Archive for December 4th, 2007

How many mission schools in the country have the cross removed from school emblem?

Although the Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar said in Parliament yesterday that the Ministry will not remove the cross and Christian statues from mission schools, I have received complaints on my blog of mission schools where the cross had been replaced in the school emblems, such as:

  • St. David High School, Bukit Baru, Melaka, the cross had been replaced by a crown.
  • Convent Girls School in Muar, Cross was replaced with a cresent moon on badge.
  • Methodist Boys Secondary School, Kuala Lumpur

I call on the Education Minister, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein to explain whether it is true that the cross in the school emblems in these schools have been removed and replaced.

In this connection, I call on Hishammuddin to give a statement to explain how many missions schools in the country have the cross in the school emblem replaced, together with a full list of the schools concerned and the relevant particulars on year of removal and why. Read the rest of this entry »

93 Comments

PM should head Cabinet Task Force to end marginalisation of Indians and all marginalised groups

The MIC Cameron Highlands Member of Parliament S. K. Devamany had let down the 30,000 Indians at the Hindraf demonstration on Nov. 25 with his regret and apology when it is the Barisan Nasional leadership which should express regret and apologise for its denial syndrome in refusing to acknowledge the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysian Indians into a new underclass.

These are the newspaper headlines today on Devamany’s meeting with the Barisan Nasional Whip Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament yesterday over his remark during parliamentary question time the previous Monday that the fact that 50,000 people showed up at the Hindraf demonstration showed the Government’s failure in distributing wealth equally:

Read the rest of this entry »

44 Comments

3 critical issues which Cabinet cannot continue to procrastinate tomorrow

There are three critical issues which the Cabinet cannot delay and procrastinate tomorrow, viz:

  • A New Deal to end the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysian Indians and all marginalized groups;
  • Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape scandal and restore the national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and competence of the judiciary; and
  • Make public the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill.

If there is no immediate announcement of the establishment of the Royal Commission of Inquiry after the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, on its composition and terms of reference, the Malaysian public and international community cannot be blamed for coming to adverse inferences about the bona fides and political will of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to come to grips with the nettlesome problem of the 19-year degradation of the system of justice.

Malaysians had been expecting announcements from the Prime Minister about the Royal Commission of Inquiry since last Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting but the past week had passed with the daily disappointment of no news on the matter.

Although the past week had been overshadowed by the after-effects and shocks of the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration on November 25, with almost daily condemnation by the Prime Minister of the Hindraf allegation of “ethnic cleansing” of Indians in Malaysia, it is a grave misjudgment for anyone to think that the issue of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape and to restore the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary could be sidestepped and even swept under carpet as a result of the Hindraf furore.

Let me remind Abdullah that Malaysians expect positive and concrete announcements about the establishment of the Royal Commission of Inquiry after the Cabinet meeting tomorrow or it will be another blackmark on his administration. Read the rest of this entry »

19 Comments

A Plea for our Malaysian Indians

by Azly Rahman

The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor–not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules.

—– Albert Einstein. in “Why Socialism?” (1949)

What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.

—— Mohandas K. Gandhi

Will Queen Elizabeth II of England pay for the 150-year suffering of the Malaysian Indians? How would reparations be addressed, in an age wherein we are still mystified by newer forms of colonialism — The English Premier League, Malaysian Eton-clones, Oxbridge education, and British rock musicians such as the guitarist-astrophysicist Dr. Brian May of the better-than-the-Beatles rock group Queen (recently appointed chancellor of a Liverpool university)?

Who in British Malaya collaborated with the British East India company in facilitating the globalized system of indentured slavery?

Will the present government now pay attention to the 50-year problem of the Malaysian Indians? Read the rest of this entry »

26 Comments