Archive for June 19th, 2018

The press must play creative and important role in building of New Malaysia to be a “beacon of light to a difficult and disturbed world”

Re-visiting Tamil Malar with the DAP National Vice Chairman and the Minister for Human Resources, M. Kulasegaran, DAP Deputy Secretary-General and MP for Batu Gajah V. Sivakumar and the Pahang DAP State Assemblywoman for Sabai, Kamache Doray Rajoo is like a home-coming for me.

Last September, I visited Tamil Malar to show support and solidarity to the Tamil Malar Chairman Oms Thiagarajam and legal advisor K. Sarawathy, two of the three victims of gangsterism, thuggism and assault instigated by powerful “political” personalities who were against Tamil Malar practising independent and professional journalism.

The Tamil Malar executive editor S. M. Periasamy explained to us the assault and the thuggish incident against Tamil Malar.

I also saw the 10-minute long video CCTV footage showing the brawl and assault against Sarawathy, Oms P Thiagarajam and another Tamil Malar staff at Tamil Malar, which tallied with the Sarawathy’s account of the assault.

Since then, Tamil Malar had been at the receving end of powerful “political” personalities as Tamil Malar refused to be cowed from continuing its independent and professional journalism.

In fact, Tamil Malar journalists were warned that immediately after the 14th General Election, the newspaper licence of Tamil Malar would be withdrawn on May 10, 2018.

Despite these threats, Tamil Malar journalists soldiered on unfazed and they should be an example to all Malaysian journalists who were often threatened or browbeaten to sacrifice their journalistic ethics and principles by powerful “politicians” in pre-14GE. Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments

Has UMNO become an illegal political party?

How low and quick the mighty have fallen.

It was only six months ago that the 71st UMNO General Assembly was held in jubilation and hubris that UMNO was the only political party in the world that continued to rule and had never been defeated in elections since 1955, and was set to retain power not only in the imminent 14th General Election, but virtually to be the perpetual government of Malaysia!

But the nursery rhyme which my generation learnt in primary school in the fifties came to pass, viz:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

The fall had been so decisive and categorical that no UMNO leader dare to contradict or countermand the pronouncements of a headless, faceless and soulless creature, the self-proclaimed UMNO strategic media unit.

Are current UMNO leaders so ashamed of UMNO that they have to depend on a faceless, headless and soulless UMNO Strategic Media Unit to speak for them?

The faceless, headless and soulless UMNO Strategic Media Unit said in a statement yesterday that neither former Prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak nor the former director of the Barisan Nasional Strategic Media Unit controlled it. Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments

All MPs regardless of political party should show their commitment when Parliament meets from July 16 to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity in the world

Malaysia is now in the “eye” of the world to demonstrate how a global kleptocracy can be transformed into a leading nation of integrity.

In the past few years, the opinion leaders and makers of the world must have shaken their heads in sorrow as to how Malaysia – a nation with so much promise, and in the words of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman, should become “a beacon of light in a distracted and disturbed world” – had failed the Malaysian Dream and taken the wrong turn in nation-building to become a global kleptocracy, where Malaysians in the Malaysian Diaspora worldwide are ashamed to acknowledge that they are Malaysians and the then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was spoken in the same league as notorious kleptocrats in the world – like Suharto of Indonesia and Marcos of Philippines.

It is to the eternal shame of Malaysia that a Wikipaedia search will find Najib Razak named as the latest new entry of a “kleptocrat”!

Is this why Merdeka was achieved in 1957 and Malaysia was formed in 1963?

In the historic watershed 14th General Election on 9th May, 2018 where Malaysian surprised the world with the first peaceful and democratic transition at a time when democracy throughout the world is suffering a decline, Malaysians have two world historic roles to perform.

Firstly, give confidence to the struggling peoples of the world not to give up hope in the battle for democracy; secondly, to show the world how a global kleptocracy can transform itself into a leading nation in integrity in the world.

Members of Parliament elected on 9th May 2018 have received notification from Parliament that the first meeting of Parliament will be for 20 sittings from 16th July to August 16; that the 30-day 2019 Budget meeting of Parliament will be from Oct.15 to Dec. 11, 2018 with the Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng, presenting the 2019 Budget in Parliament on Friday, 2nd November 2018.

Before the budget debate, nine days have been set aside for debate on the Mid-Term Review of the 11th Malaysia Plan.

All MPs regardless of political party should show their commitment when Parliament meets from July 16 to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity in the world.

Will all the MPs from UMNO/BN and PAS support a motion so that all the 222 MPs in Parliament can act in unity and unanimity giving support to the Pakatan Harapan Government’s agenda to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity in the world?

Will all those contesting for posts in the UMNO General Assembly this month, whether for President, Deputy President, Vice President; Youth, Wanita or Puteri leader; or for UMNO Supreme Council or executive council positions in the various UMNO wings, make a public commitment to support Pakatan Harapan Government’s national programme to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity in the world?

(Media Statement in Penang on Tuesday, 19th June 2018)

No Comments