Archive for category General
Call on Information Department to print a million copies of the Rulers’ Statement on Oct. 6 on their concerns about 1MDB, rule of law and national unity for mass distribution to the public throughout the country
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals, General, Law & Order, Najib Razak, nation building on Saturday, 10 October 2015
This is the fourth day of the Malay Rulers’ Statement of Tuesday, Oct. 4 expressing their concerns about three national issues causing the crisis of confidence battering Malaysia for the past several months – the 1MDB scandal, the rule of law and national unity in the country.
The UMNO/BN Government’s response to the Malay Rulers’ Statement has gone through various combinations and permutations in the past four days, viz:
*from the initial one of shock and attempt to minimise the adverse impact of the Malay Rulers’ Statement by virtually blacking out the statement in the UMNO-controlled media, printed and electronic;
*the daze-and-haze of the Cabinet at its Wednesday meeting where the Malay Rulers’ Statement was not discussed and no reciprocal action plan produced;
*the belated realisation that the Malay Rulers’ Statement was too potent to be ignored giving way to a campaign to defang its most biting and adverse effects;
*the first official response of the government by way of a statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi more than 48 hours after the issue of the Malay Rulers’ Statement, stating on the one hand that the government viewed “positively” the Malay Rulers’ Statement while on the other dismissing the Rulers’ Statement by declaring that the government had already taken pro-active steps to address the issues raised by the Rulers;
*UMNO/BN cybertroopers using the social media to plant various versions to “defang” the adverse effects of the Malay Rulers’ Statement such as the message that Malay Rulelrs’ Statement was not directed solely at the Government but concerned all political parties and NGOs, to a revised strategy to suggest that the Statement was aimed at the Opposition and finally, postings to question the mala fide of the Malay Rulers by alleging that the Statement was solely the work of the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal without consultation with the Malay Rulers and was the handiwork of people associated with former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir.
The Ministers who have commented on the Malay Rulers’ Statement have also done themselves no favour. Read the rest of this entry »
Ruling party leaders are dangerously disconnected from the grass roots.
Wall Street Journal
July 29, 2015
OPINION
The scandal engulfing Malaysian politics isn’t getting any easier for Prime Minister Najib Razak. On Sunday Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin broke ranks with his boss and urged him to answer questions swirling around state-owned investment fund 1MDB. On Tuesday the Prime Minister sacked Mr. Muhyiddin and also replaced the Attorney General leading an investigation into the fund.
The firestorm began July 3, when the Journal reported that Malaysian-government investigators found evidence that nearly $700 million linked to 1MDB transited through Prime Minister Najib’s personal accounts. Those documents can now be viewed on WSJ.com. The origin and ultimate destination of the money is not clear.
Mr. Najib’s office denied that the report was true and called it “political sabotage.” But that is not enough for Mr. Muhyiddin. On Sunday he warned that grass-roots support for the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) is evaporating because its leaders aren’t offering a public explanation for what happened with 1MDB. “We cannot explain properly because even we don’t know the real facts, so who is going to tell us the real facts, it should be the Prime Minister, true or not,” the Star newspaper quoted him saying. Read the rest of this entry »
Parti baharu bukan kumpulan terbuang
A Shukur Harun
The Malaysian Insider
30 June 2015
Selepas dikalahkan dengan cara paling hina di muktamar PAS baru-baru ini, golongan progresif dan sederhana dalam parti itu merancang menubuhkan sebuah parti baharu lepas Hari Raya Aidilfitri sebagai memenuhi harapan baharu rakyat Malaysia.
Penubuhan parti ini juga untuk meneruskan legasi perjuangan Allahyaram Datuk Fadzil Mohd Noor dan Allahyarham Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat yang sangat terbuka dan demokratik.
Kumpulan ini mulanya bernama Kumpulan 18 (G18) kini dinamakan “Kumpulan Harapan Baharu” kerana jumlahnya bertambah.
Ia memang berhak mendakwa sebagai pewaris perjuangan kedua-dua tokoh yang amat disayangi majoriti rakyat Malaysia itu.
Ini kerana, golongan progresif ini sangat serasi dengan metodologi perjuangan dua tokoh tersebut iaitu menjadikan PAS parti yang inklusif, tidak jumud dan ekstrem, menyebabkan PAS diterima pelbagai kaum dan agama, meskipun ia tetap memperjuangkan Islam.
Atas inisiatif mereka dan disokong oleh pelbagai badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) serta masyarakat sivil, mereka merancang menubuhkan parti baharu, di mana buat sementara ini dipanggil G18 – mengambil sempena 18 tokoh yang dikalahkan itu. Nama rasmi parti baharu itu akan diumumkan sempena pelancarannya beberapa minggu lagi. Read the rest of this entry »
Demi hudud, kepimpinan Kelantan bakal bertukar tangan?
– Riesya H.
The Malaysian Insider
22 June 2015
Isu hudud nampaknya belum reda.
Terkini, dengan terburainya Pakatan Rakyat, boleh lah dianggap isu hudud berjaya memainkan peranannya. Peranan untuk memporak porandakan PR.
Di zaman teknologi facebook dan whatsup hari ini, saya ingin kongsikan secebis nota menarik yang dipanjangkan kepada saya, berbunyi begini;
“I, like many Malaysians, may have underestimated Datuk Seri Najib Razak as a politician. He may have committed a lot of economic and public relation blunders. But he has managed to kill PR. Tricking PAS into believing that Umno will support hudud, Najib has cause a major rift between PAS and their PR allies, which then caused a crisis within PAS. Now that he has accomplished what he wanted, he pulled his support from hudud.
With one stroke, najib has managed to kill PR and put PAS in the ECU. He may have assured Umno’s rule for another 2-3 terms. And for that, he should be named one of Malaysia’s best politician. He took over the helm when Umno was at its worst. He didn’t try to make things right with Umno, but he destroyed the opposition.
Great game Najib.”
Itu lah yang menjadi persepsi dan gambaran rakyat marhaen semacam saya yang kerdil ini. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib not telling the truth if he said he could not visit earthquake-hit zones in Sabah on Friday because it was the birthday of Yang di Pertuan Agong
According to The Malaysian Insider, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, told a crowd during his visit to Kundasang in Sabah today, near where Friday’s earthquake struck, why he could not visit Ranau/Kundasang earlier.
Najib said:
“I had intended to come earlier after hearing news about the earthquake. But that day was the birthday of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and then I had to leave for an official visit to Saudi Arabia as the king and the crown prince were involved.
“Because our bilateral ties are very important, I could not come to Sabah, specifically to Ranau, earlier.”
Najib would not be telling the truth if he had indeed said that he could not visit the earthquake-hit zones in Sabah on Friday because it was the birthday of Yang di Pertuan Agong as this was not the case.
The birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was on Saturday, 6th June 2015 and not on Friday, 5th June 2015. Read the rest of this entry »
Jho says it ain’t so: Malaysian tycoon denies role in 1MDB ‘heist of the century’
by Eric Ellis
Euromoney
The saga of scandalized Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB has drawn in many high-profile figures from the country’s establishment. None more so than a flamboyant, Hong Kong-based tycoon. But the self-styled Jho Low denies all involvement in 1MDB. Now he’s ready to publicly defend himself – and point the finger of blame at others.
Low Taek Jho’s high-rise lair in Hong Kong is the stuff of thrillers, appropriately enough for a young Penang-born tycoon cast by his countrymen as a mysterious villain whose shadowy dealings have exposed the secrets of Malaysia Inc.
The intrigues are felt the moment one steps inside the stylish foyer of Jynwel Capital, his family’s private equity investment house based in downtown Central. A receptionist purrs that “Mr Low is expecting you” as a wall magically slides aside to reveal a minimalist ante-room framed by a panorama of the city’s harbour and the promise of China beyond.
Read the rest of this entry »
I didn’t ask to be sexually assaulted
Boo Su-Lyn
Malay Mail Online
February 27, 2015
FEBRUARY 27 — We were arguing over something and then, with a pen knife in his hand, my then-boyfriend demanded to get intimate with me.
I didn’t want to.
I said a hesitant “No.” But he kept asking me, in a low threatening voice, with the blade still in his hand, to let him do it. Over and over again, he asked.
So I relented and let him do what he wanted. I was afraid of what would happen if I said no. I had seen him punch walls before in anger. I didn’t know what he would do with a knife.
It wasn’t rape under Malaysian law as the law defines rape as the insertion of a penis into a vagina without consent. But it was sexual assault.
Columnist and lecturer Ridhuan Tee Abdullah said in a February 16 article in Sinar Harian that women’s bodies invite rape. He also claimed that wearing short skirts could lead to rape and sexual assault. Read the rest of this entry »
Dubai Torch tower fire: Why no one died
By Jessica Mendoza
Christian Science Monitor
February 21, 2015
Dubai Torch tower fire: Witnesses said that the quick actions of the city’s civil defense and police departments led to a safe, orderly evacuation of residents.
A fire that ripped through a luxury residential tower in Dubai’s Marina district early Saturday morning engulfed several stories and displaced hundreds, but caused no casualties, according to multiple news reports.
A number of people were treated for minor injuries by ambulances at the scene, The Associated Press reported.
The blaze, which broke out around 2 a.m. in the 86-story Torch tower building, appeared to have started on the 50th floor, according to CNN. High winds fanned the flames and scattered debris on nearby streets.
First responders evacuated residents before turning their attention on the fire, which took 12 fire engines and several hours to put out, the BBC reported. Read the rest of this entry »
The measure of Najib as prime minister
Posted by Kit in General, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 27 January 2015
– Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
27 January 2015
I recently wrote an article “Menilai Najib”. It was reproduced in Free Malaysia Today. People commented on that. Many of the comments were not objective. Indeed most were irrational rants.
I think most of the commentators didn’t read the original article on my blog. They prefer instead to read the stylised FMT version. Accordingly, most of the comments never debated the issues I raised but chose instead to vilify me as a person.
The points I raised were (1) what made Datuk Seri Najib Razak a bad prime minister and (2) what made him a bad finance minister. I was hoping for a more robust counter. Instead, it’s the usual ad hominem attacks.
They are commenting on the article re-written and interpreted by FMT. They vented their anger. They asked who am I to assess Najib. They accused me of repeating what my “tokongs” say. Fortunately, I am immune to that kind of insulting riposte. Read the rest of this entry »
Let RCI into Floods Disaster Management Preparedness inquire whether there had been a “complete breakdown” or what extent of breakdown of the National Security Council chain of command and communications in the current worst floods disaster in decades
Posted by Kit in General, Kelantan, NaturaL disaster on Thursday, 1 January 2015
Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has denied that there had been a “complete collapse” of the National Security Council (NSC) flood disaster response.
The NSC secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab clarified that it was the Kelantan district office that collapsed as the government staff became flood victims themselves, claiming that the district offices in neighbouring Pahang and Terengganu could still function as those states were not as badly hit.
I do not envy Thajudeen as he spoke the truth but was being pilloried and vilified by UMNO/Barisan Nasional political leaders including his superiors, resulting in having to come out with a denial which, on scrutiny, is actually confirmation of the collapse of the NSC chain of command and communications showing deplorable flood disaster management preparedness in the main theatre of the worst floods disaster in the first five days from Dec. 23 to 27.
Thajuddin should know that there is no such thing as “the Kelantan district office that collapsed” as there are 10 districts in Kelantan, out of which only one district, Bachok was not ravaged by floods. Read the rest of this entry »
Datuk Seri, please do the right thing
By Azrul Mohd Khalib | MMO
September 9, 2014
Datuk Seri Najib Razak, I, like many Malaysians around the country, support your call to repeal the Sedition Act of 1948.
There are periods in history when we are at the right place, at the right time and are called upon to act. To do what our conscience tells us as necessary because only we can. Times like these are few and far in between, when we are called to action to make right that which is wrong, heal that which has been hurt and practise that which we speak of. This is one such opportunity.
The 1948 Sedition Act is a piece of colonial era legislation which was born during a time when our penjajah, the English, intended to suppress dissent, maintain power and continue the oppression and subjugation of the people of Malaya.
It was intended to extinguish the flame of democracy which burned brightly amongst those who yearned for freedom and a better future for everyone in this country. It is an instrument born of fear, insecurity, is against democratic principles and aimed to tyrannise the ruled and to see and treat the rakyat as the enemy. It was used on the people who fought for this country’s independence. Read the rest of this entry »
MH17: Malaysia Airlines crash victims robbed of their dignity by rebels
Robert Mendick By Robert Mendick, Patrick Sawer and Tim Ross
Telegraph
19 Jul 2014
Moscow-backed rebels accused of removing some of the corpses, taking their possessions and destroying evidence
International anger was intensifying on Saturday night over the treatment of victims of Flight MH17, amid claims that bodies had been left to rot among the wreckage, at the mercy of looters.
As Moscow-backed rebels were accused of removing some of the corpses, taking their possessions and destroying evidence, Philip Hammond, the new Foreign Secretary, said the “world’s eyes” were on Russia and demanded that the victims be treated with “proper dignity and respect”.
The plane was shot down on Thursday, apparently by pro-Moscow separatists backed by the Russian president Vladimir Putin. It emerged on Saturday that two British fathers and five of their children were killed in the attack as the last of the 10 British victims was named.
On Saturday, independent investigators were again denied proper access to the scene by masked and armed separatists, who control the crash site in eastern Ukraine. One source suggested some of the rebels were “intoxicated”.
It emerged that bodies were being left to rot amid the wreckage in temperatures of 85F (29.4C), and Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for the investigators at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said after being given partial and temporary access: “Some of the body bags are open and the damage to the corpses is very, very bad – it is very difficult to look at. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia Airlines flight crashes in Ukraine
By Ashley Fantz, CNN
July 17, 2014
(CNN) — A Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has crashed in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agency Interfax reported Thursday.
Malaysia Airlines confirmed that it lost contact with Flight 17 and that the plane’s last known position was over Ukrainian airspace, the airline said on Twitter.
The aircraft was “shot down” over Ukraine by “terrorists” operating a Buk surface-to-air missile system, according to the Facebook page of Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. There were 280 passengers killed as well as 15 crew members, Gerashchenko’s post reads.
“We do not exclude that the plane was shot down and confirm that the Ukraine Armed Forces did not fire at any targets in the sky,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, according to his website. Read the rest of this entry »
Alumni UiTM mudah lupa
By Ahmad Tempe
MAY 21, 2014 | TMI
Henry A Kissinger pernah menyebut “university politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are too small”. Ini membawa erti yang politik di universiti itu ganas kerana pertaruhannya kecil.
Tidak perlu cari mat kaki demo atau “pemberontak” seperti Khalid Ismath jika mahu mentafsirkan “keganasan” politik di Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). Cukup sekadar kita temuramah mat-mat kaki “dating” atau mat “dota” dan mereka akan menjawab: “Ala, UiTM ni kita kena sokong kerajaan (baca:Umno/BN), kalau tidak susah kita nanti.”
Hari ini, Persatuan Alumni UiTM Malaysia secara tiba-tiba lantang mengingatkan calon DAP Teluk Intan, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud supaya berhenti menggunakan nama UiTM dalam tujuan kempen kerana UiTM sepatutnya “bebas”. Tulisan ini bukanlah bertujuan untuk membela atau mengangkat si Dyana.
Saya juga bukanlah hendak menjadi batu api atau bertelagah dengan geng-geng alumni ini. Tetapi, hendak bebas itu bebas yang bagaimana?
Semua orang tahu UiTM mempunyai “pusat latihan tidak rasmi Umno”. Siapa tidak tahu proses untuk menjadi calon Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP) UiTM pun ketat? Mesti mesra kerajaan? Hendak berahsia bagaimana lagi?
Sebelum ini pun UiTM pernah menjadi medan kempen bagi Umno/BN apabila Datuk Seri Najib Razak hadir untuk berucap serta menabur janji kepada mahasiswa UiTM di samping menjamu makanan enak-enak (baca: KFC). Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang: Let thousands of Karpals rise
Kow Gah Chie
Malaysiakini
Apr 25, 2014
After his sedition conviction, Karpal Singh had uttered these famous words, “You knock out one Karpal, a hundred Karpal Singhs will rise.”
His long-time friend and political colleague Lim Kit Siang recalled this quote during the memorial service held for the late politician, who was killed in an accident on April 17, in Kuala Lumpur last night.
However, Lim had a grander vision.
The DAP supremo wanted to see not a hundred but thousands of Karpals rising up to the fight.
“I promise to continue his fight… Karpal’s dream is to uphold the rule of law, justice, good governance as well as a united and harmonious Malaysia… This will be our dream… and to make it a reality in the next general election,” he added.
Lim also said millions are still grieving over Karpal’s death and this reflected how great a man he was. Read the rest of this entry »
Tears flow as Karpal’s body arrives at Ipoh hospital
BY Looi Sue-Chern | TMI
April 17, 2014
Tears flowed as Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh’s body arrived at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh, Perak, at 7.25am today for a post-mortem following an accident near Gua Tempurung in Perak, early this morning.
His wife Gurmit Kaur, sons Jagdeep Singh Deo and Gobind Singh Deo, and daughter Sangeet were joined by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and other leaders at the hospital.
All of them broke down in tears as Karpal’s body was removed from the van and taken into the mortuary, which was just opened yesterday.
Karpal, who would have turned 74 in June, was believed to have been travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Penang to attend a court hearing scheduled for this morning.
Police said the multipurpose vehicle was badly-damaged after losing control following a collision with a lorry on KM301.6 of the North-South Expressway about 12.40am this morning.
Police said he died on the spot. There were four other occupants in Karpal’s Toyota Alphard, which has the iconic number plate KS9898. Read the rest of this entry »
A Timeline of the Malaysian Government’s Many, Many MH370 Screw-Ups
By Adam K. Raymond
New York Times
1st April 2014
Three and a half weeks after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished from the sky, the world is still waiting to find out what happened. Searching millions of square miles for broken plane parts is, of course, no simple task, but it’s only been complicated by the Keystone Cops routine put on by the Malaysian government. Upon news that officials couldn’t even correctly quote the four words uttered by the co-pilot before all communication with MH370 was lost, here’s a timeline of Malaysia’s mistakes since the plane disappeared.
March 8: Immigration officials allow two passengers to board flight MH370 with stolen passports.
March 8: The Malaysian military fails to notice that that the plane has made a sharp left turn, even though it flew over a radar facility. Read the rest of this entry »
Flight MH370 Malaysian officials struggle with credibility after changing last words heard from lost aircraft
Chris Brummitt and Gillian Wong, Associated Press | April 1, 2014 10:19 AM ET
National Post
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — It may mean little to investigators that the last words air traffic controllers heard from the lost jetliner were “Good night, Malaysian three-seven-zero,” rather than “All right, good night.” But to Malaysian officials whose credibility has been questioned almost from the beginning, it means a great deal.
Malaysian officials said more than two weeks ago that “All right, good night,” were the last words, and that the co-pilot uttered them. They changed the account late Monday and said they are still investigating who it was that spoke. The discrepancy added to the confusion and frustration families of the missing already felt more than three weeks after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared.
“This sort of mistake hits at the heart of trust in their communications. If Malaysia is changing what the pilot said, people start thinking, ‘What are they going to change next?” said Hamish McLean, an expert in risk and crisis communication at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.
“Information is in a crisis is absolutely critical. When we are dealing with such a small amount of information its needs to be handled very carefully,” he said.
Authorities have been forced on the defensive by the criticism, the most forceful of which has come from a group of Chinese relatives who accuse them of lying about — or even involvement in — the plane’s disappearance. In part responding to domestic political criticism, defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein has taken to retweeting supportive comments on Twitter. He has twice in recent days proclaimed that “history would judge us well” over the handling of the crisis. Read the rest of this entry »
Flight 370, a mysterious ‘one-off,’ spurs calls to modernize tracking technology
By Joel Achenbach, Scott Higham and Ashley Halsey III
Washington Post
March 29, 2014
The bizarre tale of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 comes at a time when flying is safer than ever. Nervous fliers squeeze the armrests for dear life, but most passengers have no problem nodding off as their jetliner cruises seven miles above the Earth. They have internalized the statistical truth that the most dangerous part of an airplane trip is the drive to the airport.
Yet disasters still happen, including this one. Officially declared a plane crash at sea with no survivors, the event remains so deeply mysterious that it seems premature to refer to the people aboard as deceased.
Viewed in the broad context of aviation safety, this weird case actually fits snugly within a recent pattern: Airline disasters now tend to be unprecedented in nature — what investigators call “one-offs.” Read the rest of this entry »
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