Show compassion, not self-righteousness
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, NaturaL disaster on Saturday, 27 December 2014, 7:44 pm
– Syerleena Abdul Rashid
The Malaysian Insider
27 December 2014
The recent flash floods in Malaysia have badly affected four states – Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Perak. Other states such as Negri Sembilan, Perlis, Kedah and Johor have also reported flooding in various areas.
The number of evacuees now stands at more than 130,000 (as of December 27) and is expected to rise in the next few days.
Many describe this year’s flood disaster as the worst in Malaysian history with several elected leaders pressuring the government to declare a state of emergency. The general well-being of the Malaysian public is under threat and government intervention is needed to minimise or prevent such calamity from escalating further. Read the rest of this entry »
Rescuers struggle to reach flood victims as anger mounts
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Najib Razak, NaturaL disaster on Saturday, 27 December 2014, 1:48 pm
The Malaysian Insider
27 December 2014
Rescue teams struggled to reach inundated areas of northeast Malaysia as victims accused the government of being slow to provide assistance after the country’s worst flooding in decades.
Malaysians have vented their anger at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak after the release of photos which went viral on social media showing him playing golf with US President Barack Obama during the storms.
The number of people forced to flee their homes climbed past 120,000 with weather forecasters warning of no respite for the northeastern states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. Read the rest of this entry »
Kelantan flood victims plead for aid, via social media
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Najib Razak, NaturaL disaster on Saturday, 27 December 2014, 11:15 am
by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
27 December 2014
Desperate victims of the Kelantan flood and their families have turned to social media for help, pleading for food and water supplies in areas cut off by rising waters.
They have inundated the Info Banjir Kelantan community Facebook page since Thursday, and also via Twitter and Instagram social networks with pleas for help from the authorities to help evacuate those affected.
“THIS IS A PLEA – PLEASE REPOST/SHARE The people of Guchil, Kuala Krai, Kelantan are experiencing Food/Water/Power Outage,” Abby Latif posted on her Instagram account this morning.
She went on to relate that the local mosque, Masjid Guchil at Guchil 4 was not a registered relief centre and have not received any medical or food supplies despite housing some 200 families seeking refuge from the floods. Read the rest of this entry »
Call for full public support to the Prime Minister-led national response to the country-wide flood disaster with flood victims already exceeding 120,000 in seven states
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Najib Razak, NaturaL disaster on Saturday, 27 December 2014, 9:53 am
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will arrive in Kelantan today to lead the national flood response after cutting short his vacation in Hawaii.
I call for full public support to the Prime Minister-led national response to the country-wide disaster with flood victims already exceeding 120,000 and at least eight deaths in seven states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak, Johore, Perlis and Kedah.
The response to the worst flood disaster in the nation’s history cannot be the government’s responsibility alone, but must involve the effort of all Malaysians, but it must by spearheaded by the Federal Government and in view of the magnitude of the disaster, by none other than the Prime Minister himself so as to mobilise every available ounce of resources to render help to those in need in the quickest possible time.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim was right when he said in Kelantan yesterday that there are adequate food supplies as well as assets to send them to flood victims, but the challenge is still how to send the essentials to those who had been stranded – like the heart-rending account of the approximately 100 victims taking shelter at a school in Kuala Krai who had been living without food, clean water, electricity or any aid for over 40 hours or those staying in outlying and inaccessible areas.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamad had recounted his ordeal on Thursday night experiencing first hand what it was like to grapple in the dark in waist-high floodwaters in search of safe ground, while knowing that a misstep can mean the end, and how a 10km journey from Keroh to the District Officer’s office in Kuala Krai took him and a rescue party four hours, arriving in pitch-dark as all powers had been cut off.
As admitted by the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muyhiddin Yassin in Pengkalan Chepa yesterday, although the government had expected one of the worst floods this year, the severity and scale of the floods had taken the authorities completely by surprise as it was “worse than anticipated”, overwhelming all disaster management plans and preparations. Read the rest of this entry »
In Kelantan, desperate flood victims loot homes for food and fresh water
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, NaturaL disaster on Saturday, 27 December 2014, 7:46 am
by Melissa Chi
Malay Mail Online
December 27, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 ― Grim conditions facing flood victims in Kelantan are driving a man here to consider renting a helicopter to fly aid to his family trapped by the deluge in the state.
Fearful of the dangers brought by the inundation that has already claimed seven lives and forced over 100,000 people from their homes, Ryonn Leong is mulling the drastic measure to reach his sister, elderly parents, younger brother and his pregnant wife, and their two-year-old daughter marooned in Kuala Krai.
The menace is also not purely elemental; desperation born of hunger and thirst has prompted some flood victims to begin looting homes for food and drink, risking unintended confrontations with owners yet to evacuate their property.
“Just few minutes ago, there are cases where people are breaking into houses to steal food and valuables too. This are caused mainly by food scarcity,” he told Malay Mail Online via text yesterday.
“(The) situation is getting tense as there are areas which people starting to fight for food and loot houses that are empty.”
In wicked irony, one item that is painfully scarce for victims surrounded by the floods is clean water for drinking. According to Leong, one mother in the Kelantan town was now forced to use rainwater to mix the infant formula for her six-month-old. Read the rest of this entry »
More flooded areas, more evacuees, just less common sense
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Najib Razak on Friday, 26 December 2014, 6:53 pm
COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
26 December 2014
If you do go to the Malaysian Meteorological Department website, there will not be any hint that Malaysia is going through its worst flood in decades, with nearly 120,000 people already evacuated in six states.
All it says is either isolated rain, scattered rain, thunderstorms or no rain in any given area in Malaysia. Nothing that would a hint of the incessant torrential rain deluging Malaysia this past week.
In fact, the number of people, equipment, aid and transport being scrambled to assist flood relief efforts will tell you a simple story – Malaysia was again caught unprepared for a disaster that has been likened to the US Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
As it is, the National Security Council’s (NSC) Portal Bencana (Disaster Portal) microsite only tells you of an incidence of flood and the location – nothing else. Read the rest of this entry »
As the floods, expected to the worst in nation’s history since 1971, are already “worse than expected” according to Muhyiddin, Najib must rush back to chair an special meeting of Cabinet within 24 hours to pave the way for declaration of a state of emergency
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Najib Razak on Friday, 26 December 2014, 4:38 pm
I commend the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for finally starting to visit the flood-hit states starting with Kelantan this morning to oversee the Federal Government’s flood-relief operations in what could be the worst floods in recent history.
I also fully support his call for deployment of more air, sea and land assets and the stockpiling of one-week food supply instead of only for four days in every evacuation centre.
The authorities had warned those on the east coast to brace themselves for the worst floods in recent history as a result of a powerful combination of king tides and strong winds, and the communities in the coastal areas and along river mouths had even been warned to ready themselves for immediate grab-and-go evacuations.
But it is clear that the ravages caused by the floods, with the total number of flood victims in six states exceeding 100,000 had been even worse than what the National Security Council (NSC) had envisaged.
This is the only interpretation of Muhyiddin’s statement at the flood relief centre in Pengkalan Chepa, Kota Bahru, this morning when he said that the floods was worse than anticipated – as if seeking excuses for the many weaknesses in the flood-relief operations so far.
This could only mean that although the Federal Government had expected the floods this year to be worst in recent history, it had not anticipated that the floods could be so bad – which is as good as admitting that the NSC was caught with its pants down.
With such a background, with the worsening flood situation with flood victims exceeding 100,000 in six states, and worse to come, the Cabinet should hold a special meeting within the next 24 hours to declare a state of emergency to concentrate all federal and state resources to handle the latest natural disaster in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Disastrous floods at home, but Najib’s US vacation goes on
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Najib Razak on Friday, 26 December 2014, 11:22 am
FMT Reporters| December 26, 2014
Lim Kit Siang writes how thousands are affected by the devastating floods, yet DPM not ready to declare “emergency” and PM is on vacation.
PETALING JAYA: Without having to say out loud how our prime minister and his deputy are failing the people during a time of great need, DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang succeeded in doing precisely that in his latest blog entry.
This early morning entry followed yesterday’s where he criticised Najib Razak for sneaking off to the US for a vacation while chaos and destruction overwhelmed the people of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak and Perlis.
Describing how the devastating floods have disrupted water supply and resulted in power cuts, Lim also stated how food rations were depleting rapidly and even automated teller machines (ATMs) were running out of cash.
Quoting several media sources, Lim related how residents in Manek Urai and Dabong were “forced to go hungry because they are completely cut off” due to most major roads being inaccessible even to rescue vehicles because of strong under currents.
He quoted Bernama that reported how Kelantan Umno liaison chief Mustapa Mohamad had said, “There are many children and senior citizens at these unreachable locations,” in reference to flood victims trapped in 28 locations including “hilltops, schools and mosques” in Kuala Krai. Read the rest of this entry »
Flood victims anxious as ATMs run out of cash
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Najib Razak on Friday, 26 December 2014, 8:16 am
Malaysiakini
3:29AM Dec 26, 2014
Water supply and electricity cuts in several flood-affected areas in worst-hit state Kelantan is raising anxieties among flood victims as supplies run low.
Residents in parts of Pasir Mas told Malaysiakini say they no longer have running water or power supply, while automated teller machines (ATMs) are out of cash.
Others say they their food ration has almost depleted with most major roads inaccessible even to rescue vehicles due to strong flood currents.
Astro Awani reported that some residents in Manek Urai and Dabong are forced to go hungry because they are completely cut off.
On Wednesday night, army rescue personnel evacuated 400 who had been stranded on the third floor of SK Manek Urai Lama in Kuala Krai for five days.
They were reached by two armed forces boats, which arrived with food and daily essentials.
Victims are trapped in 28 locations including hilltops, schools and mosques in Kuala Krai, with rescue workers trying to reach them, Kelantan Umno liaison chief Mustapa Mohamad told Bernama.
“There are many children and senior citizens at these unreachable locations. Our rescue team is trying their best to assist them,” he said, adding that helicopters and boats are deployed. Read the rest of this entry »
Patients shifted after doctor’s desperate plea
Malaysiakini
2:42AM Dec 26, 2014
Critical patients treated in pitch black after Kuala Krai hospital ran out fuel to power generators last night were finally evacuated from the flood-hit area.
Doctors posted desperate pleas for help after forced to intubate an infant in darkness and tearfully watching rescue helicopters leave after failing to land.
“Latest update. Alhamdulillah, helicopter assistance has arrived to take the victims in hospitals especially babies to shelter,” Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham said in a Facebook posting at 10.20pm Thursday.
The army evacuated adult and paediatric patients to Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), which is about 20 minutes away via helicopter, he said, while diesel supply was replenished.
“All settled diesel delivered, generator filled, functioning and power supply back to normal. Supplies delivered and Hospital Kuala Krai is in safe zone (as it is on) high ground.
“One adult critically-ill patient and two neonates were transferred successfully to HUSM and live another day. (Rescue workers) to continue patient evacuation tomorrow,” he said.
In a video shared by Noor Hisham, Hospital Kuala Krai staff said patients are hungry and thirsty as there is shortage of drinking water.
“We hope help will arrive soon…Our focus is to save lives, the rest we leave to God,” the staff member said. Read the rest of this entry »
Why is it so difficult to declare State of Emergency in flood-hit areas?
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Najib Razak on Thursday, 25 December 2014, 9:18 pm
– Lokman Mustafa
The Malaysian Insider
25 December 2014
What are the prerequisites for the proclamation of a State of Emergency to be made in an area severely hit by natural disaster?
To my knowledge, such a proclamation is a formal step for local officials to receive assistance from the federal administration.
In the US, a state of emergency is issued when a disaster occurs that requires State aid to help alleviate damages.
The declaration also enables the governor of a state to make resources immediately available to rescue, evacuate and provide basic needs in affected areas.
Although the state of emergency declaration does not restrict citizen movements or activities, access to affected areas may be limited due to concerns for public safety.
The declaration is revoked when support is no longer needed for the affected areas. Read the rest of this entry »
Why PM not only away in secret holiday in Hawaii, but not a single UMNO Minister visiting hardest-hit Kelantan to show the Federal Government’s concern for the worst floods since 1971?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Thursday, 25 December 2014, 7:22 pm
The Washington Post report of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak teeing off in Hawaii with President Obama (who is on the fifth day of a two-week vacation) on Christmas Eve caused quite a jolt, not because he was holidaying in Oahu, Hawaii, but because Najib had tried to keep his trip abroad a secret from Malaysians.
This “jolt” was compounded by Najib’s absence at a time when the country was facing its worst floods since 1971, with over 91,000 people affected in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak, Perlis and beginning in Kedah, and with the flood situation expected to worsen and to hit Johore in a massive manner in the last few days of the year.
In response to mounting criticisms of Najib again being an absentee Prime Minister at a time when Malaysians are facing a natural disaster, the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin responded with insufferable complacency saying: “I am in charge, don’t worry. Have trust in me.”
Malaysian have reasons to worry that Muhyiddin is up to task of handling the nation’s worst floods since 1971, with his stubborn refusal to agree to the need to declare an emergency to focus all Federal government resources to deal with the devastation caused by the floods. Read the rest of this entry »
Criticism rains on absent leaders as floodwaters rise
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Thursday, 25 December 2014, 4:55 pm
COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
25 December 2014
More than 90,000 people have been evacuated in the peninsula’s east cost states as floodwaters rise due to incessant rain. While the floods are an annual event, this year’s edition has been the worst in living memory.
Hence, the mounting criticism against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who has been photographed having a round of golf with US President Barack Obama in Hawaii on Christmas Eve.
This is not the first time a Malaysian prime minister has been under flak for not being around when floods hit the country hard. The last was in 2006 when then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was holidaying in Perth while floodwaters inundated Johor.
Pak Lah, as he is popularly known, came back but the damage was done. It is not known if Najib will cut short his annual year-end holiday and fly home to lead the relief operations. Read the rest of this entry »
No point in my attending any future PR Presidential Council meetings if PAS pushes for implementation of hudud in December 29 Kelantan State Assembly special meeting
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Wednesday, 24 December 2014, 1:00 pm
I fully endorse what the Selangor Mentri Besar and PKR Deputy President Azmin Ali said yesterday, that hudud is not a common policy of Pakatan Rakyat, hence PAS should bring the issue to the Pakatan Rakyat presidential council for discussion.
Azmin referred to the September 28, 2011 meeting of Pakatan Rakyat Presidential Council at the PAS Headquarters attended by over 30 top leaders of DAP, PKR and PAS, which was also attended the then DAP National Chairman, Karpal Singh, and Kelantan exco members, and the consensus was that hudud was not part of PR joint common policy framework until all parties agreed to it.
As Azmin said: “If there is any new opinion or suggestion, it has to be brought back to the original consensus which was agreed among Pakatan, meaning that it has to go back to Pakatan’s presidential council.”
But PAS has never brought this matter to Pakatan’s presidential council.
In fact, the headline of The Malaysian Insider report on the Sept. 28, 2011 PR Presidential Council meeting was: “Pakatan: Hudud only if all parties agree.” Read the rest of this entry »
Ultimate political humiliation for Joseph Pairin to accept RCIIIS Report Working Committee Chairmanship unless he has the political will and courage to come up with a report that the weight evidence of 211 RCIIIS witnesses and memorandum show there was ‘Project I/C’ involving political masterminds
The latest chapter in the host of merry-go-rounds created in the 40-year nightmare of illegal immigrants in Sabah is the establishment of the Working Committee on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) Report under the chairmanship of the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) President Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan to “peruse and study” the RCIIIS Report.
And true to form and substance as the latest merry-go-round, up to now, nearly 40 days after its first announcement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in mid-November when he visited Sabah, nobody knows whether the RCIIIS Report Working Committee has started to operate, as nobody could say whether Joseph Pairin has accepted the appointment as Chairman of the Working Committee.
The last public statement by Joseph Pairin was on Dec. 3, the day the RCIIIS Report was made public in Kota Kinabalu by the Chief Secrertary Tan Sri Hamsa Ali and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.
Joseph Pairin complained that he had yet to receive his appointment letter although it was nearly three weeks since Najib’s announcement of the Working Committee and his appointment.
Since then, the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who together with the Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, is co-chair of the Permanent Committee of the RCIIIIS Report, had visited Sabah in mid-December and announced the five terms of reference of the Working Committee. Read the rest of this entry »
Let Malaysian Christians and all patriotic Malaysians reaffirm on Christmas 2014 to provide greater support to policies and politics of inclusion where all Malaysians, regardless of politics, race, religion, gender or age can stand as one to promote tolerance, harmony and unity
Christmas 2014 Message
I had hoped that the police return of the 31 Christian hymnals meant for Orang Asli parishioners to Catholic priest Father Cyril Mannayagam in Tangkok, Johore on December 18 would start a virtuous cycle of inter-religious respect, tolerance and acceptance of Malaysia as a plural nation to end the rhetoric and politics of hate, extremism, intolerance and bigotry which had recently hounded, haunted and disgraced Malaysia.
But this was not to be, and there had been no surcease or let-up in the rhetoric and politics of extremism, intolerance and bigotry, as evidenced by the ISMA demand that Muslims should not wish “Merry Christmas” to Christians, the warning that Christmas celebrations were only a ploy by the Christian community to proselytize among the Muslims, and the tearing up by a Perkasa protestor of a DAP banner wishing “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” in front of the Perak DAP headquarters last Friday.
But Malaysian moderates of goodwill and reason must not despair by such setbacks but must persevere in their mission for harmony, tolerance and moderation in the country.
Let Malaysian Christians and all patriotic Malaysians reaffirm on Christmas 2014 to provide greater support to policies and politics of inclusion where all Malaysians, regardless of politics, race, religion, gender or age can stand as one to promote tolerance, harmony and unity.
Read the rest of this entry »
Finding ‘dirt’ on the 25 is dirty, to say the least
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Malaysian Dream on Tuesday, 23 December 2014, 8:37 pm
-Dr Azmi Sharom
Rakyat Times
22 December 2014
Ah, Awang Selamat.
One can always depend on you to say the most ridiculous things.
Today, I read that this ‘person’ (in reality the collective editorial voice of that paragon of journalistic virtue: Utusan Malaysia) wants the 25 Eminent Malays investigated.
Their backgrounds and lifestyles should be put under the microscope, they say.
I guess this is so that the erstwhile ‘newspaper’ can find out any “dirt” on the 25 and then they will be able to dish it out with orgasmic glee.
In this way they can detract from the fact that respectable individuals, who are essentially conservative people who have served the nation all their working lives, and who I am sure would be happy to spend their retirement in peace with their grandchildren, have felt that this country is in such a poor state that even they have to say something about it. Read the rest of this entry »
December 29 Kelantan State Assembly special sitting to implement hudud will be a point of no return for both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Gerakan, Kelantan, MCA, MIC, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS, State Assembly, UMNO on Tuesday, 23 December 2014, 4:21 pm
The December 29 Kelantan State Assembly special sitting to implement hudud will be a point of no return for both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.
The stand of the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn were crystal clear, that hudud laws are at variance with Malaysia’s Constitution that Malaysia is a secular state.
This was also the position of the other MCA and MIC founding fathers of the nation, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin and Tun V.T. Sambanthan – as well as Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu who was the second MCA President in 1958 and subsequently left MCA and became the second President of Gerakan from 1969 – 1980.
Indisputably, this was also the position of all the founding fathers of Malaysia from Sabah and Sarawak.
If the Kelantan UMNO Assemblymen are allowed to vote in support of the proposal to implement hudud at the Kelantan State Assembly special sitting on Dec. 29, the whole character and basis of Barisan Nasional would have undergone its most radical transformation in the history of the ruling government coalition in the country.
Read the rest of this entry »
RCIIIS gone full circle – from skepticism of the public when announced, to high hopes raised during public hearings, to dashed hopes and back to even deeper skepticism after RCIIIS Report
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) has gone full circle.
It was met with skepticism from the public when the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the setting up of the RCI, taking seven long months from the Cabinet decision on 8th Feb. 2012 to set it up for the RCI to be appointed with its eight-point terms of reference.
But high hopes were raised that the RCIIIS would not be a “white-wash” when the RCI conducted its public hearings from January to September 2014, with explosive testimonies from some of the 211 witnesses, confirming long-held negative public perceptions that the influx of illegal immigrants in Sabah and the issue of hundreds of thousands of fake identity cards and voting rights particularly under “Project IC” was part of a political conspiracy to change the political demography in Sabah, reducing native Sabahans into strangers in their own land.
When the Report of the RCIIIS was finally made public on Dec. 3, after being put in the cold-storage for more than six months after submission to the Yang di Pertuan Agong on May 14, 2014, public disbelief, dismay and disquiet enveloped Sabahans – with “dashed hopes” and the return of even deeper skepticism. Read the rest of this entry »
Despite Pakatan’s hudud row, grass not greener on BN’s side, analysts say
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Tuesday, 23 December 2014, 8:29 am
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malay Mail Online
December 23, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 ― A public and intractable row over hudud is raising questions over the viability of Pakatan Rakyat (PR), but Barisan Nasional (BN) faces equally awkward problems despite its calmer surface, according to several political analysts.
They believe that while PR’s public disagreements ― especially between DAP and PAS ― could affect the pact’s future, the disputes were reflective of the equal footing the two parties have along with PKR.
The same cannot be said of BN where Umno stands above and apart from the rest of its coalition partners, the analysts added, citing issues such as Malay rights and even the same Islamic penal code that is giving PR such grief.
BN’s apparent calm was the result of Umno asserting its dominance and political agenda at the expense of the ruling coalition’s weaker component parties. Read the rest of this entry »
