Archive for December, 2007
World’s tallest Mazu statue in Kudat – call for RCI on misgovernance by all 3 tiers of government
Posted by Kit in Religion, nation building on Monday, 31 December 2007
I welcome the statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday expressing the government’s hope that former Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat will settle the Mazu status issue amicably without going to court.
He said the government is hoping to bring the Mazu statue issue back to the negotiation table instead of going through the court.
I support Najib’s proposal for an amicable settlement of the proposal to build the world’s tallest Mazu statue in Kudat.
It is important however for Najib to understand that the principles and issues involved in the Mazu statue controversy do not just concern Chong as one person, but have become a major public issue of national and even international importance involving not just three million Sabahans but also 26 million Malaysians
I am glad that immediately after my visit to Kudat to visit the site of the Mazu statue, there is now the possibility of a new development.
The Mazu statue controversy should not only be resolved at the negotiation table, I will go even one step further and call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the mishandling and lack of good governance in all three tiers of local, state and federal government resulting in the Kudat Mazu statue controversy undermining nation-building and inter-religiousl understanding as well as turning Malaysia into an international laughing-stock.
I have just returned from a three-day visit to Kota Kinabalu, Kudat and Sandakan including a 500-km land journey from Kota Kinabalu through Kota Belud to Kudat and onwards to Sandakan through Marudu, with the Kudat-Sandakan journey taking eight hours through some very treacherous stretches (with 25 km of unsealed portion of the Paitan highway after the Nango junction). Read the rest of this entry »
Ring out 2007 “annus horribilis” and bring in 2008 with hope and change, starting with forthcoming general election
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, nation building on Monday, 31 December 2007
2008 New Year Message
Malaysians heave a sigh of relief at the end of 2007, a year which had opened with such great promise as it is to celebrate the 50th Merdeka anniversary of the nation.
I cannot think of a better term to describe 2007 than to borrow from Queen Elizabeth II in one of her most unforgettable annual messages when she said that the year that had just ended was an “annus horribilis”.
For Malaysians, 2007 had been an “annus horribilis” (a horrible year), a year which Malaysians would not look back with undulited pleasure and pride – but with great foreboding!
This is because 2007, the 50th Merdeka anniversary costing over RM100 million of taxpayers’ money in public celebrations, should be the year where Malaysians can look with pride and confidence into the next 50 years, founded on the fulfillment of the many great pledges which Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had made on becoming Prime Minister and for which he was given the unprecedented electoral mandate of over 91 per cent of parliamentary seats in the 2004 general election.
But 2007 has proved to be one of the most divisive and troubled year in the half-a-century of Malaysia’s nationhood – with religious polarization assuming its most serious dimension in dividing Malaysians, compounding an already difficult problem of racial polarization in the nation-building process. Read the rest of this entry »
Landmark achievement of Tawau “Don Quixote” case in defence of open spaces
Posted by Kit in Local Goverment, Sabah, Social on Saturday, 29 December 2007
I commend the Tawau Municipal Council (TMC) for admitting that the Sabindo development and encroachment of Tawau open spaces is illegal and invalid and I call on Sabindo developers, Jeramas Sdn Bhd and Aggasf Construction Sdn. Bhd to emulate the example of TMC to reach an amicable “win-win” settlement for the interests of the people of Tawau.
DAP leaders and I had attended several public meetings in Tawau over the scandal of the encroachment and deprivation of the open spaces in Tawau, subordinating the public interests of the people of Tawau to private profit-making in disregard of the law and public policy.
DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok and I had also raised in Parliament the issue of the lack of municipal good governance as illustrated by the Sabindo open space scandal, with the Tawau municipality teeming with “Little Napoleons” defying the Prime Minister and the Sabah State Cabinet in depriving the fundamental right of the people of Tawau to open spaces and recreational grounds.
I was very uplifted when I was informed last night by Jimmy Wong (alias Tiger Wong of Tawau) – who together with nine other public-spirited Tawau ratepayers had taken the TMC to court on the unlawful Sabindo development project and the encroachment of the Tawau open spaces and recreational grounds – that the Tawau people had achieved a classic and landmark breakthrough in their long, arduous and uphill battle to protect the “open spaces” in Tawau not only for the people of Tawau but also for the people Sabah and Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
Pak Lah’s host of great breaches of great promises
Posted by Kit in Judiciary, Parliament, Police on Friday, 28 December 2007
This Parliamentary Roundtable on the Special Complaints Commission (SCC) Bill is special for more reasons than one.
Firstly, there should be no need for this Parliamentary Roundtable as there should have been a Parliamentary Select Committee on the SCC Bill – what I had described as the fake Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill – to collect public testimony and undertake public consultation on an important piece of proposed legislation with far-reaching consequences on the quality of life and governance in the country.
Secondly, this may be the last Parliamentary Roundtable for the current Parliament if it is dissolved without reconvening again, paving the way for the next general election.
The IPCMC was one of the great promises of the Abdullah premiership and the SCC Bill one of the great breaches by Abdullah of his pledges to the people and country.
It was almost exactly four years ago, 29th December 2003, that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the formation of a Royal Commission into the Police. Read the rest of this entry »
Do Malaysian Muslims understand what ‘Allah’ means?
Posted by Kit in Farish Noor, Religion on Friday, 28 December 2007
The Other Malaysia
by Farish A. Noor
25 December 2007
At the time of writing this, I am in Cairo in the company of my Egyptian friends who are Muslims, Catholics and Copts. Eid has passed and I attended several dinners and celebrations where Muslims and Copts celebrated together, visiting each others’ homes and ate til we could not eat any further. What is worse, Christmas is upon us and so once again Muslims, Catholics and Copts will be heading for the communal table for the communal feast and there will be much licking of chops, munching of bread, gobbling of sweet deserts and drinking for everyone. It is all simply too pleasant to belive, yet it is real and this is what life is like for many in Cairo, the ‘Mother of civilisation’ and home to more than twenty million Egyptians from all walks of life.
What is most striking to the outside observer like me – though rather banal for the Egyptians themselves – is the fact that in all these celebrations ranging from Eid for the Muslims to Christmas for the Catholics and Copts the word ‘Allah’ is used to denote that supreme and singular divinity, God. Catholics and Copts alike exclaim ‘Masha-allah’, ‘Wallahi’, ‘ya-Rabbi’, ‘Wallah-u allam’, and of course ‘Allahuakbar’ day in, day out, everywhere they go. The coptic taxi driver blares out ‘By Allah, cant you see where you are parking??” as he dodges the obstable ahead. The Catholic shopkeeper bemoans “Ya Allah, ya Allah! You can only offer me two pounds for the scarf? Wallahi, my mother would die if she heard that! Ya-Rabbi, ya-Rabbi!”
Yet in Malaysia at the moment yet another non-issue has been brewed to a scandal for no reason: The Malaysian Catholic Herald, a publication by and for Catholics in the country, has been told that it can no longer publish its Malaysian language edition if it continues to use the word “Allah” to mean God. Worse still, the country’s Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum recently stated that “Only Muslims can use the word Allah” ostensibly on the grounds that “Allah” is a Muslim word. The mind boggles at the confounding logic of such a non-argument, which speaks volumes about the individual’s own ignorance of Muslim culture, history and the fundamental tenets of Islam itself. Read the rest of this entry »
Next general election in next 80 days or it will be mid-year or third quarter
MIC Deputy President Datuk G. Palanivel is confident that the Indians will continue to vote for Barisan Nasional because of the hard work put in by the MIC.
“The Indians are loyal to Barisan. They know we have served our constituencies and cultivated the relationship with the people.”
Palanivel was clearly “whistling in the dark” (i.e. keeping the courage up) when the MIC leaders are facing the greatest crisis of confidence and credibility in its party history.
In the past 50 years, the Indian voters were taken for granted by the Barisan Nasional as the unquestioned vote-bank, but there is now a sea-change in the political attitudes of the Malaysian Indians as a result of their political awakening caused by the high-handed and arbitrary disregard of their basic feelings and fundamental rights in their cry of desperation for government attention and action to end their long-standing marginalization as the new underclass in Malaysia.
Nanyang Siang Pau reported that the next general election will be held in the next 100 days. I believe that the polls will be held in the next 80 days or it will be held much later.
A date which had been bruited as given by the Prime Minister’s Feng Shui maestro is March 15, 2008.
I believe if the polling date is not held by the middle of March, we are looking earliest at mid-year or after.
This is because the next Parliamentary meeting is scheduled to begin on March 17, which will be officially opened by the Yang di Pertuan Agong for a 23-day meeting for the Dewan Rakyat till April 23, 2008 to be followed by the Senate meeting.
It would be ridiculous and highly contemptuous of Parliament and the Yang di Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament when it has just been officially opened as there would be no national emergency, like a loss of confidence by the government-of-the-day, to justify such an action. Read the rest of this entry »
Samy “flunked” test 40 months ago – now “rat running across the street”
Posted by Kit in Indians, Parliament, Politics on Thursday, 27 December 2007
MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister for more than 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu announced that the Prime Minister has asked him to monitor all Hindu temples and submit a report on their status periodically.
He said the Prime Minister also wanted the MIC to forward to him and the Cabinet a list of temples that might have to be demolished for various reasons.
In declaring that the MIC “will completely take over” the sensitive issue of Hindu temples, several observations and questions are in order.
Firstly, is this an election gimmick until the next general election expected in March is over – when the various State Governments will again assert their untrammeled power and authority like the arbitrary, high-handed and insensitive demolition of the of the Sri Mariamman Temple at Padang Jawa in Shah Alam a few days before Deepavali?
Secondly, is there a total moratorium and halt on the demolition of Hindu temples, and if so, for what period – is it only until the next general election?
Thirdly, if Samy Vellu is now given additional responsibilities and powers by the Prime Minister on the question of Hindu temples in the country, he must thank Hindraf and he should ask the Prime Minister to release all the five Hindraf leaders under the Internal Security Act immediately and unconditionally – and they should be charged in court and be given their fundamental right of an open trial to defend themselves to any charges that the Attorney-General wants to prefer against them.
It is moot however that this latest announcement is going to reverse Samy Vellu’s political fortunes, who is akin to the Chinese saying of a “a rat running across the street with everybody shouting ‘smack it’”. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m on facebook.
Posted by Kit in Announcement on Thursday, 27 December 2007
All the buzz around facebook, thought should check it out for myself. Feel free to add me as your friend.
Hishammuddin threat – Tsu Koon should requisition BN Supreme Council meeting to stop bullying/intimidation
Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has denied that his statement on what Gerakan Youth deputy chief S. Paranjothy said was a threat.
Hishammudin said he was not threatening anyone nor being emotional when he said that Umno Youth and Barisan Nasional would sever relationship with Gerakan if the Gerakan Acting President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon could not give a satisfactory explanation and response on Paranjothy’s statement for saying two things:
• that the 30,000 Indians who took part in the Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on November 25 did so to express their frustration and anger because the community had been “marginalized, oppressed and ignored”.
• Blaming Umno leaders, particularly the Umno Youth Leader Hishammuddin and Deputy Umno Youth Leader Khairy Jamaluddin for racial posturing and inciting racial sentiments among Malays to gain political mileage – citing as examples the keris-wielding episodes against the former and the public castigation of the Indian news vendors by the latter when the Umno presidential address of Prime Minister and Umno President, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was not carried in the press the next day as the Umno general assembly fell on Deepavali, with the next day an annual press holiday.
Hishamuddin’s denial that his statement on Paranjothy was a threat raises the question what would be Tsu Koon’s reaction if the Umno Youth had issued his “threat”.
Hishammuddin was however denying the undeniable as everyone, except him, would have recognized that he had issued an ultimatum and a threat.
Tsu Koon had issued a plaintive complaint that Hishammuddin should not make statements ”that can mar relationship between component parties within Barisan” when he should have berated Hishammuddin for his arrogance and presumption in threatening that the Barisan Nasional would sever relationship with Gerakan as if all the 14 Barisan Nasional component parties and their leaders, including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, have no minds of their own and were all at the Umno Youth leader’s beck and call! Read the rest of this entry »
Herald controversy – Is Abdullah leader of Malaysian moderates protecting middle ground against extremists?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Religion, nation building on Wednesday, 26 December 2007
It is a great Christmas letdown and disappointment that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not assure Malaysians that he will not allow the middle ground to be intruded and encroached by extremists in Umno or the civil service by striking down unreasonable, arbitrary and unconstitutional restrictions on Herald, the Catholic weekly.
I was expecting Abdullah to put to rest the controversy over the use of ‘Allah’ by Herald in its Bahasa Malaysia section when he attended the Christmas High Tea Reception hosted by the Christian Federation of Malaysia at Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur yesterday, and I dare say that my sense of disappointment was not mine alone but of the entire audience with representatives from diverse religions in the country – Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikkhism and Taoism.
In his speech, Abdullah reminded Malaysians not to allow extremist tendencies to take root and undermine interracial harmony in the country.
He said the moderates should play a role in ensuring that members of the public were not swayed by extremist propaganda which played on people’s emotions by raising sensitive religious and racial issues.
“I’m really concerned when issues involving religion are brought up from time to time and the attendant problems that all of us would need to address.
“If moderates don’t take centre stage, surely extremist elements will occupy it, making us fall for their extremist approach being touted as a religious or national approach.”
Abdullah cannot be more right that the greatest threat to inter-racial and inter-religious understanding, goodwill and harmony stem from religious extremists hiding in religious groups, political parties and the civil service who have been intruding and encroaching into the middle ground, edging out the moderates from the centre stage.
This is the main reason why religious polarization has surfaced in its most serious and dangerous form in the past four years in the 50-year history of the nation, gravely undermining national unity and the nation-building process. Read the rest of this entry »
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