The Chinese has been happily adopting the Western wedding dress for many years now where black and white is the traditional Western colour for weddings but in traditional Chinese culture, black and white is the traditional colour for funerals. Why are people not objecting to this?

It's because the Chinese (and other races that has been colonised) have got an inferiority complex. The West is more fashionable because the West is developed. We have no confidence in what is comfortable. Wearing a T shirt in Malaysia is already warm enough and yet we spend tens of thousands of ringgit on a black and white wedding dress suitable for cold weather for use in that particular one day.

Ninety percent of Chinaman friends I grew up with has got an English name now. Can you believe McDonalds which is well known to be junk food in the West can be so expensive in Malaysia? Yes, West is the trend today, but today the West is facing possible bankruptcy and the possibility of destroying the planet with it's capitalist/consumerist lifestyle and yet we still want to follow them.

What is the real issue here?

The real issue of the day is the possibility of a change of government in the next general election for the first time in the history of Malaysia. The issue is not Ibrahim Ali handing out white envelopes. The UMNO regime would like us to react angrily over this. If we can easily get angry over simple issues like pig heads, cow heads and white angpows, then we are caught up with raw emotions and it will get us no where in the end but another May 13. Then we fall in the very trap that the UMNO regime is trying to set up.

Clown Ibrahim Ali and his team Perkasa has got no support. When they call for a "big rally", not many people will turn up. Therefore, we should ignore these clowns who are on the way out anyway. I don't know why the alternative media which is not controlled by the government should give the clown and his team Perkasa headline coverage. It virtually boils down to a clown Ibrahim Ali. If he dies, I don't think there are more qualified clowns in team Perkasa like Ibrahim Ali. If Perkasa calls for a rally and there are tens of thousands of people turning up, then I think the coverage of this clown Ibrahim Ali is well deserved in the headlines, but unfortunately this clown does not even turn up at the Bersih rally to confront the rally participants as he had warned.

So, next time the clown does something provocative, just treat it like the incident when the Taliban blew up the Buddha statues at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Buddhists around the world did not rise up to do any Islam bashing. Stay focused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L0U5JNgJnY

In Islam, Saudi Arabia would not exist. Neither would Iran, Iraq, Turkey, or whatever. All would no longer exist. And Malays too would cease to exist. In Islam, a nation is not a race or country. These were creations of the infidels (the kafir), basically the European colonialists, and they were created so that the Nation of Islam can be divided in the spirit of divide and rule.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

DPM: Use Prophet's Teaching as a Shield to Face Challenges

(Bernama) - The challenge facing Muslims in the country is extraordinary, but they cannot be idle or be swept away by the test, as it will mean the downfall of the Muslim community.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said they needed to apply noble values including strengthening their leadership and character as recommended by Prophet Muhammad to face the challenge successfully.   

In his message in conjunction with the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad this year, Muhyiddin said one should not endeavour to remember Prophet Muhammad only today, or once a year.   

"On the other hand, the Prophet and his teachings must be in the heart of every Muslim and capable of becoming a shield when facing any challenges confronting them.”

Muhyiddin said that, in the context of Malaysia, all physical development had been provided while Muslims must have the spiritual strength to ensure a balanced development.   

Revealing Prophet Muhammad's struggle, Muhyiddin said, with his leadership which was revered until today, he placed priority on spiritual strength to support physical development, to set up a respected Islamic nation.   

He drew attention to the fact that the celebration of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad was a platform to prove that they preserved and practiced the noble values as recommended by the prophet.

"Praise the greatness of Prophet Muhammad, and absorb all his strengths into us all in helping to turn Malaysia into a nation which is respected and where Muslims are looked up to," he added.

**************************************

Dear Muhyiddin Yassin,

I love speculating. In fact, we all love speculating, even you. For example, you are speculating that at least 50% of the Indians will swing back to Barisan Nasional while Barisan Nasional has at least 40% of the Chinese support. This means if Barisan Nasional can win at least 55% of the Malay vote, then Barisan Nasional will, again, get to form the federal government while Pakatan Rakyat will be reduced to less than 80 Parliament seats and maybe just two states.

Anyway, let us talk more about that later. What I want to speculate about is, say, if the Prophet Muhammad were to return to earth today, would the Prophet agree with what you say and with what Umno is doing?

No doubt you have touched, or rather scratched the surface, of what the Prophet expects of us. Since you don’t really know, you are merely speculating. So allow me to also speculate.

I speculate that the Prophet would be extremely upset with what he would see if he did come back to earth today. And this is because of the following reasons.

Firstly, in the Prophet’s final sermon in Arafah, he made it very clear that God is opposed to racism. In fact, some Muslim scholars even condemn nationalism and call it bidaah. In other words, concepts such as Ketuanan Melayu are haram in Islam.

As you rightly pointed out, the Prophet’s mission and vision was to set up a Muslim nation, the ‘Nation of Islam’ as what Wallace D. Fard Muhammad said in July 1930.

Now, when we talk about a Nation of Islam, we are not talking about nationhood as in political boundaries. We are talking about nation in the context of a community, the ummah, as what most would say nowadays.

In other words, it is a nation within a nation.

In Islam, Saudi Arabia would not exist. Neither would Iran, Iraq, Turkey, or whatever. All would no longer exist. And Malays too would cease to exist. In Islam, a nation is not a race or country. These were creations of the infidels (the kafir), basically the European colonialists, and they were created so that the Nation of Islam can be divided in the spirit of divide and rule.

Don’t you think it was clever, and downright successful on top of that? And now, even Muslim leaders like you perpetuate this kafir concept of divide and rule. And did not the Muslim scholars say that those who perpetuate the kafir system are kafir? Would that not make you also kafir rather than Muslim, going by the interpretation of these scholars?

Now, what caused the decline or downfall of the Nation of Islam that you talked about? You don’t have to be an Oxford scholar of history (which, incidentally, I am…blush…blush….) to answer that question. It can be summarised in just three words: corruption, corruption, corruption!

And why do you think Sheikh Imran Hoessin said that corruption is riba’ and that the sin of riba’ tantamount to the sin of sex with your own mother/father?

Yes, corruption is the same as the crime of sex with your own mother. Why do you think that when people curse you they call you mother-f….r? That’s because it is the most despicable thing you can do.

Okay, let’s move on to another speculation. Umno says Barisan Nasional won 51% of the Malay votes, 30% of the Chinese votes, and 10% of the Indian votes in the March 2008 general election. I’m talking about only West Malaysia, of course. And that gave Barisan Nasional 49% of the total votes: 51% if East Malaysia is included.

I think there is something wrong with your maths here. My maths tells me that if the figures are true, then the total votes should come to less than 45%. How come it is 49%? Where did the extra 4% come from?

Maybe you should look at the figures yourself. People around you would normally tell you what you would like to hear, not what you should hear. No leader likes to be told the truth. They normally like to be told nice things.

I was told that you may be dissolving Parliament this month and that the elections will be held next month. If you do this then Pakatan Rakyat will sweep at least 90-100 parliament seats and no less than six states. And this would mean your dear Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, is going to be ousted, like what happened to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and the Deputy Prime Minister will….ah, hold on….now I see….

Clever…very clever. Okay, I will stop here then. I don’t want to spoil your plot. Well, look on the bright side, at least we can be rid of Rosmah Mansor.

Risen Jayaseelan and Sharidan M. Ali, The Star 

After some dithering, the construction of Malaysia's My Rapid Transit (MRT) project is moving into higher gear.

What's to come is more telling. By April, MRT Co, the overseer and project owner of the country's largest ever infrastructure project, would have awarded a total of around 90 or so projects. The figure of these contracts run into billions and would clearly be a major boost to the construction and related sectors.

The multiplier effect on the economy will soon be felt.

“We have been waiting for this, as these projects have already been earmarked by the government before. The industry and the country need these projects to spur economic growth, in light of the gloomy global scene. The multiplier effects are well spelt out,” says Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) president Kwan Foh-Kwai.

While research houses have yet to make an outright bullish call on the construction and related sectors, there are hints that a re-rating is in the offing. Among the larger contracts that are being dished out are for elevated civil works that entail the building of viaduct guideways and other associated works. There are eight of these packages, each averaging 500 million ringgit (US$166 million), according to MRT Co.

However, the two that have already been awarded recently to IJM Corp Bhd and Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd were for 974 million ringgit ($323 million) and 764 million ringgit ($253 million) respectively, indicating that the 500 million ringgit figure could be on the low side.

There are also contracts for stations and depots. And the single biggest one will be for tunnelling works for the 9.5km underground portion of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT line.

The bill for this is estimated at 40 per cent of the total project cost, which is estimated at 30 billion ringgit ($9.9 billion). The first line stretches 51km.

"The positive news from MRT Co reinforces our positive view on the construction sector as we expect a lot of sizeable projects to be awarded this year,” wrote MIDF Research in a recent note.

OSK Research said that if it did turn positive on the Malaysia market, construction would be one of the sectors it would be bullish about.

Its research head Chris Eng says: “If global markets hold up, the improved risk-taking sentiment will provide a boost to construction stocks, given that the MRT awards will happen this year.”

But are the contracts being farmed out too hurriedly? And what assurance is there that the right parties are winning the awards?

These are valid concerns, considering that Malaysia has a questionable track record when it comes to the building of large infrastructure projects in terms of contractors' ability to deliver the goods in time and within budget. In the past, a massive amount of money had been spent by the Government in bailing out the two light rapid transit (LRT) operators and the monorail project.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations secretary-general Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah says:“Caution should be taken to ensure that the best and deserving companies are awarded the deals. We don't want situations where companies chosen later fail to carry out the projects within budget and time. And these companies then end up getting bailed out by the Government, as had happened in other infrastructure projects in this country.”

But MRT Co CEO Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid explains that the plan to get these contracts awarded by April is to ensure that the MRT (since renamed Klang Valley MY Rapid Transit or KVMRT) isn't delayed."“We are already about six months behind schedule and also want to make sure we can deliver the project ahead of the expected completion time in July 2017. There is nothing wrong to speed things up as we do not rely on one company to do the work and that's why we are spreading it out. The most important thing is coordination and supervision,” he says.

Rigorous selection process

Azhar explains that a rigorous process is involved in deciding which companies are awarded with the contracts. In fact, the selection process dates back to even before Azhar, the former head of Sime Darby's plantation division, was made chief executive of MRT Co last August.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (Prasarana) which was first tasked with managing the KVMRT project, had earlier called for parties to express their interest in participating in the works for the KVMRT. That was back in 2010 and by September 2011, Prasarana had decided on the “pre-qualification” list for all the different packages involved in building the KVMRT.

According to Azhar, the bids which are then submitted by the pre-qualified contractors are first evaluated by a working committee chaired by both MRT Co and the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) to gauge applicants' technical and financial capabilities. One unique feature of the KVMRT project is the presence of the PDP. In late 2010, a Gamuda-MMC consortium, who had first pitched a plan of the MRT to the Government in the early part of that year, had been appointed as PDP consultants for the MRT project.

The PDP bear certain management risks in this project and are therefore key stakeholders in the KVMRT. Hence it has a say in the decision-making process of contract awards.

From there, the applications go on to a one-stop technical committee chaired by Azhar.

"Finally, we will present the outcome of these evaluations to the one-stop procurement committee to be chaired by three different persons depending on the contract value.”

The chairpersons include Finance Ministry secretary-general for contracts up to 50 million ringgit ($16 million); the Second Finance Minister (up to 300 million ringgit or $99.6 million) and the Prime Minister for contracts worth more than 300 million ringgit.

Checks and balance

Additionally, the KVMRT project has two very notable checks and balances in place to minimise the government having to provide additional funding in the event contractors can't deliver. First is the role of the PDP. Explains Azhar: “Under the PDP environment there's a step-in clause where if the contractors fail to undertake and continue doing the jobs, the PDP is obliged to come in and get the job done.”

Azhar adds that in cases where there are cost overruns, it is only to be expected that the PDP will also be penalised for that. “In the case of variation orders, we will only look at very exceptional cases,” Azhar says.

Aside from the PDP, there's also the role of the independent consulting engineer or ICE. It has been reported that Prasarana had already issued a letter of intent to engineering firm HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd in a JV with SNC Lavalin (of Canada) to take on the role of ICE.

HSSI was previously involved in the design, construction and supervision of the KL International Airport, the Light Rail Transit System 2, the North-South Expressway, Maju Expressway and the Express Rail Link.

Azhar says the role of the ICE is crucial as it will monitor the progress of the project and its input is needed before contractors are paid. It is also tasked with safety aspects of the project.

Still on the issue of the PDP, recall that the appointment of Gamuda-MMC as the PDP for the KVMRT project had caused some controversy, considering that they are also bidding for the tunnelling portion, which is single biggest contract in building the MRT.

Azhar explains that it is Gamuda and MMC who has first come up with the MRT proposal to the Government and they have from the start indicated their keenness to be involved in the tunnelling portion of the project.

"To ensure proper due diligence and that the government is getting the right pricing for the tunnelling portion, that's the basis of having the Swiss Challenge method for picking the tunnelling contractor,” Azhar says.

To date, five groups of companies, including the Gamuda-MMC JV, have been shortlisted for the tunnelling job. If Gamuda-MMC wins the tunnelling job, it would step out of the PDP role relating to that part of the project. Under the Swiss Challenge system, MMC-Gamuda will have the first right of refusal to do the job at the lowest bid plus a small 2.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent margin. Curiously, this has not stopped other parties from making a bid.

“Take note that the other bidders for the tunneling job are made up of two Chinese, one South Korean and one Japanese company. Aren't they also able to have advantages of economies of scale and possibly government funding on their part?” Azhar notes.

Crucial issue of funding

As the KVMRT goes into high speed, many are still questioning if the country can really afford a project as ambitious as this. It is estimated that the first line of the KVMRT would cost around RM30bil. But he says: “The government will finance the entire line 1 (Sungai Buloh-Kajang) via bond issuances. That will be done very soon. In the mean time, if we need money, we can used short-term financing from financial institutions which can then be converted into bonds later on. We expect good response for the bonds as there is a lot of liquidity in the market as well as investors are looking at Asia now as the situation the West is not quite healthy.”

Azhar says that it will be Dana Infra that will be raising the bonds.

It has been reported that a special unit of the Finance Ministry called Dana Infra Nasional Bhd (Dana Infra) has been set up to issue bonds to raise the financing for the MRT building cost. Checks with Government sources reveal that Dana Infra is headed by Fazlur Rahman Ebrahim, who is the current managing director of Prokhas Sdn Bhd, itself a unit of MoF that was set up in 2006 to manage the residual assets of Danaharta.

Fazlur has yet to respond to queries from StarBizWeek on the planned bond issuance. Sources, however, have indicated that these bonds would be fully government-backed.

The government has stated in the past that the rationale for the KVMRT being government-funded is on the basis of the multiplier effects it would have on economic growth in the country and the competitive advantage that the Klang Valley would have once the MRT was up and running

It had also been reported that while the MRT was not going to be profitable, there would be a strong focus to reduce its cost and this was where a “rail plus property” plan had been cited before, where some level of real estate development would be emarked on to recoup some of the losses from the MRT. Another non-fair revenues would be sought such as from advertising.

StarBizWeek had previously quoted economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng of RAM Holdings, who opined that assuming 30 billion ringgit is raised by the Government via bonds to the fund the MRT, it will raise the Government debt-to-GDP ratio by 3.9 percentage points to 57 per cent based on the 2010 gross domestic product (GDP) figure.

He said when compared with the debt situation of many advanced economies where the debt levels are either close to or above 100 per cent of GDP, the government does have the borrowing capacity. He had also said that the bond issuance of 30 billion ringgit would raise the fiscal deficit by an estimated 0.2 per cent  of GDP which “may necessitate either a cut-back in spending on other areas or raising revenue through means such as asset sales or tax increases, in order to achieve the fiscal deficit target of less than 3 per cent of GDP by 2015,” he reportedly said.

On a positive note, Yeah had added that the MRT project would “boost the economy by adding jobs and crowding-in investment which would have the desired effect of enlarging the GDP, thereby contributing to either stabilising or lowering the debt-to-GDP ratio”.

Those following the KVMRT saga would also be aware of the problems Azhar and his team faced when securing the allignment in some parts of the city centre. There were quarters who opposed the development of the KVMRT. Azhar is confident that the problems would eventually be ironed out. His message has been consistent: that MRT Co isn't interested in taking land in places like Chinatown, except for the station. “We just need the time for them to vacate the area with compensation for six months for us to do the tunnelling works underground.”

But Azhar goes on to say:”Some people just refuse to understand.”

The KVMRT though, is going ahead and Azhar is winning the battle with the majority of land owners having inked agreements to facilitate the MRT allignment. “A lot of efforts are being made on our part to do this correctly. We will get there,” he ethuses and is hopeful that the July 2017 target for the first line of the KVMRT would be achieved.

Pictures provided by the MP showed many anti-Guan Eng posters plastered along several spots along Jalan Datuk Sulaiman and Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi in the urban neighbourhood, some of which bore a Nazi flag with the words, “Lim Guan Eng Racist”.

Ambiga and national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said, who is Bersih 2.0 co-chairman, were also not spared, with posters claiming, “A vote for Ambiga is a vote for free sex”.

It is understood that the posters have already been taken down.

“I wish to express my utter disgust regarding the sight of politically-motivated, intolerant, race-hatred posters along Jalan Datuk Sulaiman and Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi (in) TTDI,” Lip Eng said in a statement today.

“Overnight some cowards must have come to put up these posters... I’m surprised that the police did not catch any of these cowards in action as these posters were pasted at bus stops, public phone booths... along Jalan Datuk Sulaiman and Burhanuddin Helmi.”

The DAP lawmaker said he was “insulted” by the posters, which he noted were put up in a multiracial neighbourhood on the eve of Maulidur Rasul.

He also said the police must probe the matter and bring to book those responsible for disseminating the posters as soon as possible.

When I am lying all alone in my bed at home and dying from the bitter cold and starvation I really don’t care two fucks about colours of envelopes or whether Muslims are leaving Islam to become Christians.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

60 Muslims arrested for gambling in Rembau

(Bernama) - REMBAU: Sixty Muslims who patronised a computerised gambling premises near Taboh Naning, here, were detained in a raid, early this morning.

Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JHEAINS) operations unit chief Ahmad Zaki Hamzah said 41 computers and RM6,000 in cash were also seized in the raid.

He said those detained were aged between 20 and 60.

"They were taken to the Rembau district police headquarters to have their statements taken. They were then released on bail and will have to return on a specified date to help in investigation," he said after the raid, here, today.

Ahmad Zaki said they would be charged under Section 79 (a) of the Negri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment 2004 which carries a RM3,000 fine or two years jail or both.

He said four caretakers of the premises were issued with letters ordering them to turn up at the JHEAINS enforcement unit on a specified date to help in investigations on the case.

Members of the Negeri Sembilan National Security Council and police from the State Police Contingent Headquarters also took part in the operation which started at midnight and ended at 5am.

******************************************

Widow goes from mosque to mosque for shelter

(The Star) - A HOMELESS woman has been staying in over 30 mosques in the Klang Valley for the past two years, reported Harian Metro.

The woman, known as Fazilah, said she had been taking shelter in mosques since her husband died in 2009, adding that it was safer than sleeping in corridors.

She said almost all the mosques in Kuala Lumpur and several government hospitals had become her “homes” at one time or another, adding that she had become used to the situation.

Fazilah, 59, said she lived like this because she had no means of getting enough money to support herself and her 34-year-old disabled son, who is being cared for by her sister.

“In my heart, Allah knows how hard it was for me to make that decision. I have been asking for alms and sheltering in mosques,” she said, adding that her four other children were also being cared for by her ex-husband.

She said she was trying to get a low-cost house from Kuala Lumpur City Hall with the RM500 aid from Baitulmal.

“Until then, I will keep wandering from mosque to mosque as being there calms my heart. However, I hope to get my own home one day because I don't want to burden anyone,” said the former civil servant, whose squatter house was demolished in 2002 by the Selayang Munincipal Council.

*******************************************

Bedridden woman starves to death after hubby dies

(The Star) - A 74-YEAR-OLD bedridden woman starved to death after her husband, who had been taking care of her, collapsed and died at their home in Hong Kong, China Press reported.

The retired couple had been living alone after their son moved out. However, he would return to their home to see them once in a while.

On Tuesday, the son was shocked to find his parents dead after he came back from Taiwan.

His mother's body was on the bed while her 76-year-old husband was found on the living room floor.

Police believed that the man had initially fainted but died without proper medical care. His wife starved to death a few days later.

**********************************************

Ibrahim Ali, Hasan Ali, Baba Ali, and all the sons and daughters of the Alis all over Malaysia are foaming at the mouth on what they allege are Christians trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. True or not, I really don’t know. But even if it is true, so what? If they no longer believe in Islam (or have become an atheist who no longer believes in God) that is their problem, not ours.

Actually, those who are Muslims by name only but are no longer Muslims at heart are not but a few. Many fall into that category. Of course, those who still believe in God and feel that Christianity is the correct religion would want to denounce Islam so that they can become Christians. Those who do not have the guts to do that, as they know it will attract controversy, and probably detention as well, quietly become Christians without telling even their closest family members.

How do you know how many Muslims have left Islam? By the couple of thousands who have applied to the National Registration Department to change their Muslim names to Christian names? By the ten or twenty who attend ‘Christian events’? Or by the millions who no longer live the adeen (lifestyle or ‘way’) of Islam?

If a Muslim is defined by his or her lifestyle, then there are a very few Muslims left in Malaysia. Islam has to be about akidah. And if you do not have akidah you are not a Muslim, never mind if you were born into a Muslim family and carry a Muslim name on your identity card. You can’t be born a Muslim. You can’t be a Muslim in name. You have to be a Muslim at heart.

And in that spirit there are very few Muslims left in Malaysia. And if I need to explain to you what a Muslim at heart means, send me your bank account details and I will send you enough money to buy a gun so that you can shoot your brains out.

I have been detained in police lockups. I have been to prison. And the people I meet inside those places are ‘Muslims’, the majority of them. Some, such as rapists, even wear white skullcaps and never miss their five-times a day prayers.

Why worry about ex-Muslims who no longer believe in Islam and wish to leave Islam or wish to become Christians? What about those ‘true’ Muslims who never miss their fasting or prayers but who violate every Islamic rule in the book?

Why are Muslims so preoccupied with numbers? This is not a numbers game. This is not about which religion can attract the most number of followers. It should be about the quality of the practitioners. And that is one thing that Islam lacks, Muslims of quality who live the adeen of Islam.

Cock fighting is a favourite pastime in the Malay-Muslim heartland of Terengganu and Kelantan. Cock fighting is basically gambling. AIDS is critical in Kelantan. The drug problem is critical in Terengganu. And so on and so forth. And the majority under detention and in prison are Malays-Muslims.

Okay, while we wait for the Malay-Islam-bashing to start, as it always does, read the other news reports above. Read about the 59-year-old Malay-Muslim woman who for almost three years has to move from mosque to mosque just to have a roof over her head.

What are those rich Malays-Muslims who live in places like Damansara, Bangsar and Taman Tun and who own RM20 million apartments in London doing about this? Why must things like this happen in today’s day and age?

Then read about an old Chinese couple in Hongkong dying without their children even knowing about it. Sure, it is Chinese culture NOT to give out money in white envelopes. Is it Chinese culture to let your parents die of starvation?

Anyway, don’t feel too bad about it. This also happens in the UK. It also happens in America. There are 100,000 homeless HOUSEHOLDS in the UK. In America it is 500,000.

We are now experiencing a very cold winter. Since yesterday we have been seeing ice in the UK. Tonight it is going to snow and we are expecting below zero temperatures. The government has just announced that many homeless people and old people living alone are going to die of cold. By this weekend the mortuaries are going to be full.

All this talk about Islam and Chinese culture disgusts me. Why not we talk about how to be good Muslims rather than how to prevent Muslims from leaving Islam? Why not we talk about how to help the homeless and old folks living alone who are going to die over the next 48 hours because they are being neglected rather than whether the envelope should be white, red, green or pink?

When I am lying all alone in my bed at home and dying from the bitter cold and starvation I really don’t care two fucks about colours of envelopes or whether Muslims are leaving Islam to become Christians.

ASPAN ALIAS

Saya telah pergi ke TTDI hari ini untuik bertemu bebarapa orang rakan yang ingin berjumpa saya sambil minum pagi. Saya diberitahu oleh rakan-rakan saya yang sudah banyak poster-poster yang di tampal di merata-rata tempat tentang Lim Guan Eng sebagai anti-Melayu. Poster itu berbunyi ‘Lim Guan Eng anti Melayu’. Sebagai seorang yang sentiasa berada bersama rakyat marhean di bawah ini saya dapat merasakan dengan jelas yang DAP sedang mendapat penerimaan dari kaum Melayu yang sudah terbuka minda dan tidak lagi terkonkong dengan momokan jahat setengah pihak terhadap parti itu.

Ini juga dapat dirasakan oleh UMNO dan sekutunya. Maka tidak terkejut jika mereka melakukan tindakan desperado ini kerana ini sahajalah jalan yang tinggal untuk menggagalkan usaha DAP untuik membuktikan yang parti itu benar-benar sebauah parti multi-racil yang sedang mendapat sambutan dari semua kaum termasuk dari kaum Melayu yang sudah tidak terkongkong dengan momokan gila parti-parti dalam BN khususnya UMNO.

Untuk memahami tujuan poster ini dinaikan tidak memerlukan seorang yang bijak pandai untuk mentelaahnya. Seseorang yang terbuka sedikit mindanya dan sudah bercampur gaul dengan mereka yang berpolitik secara jujur akan cepat tahu matlamat pihak yang menaikan poster-poster ini. Matlamatnya ialah untuk berusaha dengan cara kotor untuk parti ini mendapat sokongan dari semua kaum khususnya orang Melayu.

Kerja menakut-nakutkan Melayu ini memang cara UMNO untuk menjauhkan Melayu dari mendekati DAP. Puluhan tahun orang Melayu ditakutkan dengan isu 13 Mei untuk menjauhkan orang Melayu dari DAP. Tetapi isu itu sudah tidak dipakai lagi kerana rakyat tahu kaum Cina lah kaum yang takut dengan pergaduhan di antara kaum kerana mereka mahukan keamanan dan hidup berniaga di dalam negara yang tidak berpecah belah.

Rakyat pun tahu yang kerajaan Pulau Pinang pimpinan Lim Guan Eng telah menunjukan sikap mengambil tahu hal untuk semua kaum di negeri tadbiran beliau. Orang Melayu sekarang sudah sedar yang Guan Eng tidak boleh di nafikan ketelusannya dalam mentadbir negeri Pulau Pinang. Lim Guan Eng yang dituduh anti Melayu dan Islam oleh penyokong UMNO dan BN telah memperuntukan wang sebanayk RM64 juta untuk mentadbir urus hal ehwal agama Islam di Pulau Pinang. Semasa BN memerintah Pulau Pinang, peruntukan untuik hal ehwal Islam hanyalah sebanyak RM12 juta sahaja.

Walaupun negeri Pulau Pinang hanya sebuah negeri yang kecil dan jumlah orang Islamnya kecil jika dibandingkan dengan negeri-negeri lain, peruntukan sebanyak RM64 juta itu merupakan jumlah yang amat besar. Peruntukan itu termasuklah untuk menyelia elaun guru-guru KAFA, pentadbiran tanah perkuburan serta semua yang berhubung kait dengan agama Islam di negeri itu.

UMNO sedar yang Guan Eng tidak boleh lagi dipersendakan kepimpinannya. Jika benar Guan Eng anti Melayu bagaimanakah 70% dari kontrak yang diberkan oleh kerajaan Pulau Pinang itu diperolehi oleh Bumiputra? Kerajaan pulau Pinang tidak memandang bangsa dan ethnik dalam pembehagian kontrak-kontrak ini sebaliknya pembahagian itu adalah di dasarkan kepada ‘merit’ yang ada kepada kontraktor-kontraktor itu. Dengan keadaan itu maka terbukti kontraktor-kontraktor Melayu mempunyai ‘merit’ yang tinggi yang mereka tidak dapat buktikan semasa pemerintahan Koh Tsu Khoon dahulu.

READ MORE HERE

In his defence, Dr Chua (picture) pointed out that Najib was the first prime minister to “give away power” by pledging to abolish the much-criticised Internal Security Act (ISA).

“Everybody talked about abolishing the ISA but it was Najib who removed the ISA,” he told reporters at SMJK Chong Hwa here this afternoon.

“And that effectively removed his authority to detain people without trial. It’s not easy for a leader to give power away like that.”

Dr Chua said Najib, who heads Umno, has also made the Malay ruling party more democratic by increasing the number of division delegates who can vote in party presidential polls.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s acquittal last month, despite talk that Najib would influence the trial judge to convict the former, also showed that the prime minister believed in an independent judiciary, Dr Chua added.

The former health minister, however, conceded that there were still “a lot of weaknesses” in the delivery of Najib’s reforms, noting some resistance to change from within Umno and other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties.

“Like all political parties, there are also considerations within the party,” he said.

Dr Chua nonetheless took pains to stress that the prime minister had already set out a “clear direction” for a better future and had the political will to realise his ambitious reforms.

The Economist suggested in a report published yesterday that Najib may be courting electoral disaster because he has introduced just enough reforms to alienate his own party but not enough to convince the centre ground.

The influential newsmagazine pointed out in the scathing report that the “well-intentioned” Umno president was at odds with his own party, where the concept of Malay privileges was entrenched at divisional level.

READ MORE HERE

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's former prime minister, comments on Proton Holdings Bhd after billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary's DRB-HICOM Holdings Bhd agreed to buy a controlling stake from the government. Mahathir, who helped found Proton and remains an adviser, also comments on whether DRB should sell Proton's UK sports-car arm Group Lotus International Ltd. The former premier made these comments in an interview in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

BLOOMBERG

On selling Lotus

"It is a viable option and I think the new owners of Proton might consider that. But, Lotus is not just a sports-car company. It is an engineering and technology company. It's selling engineering skills to China and helping people going into the industry."

State DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen confirmed that John Brian was among the probable candidates except that nothing had been finalised just yet.

“As usual, the selection of candidates is determined by the Candidate Selection Committee but up till now, we have not met to discuss the matter,” he said.

He added that the committee, headed by State DAP chairman Richard Wong Ho Leng, would go through the list of potential candidates as soon as parliament was dissolved.

“At the moment, we are unable to name our candidates, not only Bintulu but also for other areas. One thing I can say is Dr John Brian is one of our potential candidates,” he said.

Chong, who is Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman, said this at a news conference in his party headquarters here yesterday which was also attended by Dr John Brian.

Responding to queries from the media, he (John) said he was fully prepared to contest in the coming election if given the chance.

“To clear the doubts among the people on the ground, I want to say here that I have officially joined DAP. I am now a committee member of DAP Bintulu branch,” he declared.

On his chances of winning Bintulu if nominated to challenge incumbent Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, he said their machinery was already there.

He said this was because in the state election last year, the total majority votes obtained by Barisan Nasional (BN) in Kemena and Jepak, two of three state seats in Bintulu was lesser than the majority votes obtained by the DAP in Kidurong.

“So to me, this is a good sign that the opposition can put up a good fight in Bintulu in the coming election,” he said.

The party president, who recently told The Malaysian Insider that at least a third of the MCA’s current lawmakers would be dropped and replaced by fresh faces, told reporters here that there would be some “dark horse” candidates in addition to “white horse” ones.

However, he refused to reveal more, saying “it’s not the right time”.

In an exclusive interview with The Malaysian Insider last month, Dr Chua (picture) expressed confidence that the party would gain more than the 15 federal seats it kept in Election 2008, explaining that some 30 or 40 per cent of the party’s incumbents have already been asked to skip the coming polls.

He stressed that it was imperative for the party to get rid of underperformers and field new faces, pointing out that a more discerning Chinese electorate now paid greater attention to the quality of candidates, apart from the party they represented.

“I’ve already said within the party, there is no such thing as bargaining,” the former health minister had said.

“It’s not to say the old ones are being forced to go. They are told politely that they have to give way to the younger ones.”

READ MORE HERE

“Why is the police afraid of taking action against Shahrizat’s (picture) husband and son?” former city CID chief Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim wrote in an open letter to the Inspector-General of Police today.

“To check records and determine if Mohamed Salleh (Shahrizat’s husband) and Wan Shahinur (Shahrizat’s son) used RM31,580 in NFC funds to pay for their umrah in November 2010 only needs a few hours of investigation,” he pointed out.

Mat Zain had called on Datuk Seri Najib Razak last week to instruct the police, graftbusters and the Attorney-General to complete investigations into the scandal-hit livestock company within a fortnight.

He said today that to check whether National Feedlot Corporation (NF Corp) paid RM26,400 to Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat only needed “a few minutes of investigations.”

“If this allegation is true, then Shahrizat has lied to the public when denying that she knew about the affairs and management of NFCorp by her husband and children,” he said.

READ MORE HERE

The North Borneo Cession Order of 1946 laid the basis for the transfer of sovereignty and dominion from British North Borneo Company to the British Crown which stated that "with effect from the fifteenth day of July 1946, to the extend that the Crown should, as from that day full sovereign rights over, and title to, the territory of the State of North Borneo and that said territory should hereupon become part of her Majesty’s Dominions."

Mohd Jeffery Radius

Why did the Malaysian Government still hold back the series of proposals to set up a Philippines Consulate Office in Kota Kinabalu to look after the welfares of the Filipinos in Sabah since the dawn of independence?

The precise and simple answer : "Our government is still giving careful consideration to the proposal for certain reasons, which constitutes inter alia Manila continuing insistence to claim its right on Sabah is delaying the process of setting up a Philippine Consulate in the State".

With reference to a number of published literature and thesis compiled by several researchers, historians including Filipino scholars that the Philippines formally claimed Sabah based on the Sultanate of Sulu heirs’ historical sovereignty of the territory, which was granted as a token of appreciation by the Sultan of Brunei for helping the latter to fight against piracy infesting within the Northern Borneo territory.

The scholars have come up with a number of arguments, collectively gathered as a result of their research works conducted over the decades, documented and published as sources of academic and legal references and journals worldwide. The free encyclopedia from Wikipedia provides a detailed summary of the North Borneo dispute including the Philippines' Claim on Sabah.

By virtue of the research notes compiled by Erwin S Fernandez, Department of Filipino and Philippines Literature, University of the Philippines, Diliman, published by The Asia – Pacific Social Science Review : Volume 7 Number 1 , December 2007 with the topic “Philippine – Malaysia Dispute over Sabah : A Bibliographical Survey", descriptively elaborated lengthy details about the topics which include
a) Macapagal : Establishing the Philippines Claim, whereby President Diosdado Macapagal “was forced to initiate the filing of the claim of Sabah in 1962" because Sabah was being considered as a member of the proposed concept of Malaysia broached by Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rahman on May 27, 1961 in Singapore.

After the London Talks, the United Kingdom agreed to relinquish its sovereignty and jurisdiction over Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo in favour of the creation of the Federation of Malaysia.

After the conduct and results of the United Nations Malaysia Mission were known, The Federation of Malaysia was established on Sept 16, 1963 instead of the scheduled August 31, 1963. Macapagal expressed reservation on the results of UN Mission and refused to recognise the government of Malaysia in the belief that it would prejudice the Philippines' claim to North Borneo.

b) Marcos : Fomenting and Managing a crisis - When President Ferdinand Marcos assumed the reins of government; relations with Malaysia was still unstable and unsecure. It was only in June 1966 that both governments decided to raise their own consulates to embassies and issued a communiqué. In March 1968, the Marcos Administration faced a critical point of the Philippines' Claim and the possible breakdown of Philippines-Malaysia relations when the “Jabidah Massacre" controversy was exposed whereby Moros had been recruited for a plan to stage a rebellion and eventual occupation of Sabah under the code name Project Merdeka , which led to the Bangkok Talks from June 17 – July 15, 1968 between representatives of both countries in question.

However, the talks ended in failure and further worsened diplomatic relations between the two countries, when the Philippines Congress passed a law in Sept 1968 known as Republic Act No: 5446, which categorically stated that “this act is without prejudice to the delineation of the baselines of the territorial sea around the territory of Sabah, situated in North Borneo over which the Republic of the Philippines has acquired dominion and sovereignty (Noble, 1977 p.181). Diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed and only a year later in Dec 1969 did the Philippines and Malaysia resume diplomatic relations.

c) Contesting Legal Claims – Two non-Filipinos namely Malaysian Mohammed bin Dato Ariff, the author of "The Philippines Claim to Sabah, its Historical, Legal and Political Implications" (1970) discussed extensively the legal issues surrounding the claims whereby the author provided the basis for the integration of Sabah to Malaysia and cited the principle of self-determination. The Sabahans having already expressed their desire to remain in the Federation while S. Jayaratnam the vice dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Singapore, was of the opinion that the Philippines case “is weak and tenuous ...." (25 Nov 1969 : 10).

Following the study of Mohammed bin Dato Ariff, Jayakumar also invoked the idea of effective occupation on the part of Great Britain of Sabah since 1878 which granted the British North Borneo Company a charter of corporate character. The author contended that “the Philippines Claim is at most an abstract or inchoate one based on historically derivatives rights of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu (Ibid). Neither the Philippines nor the heir of the Sultan have exercised sovereignty or been in effective occupation of Sabah since 1878.

The Philippine formally presented its claim only in 1962. United Kindom was the state which had effective occupation until 16 Sept 1963 when Sabah became part of Malaysia in accordance with the wishes of the people (as determined by the UN Secretary General) “Malaysia, for purposes of International Law, is now the State in effective occupation” and exercising sovereignty over Sabah (Ibid).

d) The Claim and its relation to foreign policy

e) Outsiders’ view (or mainly the British side of the question) - A bibliography and compilations and a series of reference etc. The foot note of this journal reads “The Deed of 1878 refers to the agreement dated January 22 between the Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Azam and Baron Gustavus Von Overbeck leasing the Sultan’s dominions in North Borneo in exchange of five thousand Malaysian Dollars as annual rent with William Treacher, British Governor of Labuan as witness. This was Cesar Adib Majul’s estimate in his book “Muslim in the Philippines (1999) in contrast to the 1704 date proposed by K.G Tregonning in his book “Under Chartered Company Rule (1958) later published in 1975 as “A History of Modern Sabah 1881 – 1946.

The North Borneo Cession Order of 1946 laid the basis for the transfer of sovereignty and dominion from British North Borneo Company to the British Crown which stated that "with effect from the fifteenth day of July 1946, to the extent that the Crown should, as from that day full sovereign rights over, and title to, the territory of the State of North Borneo and that said territory should hereupon become part of her Majesty’s Dominions."

The partial list of the documents` are as follows :
1 ) Letter of Earl of Derby to Lord Odo Russell denying Spanish claim of sovereignty over Sulu January 17, 1876.

2) Potocol of Sulu 1877

3) Letter of Acing Consul General Treacher to the Earl of Derby dated January 2, 1878

4) Contrato de Arrendo de Sandacan en Borneo con el Baron de Overbeck January 4, 1878

5) Interpretation of the Moro Language of Mindanao translation of the previous communication in Arabic Transcripts of the contract which His Eminence the Sultan of Jolo executed with Baron de Oberback January 1878

6) Translation by Professor Conklin of the Deed of 1878 in Arabic Characters found by Mr Quintero in Washington D.C January 22, 1878

7) Commission from the Sultan of Sulu appointing Baron de Overback Datu Bandahara and Rajah of Sandakan obtained by Mr Quintero in Washington, January 22, 1878

8) Report of Acting Consul General W.H. Treacher to the Earl of Derby January 12, 1878

9) Letter dated July 4, 1878 from the Sultan of Sulu to the Governor Caption General of the Philippines denying that Sandakan was ceded to Overbeck.

10) Letter dated July 22, 1878 from the Sultan of Sulu to the Governor of Sulu stating that he will cancel the lease of Sandakan and 23 more documents.

K.G. Tregonning, former Raffles Professor of History in the University of Singapore, the author of "A History of Modern Sabah 1881 – 1963" (1965) first published as Under Chartered Company Rule (1958). The position of the Author regarding the Philippines on Sabah can be summarised as follows :

1) The agreement between the Sulu Sultan and Dent and Overbeck was one of a cession and not a lease.

2) Several treaties and International Conventions had excluded North Borneo from the territory of the Philippines either during the Spanish or American period. “The question of whether it was a cession or perpetual lease (whatever that is) seemed a stupid word game (1965 : 245). The Manila Convention of 1885, The Treaty of Paris of 1998 and the US – UK Boundary Convention of 1930 and at the same time noted the acquiescence to these of the Philippines Constitution.

The full text of the conclusion reads “It may be that the Philippines has been flogging a dead horse and Malaysia has been hesitant to bury the carcass, while Sabah has had to bear the stench. Since the grant is one in perpetuity, it can either continue in force or as the real alternative, the annual payment of 5,300 could be compounded and paid in a lump sum.

A settlement of this nature should be done confidentially by diplomacy and mutual trust. Once the compounded sum is agreed upon by all parties concerned, a joint statement could be made, the Sulu Sultan‘s heirs duly compensated and the Philippines and Malaysia could move on to more natural political, social, economic and cultural cooperation“ 1972 : 25.

Another interesting Thesis written by Filipino Scholar Ruben G. Domingo, for his Master of Science in Resource Planning and Management for International Defence Degree at Philippine Military Academy entitled “The Muslim Secessionist Movement in The Philippines issues and prospects" (1995) reads "The Sultan of Brunei who originally ruled Sabah ceded it to the Sultan of Sulu in 1704 as a reward for helping suppress an uprising in his domain. In 1878, the Sultan's successor, Jamalul Azam, leased the territory to William Cowie and Baron von Overbeck for 5,000 Malaysian Dollars.

Overbeck was then the Austrian consul at Hong Kong and former local manager of the British opium firm of Dent and Company. Whether the terms of the deal were that Sabah was ceded or leased would become the bone of contention between Malaysia and the Philippines. Soon after the agreement, the British North Borneo was formed and awarded a royal charter.

A treaty signed in 1930 by the United States and the British Crown circumscribed the future territorial jurisdiction of the soon to be established Philippines Republic. This treaty DID NOT INCLUDE SABAH within the boundaries of Spanish, American or Philippines jurisdiction. Then, six days after the Philippines was granted independence, the British North Borneo Company turned all its rights and obligations to the British Government, which in turn asserted full sovereign rights over Sabah through the North Borneo Cession Order.

The first official Philippines act on Sabah issue was the adoption House Resolution No: 42 on April 28th, 1950. It states explicitly that North Borneo belong to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu. It also authorised the President to conduct negotiations for the restoration of sovereignty jurisdiction over the territory.

In the negotiations, the British rejected the Philippines position in view of the overriding need to for the Federation of Malaysia. When the Philippines institutionalised its claim through the enactment of the Republic Act incorporating Sabah as part of the Philippines, the Malaysians suspended diplomatic ties, which was only restored on Dec 16, 1969 in time for the third ministerial conference of the Association of South Asian Nations.

In the forth coming East Asian Summit, to highlight a zone of friendship and freedom involving Asean countries and China, Russia and the United States of America, the Philippines Government plans to submit a proposal highlighting that the country would claim any asset or territory belonging to them and the disputed claim on Sabah be negotiated.

In addition, it is more likely that the Philippines would assert its sovereignty over specific maritime territories in line with the Republic Act 9522, signed three years ago by former President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal to reaffirm the republic‘s sovereignty over the more than 7,100 islands in its archipelago including part of Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal.

The Spratlys is believed to be rich in oil, gas and fish, comprising about 100 barren islets, reefs and atolls, sitting along important sea lanes in the South China Sea.

Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or part of the low-lying islands.

Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, who was quoted as saying following his recent meeting in Manila that “the Sabah Claim issue is non negotiable. In fact, we are almost fed up with the Philippines problems in Sabah as they do not have a consulate here. I have clearly explained to the Philippines Government about our stand on their claim on Sabah, I said the issue is not our problem (but) actually their (Philippines) problem and believe that certain quarters among the Philippines officials are stoking the claim despite Malaysia’s firm stand on the issue”. (The Daily Express Sunday January 22, 2012)

We are proud to have an elected Sabah representative who is fully aware and understands his roles and responsibilities upon being appointed to lead the ministry in question comparable to his predecessors at the Federal level. This contribution is made specifically for the good of the State and Country especially as far as the Sabah Claim issue is concerned.

In summary, the final Green Light to set up the Philippines Consulate in the State would only be made feasibly once a bilateral understanding has been reached by the involving parties. The question now is how soon can we find the remedy or convincing solutions capable of burying the Sabah Claim issue once and for all?

How effective would the establishment of a Filipino diplomatic mission be in helping the Malaysian authorities solve the controversial long stand issue of illegal immigrants hailing from the Southern Philippines in particular, when a similar category of aliens are also found in massive numbers from other neighbouring country (Indonesia) despite the existence of its consulate in the State‘s capital?

A positive outcome has yet to be extensively gauged and justified when it comes to reality upon full scale implementation. If they cannot act as the catalyst to the current social stigma infesting the State but they help to soften the blow at the initial stage, it will suffice as an effective remedy that works in the long run.

Retrospectively, it is still fresh in the minds of every living Malaysian in Sabah to ponder upon the following significant occasions:

a) In Oct 1998, former Governor of the Autonomous Regions of Mindanao (ARMM) cum the Chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Prof Nur Misuari visited Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah bringing the message on the status quo of the Southern Philippines, which according to Misuari “is more peaceful now”.

He planned to take back an estimated 300,000 Filipinos from Sabah as their resources would be required to rebuild the southern region. Paradoxically, Misuari’s noble intention did not materialise due to certain unknown reasons, otherwise his role would have helped to reduce our authorities’ burden 14 years ago, thus partly solving the alien problems growing in the State from accumulating to the present statistics estimated to be in the range of over a couple of millions.

b) Our Government’s previous effort to deport Filipinos illegal immigrants back to their country of origin was kept on hold to a stand still during the crux of President Gloria Arroyo Administration when she refused to accept them back with the excuse that they did not have documents to prove their national identities as Filipinos although it was very obvious that those illegal immigrants hailed from the Southern Philippines judging from the accent of their home native dialects, behaviours and characteristics etc.

The setting up of the Philippines Consulate in Sabah would therefore be necessary and would help a lot to solve cases of similar nature in the future. Hence, we leave it to the wisdom of our government and the relevant ministry in question to search and formulate a long term solution affecting the parties involved for the sake of Social, Economic and Political Cooperation within the Region of ASEAN member countries.

Berita Harian’s Norakmah Mat Youb, 31, said that copies of Lim’s press statement distributed to the reporters on March 11, 2008, were in English.

“As far as I know, there were no Bahasa Malaysia copies of his press statement.

“To my understanding, ‘to free’ also means ‘mentiadakan’, ‘mansuhkan’ or ‘menghapuskan’ when translated to Bahasa Malaysia,” she said.

Norakmah was testifying for the defendant in Lim’s defamation suit against Utusan Melayu (M) Sdn Bhd over an article in Utusan Malaysia dated March 12, 2008, under the heading ‘Tiada Lagi DEB’.

Lim had testified on Jan 11 that he did not say he was going to abolish or ‘menghapuskan’ the NEP but that he would run the government administration free from the NEP that breeds cronyism, corruption and systematic inefficiency.

He said the article took it out of context to imply that he wanted to abolish the NEP and had, among other things, implied that he was an irresponsible and unworthy leader.

He also said he had repeatedly clarified to the media on March 13 and 14 that year that he did not want to abolish the NEP but the defendant continued to defame him.

Lim is Bagan MP and Air Putih assemblyman.

Norakmah also said yesterday that Lim did not rebuke reporters when they used the word ‘abolish’ or ‘menghapuskan’ in reference to the NEP at the March 14 press conference.

She, however, agreed with Lim’s counsel Jagdeep Singh Deo when he put it to her that Lim did not use the words ‘memansuhkan’ and ‘menghapuskan’ at the March 14 press conference.

“He used the word ‘membebaskan’,” she said.

Counsel Mohana Kumar represented Utusan Melayu.

Judicial Commissioner Nurmala Salim fixed March 2 for submissions.

Full statement by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim

An extraordinary General Meeting will be held soon to dissolve (Kita). This is necessary to remove any and all doubts that we indeed do support the Opposition, especially in light of some of our members in Kedah and Penang being openly critical of the Pakatan Rakyat.

They have been doing this on a regular basis, making it clear that they are not interested in real issues affecting the country and merely want to embarrass and ridicule the Opposition.

My idea to set up a political party that supports moderate and progressive ideas and brings civility and decorum to the political discourse has failed.

I have not succeeded in bringing in enough members who are interested in democratic ideals, good governance and accountability amongst public officials.

I have also not been able to raise sufficient funds to manage the party’s activities, and friends who had promised to help have since decided otherwise.

The media’s deep interest in the petty issues that affect the party is also indicative of the difficulties that we will continue to face.

There are enough people out there who are just interested in criticising my leadership of Kita, and who manufacture stories to ridicule me.

The Malays have a proverb, jika sesat di penghujung jalan, kembalilah ka pangkal jalan.

Essentially, it translates to: if you get lost along the way, go back to the beginning.

I realise now that forming Kita was a mistake.

I had hoped to provide alternative ideas in politics and to bring a wider diversity of talent to the Opposition’s leadership.

That has not happened.

I have made many mistakes in my life but I am not disheartened.

I remain convinced that change will come for the betterment of this country and I will do my part, again and again, to help achieve that.

I will not waiver in my deep-seated belief that serving the public is good, and that we can carry out this service with honour and dignity.

To the genuine members of the party who are obviously unhappy with this decision, I seek your forgiveness. I appreciate your support and I hope you will accept this decision, for it is for the greater good of the Opposition.

The survival of democracy depends on the viability of the Opposition.

If it is destroyed — as the Barisan Nasional is bent on doing — then there can be no democracy, no freedom and no moderate policies ever again.

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng says the posters found in Petaling Jaya this morning only makes the people hate the perpetrators more.

According to media reports here, the leaders now want recently sacked PAS leader Datuk Hasan Ali to replace Zaid, saying the proposal to dissolve Kita was ”unprincipled” and “irresponsible”.

“For any party in Malaysia, this is not the time to talk of dissolution when we are getting ready for war,” said Kedah Kita chief Zamil Ibrahim. “I ask the 10,000 Kita members to be calm. The president cannot dissolve the party according to his whim and fancy.

“It will need a three-quarters majority at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM).”

Zamil said Kita “should be having a dialogue with Hasan, who has emerged as the new third force”.

“Hasan has a strong influence and I believe if he leads the party, it is not impossible that Kita will be strong,” he said at a press conference at which  the party’s Johor and Selangor chiefs were also present. “We will become the third force, fitting Hasan’s concept.”

Zaid on Thursday said an EGM would be held to dissolve Kita following reports of members in Kedah and Penang openly attacking Pakatan Rakyat (PR), “making it clear that they are not interested in real issues and merely want to embarrass and ridicule the opposition”.

“I realise now that forming Kita was a mistake,” the former Umno law minister said. “I had hoped to provide alternative ideas in politics and to bring a wider diversity of talent to the opposition’s leadership.”

Zamil hit back, and told reporters that “Zaid has failed to lead the party, so don’t try to blame us”.

READ MORE HERE

(NST) - KELANTAN Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, 81, who first stood as a Pas candidate in a 1967 by-election, announced yesterday his intention to contest the next general election.

Nik Aziz, who had in the past fended off calls for him to retire, notably from former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, also urged party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, 65, to at the very least contest a parliamentary seat.

Hadi, who is Marang member of parliament and state assemblyman for Rhu Redang, had hinted he would not contest the elections, making way for younger contenders.

Nik Aziz said yesterday: “I agree that we need to give way to new leaders. I have expressed my intention to step down to state leaders but was asked to stay on. This is the reason I will be contesting.”

He said this after delivering his weekly ceramah at the state Pas headquarters.

Nik Aziz said Hadi’s decision was his own and that he (Nik Aziz) as the party’s spiritual leader, could not do anything about it.

Nik Aziz said Pas now had many qualified candidates, including highly educated ones with doctorates and professionals compared with previously, when most were pondok religious school teachers and villagers.

In December, reacting to a call from Dr Mahathir for him to retire, Nik Aziz said: “I will put up a fight from the start until the end. How can I follow his footsteps? Who asked him to step down?”

Dr Mahathir, who last stood for a parliamentary seat at 74 in 1999, had said Nik Aziz should emulate him and retire from politics.

“I just want to advise him to forget any intention of contesting. It is good that he retires as I have also retired. Nik Aziz has been (in politics) longer than me,” Dr Mahathir had said then.

Dr Mahathir was first elected in 1964 while Nik Aziz first stood as a Pas candidate in a byelection for the Kelantan Hilir parliamentary seat in 1967.

The New Straits Times was also told that Pas had decided at a Wednesday night political bureau meeting that Hadi should contest either a state or parliamentary seat.

Pas information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said Hadi had agreed to this.

“I hope that with this announcement, the issue will be put to rest.”

In a related development, Universiti Sains Malaysia social sciences senior lecturer Dr Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Farouk said the reluctance of the party to field new faces might be because of “old guards” within the party.

“When certain leaders have been around for a long time, senior members of the party might be unwilling to put their trust in new faces,” he said.

(NST) - Former Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad has called on politicians on both sides of the divide to set aside political interests in the fight against corruption.

Hamid said corruption was not always in the form of political donations but rather informed by "personal and direct" interests.

"For those in power, the attitude that they are an exception is not going to help... no one is special and none is an exception.

"For the opposition, the attitude that today is your turn and tomorrow will be our turn is not going to help either," he said in his speech at the First United Premier Lecture on Integrity yesterday.

Drawing on his experience as Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Advisory Council chairman, he said fighting corruption should be a common ground for all.

He also expressed his disappointment in those who took sides based on their political leanings.

"Some groups take sides according to their vested interests, in the name of the people, justice, fairness, equality, freedom of speech, human rights and democracy.

"They screamed for action to be taken against their opponents but when their members were investigated, they alleged that they were persecuted.

"When their opponents were arrested, charged, tried and convicted, there was complete silence from them."

He called on all leaders, including corporate leaders and top level management, to set a good example.

"Very often, people tend to focus on the public sector while the private sector escapes attention. Government, public servants, judges and others must be clean while companies and businessmen need not as they are only to be judged by how much profits they make."

Hamid also defended the judiciary, alluding to attempts to discredit its integrity during the sodomy trial of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"When the judgment turned out to be in his favour, (Anwar) said that he was acquitted because the government was worried about the negative image abroad if he were convicted.

"Is that not an allegation or an inference that the judge took instruction from the executive to arrive at his decision or that the executive dictated the decision to him?"

He cited, in comparison, cases where government leaders such as former Malacca executive councillor Datuk Sahar Arpan and former Negri Sembilan executive councillor Datuk Waad Mansor were successfully convicted of various crimes without questioning judicial integrity.

"For that matter, (former Transport Ministers) Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy whose cases are still pending are all fighting their  cases on merits, not by attacking judges or the judiciary."

There are no clear literary sources from which to trace the origin of the red envelope tradition. In China, during the Qin Dynasty, the elderly would thread coins with a red string. The money was called yāsuì qiánmeaning "money warding off evil spirits", and was believed to protect the elderly from sickness and death. The yāsuì qián was replaced by red envelopes when printing presses became more common. Red envelopes are also referred to as yāsuì qián.

Other similar traditions also exist in other countries in Asia. In Vietnam, red envelopes are called lì xì (similar to the Cantonese pronunciation "li see") or, in some cases, phong bao mừng tuổi (happy new age envelope). In Thailand, they are known as ang pow (the pronunciation of the Chinese characters for "red envelope" in the Teochew dialect) or tae ea among the Chinese-Thai. In Myanmar (Burma), the Burmese Chinese refer to them as an-pao (Burmese: ), and South Korea's envelopes, which are white, not red, are called "sae bae don".

In Japan, a monetary gift called otoshidama is given to children by their relatives during the New Year period. However, white envelopes are used instead, with the name of the receiver written on its obverse. A similar practice is observed for Japanese weddings, but the envelope is folded rather than sealed, and decorated with an elaborate bow.

In the Philippines, Chinese Filipinos exchange ang pao (from the Hokkien pronunciation, as most Chinese in the Philippines are of Hokkien descent) during the Chinese New Year. For non-Chinese Filipinos, ang pao is an easily recognizable symbol of the Lunar New Year holiday and in some places, the envelopes are also appropriated by non-Chinese in giving monetary gifts on other occasions such as Christmas and birthdays.

READ MORE HERE

Shahrizat said it was nothing unusual for political leaders to face pressure and that this was all part and parcel of politics.

"If there are people who know the workings of Wanita Umno and are calling me to quit, it must be because they have their own agendas," she said when met at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here today.

She said the quit calls would not dampen her spirit but only make her stronger in continuing to serve society. 

As to her Cabinet post, Shahrizat said she was leaving this to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to decide.
 
"I respect his (Najib's) leadership. So the decision whether I should remain in the Cabinet or not is up to him.

Shahrizat also said she had no knowledge as to what Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz (former International Trade and Industry Minister and whom she succeeded as Wanita Umno chief) had to say about her.

She said she deeply respected Rafidah and would continue with efforts to strengthen Wanita Umno to face the next general election.

Shahrizat who just returned from performing the umrah in Mecca, will be resuming her Cabinet duties on Wednesday.

She had taken three weeks leave following the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) controversy.
 
The controversy arose after the Auditor-General in his 2011 report stated that the centre had not met its scheduled targets since it started operations.

The centre is managed by NFCorp, which is owned by her husband  Datuk Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail. The government had provided a RM250 million soft loan for the running of the centre, which was entrusted to help the country reduce beef imports.

Rafidah in an interview with a local daily had alluded that political leaders faced with serious controversies should "know what to do."

Dr Hasan's struggle is similar to UMNO's, which also fought for the same concepts from the beginning, he said after officiating at the Parent Teachers Association of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sungai Burong here, today. 

However, UMNO also protects the rights of other races, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, said Noh. 

He said Dr Hasan's road show after being sacked by PAS has managed to attract a part of the community, especially the Malays, to listen to his explanation on Pakatan Rakyat's weaknesses and fragmentation in leadership.

Noh added that in addition to Dr Hasan's revelations about the opposition, former Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Kulim Bandar Baru member of parliament Datuk Zulkifli Nordin was also doing the same, to raise people's awareness of the situation.

Currently, the National Feedlot Corporation issue is getting less and less coverage. The mainstream broadcast media has almost stopped talking about it. Ditto for the mainstream newspapers.

Selena Tay, Free Malaysia Today

The moment the Barisan Nasional federal government succeeds in killing off all the issues brought up by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, it will call for the 13th general glection.

Already, there is widespread rumour that Parliament will be dissolved this month as Pakatan’s last bastion of defence – the cattle saga – is now almost swept under the BN carpet altogether. Coupled with the RM500 cash aid to the low-income group, BN is now riding on a high due to the feel-good factor generated by BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia).

However, it must be brought to public attention that applicants in the DAP fortress of Kepong Baru have yet to receive this aid. Is BN denying the cash aid to Kepong Baru voters because BN knows that it can never win in Kepong? DAP’s Dr Tan Seng Giaw has been the Kepong MP since the late 1970s.

Currently, the National Feedlot Corporation issue is getting less and less coverage. The mainstream broadcast media has almost stopped talking about it. Ditto for the mainstream newspapers.

Let us take a step back to September last year before the Feedlot drama came up to the surface. Before presenting the budget on Oct 7, last year, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his Cabinet had already read the Auditor-General’s Report. It is standard practice for the prime minister to first go through the report before the opposition MPs and this practice has been adopted since the mid-1980s.

This way, the BN federal government will have the opportunity to cover up any unsavoury details in the audit report and deny the opposition any bullets with which to shoot the government.

Be that as it may, the audit report should have been on the table of all the MPs on the day of the budget presentation. But this was not the case last year. As the audit report took longer and longer to surface, the Pakatan MPs have already began to surmise that something was amiss and that the BN federal government must have sent the Auditor-General’s Report back to the Auditor-General’s office for amendments to be made. Of course, there was no concrete proof of this – only theories.

But lo and behold! When the report came out 17 days later on Oct 24, the opposition MPs read it with eagle-eyes and pounced on the Feedlot project like a dog pouncing on a juicy bone. This is it! This is what the BN federal government had wanted to hide all along.

Public anger

Therefore, when Najib read the report in September, he would have known that Feedlot would emerge as a problematic issue. Thus, he devised the RM500 cash aid as a weapon to launch a pre-emptive strike on Pakatan and on Oct 7, he announced this cash aid as one of the goodies offered in the 2012 Budget – all because he had already known about Feedlot in advance. This RM500 is a sweetener to dull the senses of the rakyat and to pacify public anger pertaining to Feedlot.

Even the audit report did not mention much about Feedlot except to say that it failed to meet its KPI (Key Performance Index). If not for the whistleblower to whom we owe much gratitude, we would have known next to nothing.

To sum up: the cash aid came about after Najib has read the Auditor-General’s Report and the reason for this cash aid is to nullify the opposition’s attacks which would be sure to follow and also to win over the voters’ hearts and minds. Insidious! It is a two-pronged attack by BN that can be very deadly if the opposition does not play its cards well.

Therefore in the 13th general election it will boil down to cash versus cow. These are the two main issues of the day. Even the PKFZ (Port Klang Free Zone) issue and the Scorpene submarine issue have sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

The BN federal government is doing its utmost to cover up this cattle issue. The lady at the centre of the drama, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, has gone on leave. Najib is careful not to provoke her anger as Umno Wanita, of whom she is the chief, is a very powerful wing because it is in charge of all the “pondok panas” during the polls. (Pondok panas is where one can go to check one’s particulars when there is an election campaign.)

READ MORE HERE

(Free Malaysia Today) - Pemimpin KITA mencadangkan NGO besar seperti Perkasa dan Amanah serta Jati bergabung untuk menjadi kuasa ketiga politik yang besar dan berwibawa.

Zamil Ibrahim berkata, perlu ada usaha segera untuk untuk membolehkan NGO besar itu memperjuangkan hak dengan lebih berkesan.

“Saya mengajak Perkasa, Amanah dan Jati bergabung dengan Kita menjadi entiti politik besar mencabar BN dan Pakatan Rakyat.

“Mereka semua orang politik lebih baik bergabung dalam satu parti yang diterajui KIta,” katanya ketika dihubungi.

“Sebab itu saja ajak Datuk Ibrahim Ali (Perkasa) dan Datuk Kadir Sheikh Fadzir (Amanah) masuk Kita.

“Lupakan Datuk Zaid Ibrahim. Kita bentuk satu gabungan baru yang diterajui pemimpin berwibawa, matang dan berprinsip.”

READ MORE HERE

(Bernama) - Bekas Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor Datuk Dr Hasan Ali mendakwa 72 peratus kepimpinan PAS kini dikuasai oleh golongan sekular yang sanggup ‘tidur sekatil’ dengan DAP dan PKR.

Beliau berkata sejumlah 28 peratus lagi adalah golongan ulama yang sanggup mengenepikan perjuangan asal PAS untuk menyokong Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yang bercita-cita mahu menawan Putrajaya pada pilihan raya umum ke-13.

“Saya berpendidikan sekular tetapi saya mahu PAS terus dipimpin oleh golongan ulama yang berpendidikan dari Mesir dan Jordan,” katanya pada ceramah anjuran Pertubuhan Kemajuan dan Integriti Melayu Muar (Pekim) di Bukit Naning, di sini, malam tadi.

Pada ceramah yang dihadiri kira-kira 3,500 orang itu, Hasan turut mendedahkan bagaimana kepimpinan PAS cuba memujuknya supaya berlembut dan mengikut sahaja arahan pakatan pembangkang yang tidak setuju dengan tindakannya membanteras gerakan mengkristiankan orang Islam di Selangor.

“Mereka minta saya bersabar dengan mengatakan apabila sudah dapat tawan Putrajaya, waktu itulah baru dikuatkuasakan undang-undang Islam,” katanya.

Hasan dalam ceramahnya itu turut mengingatkan orang Melayu bahawa hak mereka yang termaktub dalam perlembagaan akan terjejas jika membenarkan pakatan PAS, DAP dan PKR berkuasa di negara ini.

Beliau mendakwa pakatan pembangkang tidak mahu mendengar perkataan Islam, Melayu dan raja serta mereka akan mendidik anak-anak dengan didikan secara liberal jika diberi peluang.

By Dr. Hsu

Malaysian Healthcare system, despite some inadequacies, has been functioning well in comparison to countries of similar living standards. In fact, the facilities of some of our hospitals rival that of the advanced nations.

In certain aspects, our system is even better than many of the advanced nations. Malaysians can have immediate access to medical care and  treatment whenever they feel unwell, unlike in some of the developed countries, where it may take a few days or even weeks to seek an appointment to see a doctor.

Government healthcare cost has been on the rise. Part of this I blame it on piratetisation privatisation as well as leakages and wastage in funding hardwares as well as softwares. Billions have been spent on building new hospitals and medical equipment as well as the software system for the opeartion of such hospitals. But as in other aspects of Malaysian life, leakages and wastage could have amounted to 20-30% of overall spending.

Because of the increasing cost of the healthcare system, government is considering instituting a Health financing system, formerly call the National Health Financing scheme ( i have written a paper on this topic in 2006 – search under the masthead of this blog or see the link at the end of this post). This has now been conveniently renamed 1Care.

Very little is known about this 1Care. As in the Malaysian tradition with regards to policy matters, there is hardly any (or shall we say absolutely no) consultation with the end-users ,  the Rakyat and the consumer groups. Although the ministry is said to be working with the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), even doctors know very little about this scheme.

What little info that is available hints at a system that will drastically alter our lifestyle. Unlike now, we cannot  no longer choose our own doctors. Apparently under this 1Care system, each individual will be assigned to a doctor, presumably someone who is operating nearby. How this allocation will be done and what criteria will be used are unknown as yet.

Patients assigned to that particular doctor will have a limit as to how many times he or she can consult that particular doctor in a year. Those with chronic diseases like asthma, hypertension and diabetes will not be able to see their doctor  as often as now, compromising their health.

All doctors will have to be in this scheme, and would be allocated patients. Doctors are not allowed to dispense medicine. As a compensation, their consultation fee is set to go up , as high as RM60 per visit. This contrasts with the present system where for a fees of around RM30 – 40, you can consult a doctor and be treated with medications for common ailments.

So who is to fund for this incredible scheme? The end users of course since there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. From what is known, everyone will have to be in this scheme, and each house hold is supposed to fork out 9 to 10% of their income to a National Health Financial Agency.

For those who are young, hale and hearty, they have to fork out the same amount, which will probably be deducted from their pay as in EPF scheme.  Like all other insurance scheme, this actually works on the  concept of the more healthy subsidising the less.

But for the less healthy, dont be too happy yet. Apart from the limit on the number of times they can visit their assigned doctors,  they also have to spend extra time and transport cost to get their medical supply from a pharmacy after seeing their doctors.  There will also be certain diseases which will be excluded from this scheme, and out of pocket payments (OOP) will have to be made for these dieseases.

Because the doctors are now being paid a higher consultation fees and because extra costs are incurred for medicines to be dispensed by pahramcy, the total healthare costs will shoot up, as in the experience of many countries which have implemented health financing scheme.

The money eventually comes from the people. When the healthcare cost goes up, the NHFA is going to ask for more money and that will translate to more deduction from the rakyat.

What is ironical is that the present system is efficient and cost effective. Malaysians in fact spend much less on heathcare than their counter parts not only in developed countries but developing nations as well.

The above table (charted by me using WHO statistics) shows the percentage of Total Health expenditure of malaysia in 2002 and 2003 compared with many other countries.

Even countries with comparables GDPs in international dollars such as Mexica and Brazil spent much more on health care than Malaysia. Developing countries with lower GDPs such as China and India also spent higher proportion of their GDPs on the health of their citizens.

Read more at: http://hsudarren.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/1care-or-just-i-dont-care/

Dakwaan Alumni meleset kerana Yayasan Selangor (YS) tiada masaalah Aliran Kewangan, bahkan sebenarnya kedudukan kewangan YS semakin mantap berbanding pada tahun 2007 sebelum Pakatan Rakyat mengambilalih Kerajaan Negeri Selangor.

Simpanan tetap (fix deposit) YS sebenarnya telah meningkat daripada RM20 juta pada tahun 2007 kepada RM51 juta pada akhir tahun 2011. Seiring dengan itu juga, hasil daripada simpanan tetap juga telah meningkat daripada RM471,000.00 pada tahun 2007 kepada RM1.7 juta pada tahun 2011.

Ini adalah hasil daripada pendapatan sewaan bangunan yang juga jelas mengalami peningkatan daripada RM9.9 juta pada tahun 2007 kepada RM14.8 pada tahun 2011. Ini kerana pihak pengurusan YS telah mengkaji  dan menyelaraskan semula kadar sewaan yang terlalu rendah berbanding nilai pasaran semasa. Pendapatan JV terutama daripada tanah Pulau Carey juga meningkat daripada RM1 juta pada tahun 2007 kepada RM5 juta pada tahun 2011.

Dengan itu, YS telah berjaya meningkatkan pembiayaan pendidikan daripada RM11.9 juta pada tahun 2007 kepada RM15.3 juta pada tahun 2011. YS juga menambah sumbangan kepada NGO di Negeri Selangor yang menjalankan program pendidikan dan sekolah agama serta bantuan pelajar yatim-piatu daripada RM68,000.00 pada tahun 2007 kepada RM851,000.00 pada tahun 2011. Pembiayaan pinjaman pendidikan juga meningkat daripada RM2 juta (2007) kepada RM5 juta pada tahun 2011.

Dengan itu, YS mampu membiayai semua Asrama-asrama Pusat nya iaitu AYSSB, AYSK, AYSKL (ATDI & ATPN) selagi ada bulan dan matahari, Insya-Allah.

Tapak AYSKL (ATDI/ATPN) akan dimajukan kerana sebab-sebab berikut:

1.         Pelajar-pelajar di PJ menghabiskan banyak masa dalam perjalanan pergi/balik menaiki bas, pelajar keletihan dan tidak dapat memberikan tumpuan di sekolah mahupun semasa sesi ulangkaji di asrama.

2.         Pada kebanyakan masa, disebab kesesakan lalulintas di Kuala Lumpur, para pelajar hanya akan sampai semula ke asrama pada jam 8.30 malam dan terlepas solat maghrib.

3.         Bangunan keliling telah dan sedang diroboh dan akan dibangunkan sehingga menyebabkan keadaan persekitaran tidak lagi kondusif untuk di diami dan pembelajaran.

4.         Aset YS di Kg. Pandan akan dimajukan untuk menambah dana bagi membiaya lebih ramai pelajar yang layak dan memerlukan bantuan, selari dengan usaha YS membanyakkan Asrama Harian, Asrama Daerah dan mengecilkan Asrama Pusat.

5.         Kos bagi menampung seorang pelajar di Asrama Pusat boleh membiayai 10 orang di Asrama Harian/Daerah.

6.         Pelajar-pelajar yang berpindah adalah dengan persetujuan rasmi ibu bapa setelah dibuat penyelidikan yang teliti dan mengambilkira pandangan semua ibu bapa, di mana ibu bapa diberi pilihan sama ada hendak mengekalkan anak mereka di Asrama Yayasan Selangor Kuala Lumpur (AYSKL) atau berpindah ke Asrama Daerah atau berulang-alik dari rumah. Maklum-balas dan pandangan hasil soal-selidik tersebut dapat dirumuskan seperti berikut:

6.1     80 % bersetuju untuk sama ada berulang alik ke sekolah asal, bersekolah di    sekolah pilihan ataupun ditempatkan di sekolah/sekolah asrama harian/daerah terpilih.
 
6.2     20% bersetuju untuk kekal di Asrama Yayasan Selangor Kuala Lumpur.
 
Semua pelajar masih diberikan kemudahan yang sama dan termasuk dalam Rancangan Khas Pelajaran Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia-Yayasan Selangor yang dinikmati sebelum ini.

Kesemua pelajar Tingkatan 3 dan Tingkatan 5 yang akan menduduki peperiksaan PMR dan SPM 2012 tidak dipindahkan. Pelajar-pelajar Tingkatan 2 dan Tingkatan 4 boleh tinggal di AYSKL sehingga akhir tahun 2012. Seramai 170 orang pelajar ditempatkan di ATDI sahaja, di mana pelajar lelaki dan perempuan ditempatkan di blok yang berasingan.

YS akan terus mengembangkan konsep asrama daerah dengan penempatan pelajar di asrama harian sekolah. Hasil pengalaman YS mutakhir ini, konsep ini didapati amat berpotensi untuk memberikan kecemerlangan kepada pelajar berdasarkan rekod-rekod pencapaian pelajar dari tahun ke tahun. Contohnya, pada tahun 2011, keputusan PMR paling cemerlang dicatatkan oleh Asrama Daerah iaitu SMK Jalan Tiga Bangi, diikuti oleh SMK Kuala Kubu Bharu dan AYSSB. Tambahan pula konsep ini lebih menjimatkan kos, berbanding konsep asrama pusat seperti AYSKL.

Hasil penyusunan semula ini, YS kini mampu membiayai seramai 1,733 pelajar Tingkatan 1 hingga ke peringkat pra-universiti, 133 orang pelajar vokasional/kemahiran, 1,164 pelajar di peringkat diploma dan ijazah. Ini adalah merupakan satu rekod. Kita bertekad melipat-gandakan jumlah pembiayaan sehingga 5,000 orang pelajar, sejajar dengan pertambahan hasil pendapatan  daripada usaha memajukan tanah/aset miliknya yang sedang dan akan terus dijalankan. Insya-Allah.

Hasrat YS untuk menjana pendapatan sehingga RM300 juta dari pembangunan tanah Kg. Pandan seluas 7.5 ekar yang kini bernilai sekitar RM50 juta sama sekali tidak ada kena-mengena dengan masalah aliran tunai YS atau Kerajaan Negeri Selangor. 

Hasil daripada pendapatan RM300 juta itu akan digunakan sepenuhnya untuk merakyat pendidikan di Negeri Selangor supaya lebih ramai anak Selangor yang dapat menikmati kemudahan pembiayaan pendidikan.

Adalah dimaklumkan bahawa YS tidak menerima sebarang geran daripada Kerajaan Negeri Selangor, sebaliknya menjana pendapatan sendiri dengan membangunkan hartanah milik YS. Hasil daripada pendapatan tersebutlah disalurkan kepada pendidikan.

Sayugia diingatkan bahawa di bawah pemerintahan Barisan Nasional-UMNO dahulu 1990-an), tapak Balai Dato’ Harun di Kg. Baru, Kuala Lumpur seluas 13 ekar yang ketika itu bernilai RM50 juta telah dibangunkan menjadi Selborn City yang bernilai RM1.8 billion (Gross Development Value) hanya memberikan pulangan sebuah bangunan setinggi 18 tingkat yang cuma bernilai RM54 juta, sedangkan sepatutnya nilai pulangan kepada YS ialah 30% daripada nilai projek. YS telah kehilangan sebanyak RM300 juta kerana kebodohan dan ketamakan pihak yang berkepentingan!

Di bawah Barisan Nasional, YS telah memberikan "sewa pajak" tanah seluas 1.5 ekar tanah Kg Pandan kepada SHELL untuk operasi pam minyak iaitu status komersial pada tahun 2007. Jelas YS telah melanggar syarat gunapakai tanah institusi pendidikan sejak tahun 2007. Jika alumni boleh membantu, sila keluarkan mereka dari tapak sekarang untuk mengekalkan tapak Institusi dan bersedialah untuk membayar gantirugi kepada pihak SHELL.

Kenyataan akhbar alumni tentang asrama YS hanya merupakan retorik politik murahan yang jelas didalangi oleh parti pembangkang di Selangor, iaitu Barisan Nasional-UMNO yang sengaja menjadikan hal ini sebagai isu. Kehadiran beberapa orang pemimpin UMNO dan bekas Pengurus Besar YS di bawah kerajaan BN-UMNO dahulu adalah bukti nyata perkara ini sudah dipolitikkan dan diputar-belit untuk tujuan mengampu bos-bos mereka.

Adalah lebih bijak dan berfaedah jika pihak Alumni berganding bahu bersama Yayasan Selangor untuk memohon  dari Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan agar segera meluluskan permohonan membuka Asrama Harian di Petaling Jaya dan di SMK Victoria. Itu adalah  lebih baik dari menggigit tangan pihak yang pernah membantu anda dan membuat bising tanpa arah tujuan.

Seperti yang kita sedia maklum, pihak YS telah berulang-ulang kali memberikan penjelasan berkenaan perkara di atas kepada pelbagai pihak termasuk kepada Alumni dan ibu bapa, tetapi malangnya perkara ini umpama menjirus air ke daun keladi.

(Free Malaysia Today) - PKR has urged the government not to stick its fingers into the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to provide financing for those who do not qualify for housing loans.

Speaking at a press conference today, party vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said it was not proper for the government to spend money beloging to the workers for the project as it was risky.

“I agree that we need to help the needy but why not get banks to support it instead?” she asked.

Last month, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had announced the scheme, due on March 1, to help people own homes under the National Economic Action Council’s People Housing Programme as well as Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s public housing scheme.

Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin said funds worth RM1.5 billion would be used to help those who were unable to secure housing loans.

However, Fomca had advised the government against it saying such loans would not make money for EPF and there was a high risk of the debtors defaulting on payments.

“The funds must come directly from the government and those who qualify should pay rental for their units and subsequently have this converted to ownership,” Fomca had reportedly said.

It also said the government must consider EPF contributors’ interest and not abuse the fund as it served as a safety net for retirees.

Agreeing with Fomca’s sentiments, Nurul said if the plan went through and the buyers defaulted on their payments, the govermment might risk having a subprime mortgage crisis like the one in US.

She added that even now, many living in public housing schemes were dependent on welfare aid just to pay rent.

READ MORE HERE

Yeah, sure, they are victims, they are poor, they are ignorant, they have been used for political purposes, they have been tricked, yada, yada, yada….But what have you done for them other than rant, rave, scream, moan, and bitch, that the angpows should have been in red packets and not white packets when you yourself did not bother to give them even one red cent?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Back in the 1970s (I was only in my 20s then), I joined the Kuala Terengganu Rotary Club. A couple of years on I became the secretary. I was the secretary for more then seven years, basically because no one else wanted the job.

My ‘pet’ projects were to visit and aid the orphanages and the old folks’ home at Bukit Payung. I also ‘adopted’ the psychiatric ward in the Kuala Terengganu General Hospital.

There was not really much I could do for the inmates in the psychiatric ward other than buy them a sound system. When I went back to visit the ward later, the nurses told me that the inmates were much happier than before.

In the past, they just brooded out of boredom. Now they sing and dance to the music. They were even happier when I joined them in the merriment. I suppose that is why I have become what the Chinese would call taufung. Blame it on my work with the inmates in the psychiatric ward of the Kuala Terengganu General Hospital.

There were a number of orphanages all over the state. However, most of the orphanages I visited did not appear to require any financial assistance. When I offered to send them a few sacks of rice and other foodstuff the caretaker pleaded with me not to do so. He then showed me their food store. It was stacked with food. So the last thing they need is more food.

Invariably, all the boys and girls in the orphanage were Malays. There were no Chinese or Indian kids (which is quite understandable seeing that 97% of Terengganu’s population is Malay).  

Malays (meaning Muslims) believe that if you pat or stroke the head of an orphan you get to go to heaven. Feeding them is even better. So even poor Malays send food to the orphanage, even if they have very little to eat themselves -- but as long as your own family is not starving (then your family comes first).

Then an idea came into my head. If we can’t feed them, can we adopt them? I called for a neighbourhood meeting (in Kuala Ibai, Kuala Terennganu) and asked my neighbours who would like to participate in my adoption programme. Most agreed, some even offered to take two or three orphans.

Came Hari Raya Eve, we drove to the orphanage (after prior contacting them, of course) and brought home about 30 or so orphans to spend the week in our neighbourhood as our adopted children. They were delighted, especially since we lived in what could be considered an ‘upmarket’ housing area (for Terengganu standards, of course -- in Kuala Lumpur it would be considered a third-class neighbourhood like Kepong or Bandar Baru Sungai Buloh).

Thereafter, they came over during weekends and school holidays. Our neighbourhood became ‘adopted parents’ for these orphans and eventually they all became one of the family and could move in and out of any house at will (as if they were born in those houses).

Not all these orphans were yatim piatu (both father and mother died). Some were just anak yatim (one parent died) -- and most times it was the father who had died. And the unemployed mother was too poor to feed the child on her RM75 a month welfare handout so she had not choice but to dump her child or children in the orphanage. Even then you only got welfare if you are an Umno supporter because you need the signature of the local Umno chief to become eligible for welfare.

For the old folks’ home it was another story altogether. Almost all the inmates were Chinese (hardly any Malays and Indians save a few). And some of them were old folks of very successful or rich Chinese (as what the caretaker told me -- judging from the expensive limousines that their children drive when they visit their old folks once a year during Chinese New Year).

“Why once a year during Chinese New Year?” I asked the caretaker. Do they all live overseas or in Kuala Lumpur? Some do but not all. Some actually live in town, about 20 minutes away.

I found that very strange. Malays normally keep their old folks at home, even how senile they might have become. Why do the Chinese dump their parents in the old folks’ home? For the Malay and Indian inmates I can quite understand. They have no children. But the caretaker is telling me that not only do these Chinese inmates have children but some well off ones at that too.

But that was in the 1970s. I don’t know whether that is still so today. And I honestly don’t know whether that is also so for the old folks in that Ibrahim Ali-MCA white angpow fiasco.

I asked the Chinese members of the Rotary Club: why do these well off children dump their parents in the old folks’ home? And it is so pathetic to see them chained like animals to their beds (to prevent them from walking away and probably hurting themselves in the process since some of them are senile).

The Chinese members just shrugged their shoulders. “Maybe it is karma,” they told me. “Maybe they were cruel to their children in the past so their children have no love for them and do not want to be burdened with looking after their senile old folks.”

Now, before you fly off the handle and accuse me of Chinese-bashing, that is not at all my intention. It is just that the latest brouhaha brought back some memories of 35 years ago. And, as they say, when you start looking back to the old days that is a sign that age has caught up on you.

Maybe instead of getting hot and bothered about white angpows, you, the readers of Malaysia Today, should ask yourself what have you done for these old folks? Have you visited any old folks homes? Do you even know where they are? How much money in RED packets did you give these old folks during the recent Chinese New Year? And have you not even stopped to think about the fate of these old folks?

Yeah, sure, they are victims, they are poor, they are ignorant, they have been used for political purposes, they have been tricked, yada, yada, yada….But what have you done for them other than rant, rave, scream, moan, and bitch, that the angpows should have been in red packets and not white packets when you yourself did not bother to give them even one red cent?

In a scathing report headlined “Najib at bay” that was published today, the weekly newspaper pointed out that the Umno president was at odds with his own party where the concept of Malay privileges is entrenched at divisional level.

“The trouble is that though Mr Najib believes in change, much of his party clearly does not,” The Economist pointed out in its report on politics in Malaysia.

“Umno was founded specifically to protect Malay privileges and has ruled Malaysia without interruption since independence. Mr Najib came to power in 2009 not through an electoral mandate for change, but in an internal coup.

“As a consequence, he lacks the clout and possibly the will to impose his agenda on Umno. And the longer he postpones an election, the more his personal authority will ebb.”

Yesterday, the still powerful former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad urged Najib to postpone polls until he wins back support from the Chinese community.

Dr Mahathir also said he believed that Barisan Nasional (BN) would win a simple majority if elections were held today, but would not regain its two-thirds majority in Parliament nor win back states it lost to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in 2008.

But The Economist in its report today said Najib’s inability to convince the Umno party hardline would cost him.

The newspaper said that resistance to Najib’s changes has become something of a leitmotif, or theme, of his time in office.

It also pointed out that the decision of the Attorney-General to appeal Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy acquittal “hardly looks good” and has renewed suspicions that nothing much has changed in Umno.

READ MORE HERE

PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang is a much-changed man from the days when he used to deliver fiery speeches against his political foes. But his announcement not to contest the next general election has caught many by surprise.

“I was given leadership responsibilities at a very young age. I became vice-president (of PAS) in my 30s ... I have been around too long,” he was quoted by the Bahasa Malaysia tabloid as saying.

By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Star

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has dropped a bombshell – he does not wish to contest in the general election.

He has said that if the party insists, he would only contest in one of the two seats he is holding.

“I leave it to the party to decide,” he said in an exclusive interview on Saturday. Hadi, 65, is the Rhu Redang assemblyman and Marang MP.

The reason he gave for this sudden decision is that he has been a YB for 30 years and it was time to make way for younger blood in the party.

“I am from the era of Tun and the second generation after him, until now,” said the Al-Azhar university graduate, referring to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who retired in 2003 after 22 years as Prime Minister.

“I was given leadership responsibilities at a very young age. I became vice-president (of PAS) in my 30s ... I have been around too long,” he was quoted by the Bahasa Malaysia tabloid as saying.

The sentiments expressed by Hadi are commendable, compared to the party’s spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat who, at 84, still wants to contest and remain active in politics as Kelantan Mentri Besar.

The statement shocked Hadi’s supporters in the party who were unprepared for it.

They were unsure what to make of it as the revelation came in the form of a media interview.

“If the statement had come after a party CWC meeting and after all the party leaders had discussed and deliberated on it, then it would be understandable,” said a PAS CWC member who declined to be named.

“If the party had issued the statement then the members can accept it, but with some reservation,” he said, adding that the statement was “suspect” as it came from a newspaper interview with the party president.

“We have to wait until Feb 12 for a clearer picture,” he said, referring to the monthly working committee meeting scheduled that day to discuss the matter.

Hadi could be playing a political stunt in the face of massive gains the moderate elements in the party led by Nik Aziz and deputy president Mohamed Sabu have made since the 2008 general election.

He might be shaking the PAS tree ... rattling it, so to speak, in the hope that he gains an upper hand especially with PAS under attack from its former Selangor commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Ali and other ulama in the party.

Hadi has a history of radicalism behind him, as the man leading the ulama faction with his Amanat Hadi Awang that resulted in the kafir-mengkafir issue when he declared that Umno members were not true Muslims.

The issue roiled Malay society in the 80s and 90s before dying off in the late 1990s as PAS exploited the reformasi wave under president Fadzil Nor following the sacking of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as deputy prime minister in 1998.

Hadi took over as party president on Fadzil’s untimely death in 2002 and has been elected uncontested since.

PAS under Hadi played a double-faced strategy throughout the reformasi period, supporting it but at the same time defending its Islamic state policy, a key plank in Hadi’s political strategy.

Led by Hadi, PAS nearly faced demise in 2004 when voters bade farewell to Dr Mahathir and welcomed Tun Abdullah Badawi, rejecting not only Hadi but also his fiery brand of Islam that centred on the setting up an Islamic state.

Throughout the four years since 2004 under Hadi, PAS attacked Abdullah’s Islam Hadhari concept as not the true face of Islam. However, it was the release of Anwar and his ability to identify his grievances with that of the people’s grouses, that tilled the day for PAS.

In 2008, PAS captured Kedah and kept Kelantan and won state and parliamentary seats in other states across the nation, even providing the Mentri Besar (briefly) for Perak.

It emerged a victorious party with Hadi riding on Anwar’s coat-tails. Hadi’s fiery rhetoric receded and he gave way for the moderates to take control of PAS.

His role diminished and Nik Aziz, Mat Sabu, Salehuddin Ayub and Khalid Samad and other moderates rose to control the party.

The culmination of the moderate wave that swept PAS, for the conservatives and for Hadi himself, was the sacking of Dr Hasan, who is now on a roadshow around the country attacking PAS as unIslamic and taunting them to remove the word Islam from the party’s name.

Hadi could be standing on quick sand with the liberals and moderates taking over the party and deciding policy like the sacking of Dr Hasan, which he is forced to follow.

His statement to retire could be to force the issue and to fight his increasing isolation in the party. Hadi is one hardcore radical who has successfully transformed himself into a “moderate” in keeping with the times, especially with a non-Malay following that PAS has earned for itself in its march to rule the country someday.

Or it could be that after exactly 30 years as a YB, he is genuinely tired and wants a way out.

Dr Mahathir said yesterday that BN should delay calling elections to allow more time to win support from groups specifically the Chinese community.

“That is a perception. I always say that the Chinese are very strategic voters,” Dr Chua (picture) told reporters today when asked to comment on Dr Mahathir’s remarks.

“And in politics we don’t know when is the election and we don’t know when the Chinese will come back,” he added.

Dr Chua cited the 2008 general election as an example.

“Everyone said that everybody is with BN,” he said.

“Until the ballot boxes were open, we found out that not everybody is with BN.”

Yesterday, Dr Mahathir had said he was confident Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak would probably secure a simple majority in Parliament without winning back the two-thirds control lost in 2008 if elections were held today.

But, he said, BN would struggle to win back states held by Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

He said BN “can’t afford to lose support from any sector of the country. The current thinking is that the Chinese won’t vote for the government.”

The MCA has been struggling to win back Chinese votes lost to the opposition in 2008.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Najib had recently decided to delay polls despite plans to hold elections in the first quarter of the year.

He is understood to be keen to gauge support for BN only after a slew of direct aid packages for the public and economic stimulus projects kick in, because of concerns over a softening economy.

A bungle over a proposed new salary scheme for civil servants and the continuing controversy over the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) involving Cabinet member Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil’s family have also contributed to a rethink in BN strategy.

There had been speculation that Najib would call for a general election soon as his popularity remains high and there is a positive buzz from the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision to acquit Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on a sodomy charge, the second in 14 years.

(The Star) - The DAP has been misleading the Chinese into believing that a vote for the party would help realise their hopes of getting fair treatment and a top Chinese leader.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said many Chinese voters still did not understand that a vote for the DAP was actually a vote for the PKR and PAS, and not to realise their hope.

In fact, he said, a vote for the DAP would help PAS realise its objective of forming an Islamic state and implement its brand of hudud.

Citing Perak as an example, Dr Chua said that DAP won 18 state seats against the six won by PAS and seven by PKR, but the (then) Mentri Besar was Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin from PAS.

Apart from that, Dr Chua said DAP did not fulfil its promises to its Chinese supporters after the last elections.

For instance, he said, Pakatan-ruled states like Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Kelantan did not give any land for Chinese schools.

In Selangor, only two out of some 1,500 who were awarded scholarships by the state government were Chinese in 2010, he added.

Besides, many of the elected representatives from the Opposition were also missing in action after the elections, Dr Chua said, adding that MCA leaders ended up having to help the people.

“I have received many complaints from the people on such elected representatives,” Dr Chua said during a Chinese New Year dinner in Bercham here yesterday.

Meanwhile, when asked to comment on Perak DAP chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham's police report against him yesterday, saying he had accused the DAP of wanting to form a “Chinese state government in Perak”, Dr Chua said it was the DAP's right to lodge the report.

“In a democracy, the people have the right to bring matters up for discussion. It is up to the rakyat to discuss and decide,” he said.

Dr Chua cautioned the people of DAP's approach to fish for votes by using Penang where the chief minister is from DAP .

“This is perception by association,” he said, adding that the reality was that the DAP was helping to strengthen PAS, pointing out that Perak and Kedah were good examples after the last elections.

“The Chinese must be very clear that the DAP, PKR and PAS are partners but contest under their own party ticket during the general elections,” Dr Chua pointed out.

The Prime Minister said the election could be held anytime as long as it was before April 2013.

"They keep on guessing (the date). One day they will get it right," he told reporters after a meet-the-rakyat session in Rhu Rendang state constituency here Friday.

"Many factors need to be considered before timing for the election can be determined," he added.

Talk has been rife that Parliament would be dissolved after Thaipusam, which falls on Tuesday.

Najib was clearly amused when asked on this possibility.

"Earlier, people speculated that it (election) will be in November (last year) and they will continue to speculate.

"I'm not dismissing anything. Right now, I am concentrating on going to the ground and meeting the rakyat," he said.

He, however, declined to say who gave the order. Sources said the directive came from the PAS leadership.

“I was told not to say anything about UUCA. So, do not ask me about UUCA or Kolej Universiti Insaniah (Kuin),” he said here.

The gag order was issued after Azizan blasted his critics who questioned him for supporting the suspension of five students of Kuin for breaching college regulations in May last year.

It was reported that many Pakatan Rakyat leaders were unhappy with Azizan's comments that touched on the UUCA and also Pakatan Rakyat's Buku Jingga or Common Policy Framework.

PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu had asked Azizan to give an explanation to the party central committee on his stand on the UUCA and the suspension of the students.

However, Azizan sent his political secretary Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to brief the committee on Wednesday.

Azizan was reported as saying that he had called up party president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang to explain the matter and the party president had accepted his explanation.

It was reported that the students were suspended for organising protests against Kuin.

The students were hauled up before a disciplinary committee on May 25, last year for breaching the UUCA by participating in a demonstration, making speeches with loudspeakers and holding a press conference to protest the use of a religious teaching block to house a smart school.

Azizan had said the decision to suspend them was made by Kuin and the state government did not interfere with the decision.

Leaders, claiming to represent five states where Kita is active, said Zaid should bow out if he felt he had failed to achieve his goals instead of dragging the party's name through the mud.

Kedah chief Zamil Ibrahim went so far as to say it had been a gross mistake to elect Zaid as party chief.

(The Star) - The MCA will not stop its members from attending future Perkasa events, says party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

He said there were some Opposition leaders who wanted to link the MCA with the Malay rights group but the party will not issue any order prohibiting its members from going for Perkasa's events.

"We won't do such a thing, unlike some parties who claim to be democratic but prevent certain media from covering their activities," he told a press conference after a cheque presentation ceremony to the Malaysian Youth Volunteers (MyCorps) here Friday.

Dr Chua said this following a Chinese New Year open house organised by Perkasa last Sunday, when its president Datuk Ibrahim Ali distributed white angpows to those present - a move reserved for funerals in the Chinese culture.

MCA Sri Desa branch chairman Collin Tiew, who translated Ibrahim's speech at the event, resigned from all his posts in the party following the incident.

"I thank him (Tiew) for that because he acted responsibly. At no time was he representing MCA when he attended the event," Dr Chua said.

The white ang pow fiasco is likely to haunt MCA right through the next election.

How could an organisation claiming the support of thousands and patronised by no less than a former prime minister plead ignorance about the culture of a community that makes up a major portion of the Malaysian population? And how could a political party claiming to represent that very community allow itself to be caught with its pants down?

Stanley Koh, Free Malaysia Today

Perkasa’s insulting gesture at the expense of the Chinese community last Sunday provoked spontaneous public outrage that was directed at both the Malay rights group and MCA.

The anger – which was expressed mostly online – as well as the factual details of the incident at Perkasa’s Chinese New Year open house, were largely ignored by the mainstream media, including of course the Star, which is MCA’s mouthpiece.

Netizens have dragged out both Perkasa and MCA and condemned and dusted them down in thousands of comments all over the Internet.

How could an organisation claiming the support of thousands and patronised by no less than a former prime minister plead ignorance about the culture of a community that makes up a major portion of the Malaysian population? And how could a political party claiming to represent that very community allow itself to be caught with its pants down?

Ignorance was only one in a range of excuses offered by Perkasa. It has also said it had to use white envelopes because it ran out of red ones for the ang pows it distributed at the function.

It has also tried to redeem itself by saying that the taboo of using white envelopes – which the Chinese associate with funerals – could not be so great since the guests accepted them. Most critics accept none of these explanations. And who can blame them, given the racist posture that Perkasa has adopted since its inauguration?

Referring to the plea of ignorance, one critic said the Perkasa boss once worked in a Chinese conglomerate, implying that the excuse was either a lie or a display of stupidity. “Moreover, he is a Member of Parliament with Chinese voters in his constituency.”

It was equally shocking to the Malaysian public that a MCA divisional leader who supported the controversial event had the temerity to claim innocence and ignorance of his party’s stand against the extremist group.

The Tiew factor

Dr Colin Tiew, who serves on the MCA Seputih liaison committee, headed a delegation of 50 people to the open house in Kampung Baru and delivered a speech. Netizens quickly identified him and exposed him by circulating his photograph at lightning speed across cyberspace.

Tiew has since claimed that he was a “victim” and said he was willing to apologise “if” Perkasa had hidden political motives in organising the event. He also denied making remarks in support of Perkasa when he took the stage, saying he was merely translating Ibrahim Ali’s speech.

To make matters worse, MCA’s Seputih division is helmed by Chai Kim Sen, who serves MCA Youth as its secretary-general, while Tiew is also chairman of MCA’s Seri Desa branch.

Chai issued a press release that condemned Perkasa but ignored the Tiew factor.

The incident was in fact a bad omen for Chai, who is tipped to be a candidate in the coming general election.

But controversy is nothing new to MCA Seputih. During the campaign for the 1999 general election, MCA candidate Dr Sua Chong Keh earned his place in the hall of infamy for a crude and sexist remark he made against DAP’s Teresa Kok.

He said: “I am a man; so I stand. She is a woman; so she squats.” Voters told him what they thought about the remark by electing Kok with a 5,200-vote majority.

The recent episode has caused yet another wound that voters are unlikely to forget.

Tiew has claimed ignorance of a lot of things. Is he also unaware that Perkasa has, more than once, crossed swords with MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek? It was only recently that Perkasa’s Syed Hassan Ali publicly humiliated Chua by asking him to watch his mouth when speaking about Islamic beliefs.

READ MORE HERE

The BN poster boy wants to bring out the good side of the ruling coalition.

From the need for public declaration of assets to the involvement of students in politics, the Oxford graduate was said to have shocked students who were mostly anticipating right-wing arguments from someone who was known for his hawkish tendencies in the past.

Syed Jaymal Zahiid, Free Malaysia Today

Barisan Nasional and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin is on a quest in the United Kingdom.

As the ruling coalition is anxiously preparing for a key general election, the BN poster boy is on a tough mission to pull his party, now perceived to be far right, to the centre.

The busy programmes arranged for him in London is testament to his new-found direction.

Speaking to Malaysian students there, Khairy took on opposition figures in a bid to portray himself as a progressive and his aides claimed the youth are finding his ideas increasingly appealing – a positive sign that the stigma attached to BN is slowly wearing off.

From the need for public declaration of assets to the involvement of students in politics, the Oxford graduate was said to have shocked students who were mostly anticipating right-wing arguments from someone who was known for his hawkish tendencies in the past.

“At many junctures he criticised the government and unlike in the past, he didn’t try to defend every single government policy or action.

“This new KJ (Khairy Jamaluddin) is beginning to emerge – someone comfortable in his own skin and able to argue his corner primarily from a policy standpoint, and not from a partisan position,” said one of his political aides.

Whether Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak knows it or not, he needs leaders like Khairy. In the face of stiff internal opposition to his bold political and economic reforms, a forward-thinking figure like Khairy is an asset.

New kingmakers

And he is proving to be a valuable asset to young voters who are the new kingmakers. And Malaysia’s young now, tech-savvy and well-informed, are no easy lot to impress.

This new generation of voters are highly critical and are hungry for something fresh, which explains why a majority of them are leaning towards Pakatan Rakyat and its “new politics” – a dangerous trend that could lead to the ousting of the ruling coalition.

However, BN can consider itself fortunate that it remains a difficult task to convince this new generation to register to vote. A recent study done by the Election Commission showed a huge chunk of Malaysia’s youth remained unregistered.

READ MORE HERE

Raja Petra Kamarudin says voters are now faced with an unappealing choice – a candidate from a party that is despised or a despicable candidate from a party that they like.

(Free Malaysia Today) - Faced with a Catch-22 predicament, blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin said voters might choose to abstain from casting their ballots in the next general election.

In an interview with FMT, he critcised Pakatan Rakyat for offering third-rate candidates and shutting the door on quality candidates brought forth by the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM), which he founded.

“We (the voters) have to choose between a candidate from a party that we don’t like and a very poor quality candidate from a party that we like. So what do we do now?” he asked.

He also pointed out that not all in Barisan Nasional were “useless” and warned the opposition bloc that if it forced the people to choose between candidates in terms of quality, the votes might go in favour of the ruling coalition.

‘These are wakil rakyat, not wakil parti’

Raja Petra, who is currently living in London, also dismissed Pakatan’s argument that outsiders should not meddle into party affairs with regard to candidates.

He said that if it was a party election, then the argument would hold sway but this was a general election.

“We are choosing a ‘wakil rakyat’. What does a ‘wakil rakyat’ mean, it is a representative of the people and the people, is me. I’m the people. I’m the one who is going to choose… don’t we the people have a right in voicing out, to express our opinions about the quality of candidates?

“You’re asking us to vote for these candidates to represent us. These are not ‘wakil parti’…,” he added.

As for MCLM, Raja Petra said it swung into action after Pakatan supremo Anwar Ibrahim claimed that the opposition could not convince professionals and civil society figures to step into the political arena.

“So we told Anwar, let us try… let us approach the same people who you approached… let us try to convince them… of course (they’ll stand) on your party ticket, whether PAS, PKR or DAP,” he said.

Raja Petra said MCLM explained to these candidates that they did not need to join any of the opposition parties but could contest under their banners.

Initially, he recalled, those approached had refused but “we told them: ‘look, do this as a national duty, we know it’s going to be troublesome, we know there’s going to be a lot of aggravation and you have to sacrifice a lot, you’re so busy, you’ve got a successful business and stuff like that… but look, forget about your personal losses, personal suffering and personal inconveniences, think of the nation. Do this as a national service. Do it for the rakyat. Just one term, that’s all we ask, just to help get quality candidates for Pakatan’.”

READ MORE HERE

There were no insults or personal attacks, just facts and light-hearted banter, and it's incredulous that older politicians are averse to such healthy exchanges on Malaysian soil.

The two contenders presented their arguments at the first event of 2012 organised by the United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC). Their topic was “Public Policy: Vision 2020: Is Malaysia Moving Towards the Right Direction?”

Mariam Mokhtar, Free Malaysia Today

The most enduring words uttered by Rafizi Rahim, the Pakatan strategic director in his debate with Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar in London last Sunday, were his closing remarks to the assembled students.

“All of you, when you go back to Malaysia, it does not really matter which side you take. Whether BN, or Pakatan. Please participate…

“The worse tragedy is having so many bright people, learning from the best of the best universities, only to go back and withdraw into your own little world, not really knowing what happens outside.

“Go back and make a difference, no matter what you choose to do. Make sure you make a difference to society.”

His words were echoed by the equally magnanimous Khairy, who told the students to make informed decisions making use of all sources of media, both alternative and mainstream.

Khairy informed the audience that “Malaysia had moved on” and that open debates should be the future of the nation.

The two contenders presented their arguments at the first event of 2012 organised by the United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC). Their topic was “Public Policy: Vision 2020: Is Malaysia Moving Towards the Right Direction?”

In this lighthearted, medium-paced banter between the two young leaders, both of whom studied at British universities, there was wit and humour, plus application of facts tempered with personal experience.

‘Poke-eye’ clothes

There were agreements and disagreements on issues, which ranged from the economy, the taxation system, subsidies, free media access to the racial perspective, the teaching fraternity, Sabah and Sarawak, the Public Assembly Bill (PAB), and racial unity.

The enthusiasm showed by about 350 Malaysian students from all over the UK and the Irish Republic was no less pleasing to watch.

The more conservative of them, judging by their mode of dress, mingled freely with the long-legged girls in high heels, hot pants and ultra mini-skirts. To quote the Ministry of Defence’s English website which has since been removed, there were quite a few Malay girls even wearing “poke-eye” clothes.

One wonders what would have happened if this event had been in Malaysia, where women in short-sleeved blouses have been refused entry to government departments. Nevertheless, it was healthy to note our youth fully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and choice.

Elsewhere in the conference hall, the old freely chatted with the young, and the straight had no qualms about exchanging notes with those who were undoubtedly from the LGBT crowd.

The two stars of the day, Khairy and Rafizi, looked as though they enjoyed themselves debating with one another.

With the interest generated and the civility showed, it is incredulous that our older politicians are averse to similar useful exchanges on Malaysian soil. As the Sunday event showed, there was no trading of insults and no personal attacks. Just facts, figures and the occasional playful tease.

This exchange was in stark contrast to the July 2008 debate between Anwar Ibrahim, when he was the special adviser to PKR and Ahmad Shabery Cheek, the former BN Information Minister, which was broadcast on TV3 and ASTRO.

READ MORE HERE

By Ahmad Tajuddin

Kenyataan ini seolah-olah saya mahu menyertai politik selepas tamat pengajian. Tidak, bukan itu maksud saya. Tetapi sedikit komentar dari saya setelah memerhatikan beberapa siri kejadian yang tidak disangka-sangka oleh ramai rakyat Malaysia yang aktif memerhatikan gelombang politik tanah air muttakhir ini.

By Sarawak Report

Industry insiders have revealed that the main suppliers of timber to the cheating Asia Plywood Company, are the well-known Sarawak tycoons, the Miri-based Hii family.

Asia Plywood, which rents the major saw mill ‘Tegas Kesuma’, based in Tanjung Manis, is Malaysia’s largest plywood company.

Earlier this week it was caught out deceiving regulators and customers in the UK and elsewhere by pretending that hardwood chopped out of Sarawak’s dwindling forests was sustainable pinewood. [see our investigation]

Tegas Kesuma - saw mill chewing up Sarawak's precious Meranti to make plywood.

We can now disclose that a major provider to Tegas Kesuma is the company Fonsen Timber Sdn Bhd, owned by the Hii family concern Fonsen Holdings.

The Hiis have been granted licences by their close associate, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, to strip the remaining forests from areas around Bintulu, earmarked for further oil palm plantations.

Another major supplier to the mill was the now dissolved Excellent Future, which was registered at the same address in Jalan Masjid in Miri as Fonsen Holdings and likewise controlled by the Hiis.

Hii King Chiong, key crony and Taib funder

Insiders have confirmed that the main director of the companies is Hii King Chiong, who is the son of Hii Yii Peng, the tycoon who is best known as the owner of Kingwood Hotel group.

Top Taib cronies

Taib, who issues all concessions in the state, is personally responsible for the relentless and unrestrained plunder of timber over the past 30 years.  Before him it was his uncle, whom at the time Taib saw fit to criticise for his greedy destruction of Sarawak’s irreplaceable jungle!

It is worth pointing out that no wood from Sarawak has ever achieved certification from the internationally recognised Forest Stewardship Council, simply because Taib’s logging has been so unsustainable.

Mr Charitable Gesture - Hii is back by Taib's side

So, it is particularly revealing to investigate the business interests that link the Hiis, who are such key beneficiaries of timber and plantation concessions, with the Chief Minister himself and his family.

Take, for example, one of the largest plantation enterprises in Sarawak, Delta Padi, which is currently blessed with concessions handed out at rock bottom rates by the Chief Minister.  Delta Padi has lucratively logged thousands of hectares of wild forest in Pulau Bruit and in other areas around Mukah, before setting about planting oil palm.  Local people were offered nothing for the destruction of their livelihoods.

Again, charitably at the CM's side..... Mr Hii supports Mukah Chinese Benevolent Board Building

So, who owns Delta Padi?  It turns out to be a joint venture between the Hii family and a company Mesti Bersatu.

We have mentioned Mesti Bersatu before.  It turns out to be owned by Abdul Taib Mahmud himself and members of his own family!

As numerous insiders have testified, the corrupt system favoured by the Chief Minister is for the money for such joint ventures to by put up by favoured tycoons.  His own contribution to the venture is his willingness to abuse his position of political power.

Read more at: www.sarawakreport.org/2012/02/hii-family-connection-to-asia-plywood-and-taib-family/

By Vivek

As the clock struck 12 on the stroke of midnight, fireworks erupted across Malaysia as her beloved children ushered in another year full of promise and hope. We were united in our gale and celebrated with much gusto for there was much to look forward to in 2012 and
Malaysia stood strong, ready once more to face the challenges strewn in its path.

However, 1 month into the New Year and the celebrations have somewhat been deflated and we have been forcibly splashed with the cold waters of reality. Beneath Malaysia’s beauty and dexterity, the country is fighting against a disease that has for so long ailed her.

The problems remained, if not grew in the last month and it didn’t take long for us to return to the norm of political bickering, economic scandals and negative publicity on the international stage as we began preparations for the 13th General Elections.

For all the efforts of the Najib Razak administration to sugar-coat our dire plight, there are simply too many holes to be plugged. The political landscape was altered slightly with Anwar Ibrahim’s acquittal of his sodomy charge and soon after, both the Government and Opposition began preparations for the upcoming elections by firing shots at each other.

Note that the bullets astray hit not either party and their members but we the Rakyat who once again find ourselves in the middle of a power struggle which continuously weighs down on our nation writhing to move forward. One might argue that the upcoming elections will be the most pivotal elections this country has faced since gaining independence from the British.

I concur for while there are many sub-plots and underlying issues that come with this election, the fate of Malaysia and the fate of the future generation is what is being played for.


Economy

In 1993, the World Bank produced a 400 page report on the Asian Economics and Malaysia was dubbed the Tiger of Asia with an annual growth of 9% in comparison with South Korea’s 6% and Singapore’s 7%. Our GDP per capita stood at US$350 in contrast to South Korea’s US$130. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was also at its highest of US$7.3 Billion whereas our market capitalisation was ranked 1st in Asia at 14.6% (excluding Japan).

Fast forward to the present, Malaysia has never recovered from the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and since then we have fallen behind Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong and now sit at par with Indonesia and Philippines.

While both Singapore and Hong Kong built up their portfolios by providing lucrative incentives and a favourable environment for investors to do business, Malaysia’s stock exchange (BURSA Malaysia) recorded a drop in listings from 1025 companies to 976 in 2009.

The final blow came from the World Investment Report (WID) 2010 whereby stating that Malaysia suffered a staggering 81.1% drop in FDI compared to Thailand’s 30.4% and Indonesia’s 44.7%. This shocking indictment of the current economic state of our country should come as no surprise for it was revealed that as of 30 June 2011, the country’s debt stands at 53% wherein if it touches 55%, the Constitution will have to be altered to increase borrowings and we may face the similar disposition of Greece and opt for a bailout.

While Malaysia continues to be ploughed under debts, the Government continues to spend lavishly ignoring the economic climate to ensure that the ruling power remains in their hands. Most notably, petrol and sugar prices both respectively being subsidised have been kept in check although being distorted by market value.

The question that begs to be answered is why as petroleum producers, we currently face this deplorable position? The New Economic Model (NEM) proposed by the Prime Minister in the first year of his regime failed to curb our decline as he released Part 1 which effectively was rendered useless as we continued the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) which advocates racial-policies instead of merit based policies albeit using the backdoor. The 30% quota for tenders and projects reserved exclusively for Bumiputeras continued and this further added to wounds of the economy.

One would only have to look at the states run by the Opposition to note that both the Malays and Non-Malays have benefited from open tenders based on merit as Penang and Selangor posted the highest number of investment and profits respectively. The poverty level of both these states also reduced.

Tun Dr Ismail in his memorable speech once stated that the special rights accorded to the Malays were a handicap and that as Malays moved up the economic ladder; they too will denounce the need for these rights.

What can be seen today is the middle class and poorer Malays continue to struggle within the NEP framework as only the cronies and politically connected benefit. Bumiputera trust funds have declined in the past 20 years while individual riches continue to soar and this further illustrates the divide and preferred allocation of the failing NEP policy.


Education

The teaching of Mathematics and Science in English was the result of a policy by the Education Ministry of 2003 under the guidance of former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammad with the rationale made based on the government’s concern on the nation’s human capital development towards achieving the standard of a developed country, as well as an early preparation to compete globally on a standardized platform. However, this policy was reverted by current Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Datuk Seri Muhyiddin Yasin in the middle of 2011 in which he introduced the ‘Memartabatkan Bahasa Melayu, Memperkukuh Bahasa Inggeris' (MBMBI) with the intention of protecting the sovereignty of the national language while improving the teaching of the English language.

In the modern era of globalisation, countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong have even accepted the importance of a single unitary language in which business transactions can be carried out. Despite this, Malaysia under the BN government continues to baffle as we take a huge step backwards in achieving Vision 2020.

The number one complaint dished out by potential employers when asked about problems faced by our undergraduates intending to enter the work force is down to a poor command of the English language. It is to be noted that no Malaysian Public University made the QS University Top 100 rank while our neighbour Singapore (National University of Singapore #28) and South Korea (POSTECH #98) both made the listing.

Devoid of lucid reasoning, the Government’s insistence on reverting back their PPSMI policy can be derived from pressure from extremist right-wing groups within UMNO to ensure Malay votes and money received from tenders given to re-print the textbooks. The Education Ministry’s statement that our education system is parallel to that of world standards is almost laughable and more so doleful when most notable politicians send their children to private schools and foreign education institutes to pursue their tertiary education.


Politics

Even if the economy is allowed freedom to grow without hindrance and our education system matched to that of Singapore and China, Malaysia is still subjugated under the clutches of corruption being ranked at #60 in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2011 below African countries such as Namibia, Kuwait and Rwanda with Singapore being ranked at number #5.

To put in a nutshell, how do you expect the country to prosper under a corrupt free regime when even those put in place to prevent the problem commits the crime. The credibility of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is tangible with the case of Teoh Beng Hock and 3 of their own officers arrested for stealing hanging over their heads. Besides that, the recently exposed NFC scandal is another indication of how corruption has infiltrated and is now controlling Government transactions. The humour in this is that the individuals being exposed are merely the small fishes in the grand scheme of things.

After 5 decades of single party ruling, democracy has suffered severely under the hands of the Government with the independence of the judiciary almost non-existent. The tabled Peaceful Assembly Act 2011 has been a farce constricting basic human rights accorded to us in the Federal Constitution. Even the press and media are not to be spared as they are forcibly held under threat of licensing by Barisan Nasional culminating with Reporters Without Borders ranking Malaysia #124 in their annual Press Freedom Index (PFI) 2011, 3 spots below Zimbabwe.

As a resultant juxtaposition, the people are sowed with seeds of doubts while the Government continues to play the race card using the media as their tool. We are also no longer held credible by potential investors and stand to lose out in billions of dollars further constricting our economy.

The points illustrated above are merely the outward context of our ominous quandary and there are still many issues yet to be resolved. If this proves any inclination that the time has come for positive change, then we cannot afford to placate and console our fears or delegate the onus for action to someone else. Malaysia needs her children more than ever to stand up and be counted, to rid her of this malady and to restore her to her former glory. The path towards reformation will be long and arduous, revamping policies will take courage and commitment but if there was a time for it, this General Election could be a make or break situation for our country.

I refuse to be drawn into the Barisan Nasional versus Pakatan Rakyat debate for the game of politics can have several winners but the only consistent losers will be the public. Be it the Government or Opposition, our duty as citizens of Malaysia is to ensure that the incumbent regime and future leaders of this country remember who they serve.

A proper system of check and balance must be put in place to ensure that it is irrelevant as to who is in power, but that they are denied a two-third majority enabling them to run this country as Kings. In the words of Noam Chomsky, “to some degree, it matters who is in office but it matters more how much pressure they are under from the public”.

We cannot ill afford to let this General Elections go to waste less we forever remain in this abysmal position and continue on a spiral decline erasing all the hard work, sweat and blood of our forefathers. The 13th General Elections will not be about the colossal battle between Najib Razak and Anwar Ibrahim neither is it about which coalition conquers Putrajaya. The 13th General Election will be the fight to save Malaysia.

The writer is currently pursuing his LLB(Hons), passionate about all things Malaysian and passes his time interpreting the subtle nuances of the nation’s many voices while sipping his daily dose of teh tarik.

After Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan outrightly rejected the Buku Jingga using the excuse the Kolej Universiti Insaniah (KUIN) does not come under the purview of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA), Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim defended him with claims that "Azizan as chairman of KUIN is compelled to accept regulations under the UUCA, in order to be granted a licence to operate the state-owned university" (The Sun, 2 Feb ’12).

Contradictions emerge as on one hand, Azizan asserts that KUIN does not fall under UUCA as it is a private university although his initial response to criticisms against the usage of UUCA was to write off the Buku Jingga. But in defending the suspension of the five KUIN students, Anwar exhorts AUKU. So which is which? Which clause is now being used? The fact remains – the students’ suspension holds and Anwar defends Azizan and KUIN quoting UUCA, in direct contrast against the Buku Jingga empty promise to abolish UUCA.

PAS President Hadi Awang also accepts Azizan’s explanation. Given Kedah Menteri Azizan’s unequivocal rejection of the Buku Jingga, his further reasoning that "it could only be implemented if Pakatan took over the Federal Government and that not all its contents could be put into place" (The Sun, 2 Feb ’12) not only offers an excuse to uphold the suspension of the five KUIN students, it also enables PAS a loophole to use and dispose clauses in the Buku Jingga whenever or wherever the situation fits them.

With the perception given of abolishing UUCA, what is important is to keep to the spirit and to start practising that perception now. If Pakatan rakyat held any integrity, they would retain a consistent stand over UUCA, instead of resorting to convenient loopholes when a situation goes awry.

Voters have been misled by the Buku Jingga as Pakatan Rakyat gave the impression that the Opposition would abolish UUCA, although that is clearly not in their cards.

To avoid using and disposing clauses in the Buku Jingga as and when they please, Pakatan Rakyat should list out which clauses in the Buku Jingga are applicable and which clauses will be disposed off, so that voters will know exactly what the Opposition stands for, what to expect and will not be disappointed when their hopes come crashing down over promises made and broken.

Dr Mahathir said he was confident Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak would probably secure a simple majority in Parliament without winning back the two-thirds control lost in 2008 if elections were held today.

But he said BN would struggle to win back states held by Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

“If you have the time, use the time to build up support,” Dr Mahathir told the international news agency.

He said BN “can’t afford to lose support from any sector of the country. The current thinking is that the Chinese won’t vote for the government.”

The Malaysian Insider understands that Najib had recently decided to delay polls despite plans to hold elections in the first quarter of the year.

He is understood to be keen to gauge support for BN only after a slew of direct aid packages for the public and economic stimulus projects kick in, because of concerns over a softening economy.

A bungle over a proposed new salary scheme for civil servants and the continuing controversy over the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) involving Cabinet member Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil’s family has also contributed to a rethink in BN strategy.

There had been speculation that Najib would call for a general election soon as his popularity remains high and there is a positive buzz from the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision to acquit Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of a sodomy charge, the second in 14 years.

Analysts have said that the prime minister should call for a snap poll so as to take advantage of the feel-good factor of the verdict and people’s happiness in receiving a RM500 direct cash aid while opposition leaders are confident Najib will delay the election in order to build up support.

Dr Mahathir appeared to agree with the arguments from opposition leaders about why polls should be delayed.

READ MORE HERE

Loyarburok

An Indian Malaysian, Zaina Abdin @ Balachandran, who says he has spent the whole of his life – more than 60 years now – as a Hindu, is being unconstitutionally treated as a “Muslim” by the authorities.

Bala’s father, also of Indian ethnicity, went through a formal conversion process in order to marry his Indian Muslim mother in the 1950s. But Bala’s father and mother lived as Hindus and continued to profess and practice Hinduism as their religion.

In the early 1970s, Bala officially changed his name by a Deed Poll published in the Government Gazette. He went through a marriage registered under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 to his Hindu wife, and was blessed with 3 children.

But Bala and his three children are all all still being treated as Muslim even though all profess and practice Hinduism.

Profess

The Constitution never uses the word “Muslim”. It uses the phrase “person professing the religion of Islam” whenever it refers to the people we call “Muslims”.

Bala professes Hinduism – he has never in his life professed Islam as his religion.

The problem is because in 1989, they changed the law to include a definition of a “Muslim” in the Selangor Administration of Islamic Law enactment which had additional definitions other than “person professing the religion of Islam”. Similar definitions founds its way into the State Islamic Law of all States.

The current 2003 legislation in Selangor includes as a definition of “Muslim” a person who is born to a Muslim parent and a person who by general reputation is considered a Muslim.

It is because of this that Bala and his three children are now caught in this crisis of identity.

Syariah Court and Islamic law

The Government of Malaysia, and the Government of Selangor, both say that Bala must go to the Syariah court first to get permission to “leave” Islam. They say the other definitions of “profess” are all mere extensions and elaborations of the phrase “person professing the religion of Islam”.

But Bala says that he is a Hindu. He does not want Islamic theological law applied on him when he is a Hindu. He says it does not matter to him that Islamic law classifies him as a Muslim – what is important to him is that the Constitution does not allow Islamic law to be applied if a person does not “profess” Islam, and the Constitution says he can profess and practice his religion in peace and harmony.

Read more at: www.loyarburok.com/2012/02/02/definition-muslim-unconstitutional/

Wonder why the attempt to implement a knowledge economy via the Cyberjaya initiative fizzles out barely half a decade when the multi-billion test bed was launched? Wonder where Malaysia ended up with all the Look East or Look Everywhere policies? We ended up not looking very far ahead.

The government has continue to act myopic when comes to actual and real economic reform. It should start by answering what are the key elements/ingredients to institute real economic reforms.

Malaysia must look into its education system if it wants to catch up with the leaders of the pack e.g. South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Economic transformation in Malaysia has been hampered by an education system unable to train and produce skilled workers required by the industry. Today's speed of innovation has left behind the production capability of our tertiary education.

Policy makers have to answer to the people why these institutions are producing graduates who are unemployable and have to be immediately send for another round of retraining?

The foundation of a good education should start early. However, constant unprofessional and knee-jerk changes made to the teaching policy at primary and secondary levels have stalled progress, used up scarce resources and time which can be channeled meaningfully to improve and enhance the curriculum and caused much anxiety to parents.

Our education system has created a new social divide. The rich or higher middle class have opted to send their children to private schools and colleges. But the poor and lower income groups have to depend on a mediocre and highly politicized public education. A decade ago, when I was a head of a policy think tank, we had joked that education policy in Malaysia was all about language or medium of instruction. This is going to remain true for decades from now if some bright minds in the ruling regime do not intervene.

Skills development has been identified by up-and-coming economies such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar as the most important cornerstone of their economic success. Alas, we do not feel the same in Malaysia. How many parents can really afford the expensive and often overly commercialized private education?

Unsurprisingly, Myanmar has signed a technical collaboration agreement with Singapore to assist the country's economic reforms and development.

The next most important issue is our labour policy. Malaysia does not have a policy which supports and encourages local knowledge workers to remain in the local economy. Entry pay level for undergraduates has remained stagnant over the last 15 years. Graduates with a degree or a diploma will immediate join a growing segment of urban poor after stepping into the working world. How many people can survive in Klang Valley barely earning RM2k a month? Many of our graduates also have to pay up their PTPTN loan upon graduation.

Escalating cost of living through higher service cost (telco & internet), poor transport system, food cost and accommodation cost are chipping off the real disposable income of our skilled workers. Hence, do not be surprised if more than 60 percent of our skilled workers are working abroad.

Read more at: http://khookaypeng.blogspot.com/2012/02/malaysian-economy-real-fix.html

Wow! Wah!! Alamak!!! Stop the presses, hold the front page, and stagger back in astonishment at the scoop of the century: Malaysia’s National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is thinking about getting its members to go straight.

Or so we’re apparently expected to believe, with NUJ general secretary V Anbalagan recently telling Malaysiakini that NUJ members may be asked to sign a “fair reporting pledge” to ensure balanced coverage of the forthcoming general election.

“Yes,” Anbalagan breathlessly announced, “the executive council has unanimously agreed on the matter as it is one of NUJ’s objectives – to practise ethical journalism.”

Amazing news, huh? Too amazing for words, as far as I’m concerned. Call me cynical if you will, but the moment anybody mentions the word “ethical” in connection with Malaysian mainstream journalism, I get extremely suspicious.

And not without good reason. Here, to jog both your memory and mine, is the Code of Ethics that the vast majority of Malaysian mainstream journalists, NUJ members or not, have routinely failed to practise:

     National Union of Journalists Malaysia

Code of Ethics

1. Respect for truth and for the right of the public to truth is the first duty of the journalist.

2. In pursuance of this duty he will defend the twin principles: freedom in the honest collection and publication of news; and the right of fair comment and criticism.

3. The journalist reports only in accordance with the facts of which he knows the origin. He will not suppress essential information or falsify documents.

4. He will use only fair methods to obtain news, photographs and documents.

5. Any published information which is found to be harmfully inaccurate he will do his utmost to rectify.

6. He will observe professional secret (sic) regarding the source of information obtained in confidence.

7. He will regard as grave professional offences the following:

• Plagiarism
• Calumny, slander, libel and unfounded accusations
• The acceptance of a bribe in any form in consideration of either publication or suppression.

8. He recognises in professional matters, the jurisdiction of his colleagues only; he excludes every kind of interference by governments or others.

Of course most of Malaysia’s offenders against the principles and ethics of journalism try and justify themselves by blaming the Umno/BN regime’s pernicious Printing, Presses and Publications Act.

And indeed they have a powerful point. The PPPA is the fundamental reason why Malaysia’s lamentable placing on the Press Freedom index so starkly gives the lie to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s assertion at the 2010 Press Club-Naza Awards that “I, for one, believe that the Malaysian media is something that we can all be proud of.”

But there are job opportunities for journalists outside the mainstream media, and indeed outside Malaysia. And to judge by the standard of work I’ve seen in some cases, many mainstream so-called ‘journalists’ would be far better employed in some other field altogether.

As would a great many mainstream ‘editors’ who, in flagrant contravention of the fundamental principle of the press, the public’s right to know, are nothing but pimps paid to prostitute journalism for the political and criminal purposes of the ruling regime.

Read more at: http://deanjohns.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/pledge-for-press-pariahs/

I felt sorry for William Bourdon who was deported in July 2011 but not all Frenchmen who's violated the Immigration laws in Malaysia is deported by Immigration Malaysia. Double standards and discrimination against foreigners by Immigration Malaysia is nothing new - and it depends on whom do you know in  Malaysia.

If the foreigner is working for a ruling government's mammoth projects, he or she is exempted from actions of the laws and even high-ranking government officials (with Tan Sris and Datuks) will co-operate to cover up for the foreigner, despite numerous public conmplaints to the Immigration, the Public Complaint Bureau of the Prime Minister's Department and the Chief Secretary to the Government.

The Frenchman who allegedly rubbed shoulders with high-ranking Malaysian officials and is still working in Malaysia on an Employment Pass (even though he had deliberately abused his social visit pass and professional pass to work as General Manager since 16/3/2009 ) is Laurent Francois Savornin.

To all foreigners who are about to face deportations in the future, please feel free to ask the Immigration
officers on duty as to why you are discriminated against by Immigration Malaysia and why Laurent Francois Savornin was given the special treatment for the same kind of immigration offences.

Read more at: http://yanmunteng.blogspot.com/2011/12/frenchman-whos-above-malaysias.html