Archive for December 11th, 2014

Pakatan Rakyat leaders must be responsible to the 52% of the voters who had supported the PR in the 13 GE and should not continue to leave PR in a limbo

I welcome the proposal by the PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar that the Pakatan Rakyat parties resume discussions and deliberation among its top leaders.

Pakaan Rakyat parties must be responsible to the 52% of the voters who had supported the PR in the 13GE rendering the UMNO/BN Federal Government the first minority government in the nation’s history, and PR leaders should not leave PR in a limbo.

The resumption of deliberations among the top PR leaders is an urgent agenda after a lapse of over six months, and the first task of the PR top leadership is to assure the 52% of the electorate who had put their hope and trust in the PR that the PR is intact, and to reaffirm the PR common policy framework which had brought the DAP, PKR and PAS together to form a coalition in the 13GE remains the core policy framework for PR and that the consensus principle which had been the fundamental operational principle of of PR decision-making process will be fully respected and adhered to.

I personally hope that the new year 2014 would not end without a meeting of the PR leadership council to set the PR in a new direction for the new year, putting all the past aches and pains of PR firmly behind it.

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Malaysian government has a very funny way of celebrating Human Rights Day in 2014 – by summoning the US envoy for expressing support for human rights in Malaysia!

The Malaysian Government has a very funny way of celebration the Human Rights Day yesterday on 10th December 2014 – by summoning the United States Ambassador Joseph Yun to expressing support for human rights in Malaysia!

What was Yun’s offence?

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Yun said that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s decision to retain the Sedition Act raised human rights concerns.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman disagrees, claiming that the Sedition Act 1948 does not hinder a vibrant democracy and a “preventive measure to ensure that no parties would incite religious and racial tension that could jeopardize peace and stability in the country”.

Anifah may even believe that Yun’s remarks were unwarranted and disappointing, but is this justification for him to flex his muscles and call up the US Ambassador for a “dressing”?

Why don’t Anifah go the whole hog and demand that the United States President Barack Obama recall Yun and replace him with a more amenable Ambassador – as Anifah will only joining the lengthening list of Cabinet Ministers who are making a fool of themselves in both the national and international arena? Read the rest of this entry »

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Fear of Malaysia turning into another Afghanistan prompted open letter

by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
11 December 2014

A deep fear that her country would become another Pakistan and Afghanistan, where religious extremism is on the rise, prompted Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin to seek other like-minded Malays to sign an open letter asking for a rational dialogue on the position of Islam in Malaysia.

But she is also hopeful that the positive response the letter has garnered will be the start of “something big” to help restore moderation and rationality in Malaysia.

In an interview to explain her reasons for signing and disseminating the letter, the former ambassador said she was worried that groups politicising Islam would lead Malaysia down the path of violence if left unchecked.

“I do not want to see what happened in Pakistan and Afghanistan happen to us, where professionals and talented people are so scared of their own future and their families’ future because extremist religion is on the rise and they leave the country taking their money and skills with them.

“If this happens in Malaysia, it is going to affect adversely our economy and we will be left with non-talented people who will lead the country to ruins,” she told The Malaysian Insider. Read the rest of this entry »

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Support for call for open debate, discourse on Islamic law

– Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG)
The Malaysian Insider
10 December 2014

Earlier this week, a group of Malaysians wrote a letter calling for “open debate and discourse on Islamic law”.

It was penned by 25 distinguished Malaysians – retired civil servants, judges, ambassadors, among others – including Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, founding member and trustee of Women’s Aid Organisation.

Their message was clear, and the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) fully supports it.

Among the many issues raised, the letter criticised Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom for his “inflammatory statement” against action he had unfairly called a “new wave of assault on Islam.” This includes the action taken by Sisters in Islam to seek legal redress against a fatwa issued against it. Read the rest of this entry »

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