grand conspiracy?

With the ACA ultimatum, the game-plan for the damage control of the explosive revelation of the Lingam Tape on the perversion of the course of justice with grave allegations of the fixing of judicial appointments and court decisions has become clearer — as the ACA is only interested in zeroing on the “whistleblowers” rather than the truth or otherwise of the serious allegations of the perversion of the course of justice highlighted by the Lingam Tape.

An administration fully committed to restore national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and meritocracy of the judiciary would leave no stone unturned to investigate into the allegations of fixing of judicial appointments and court decisions regardless of whether the identity of the “whistleblowers” could be identified.

But here, we have all the resources of the state being expended to try to cast doubts on the authenticity of Lingam Tape while ignoring the rot in the judiciary in the past 19 years since the 1988 Judicial Crisis. Continue reading “Lingam Tape – a grand conspiracy to “kill” it at the technical level on its authenticity?”

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Lingam Tape – Haidar, Mahadev, Lam Thye should return inquiry panel appointment letters to Najib “for the sake of Malaysia”

The three-man Haidar Inquiry into the authenticity of the Lingam Tape yesterday asked the person who recorded it and others who have relevant information to come forward “for the sake of Malaysia”.

Panel member and former Court of Appeal judge said: “Somebody out there (has) the original video. Does he have the responsibility (to come forward)? There may have been others who were there (during the incident). Have they got the responsibility?

“If you don’t come, don’t complain, because at the end of the day, our report is based on the material made available to us.”

It is the three panel members Tan Sri Haidar Mohamad Noor, Datuk Mahadev Shanker and Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye who should set the example of acting “For the sake of Malaysia” by returning their letters of appointment to the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to ask for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape, the allegations of the perversion of the course of justice concerning the fixing of judicial appointments and the fixing of court judgments as well as into the 19-year rot in the judiciary.

With the declaration of five “No”s — no power to administer oaths, no power to compel witnesses to come forward, no power to commit anybody for contempt, no immunity under the law and no power to protect witnesses, the Haidar panel is swiftly degenerating from a farce into a joke.

It is balderdash to plead “The truth is the best armour, justice is the best protection” or to trot out philosophical arguments about “the power of the powerless” as counterpoint to the absence of protection for witnesses who appear before the panel.

If all the judges at all levels of the judiciary in the past 19 years had been guided by the noble objective “For the sake of Malaysia” and the principle that “the truth is the best armour, justice is the best protection”, the system of justice and national and international credibility in the independence, integrity and meritocracy of the judiciary would not have plunged to such a sorry state with one judicial crisis after another in the past 19 years.

What happened to a courageous judge, Justice Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah who in 1996 tried the blow the whistle in his 33-page anonymous letter containing 112 allegations of corruption, abuses of power and misconduct against 12 judges? Continue reading “Lingam Tape – Haidar, Mahadev, Lam Thye should return inquiry panel appointment letters to Najib “for the sake of Malaysia””

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The Medical CTOs

by ZK

Criminalization of doctors under Chua Soi Lek and Ismail Merican even after the PHFSA (Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act) appears unabated. The Malaysian Medical Council, without prior notice, recently instituted its own form of CTOS, the database company that displayed financial data publicly without updating them. The MMC is now making available to the public particulars of all doctors in Malaysia including complaints hurled at them – PROVEN OR NOT. Running down people and establishments is now a favorite Malaysian past-time but the MMC appear to have further refined this into a fine art form. This new CTOS (Complaints Tip Off Service) is yet another example of the convoluted thinking that exists in this Ministry.

The website itself appears rather slow and unstable but what is more alarming is it appears out of date. A recent prominent case is listed as still being processed and government doctors who have had complaints against them including the pediatrician responsible for the loss of the little baby’s arm at Klang are not listed. More disturbing is, complaints against MMC Council members given prominence in our local newspapers and complaints against MMC secretariat members are mysteriously excluded. If this sort of selective persecution and non–updating of this database is going to exist, why implement it in the first place? It will just create another CTOS furore. An ambition for first world infrastructure matched only by a third world mentality is always a recipe for disaster which has been proven time and again in Malaysia.

Now who could have been responsible for this and did the Minister know about this new implementation? The Malaysian Medical Council appears to be broadly divisioned into Council members and a general secretariat which instead of being neutral is mainly comprised of seconded MOH staff. The Council itself has only 9 members from the private sector out of 21, the rest being from the government sector. Continue reading “The Medical CTOs”

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Lingam Tape – Haidar Inquiry end up as biggest sham with no proof either way of being authentic or otherwise?

With the three-man special panel inquiry into the authenticity of the Lingam Tape holding its first meeting today, two questions uppermost in the minds of Malaysians who want to be able to be proud again about the Malaysian judiciary and system of justice after 19 years of being the laughing stock of the world are:

  • Will the Haidar inquiry drag its feet until after next month when the Chief Justice Tan Sri Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim would have retired from the highest judicial office of the land, justifying the stance that the whole issue had become quite academic although Ahmad Fairuz was clearly the other party in the Lingam Tape despite the Chief Justice’s unorthodox “denial” through the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz; and
  • Will the Haidar Inquiry end up as the biggest sham of all inquiries in five decades of Malaysian nation-building, furnishing excuse for inaction by Cabinet because there is no concrete proof either way of its being authentic or otherwise?

Nazri said on Monday that “the result of the Haidar investigation will determine the next course of action, which will be decided by the cabinet”.

This is a very curious statement as the establishment of the Haidar panel was not decided by the Cabinet in the first place.

This is the chronology of events: Continue reading “Lingam Tape – Haidar Inquiry end up as biggest sham with no proof either way of being authentic or otherwise?”

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Ramadan Is More Than Just Fasting

by M. Bakri Musa

In the documentary film American Ramadan, a Christian minister related his experience in Malaysia. It was during Ramadan, and he was at the airport at dusk to collect his luggage, but everyone at the counter was intently watching the clock, eagerly awaiting the breaking of fast. He did not know then the significance of the month and thus could not comprehend the workers’ apparent obsession with time. An older clerk however came over to help and spent over an hour with the visitor while the others were busy eating.

To me, that older clerk best demonstrates the true meaning and spirit of Ramadan. It is more than just fasting during the day; it is about being generous. He was generous with his time and himself to help a total stranger, albeit a customer. The older clerk could just as easily join his co-workers in eating after a day of fasting, or simply have the counter “Closed for lunch!”

Ramadan As Allah’s Special Blessing

Tradition has it that during Ramadan the doors to Hell are closed while the gates to Heaven are wide open. That reflects the generosity of Allah during this holy month. As our Imam Ilyas Anwar said in the first Friday sermon of this Ramadan, we should use fully this opportunity afforded by Allah. The best way for us to show our respect for Ramadan, and thus for Allah, is to reciprocate His generosity by being generous to our fellow humans and to His other creations.

We should not however, take that tradition literally and consider it a license to be reckless and get killed during Ramadan just to secure a slot in Heaven. Nor does it mean that an evil person dying in Ramadan would be spared Hell. Such decisions after all are the prerogative of Allah, and only of Him. Continue reading “Ramadan Is More Than Just Fasting”

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ASEAN mission on reports of massacre of thousands of monks and protestors by military junta last week

I have no objection to UMNO Youth deputy leader Khairy Jamaluddin “hijacking” the NGO protests at the Myanmar Embassy yesterday, particularly the Malaysian Youth Coalition for Peace and Freedom in Burma, provided this represents a genuine change of heart and radical policy alteration on democracy and human rights in Burma by UMNO Youth.

The question is whether what happened yesterday was a cynical hogging of the publicity limelight by Khairy with no meaningful commitment by Umno Youth to the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma or whether it signaled that UMNO Youth is now prepared to join forces with all pro-democracy and pro-human rights activists to mobilize greater Malaysian and ASEAN support to end the long night of savage and bloody dictatorship of the military junta in Burma.

What is most disturbing is the latest claim in the international media that thousands of protestors are dead and that bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle.

Hla Win, 42, a former chief of military intelligence in Rangoon’s northern region and who fled when ordered to help massacre monks who had led last week’s mass protests, said the toll of deaths in Burma was in the region of several thousand.

The international media also reported accounts from other exiles along the Thai-Burma border confirming that hundreds of monks had simply “disappeared”.

Dissidents hiding along the Burma border said thousands of monks had been locked up and were being beaten inside blood-stained temples. Continue reading “ASEAN mission on reports of massacre of thousands of monks and protestors by military junta last week”

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Lingam tape – substantive no confidence motion in Ahmad Fairuz as CJ

I will move a substantive motion of no confidence in Tan Sri Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim as Chief Justice when Parliament reconvenes on Oct. 22 if the Prime Minister and Cabinet evade their national duty tomorrow to restore national and international confidence in the independence and integrity of Malaysian judiciary and establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

The urgency of such a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the independence and integrity of the Malaysian judiciary has been highlighted by the current controversy and public furore over the Lingam Tape scandal re-opening one of the most disgraceful subjects in Malaysia — the 19-year crisis of confidence in the Malaysian judiciary with the system of justice tottering from one scandal after another in the past two decades since 1988.

Public opinion have spoken out loud and clear that Malaysia must not miss the golden opportunity which has surfaced to rectify one of the greatest national shames and injustices in five decades of Malaysian nationhood — the plunge in national and international confidence in the Malaysian judiciary in the past 19 years from the high world esteem and respect it had enjoyed during the first three decades of Malaysian history, especially under the first three Prime Ministership of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein.

The Cabinet tomorrow must not abdicate from its national duty to do what is right for the country and future generations — to make Malaysians proud of the Malaysian judiciary and system of justice once again after 19 years by disbanding the three-man panel on the authenticity of Lingam Tape and its replacement by a Royal Commission of Inquiry with wide-ranging powers to inquire into the rot in the justice system to restore national and international confidence in the Malaysian judiciary.

On Sunday, three illustrious former members of the Bench had added their voices to the snowballing demand for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the system of justice as well as for a Judicial Appointment Commission.

The three retired judges — rightly described by Sunday Star as “among the most highly-respected to have served on the Bench – who have spoken up are retired Court of Appeal judges, Datuk Shaik Daud Ismail, Datuk K.C. Vohrah and Datuk V.C. George.

Shaik Daud made a most powerful argument for a Judicial Appointments Commission when he pointed out the blemishes of recent judicial appointments: “We have seen so many cases where seniors (judges) with merit are not promoted but juniors without merit are. The reason would appear to be that they are being rewarded.”

On the need for a Royal Commission of Inquiry instead of just a panel to look into the authenticity of Lingam Tape, George said: “The panel is only looking at one issue. I think the Bar is on the right track in calling for a royal commission to look into all aspects of the judiciary” while Vohrah said: “Yes. A royal commission could explore all aspects of the ills besetting the judiciary. The problems are far-reaching and something has to be done fairly quickly before the judiciary slides further down the track.”

On Nazri’s claim that everything was all right with the judiciary, Vohrah had this unflattering comment:

“I think he’s probably not aware of what is happening on the ground. In many commercial contracts, parties are including an arbitration clause to resolve disputes instead of the courts. That is a terrible blow to the judiciary because apart from a handful, the rest are good judges. In some states, there may be three or four judges but you will find that only one or two are doing all the work and carrying the whole burden.”

If the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the Cabinet are not prepared to do their national duty to restore national and international confidence in the judiciary at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow by establishing a Royal Commission of Inquiry, then there is probably no other option than to explore the next logical move in Parliament — a substantive motion of no confidence in Ahmad Fairuz as Chief Justice. Continue reading “Lingam tape – substantive no confidence motion in Ahmad Fairuz as CJ”

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Sub-marginalisation of KDM — rejection of bumiputra status of Sino Kadazandusuns with Chinese surnames

It was only two weeks ago that the people of Sabah celebrated the 44th Malaysia Day on September 16 under protest — as the significance of the formation of Malaysia on that date had been virtually ignored in the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations resulting in a renewed call for Sept. 16 to be declared a national holiday to be an annual reminder to all Malaysians throughout the country of its meaning and importance.

However there had been no lack of somber reminders to Sabahans and Malaysians in recent months that in many important aspects, the clock of national integration and nation-building had gone backwards instead of striking boldly forward to create an united, vibrant, progressive and harmonious Bangsa Malaysia.

Only this month, it surfaced that there is not only the phenomenon of the marginalization of the Kadazandusun-Murut (KDM) community in Sabah, which I had highlighted in Parliament, but there is also the sub-marginalisation of the KDM when Sino-Kadazandusuns with Chinese surnames suffer a new discrimination when they are rejected from investing in Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) schemes.

ASNB had announced that the applications by at least 100 persons of Sino Kadazan descent to invest in ASNB were rejected as they could not produce a native certificate.

Section 2(1)(b) of the Interpretation (Definition of Native) Ordinance under the laws of Sabah cannot be clearer that a Sino Kadazandusun is a bumiputra, as it states that a Native is any person ordinarily resident in Sabah and being and living as a member of a native community, one at least of whose parents or ancestors is or was a native.

Sino Kadazandusuns are outraged at the ASNB rejection of their birth certificate officially stating the identity and status of one of their parents as a native and requiring them to get a Native Certificate when for over 23 years the Sabah State Government had imposed a freeze order on the Native Court system on the issuance of Native Certificates. Continue reading “Sub-marginalisation of KDM — rejection of bumiputra status of Sino Kadazandusuns with Chinese surnames”

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Yee Yang Yang – Tawau’s pride in standing up for the freedom and rights of university students

I am happy to be back in Tawau, particularly as it has produced a youth who had stood up for the freedom and rights of all university students in the country.

I refer to Tawau youth, Yee Yang Yang, 19, first year student at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) who became the cause celebre of campus rights of university students as he was thrown into the limelight when he was victimized by UPM security personnel two weeks ago trying to cow students from asserting their human rights to independent student activism.

On Sept. 15, UPM security officials raided Yee’s hostel room and confiscated his laptop computer, high-end mobile phone, portable music player and several other items.

Being interrogated by the security officials was the least of his problems when the UPM Vice Chancellor Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah publicly defended the action of the security officials and justified the confiscation on the ground that Yee’s laptop contained pornographic materials.

This was a downright lie, which had virtually been admitted by the UPM authorities who have returned all the confiscated items to Yee.

Any lesser soul would have wilted under such unprecedented pressures from the university authorities. But Yee stoutly stood his ground. Continue reading “Yee Yang Yang – Tawau’s pride in standing up for the freedom and rights of university students”

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Burma bloody crackdown – ASEAN high-level delegation to find out actual death toll

ASEAN should send a high-level delegation to Myanmar to ascertain the actual death toll from the bloody military crackdown of the monks-led peaceful protests as it is not only Myanmar but all ASEAN member nations which are directly affected by the savage suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Myanmar.

The Myanmese military junta has officially admitted to 10 dead three days ago which has no credibility whatsoever.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that the loss of life in Burma is far greater than is being reported while the Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer claimed that the death toll is “substantially higher” than the official Myanmese figure and could be in multiples of ten higher, i.e. over 100 dead.

Dissident groups estimate close to 200 people have been killed by government forces.

Malaysia and all the other ASEAN nations cannot be impervious to the actual death toll in the carnage in Burma in the past four days.

As the Myanmar military junta had promised to usher in national reconciliation and democratization on its admission into ASEAN ten years ago in 1997, ASEAN and its member nations must be concerned about the actual death toll in Burma as equally at stake are the international reputation, credibility and even legitimacy of ASEAN and its member nations.

As Myanmar had been admitted into ASEAN in the teeth of regional and international opposition, ASEAN member nations cannot sit by the sidelines to wait for the outcome of the visit to Myanmar by the United Nations special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari but must undertake its own initiatives.

The least ASEAN can do is to send a high-level delegation to ascertain the actual death toll from the bloody military crackdown of the monks-led peaceful protests, seek release of all detained monks and protestors (including Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners) and broker a peaceful dialogue with all stakeholders in Burma. Continue reading “Burma bloody crackdown – ASEAN high-level delegation to find out actual death toll”

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No Malaysian Chinese as Federal Court judge – first time in 50 years

The 50th Merdeka anniversary should be a celebration of the success of Malaysian nation-building after 50 years. Unfortunately, Malaysians are being given proof of of many things that have gone wrong with the nation — whether national unity, civil service efficiency, independence of the judiciary, the police, crime, anti-corruption, education, economic development and quality of education.

I will just give one instance of Malaysian nation-building which has gone wrong highlighted on the occasion of the 50th Merdeka anniversary.

In the 2008 Budget presentation, the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that as part of the effort to inculcate corporate social responsibility (CSR), all public-listed companies will be required from the financial year 2008 to disclose their employment composition by race and gender.

But has the government set a good example of responsibility with regard to ensuring a civil service which reflects the multi-racial composition of the country? Continue reading “No Malaysian Chinese as Federal Court judge – first time in 50 years”

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Lingam Tape – Abdullah should chair next Cabinet meeting to disband 3-man panel and set up RCI

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi must reconsider and set up urgently a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape scandal as the three-man panel chaired by Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor, tainted by his role in the 1988 judicial crisis, is just untenable and unacceptable.

Haidar has still to satisfactorily account for his role in the infamous episode in the 1988 judicial crisis where as Supreme Court Chief Registrar, he locked the doors of the Supreme Court and concealed the Supreme Court seal to frustrate the course of justice and prevent the Supreme Court from issuing an injunction to stop the Judicial Tribunal from continuing with its proceedings to discipline the then Lord President Tun Salleh Abas — which also led to the subsequent expulsion of Datuk George Seah and the late Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh as Supreme Court judges.

This unsavoury episode can be found both in Salleh Abas’ “May Day for Justice” as well as “Freedom under Executive Power in Malaysia” by the Minister for Culture, Arts and Heritage, Datuk Dr. Rais Yatim, who was formerly Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of law and justice.

However, an even more important consideration as to why there must be a Royal Commission of Inquiry is that the issue which has shattered public confidence and caused the “March for Justice” of some 2,000 lawyers last Wednesday was not just the Lingam Tape, but the even more important issue of the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary and the rot in the system of justice since 1988.

University of Malaya law lecturer Azmi Sharom put it very well when he wrote in his Star column today “Judiciary must be protected”: Continue reading “Lingam Tape – Abdullah should chair next Cabinet meeting to disband 3-man panel and set up RCI”

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Burma carnage – call on ASEAN Parliaments to meet in emergency session within 3 days

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was shown on world-wide television expressing Malaysia’s “disapproval, together with other Asean countries, on the use of excessive force by the Myanmar government to put down justifiable civilian protests” in his speech at the 62nd General Assembly yesterday.

I commend Abdullah for speaking up in the United Nations although stronger language would have been more appropriate and fully justified in keeping with the “revulsion” earlier expressed by the foreign ministers of ASEAN at the UN “over reports that the demonstrations in Myanmar are being suppressed by violent force and that there has been a number of fatalities”.

Abdullah must feel a personal responsibility for the carnage taking place in Myanmar because he was the Foreign Minister ten years ago when Malaysia spearheaded the campaign to defy regional and international opinion to admit Myanmar into ASEAN in 1997, promising a constructive engagement policy which will lead to national reconciliation and democratization in Burma.

Ten years down the road, the Myanmar military junta’s promises of reform have turned to ashes and Burma is teetering on the edge of another bloodbath to repeat the massacre of 1988 where over 3,000 pro-democracy activists, students and supporters were mowed down by a brutal and inhuman military — a dark page in the history of mankind.

Compounding the bloody military crackdown of the monks-led peaceful demonstrators in the past three days are the newly-released satellite photos by the American Association for the Advancement of Science providing evidence of ethnic cleansing of the ethnic minority Karens in eastern Myanmar, destroying villages and relocating people in the countryside.

As a result, it is not adequate for ASEAN leaders just to “wash their hands” of responsibility of what is happening in Myanmar with expressions of “revulsion” and “disapproval”, or even admission as by Abdullah in New York yesterday that the Asean’s constructive engagement policy with the Myanmar military government had failed and the need to “ensure that Myanmar adheres and fulfils the regional grouping’s interest” – whatever that means. Continue reading “Burma carnage – call on ASEAN Parliaments to meet in emergency session within 3 days”

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Malaysia’s Muslim Union? Malaysia Does Not Need Another Sectarian Organisation!

By Farish A. Noor

Sectarianism, be it on the grounds of race, culture, language or religion, can only be divisive in the long run. The sad litany of human history shows that religion can and has been used as a dividing factor that has torn many a society apart, and this is true of all religions and belief systems worldwide. One only needs to look at the process of Balkanisation that took place in Eastern Europe to see how Religion has been instrumentalised and manipulated by sectarian politicians to amplify the centrifugal forces of a
plural society like Bosnia’s, and how that eventually led to all-out civil conflict along religion and cultural lines.

Politicians of course are fully aware of the divisive potential of sectarian politics, so why do they constantly fall back on such parochial and primordial sentiments such as racial, cultural and religious loyalty to serve their own limited ends? Weighing the costs of such moves may point us to the simple conclusion that sectarian politicians seldom care about the unity and well-being of the nation as a whole, particularly when that nation happens to be a complex and plural one in the first place. More often than
not, the demagogues and chauvinists among us would be more inclined to keep to their own narrow corners and seek solace and support from their own respective communities.

These observations should hardly come as news to Malaysia-watchers in particular, for we all know by now that Malaysia’s convoluted 50-year history has been one dominated and almost entirely determined by the logic of racial compartmentalism and communitarianism. Every single leader who has climbed up the greasy pole of power in the country has done so by playing the race — and now increasingly, religion — card close to his chest. It should therefore come as even less of a surprise that there is now talk of forming a Malaysian Muslim Workers’ Union (PPIM) in the country, as if Malaysian society was not divided enough already. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Muslim Union? Malaysia Does Not Need Another Sectarian Organisation!”

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How did Nazri (Protocol No. 16) become Minister for Ahmad Fairuz, when CJ is No. 11 on protocol list?

Malaysia is still reeling from the many shocks reverberating from the expose of the Lingam Tape — confirming what had been widely talked about concerning the perversion of the course of justice in the fixing of judicial appointments and court judgments but also from the responses from the Executive and Judiciary.

Both the Executive and the Judiciary had come out of the Lingam Tape scandal with their reputation in tatters.

The thunderous ten-day silence of the Chief Justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim has completely drowned out the puny denial which the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had made on the Chief Justice’s behalf.

In the 50-year history of the nation, one top judicial officer had been sacked from his office but he retained national and international respect for his honour and integrity. However, two other top judicial officers who completed their term of office did so under a black cloud and nobody would have thought there would be a third top judicial officer who would be exiting from office in ignominy.

The Executive on its part had brought the whole system of democratic governance into a tragic-comedy of errors — not least of which was the decision to set up a so-called “Independent Panel” to investigate into the authenticity of the Lingam Tape and headed by someone who is tainted by his role in the “mother” of all judicial crisis in the past 19 years, the 1988 Judicial Crisis.

Even now, the term of reference of the so-called “Independent Panel” into the Lingam Tape has not been fully made public. What is there so secretive that its actual term of reference is still being kept a secret?

But it is Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of law and justice, who has wrought the greatest harm to the system of governance in Malaysia. Continue reading “How did Nazri (Protocol No. 16) become Minister for Ahmad Fairuz, when CJ is No. 11 on protocol list?”

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Burma crackdown – Abdullah must speak up in UN to mobilise international opinion against another 1988 massacre

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers have come out with a strong statement in the United Nations demanding the Myanmar military junta stop using violence against demonstrators and voiced “revulsion” at the killings at Yangon.

However, the time for just strong statements is past as it has been overtaken by the brutality of the violent crackdown in Burma in the past two days and concrete ASEAN and international action is urgently needed to ensure that the 40th ASEAN anniversary at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November and the 10th anniversary of Myanmar’s admission into ASEAN are not marred by another dastardly repeat of the 1988 massacre where thousands pro-democracy activisits and supporters were killed by the Myanmese military.

The Myanmar military junta has confirmed that nine people, including a Japanese journalist, had been killed in the brutal crackdown of the peaceful demonstrators led by monks in the past two days, although the true Burma death toll may never be known.

A source from the National League for Democracy inside Burma, citing hospital contacts, said 30 bodies had been brought to the hospital on Wednesday alone.

Having admitted Myanmar as a member of ASEAN with the reciprocal understanding that the Myanmar military junta would seriously embark on national reconciliation and democratization in Burma, ASEAN leaders cannot just wring their hands in impotence and revulsion with another round of violent crackdown of peaceful protestors in Burma.

I urgently call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is in New York to participate in the annual United Nations General Assembly debate to place Burma as the top priority of his address and, together with other ASEAN leaders, speak up in United Nations to rally international support for a special debate in the General Assembly and emergency meeting of Security Council on the violent crackdown of peaceful protests by Myanmar military junta. Continue reading “Burma crackdown – Abdullah must speak up in UN to mobilise international opinion against another 1988 massacre”

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The Law and Chua Soi Lek

by Jason L

Health Minister, Chua Soi Lek never fails to amuse the general public especially when he makes statements pertaining to the law. I refer to his latest outburst in the media that the Health Ministry is now looking into taking legal action against the DAP if it continues to make false allegations about government hospitals and doctors.

He is further reported to have said that his ministry will “encourage” the Ministry’s hospitals and doctors to sue the DAP if the allegations are baseless. Perhaps he is under the notion that his buddies at the AGs office and the government’s pliable judges will help him fix these pesky complainants once and for all to help boost his rather sagging image of an underperformer in this ministry of many problems. And what will this Minister be remembered for in his contribution to healthcare in Malaysia? Continue reading “The Law and Chua Soi Lek”

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Malaysia should support suspension of Myanmar from ASEAN/UN if there is another 1988 bloodbath in Burma

The Myanmar military crackdown of the monks-led peaceful protests in Burma has started with unconfirmed reports of several deaths and hundreds of arrests.

The Myanmese military junta is also shutting off communication with the outside world, closing Internet and telephone links, which through blogs and cell phone videos of the latest developments, had been the main source of information of what is happening in Burma to the outsides world.

Malaysia and ASEAN leaders must be in the international forefront to condemn the violent crackdown of monks-led peaceful protests in Burma and even to support suspension of Myanmar from ASEAN and United Nations if there is a repeat of the 1988 bloodbath where thousands were massacred.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said in the United Nations yesterday that Malaysia does not believe in imposing economic sanctions against Myanmar as this will not affect the targeted group but will usually hurt ordinary citizens more.

He said any hard or aggressive action would be counter-productive at this stage.

He said: “We think the best way of resolving the issue is to get the constitutional process on track, to get the reconciliation going.”

It is time for Syed Hamid and all ASEAN leaders to stop such platitudes and respond in a responsible and statemanlike manner to the Burmese crisis, with Burma on the cusp of another 1988 bloodbath. Continue reading “Malaysia should support suspension of Myanmar from ASEAN/UN if there is another 1988 bloodbath in Burma”

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Lingam Tape – “Unbecoming, irregular, improper” characterise latest developments

“Unbecoming, irregular and improper” are three adjectives which best characterize government and Independent Panel responses in the latest developments on the Lingam Tape scandal.

It was the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who was doubly “unbecoming” in launching a tirade against the Bar Council and Malaysian lawyers for their historic march for justice yesterday from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister’s Department in Putrajaya despite unwarranted police obstructions and in dismissing the Bar Council’s memorandum to the Prime Minister calling for a Judicial Appointment Commission.

Nazri had alleged that the lawyers’ march in Putrajaya yesterday was “unbecoming” while proclaiming: “There is no crisis in our judiciary. No crisis, no problems. I don’t seen any scandal.”

What makes Nazri think it is beneath the station of lawyers to be involved in a march for justice?

The 2,000 lawyers and supporters of the cause of justice have done themselves and the nation and the 50th Merdeka anniversary proud in the March for Justice in Putrajaya yesterday, in the true tradition of the great marches in the struggle of humanity for justice and freedom, like Gandhi’s Salt March in 1930 to help free India from British colonial rule and Martin Luther King’s March on Washington for Freedom in 1963 which culminated in his electrifying speech “I Have A Dream”.

Gandhi and Martin Luther King are now recognized by history and mankind for their great marches while their detractors, the Nazris of their era, have been forgotten!

It is also most unbecoming of Nazri to arrogate to himself the powers of the Prime Minister to dismiss offhand the Bar Council’s memorandum to the Prime Minister calling for a Judicial Appointments Commission or has Nazri been authorized to usurp the powers of the Prime Minister? Continue reading “Lingam Tape – “Unbecoming, irregular, improper” characterise latest developments”