Archive for category Martin Jalleh

Bolehland’s Bunch of No-Nos

By Martin Jalleh
31 Oct. 2011

Najib has no balls
Muhyiddin has no brains
Hishammuddin has no integrity.

Rais Yatim has no sense
Zahid has no defence
Nazri has no consistency. Read the rest of this entry »

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Politics is not dirty, Umno is!

By Martin Jalleh | 19 Oct. 2011

Darkness descends on Bolehland. Politicians in Umno stoop low, so very low, by resorting to gutter politics of the most disgusting kind never seen before.

The Umnoputras are desperate. They are very disturbed. Dr M has warned them that “…if the general election is held now, Umno may lose big…” mainly due to their own political dystrophy.

Their ground support is slowly disappearing. They may be dumped in the coming General Election and driven out of Putrajaya. They abandon all sense of human decency to remain entrenched.

They are led by a equally desperate president who had proudly declared In the UMNO Assembly last year that there will be “crushed bodies, lost lives and ethnic cleansing” if the status quo was not kept.
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Copycat judge in a copyright case!

By Martin Jalleh
14 Oct 2011

When the respected retired judge N H Chan called certain judges in the appellate courts “imposters”, “intellectual and legal frauds”, “incompetent”, “inane”, “ignoramuses”, “inconsistent” and even an “idiotic” bunch, little did he realise that he was being very mild.

Now it has come to the public’s notice that crouching amongst the growing company of judicial clowns and court jesters in the Palace of Justice is a copycat judge who allegedly plagiarised chunks of a judgment of another judge – in a copyright infringement case!

Former Law Minister Rais Yatim has confirmed that the government had known about the plagiarising judge, but Rais tries to take the rakyat for a ride by blaming it all on the then Chief Justice (CJ), and that it was left to the latter to investigate and to take appropriate action. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chief Jester’s Circus and Charade Comes to a Close (Part 2)

by Martin Jalleh
14 Sept 2011

Zaki Azmi, the “Judiciary’s Renaissance man” has left behind a legacy of a judiciary scandalously compromised, shamelessly cowed and a slew of shocking contradictory and convoluted judgments. Below are some examples.

“Creatures of the Government”

In Dec. 2009, Abdul Aziz Bari, a constitutional law expert, declared that the judiciary has been reduced to one that “takes its cue from the government”.) But it has been the then CJ’s belief that since the 1988 judicial crisis “the confidence in the judiciary has improved a great deal” (The Nut Graph, 26.03.10)!

Zaki called those who criticized the judiciary for its lack of independence “a small group of vociferous people out there, who go onto the internet and blogs and Facebook and all that and make comments without knowing the proper background. Many are not even lawyers.”

A few months later lawyer Edmund Bon, who was then the chairman of the constitutional law committee of the Bar Council revealed that “the perception that the judiciary is executive-compliant still remains till today” (Free Malaysia Today, 17.08.10)!

According to former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram: “… the judiciary has become so ‘executive-minded’ and that “the judges have become creatures of the government” (Malaysiakini, 16.09.10).

The NST quoted Zaki on 12 May this year that feedback from lawyers showed that they were happy with the integrity of the judiciary and had not heard anything negative since 2008. He added: “I am sure many, if not all, agree that the Malaysian judiciary is now free from any criticism or accusation of bias or partiality.”

Very apparently he had not listened to N H Chan who had often pointed out that the “Perak crisis has brought out a host of cases that showed that the judges gave the impression that they were one-sided. The perception of the people is that they sided with the BN government.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Chief Jester’s Circus and Charade Comes to a Close (Part 1)

By Martin Jalleh
14 Sept. 2011

Zaki Azmi has retired as the Chief Justice (CJ) of Bolehland. Weeks before the final curtain, he held himself in high regard in press interviews by giving rave reviews of his own tenure. He felt “very satisfied with the judiciary’s achievements in less than three years” (Bernama).

For a long time the mainstream press had portrayed Zaki as a “reluctant” CJ. But as his retirement date drew nearer, the Malay Mail (MM) revved up the farewell accolades by revering him as the “Judiciary’s Renaissance man” (25.08.11).

According to MM’s executive editor Terence Fernandez the feedback he received from Zaki’s contemporaries in the Federal Court including Arifin Zakaria, Raus Sharif, James Foong, Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Abdull Hamid Embong was that Zaki “has revolutionised the judiciary”.

Praise for Zaki’s tenure also came from the Bar Council. Its chairperson Lim Chee Wee lauded him as one who has “surpassed the Bar’s expectations as he has implemented many positive changes”. Lim listed 11 of the changes (Malaysiakini, 06.09.11).

Zaki’s changes may have been impressive but the reputation of the judiciary was sullied irreparably during his term of office. In the eyes of the public the judiciary sunk so low as to allow itself to be intimidated, its independence and impartiality interfered with, and its integrity reduced to ignominy. Read the rest of this entry »

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Najib suffers from a “mild stroke” in UK

He calls police action “quite mild”
By Martin Jalleh

It appears that the Prime Minister has suffered a mild “brain attack” whilst on an official visit to UK.

He experienced sudden trouble speaking or understanding speech, dizziness, lightheadedness loss of “balance or coordination”, “spinning” sensations, and “brain seizures”.

It happened when Najib was telling CNN in an interview conducted in London that police action on those who took part in the Bersih 2.0 march on July 9, was “quite mild”.

There was no “undue use of force”. It was of course not as mild as his initial response when he even initially claimed there was “no physical contact between police and protesters”!
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Justice for Jeyakumar!

By Martin Jalleh
13.7.11

Bersih 2.0 laid bare the fact that Umno is politically bankrupt. It brought out the same old bag of tricks, treats and threats. It looked like a party in a sordid state of denial and beyond redemption.

Alas, the BN went berserk over Bersih! The coalition continues to be the bane of democracy in Bolehland as it resorts to political moves most base in stifling and stopping Bersih!

The Prime Minister now tries desperately hard to redeem his battered image – which he has largely brought upon himself! Time and again he blundered – and very badly too. Read the rest of this entry »

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Bouquets for Bersih

by Martin Jalleh

Brilliant quotes related to the biggest and boldest march in Bolehland:

* “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin, one of Founding Fathers of the USA.(To those who are afraid, we understand, but please give a thought to the wisdom above!)

* “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” –Will Rogers, an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer and actor and one of the best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s.(The above comment is specially dedicated to the One Malaysia Government that has become One Big Joke.) Read the rest of this entry »

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PM’s Sandiwara in Sarawak!

By Martin Jalleh

The PM has excused himself from his duties in Putrajaya (at the taxpayer’s expense of course) and planted himself in Sarawak for six days till polling day to give the BN campaign a much-needed push.

He seems to be panicking for he has asked the whole Cabinet to park themselves in the Land of the Hornbill and endlessly praise the component BN parties there, whilst pouring scorn on the Opposition.

It appears that Taib Mahmud’s campaign has been quite pathetic. After 30 years as CM there is little proof that the people have progressed! But, he now promises he will turn Sarawak into the richest state after the elections!

Najib believes that as PM his personality, popularity, position and plenty of “I-help-you-you-help-me” pledges, will lessen public preoccupation with Taib and successfully persuade the masses to vote for BN.
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Malays are still ruled by colonialists called “Umno”

By Martin Jalleh

Perkasa, described by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang as an outsource of Umno’s extremist demands, recently declared that for the Malays it would be “Better ruled than walked over” (The Malaysian Insider).

Its president Ibrahim Ali said that the “Malays would be better off living under colonial rule if Article 153 of the Federal Constitution which safeguards the special position of Bumiputeras is brushed aside.

Firing a warning shot across the Najib administration’s bow on the night the PM unveiled the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) annual report, Ibrahim stressed that the national agenda must be driven by Article 153, rather than incorporate the clause in piecemeal fashion.
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Part IV: Crime – Raw stats or real story?

Celebrating Police Day! (4)
By Martin Jalleh

The rakyat was told that the government’s battle against crime showed good results in 2010. Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein announced in May 2010 that his Ministry’s success in reducing the crime rate index for the first four months of the year had surpassed the initial target.

Minister in the PM’s Department Senator Idris Jala revealed the results of the National Key Results Area (NKRA) for crime were outstanding for the first quarter and what the police and the ministry had done in that period was totally beyond expectation.

In Oct. 2010 a very elated IGP Ismail Omar proudly declared that police statistics indicated a significant drop in street crime by 38% and in the overall crime index by 16% between January and September.

But strangely, and as was so aptly put by Lim Kit Siang in October, “…up and down the country, ordinary Malaysians do not feel this dividend of fall of crime index in their daily lives as they do not feel comparatively safer in the streets, public places or privacy of their homes…”

In fact Kit Siang’s sentiments were so eloquently echoed by former Deputy Bank Governor Tan Sri Dr. Lin See Yin, in his article “The mystique of national transformation” which appeared online before the year ended:
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Part III: Firestorm over fatal police shootings

Celebrating Police Day! (3)
By Martin Jalleh

There was deep concern and consternation throughout 2010 over what the public viewed as the growing “shoot-to-kill” culture by the police force or what R. Sivarasa, the MP for Subang, called “a culture of impunity”.

“It means that they feel that they can do as they wish and they won’t be held accountable… they can shoot, kill, and there won’t be any questions asked (or)… any investigations and that they can continue doing so,” he said.

The nationwide concern over the trigger-happy cops of PDRM culminated into public outraged in April with the police “killing” of 14-year old Form III student Aminulrasyid Hamzah about 100 metres from his Shah Alam house.

The callous responses and cavalier attitude of the IGP, Home Minister and the police as they tried to contain the public firestorm caused the public to lose confidence in them and repeatedly call for the IGP to resign.

Respected lawyer Art Harun captured the sentiments of the people so clearly: “Right-minded people of Malaysia regard the killing of Aminulrasyid as symptomatic of lawless totalitarianism.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Part II: Burgeoning Brutality by the Men in Blue

CELEBRATING “POLICE DAY” (2)
by Martin Jalleh

2010 was yet another year when the police were allowed to continue to operate in an environment of impunity when it came to their excessive methods in relation to arrest, detention and treatment of persons in custody.

Two tragic episodes in the year made the culture of police brutality increasingly obvious and gave further credence to the accusation that Bolehland has become a Police State.

The first was an “open verdict” delivered by a coroner’s court on 25 Oct. 2010 in an inquest to determine the cause of R Gunasegaran’s death in the Sentul police station on 16 July, 2009, a few hours after Teoh Beng Hock’s body was discovered.

In a press statement entitled: “End Police Brutality now” a “deeply concerned” Malaysian Bar commented on the “inability of the coroner to make a definitive finding in this case” in spite of “the strength of the evidence pointing to the culpability of the police”.

The second was the shocking story of K Selvach Santhiran, a key witness who implicated the police in the abovementioned inquest. His lawyer, N Surendran would describe his client’s nightmare as “the continuing descent of the police force into lawlessness”. Read the rest of this entry »

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Public confidence in Police Plummeted in 2010

CELEBRATING “POLICE DAY” (1)

by Martin Jalleh
25th March 2011

Bolehland celebrates the 204th Police Day today. We thank God for each member of the PDRM for risking and putting their lives on the line every day for us and the countless unseen and untold sacrifices they have made.
We would like to believe that the country is at peace because of the police.
Sadly though a review of the performance of the police force last year (2010) indicates the failure of the government’s professed intention of improving the level of public confidence in the country’s police force.
In a four-part series. the reader will be able to see how in 2010, the police
a) aggressively and indiscriminately denied certain citizens the constitutional right to the freedom of speech and assembly b) abused and used arbitrarily the wide powers of arrest and detention
c) acted with impunity and complete disregard for constitutional and judicial safeguards.
d) arrogantly showed their contempt for the rights of the people that resulted in gross abuse of police powers leading to brutality, torture, prolonged detention, shooting, custodial violence and death.

Part I: Police Preferred to Play Politics

In March 2010, then then IGP Musa Hassan’s insisted that “the police did not take into account the political leanings of anyone, including politicians, when conducting their investigation…”

Musa was only fooling himself. There were ample examples in 2010 of the police being blatantly and brazenly biased towards the powers that be. This can be especially seen in the double standards it displayed. Read the rest of this entry »

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Of political desperados, dingoes and demons

By Martin Jalleh

The PM and Umno are desperate, very desperate indeed. It has dawned very hard on them that they could soon be driven out of Putrajaya and into political oblivion.

Anwar Ibrahim, the man who has been the drawing and driving force behind the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (PR), must be destroyed at all cost. Never before has anyone posed such a danger to Umno.

They had tried very hard to do his political career in with a sham sodomy trial but he bounced back even more determined, and with his coalition, dealt them a severe blow in the last general elections.
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Damning Diaspora Data

By Martin Jalleh

On 4 Oct. last year, PM Najib Razak expressed his concern that the exodus of local talent to developed countries has threatened his vision of transforming Malaysia into a high-income nation by 2020.
Below are some statistics gathered from various sources and highlighted in 2010 to show how serious the brain drain is and the fact that more and more Malaysians are leaving since Najib took over:

  • 785,000 Malaysians are working overseas. Unofficially, the figure is well over 1 million (or even 1.5 million) (Malaysian Employers Federation executive director, Shamsuddin Bardan).

  • Of those who have left, nearly 40% of them have settled in Singapore; 30% in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries such as Australia, USA, UK, Canada and New Zealand; 20% in other Asean countries and 10% in the rest of the world.

  • An Australian immigration agency in Perth with offices in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor has reportedly said that the number of Malaysians enquiring about moving to Australia rose by 80% since 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

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Najib takes country on a “quantum leap” into greater losses

By Martin Jalleh

When delivering the 2011 Budget speech in Parliament on 15 Oct. 2010, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Razak said that he will lead the country to make a ‘quantum leap’ to become a develop and high-income nation by 2020.

Such a promise became a mere joke when one looks at the leakages, laggard government ministries and agencies, scandalous losses by GLCs, the economy which drifted listlessly and “looting” by the political elite – all of which marked Najib’s second year as PM (in 2010). Below are some examples:

Blocks L and M in South China Sea: In May 2010, Pas proposed to file a suit against the Federal Government for ceding away the oil and gas-rich offshore Blocks L and M in South China Sea to Brunei to protect the rights of future generations of Sarawakians, Sabahans and Malaysians. Mahathir had estimated that the worth of oil and gas rights for both blocks are in the region of US$100 billion (RM320 billion).
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It’s a sham! It’s a show! It’s a Shame – it’s our Sick Economy!

By Martin Jalleh

· “The present PM has made some helpful gestures towards liberalising the economy…These initiatives, however, must do more than skim the surface of what must be done. (7 January 2010)
· “Malaysia is a sham democracy, one which existed only in name but grievously compromised in substance, reality and fact… Reforms could not be expected from the incumbents in power.” (8 February 2010)
· “Our economy has stagnated. Productivity remains low. We now lag our regional competitors in the quality of our people, when we were once leaders in the developing world.” (23 March 2010)
~ Tengku Razaleigh, former Finance Minister and veteran leader of Umno

Below is a glance at the sad and scandalous scenario of how the country’s once strong economy has fallen sick with the government putting up a big show (performance now!) of economic reforms in 2010 – full of sound and fury signifying nothing.

1. Flight in capital
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Long Live LKS!

By Martin Jalleh

You have dared to continue to differ in spite of your double ISA detentions and the “dangers” that come with voicing and doing what is right and just.

You have made a difference whilst others dance to the tune of the status quo and become self-serving servile lap dogs to the dominant powers that be.

You were discouraged, down but not out when the DAP faced a near-death in its dismal 1995 general election performance. You bounced back defying all political odds.

You were determined to soldier on in spite of a debilitating spate of defections in 1996 and disturbing frequent internal conflicts, divisions and factional disputes.

You desired to quit and to assume full responsibility for the DAP’s election debacle in 1999. Yet, you went on to prove that you were no political dinosaur and to disappoint those hoping for DAP’s demise!

You have been the DAP’s driving force and strong disciplinarian for several decades, thereby giving your enemies within and without the DAP the excuse to label you a “dictator”.

You have never despaired in spite of the many downs and dark and depressing moments in your political career, whilst others grew disillusioned and eventually disappeared from the political scene. Read the rest of this entry »

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Of Sin, Siti and small-minded men without sagacity

By Martin Jalleh

Siti Nor Bahyah Mahamood is a well-known Islamic motivator on local television and a popular TV personality, with Semanis Kurma on TV9 and Astro being her biggest hit.

As a famous personality, one would expect her to have all the facts on her fingertips in her efforts to educate, motivate and even propagate her faith! Surely her experience as a professional motivator would teach her that you can’t motivate people by humiliating others!

Recently, she decided to discourage Muslim youth from celebrating Valentine’s Day. It is actually quite a noble effort. I too do not believe in V’s Day (Catholic though I be) and I think it is tragic to have to say “I love you” only once a year and with a blooming rose that costs a bomb!

But I have no problem with the rest of the world who are caught up by the commercialization of love and romance (though now its extended to more than just a celebration of lovebirds) and are ready to pay a crazy and costly sum, probably to make up for their neglect of 364 days in the year!

V’s Day has become a day when, love is blind, the florists flourish, and hotels and restaurants reap roaring profits by holding the ridiculous! It has no religious significance whatsoever! As for those who wish to unleash their lust on V Day, VD (a different kind of rose) might await them!

Sadly, Siti’s ignorance showed when she, in an RTM programme last week, linked V’s Day to Christianity and immoral activities. She said “immoral activities, partying and unmarried couples associating in private are traditions of the Christian community”!

Surprisingly, as a motivator, Siti is glaringly show of understanding. V’s Day is not a Christian tradition and all Christian traditions and tenets do not condone, in fact abhor “immoral activities”, and “unmarried couples associating in private”.

If only Siti would sit quietly and ponder she will realize that vice and virtue lie in the adherents of every faith and there is really no need of making a scapegoat of other religions and insulting them for the sins of the people of her own faithful! Read the rest of this entry »

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