The death of common sense
Posted by Kit in nation building on Friday, 28 February 2014, 6:50 am
by Dr. Janet Lee
The Malaysian Insider
February 27, 2014
I am Chinese. My husband is Indian. Both of us are qualified in the medical field and teach at local universities.
Recently, my husband’s contract was not renewed. His speciality is quite rare in the region. He was replaced by a younger person.
Of course, he was disappointed but felt new blood was needed to bring in the latest methods and medicines into the picture.
But here’s where things get very scary: the new person cannot string a sentence in English, in a profession where results have to be transmitted clearly to its end-users.
His former colleagues call at night and he does the work for them on the quiet, minus the fee, so that the patients will have a fighting chance!
You see, dear people in authority, the moral majority in this country are keeping us going. Selfless people who take the humiliation and abuse and to ensure that there is a sense of balance and sanity still operating at critical areas. Read the rest of this entry »
Why Muhyiddin has not countermanded the mean, petty and punitive directive to transfer Nor Izzat from Jerantut to a rural school for spearheading the protest against the SBA weaknesses
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin on Thursday, 27 February 2014, 5:32 pm
The Najib administration prides itself on its efficiency and “People First, Performance Now” slogan, but almost a week have passed and the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has yet to countermand the mean, petty and punitive directive to transfer Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari, head of Suara Guru Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) from Jerantut to a rural school for spearheading the protest against the weaknesses in the implementation of the student-based assessment (SBA) system.
Instead of thanking Nor Izzat for his contribution in forcing the Education Ministry to face up to the crisis faced by teachers as a result of dismally-conceived implementation of the SBA, resulting finally in the SBA system being put on hold last week, Muhyiddin is allowing the “Little Napoleons” in the Education Department a free hand to penalise Nor Izzat and other teachers for their courage and conviction in speaking up about the SBA weaknesses.
When Nor Izzat’s punitive transfer to a rural school with only 24 hours’ notice became public, Muhyiddin disclaimed responsibility, denying that he was involved in Nor Izzat’s transfer.
But what has Muhyiddin done in the past week to countermand Nor Izzat’s punitive transfer. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should make public the proposed National Reconciliation Plan (NRP) for public feedback and input before finalization so that it could be a more comprehensive and inclusive roadmap to restore national unity and consensus in the country
Posted by Kit in nation building on Thursday, 27 February 2014, 12:59 pm
In his blogpost “A national reconciliation update”, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that the National Reconciliation Plan (NRP) “will be unveiled and implemented over the next few months” as a result of “months of quiet work”.
This is the second time that Najib has mentioned the National Reconciliation Plan.
The first time was after the Cabinet meeting of 29th January, when he announced that the Ministers had examined a National Reconciliation Plan “to develop and promote an environment which was conducive to and would help promote national reconciliation through unity and consensus in the country”.
He said the government’s National Reconciliation Plan would be based on four key thrusts, namely social, political, government and international relations and would be based on democratic principles.
Before January 29, nobody has ever heard of a National Reconciliation Plan.
Who drafted this National Reconciliation Plan and who had been consulted? This is still a great mystery up to now. Read the rest of this entry »
In deriding Anwar, Daim shows Umno fear of losing Putrajaya sooner than later
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Kajang by-election, Mahathir, Selangor, UMNO on Thursday, 27 February 2014, 7:47 am
The Malaysian Insider
February 26, 2014
So why is Tun Daim Zainuddin quaking?
Make no mistake, the former finance minister is worried. Worried enough that he keeps talking incessantly about Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Publicly, he dismisses the PKR de facto leader as a publicity hound, a man who craves the limelight and loves the next headline.
Publicly, he runs the opposition leader down as someone who has never been able to solve any problem.
Publicly, he says that Anwar’s move to contest a by-election in Kajang is a complete waste of public funds.
Apparently Daim’s fixation with Anwar continues in private discussions but behind closed doors, the tone is less dismissive, less condescending. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s plan may turn out to be ‘Never Really Plan’
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building on Thursday, 27 February 2014, 6:39 am
– Kennee Wong
The Malaysian Insider
February 26, 2014
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak penned an article about the government’s new initiative for a more cohesive and united Malaysia.
Called the National Reconciliation Plan (NRP), it will be unveiled and implemented in the next few months and he has shared a bit of what is to come.
I cannot help but to wonder if the NRP will be another irresolute proposal that will have little consequence towards the improvement of our nation’s race and interfaith relations. Read the rest of this entry »
Extremists: Ignore them or isolate them?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Thursday, 27 February 2014, 6:33 am
– Ramon Navaratnam
The Malaysian Insider
February 26, 2014
I refer to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s well meaning advice to “just ignore extremists”.
With due respect sir, there are many Malaysians who will sincerely agree with me that this is not the way to deal with extremists.
Their inflammatory statements and worse still, dangerously provocative and evil acts, based on racial and religious hatred, must instead be nipped in the bud!
Their seditious statements and incendiary acts which undermine our fragile national unity have to be exposed, and those responsible from any quarter should be named, shamed, arrested and prosecuted. They have to be publicly exposed and harshly dealt with rather than inadvertently encouraged to do their dirty work stealthily, secretly, and without scrutiny from the rule of law!
Malaysians should not tolerate extremists and extreme acts of any kind in our multiracial, multi-religious and highly complicated and sensitive society. Read the rest of this entry »
Enron-ising Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, Corporate, Corruption, Financial Scandals on Thursday, 27 February 2014, 6:21 am
by Azly Rahman
Malaysiakini
Feb 22, 2014
Malaysia’s monopoly corporate crony capitalism, framed and flourishing ethnocentrically and laced with economic fascism continue to take root, fashioned after the ethos and eerie-ness of America’s Enron Corporation which was said to be too big to fail yet fell like a house of cards that turned into ashes after an internal combustion of a self-immolation.
It also brought down one of one of the world’s biggest accounting fraudsters and master of creative accounting – Arthur Anderson. This is a feature of the many a Wall Street-fashioned American corporation – grow bigger with bigger lies with the help of world-class lying accounting firms.
What will Malaysia see decades after the seeds of destruction have germinated out of the three-pronged policies of Malaysian-styled Reaganomics and Thatcherism and Marcos-Mugabeism of Malaysia Incorporated, Look East Policy, and Privatisation Policies. Or have we not seen the impact of these policies in terms of the growth of big businesses whose survival also lie in the political-economic patronage of race-based political parties? Read the rest of this entry »
Is Najib seriously suggesting that Utusan Malaysia should be given a free hand to pump vitriol and stoke racial and religious animosities, including attack on a Cabinet Minister entrusted with the portfolio of national integration and unity?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 26 February 2014, 1:27 pm
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s recipe yesterday for national reconciliation, national unity and to help inspire Malaysians to respect and rec-connect with one another has been immediately put to the test today by another vitriolic article by Utusan Malaysia editor, Datuk Zaini Hassan in his article warning that a minister’s suggestion to remove “race” from official forms was the first step to convince Malays to surrender their bumiputera status and other privileges afforded to the community.
Najib proposed to Malaysians that “We don’t have to condemn them, just ignore them” as the best way to respond to the demands and vitriol of the instigators and extremists, adding: “Don’t give them the air time or the publicity” they crave.
The problem is that such vitriolic articles, inciting racial and religious animosities and hatred, is not the work of individuals but of the official newspaper of UMNO, the backbone of Barisan Nasional government, like the Utusan Malaysia editor’s article today entitled “Orang Melayu sudah tidak peduli dengan bangsa sendiri?” (Malays no longer care for their own race?) and is given full oxygen by the UMNO’s official media, and which will be given full dissemination in the UMNO/BN-controlled empire of printed, electronic and social media.
Is Najib seriously suggesting that Utusan Malaysia should be given a free hand to pump vitriol and stoke racial and religious animosities, including attack on a Cabinet Minister entrusted with the portfolio of national integration and unity – and that this is Najib’s way to national reconciliation and national unity in Malaysia? Read the rest of this entry »
After ‘race’, they will come for your privileges, Utusan editor tells Malays
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building, UMNO on Wednesday, 26 February 2014, 10:54 am
The Malay Mail Online
February 26, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — A minister’s suggestion to remove “race” from official forms was the first step to convince Malays to surrender their Bumiputera benefits and other privileges afforded to the community, an Utusan Malaysia editor wrote today.
Alleging that the call by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup last week was the result of pressure from rights groups, Datuk Zaini Hassan warned the Malays that the efforts were opposition-driven to erode the community’s rights.
“Already there are voices that dare question the origins of the Malays. They claim that Malays are immigrants, just as they are immigrants. That we are all the same,” he wrote in an editorial piece titled “Orang Melayu sudah tidak peduli dengan bangsa sendiri?” (Malays no longer care for their own race?).
In it, he drew parallels between Kurup’s suggestion and the efforts by the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs (Comango) that was heading local human rights efforts in the recent Universal Periodic Review (UPR) under the auspices of the United Nations last year. Read the rest of this entry »
National reconciliation is the way forward
Posted by Kit in nation building on Wednesday, 26 February 2014, 9:54 am
by Karim Raslan
The Star
February 25, 2014
Change in Malaysia has to be spearheaded by the Malay community, and with this leadership, comes responsibility.
MALAYSIANS are increasingly polarised – especially over race and religion.
At the same time we’ve also lost our sense of humour.
We’ve become dour, over-sensitive killjoys.
The spirit of Lat, Harith Iskandar and Jo Kukuthas has disappeared.
Now, everyone has the right to be proud of their culture and identity.
But we’re suffering today because we all think of ourselves as being “Malay”, “Chinese” or “Indian” before being Malaysian.
So how do we move forward? Read the rest of this entry »
Teacher in school assessment controversy warned, but says this is not for personal glory
by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
February 26, 2014
Teacher Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari was warned that speaking up against the administration could cost him dearly.
His good friends cautioned him. So did his father, a teacher with 15 years’ experience.
“I am not doing this for personal glory,” the teacher caught in the middle of the school-based assessment (SBA) controversy, adding that he was doing this to champion the rights of his overburdened colleagues.
The 29-year-old, who heads the Suara Guru Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM), is adamant about seeing an overhaul to SBA even if he loses his government job along the way.
“Yes, many of my teacher friends and even my father, who was a teacher, told me that action will be taken against me if I spoke up against the Education Ministry.
“And this was proven right recently,” he said, referring to the 24-hour transfer order he received three days ago.
He was transferred to a rural school some 80km away from his previous school in Jerantut, Pahang. Read the rest of this entry »
Kajang and the Anwar-Mahathir showdown
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Kajang by-election, Mahathir, UMNO on Wednesday, 26 February 2014, 6:22 am
– Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
February 25, 2014
When Anwar Ibrahim announces he wants to contest in Kajang, the whole country erupted into a fit. Most affected is the BN side. They don’t know what to do and say. So they shoot at each other.
Ahmad Maslan, the 3.85 CGPA-man, announced that Umno will use Anwar’s sex issue as the main issue. I am sure at the very moment, Kajang inhabitants wake up in the morning to find packages containing various CDs on Anwar’s sexual encounters enclosed. That’s how Umno educate Malays.
Even Dr Mahathir has entered the fray; first by saying that Anwar is only fit to become the menteri besar. As usual his initial response developed into the typical Mahathir vitriol on his onetime protégé turned nemesis.
The whole political saga involving Anwar which sets the country into political turmoil was created in the first place by Mahathir. That is why Mahathir is attacking Anwar. Mahathir knows Anwar will eventually win. So he tries to delay the inevitable. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s NRP is a recipe to abdicate his responsibility as Prime Minister in a plural society but still clinging to the perks of office
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 25 February 2014, 4:24 pm
I was excited when I learned that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has today a blog post entitled “A national reconciliation update”, as I thought it would signal an end to the nine-month hiatus of government after the 13th general elections, with a Prime Minister who seems to be rudderless, leadershipless and directionless especially on the important agenda of nation-building and national unity.
I could not believe my eyes when I read Najib’s blog-post, because it does not inspire hope that there is going to be a new purposeful leadership to end the government drift in the past nine months with an inclusive vision of nation-building, but a recipe for Najib to abdicate his responsibility as Prime Minsiter in a plural society but still clinging to the perks of office!
What was Najib’s answer to the worst racial and religious polarisation in post-13GE compared to any other time in the nation’s 56-year history and which led the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) to warn only last week that the Najib administration’s failure to act swiftly when dealing with racial and religiously sensitive incidents could lead to “serious consequences”? Read the rest of this entry »
Rukunegara
Posted by Kit in nation building on Tuesday, 25 February 2014, 2:19 pm
― Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud
The Malaysian Insider
February 25, 2014
FEB 25 ― I never knew the importance of Rukunegara. It brought no meaning to myself and my friends in school, we memorised the Rukunegara after reciting it every Monday during school assemblies after a few weeks in Darjah Satu and we continued the same routine for years.
Rukunegara was even on the back of every notebooks we owned. Still, I was clueless as to why we had to raise our right hand and recite them every Monday during compulsory school assemblies and I never bothered to find out. I never read about it in books or in the newspapers, although I was a regular Utusan reader back in my teenage years, reading it at my neighbour’s house since my father only buys The Star (I never went a day without reading The Star back then). Our teachers never told us why we even had Rukunegara.
When I was reading law in UiTM, again Rukunegara was never mentioned. Although we can still recite it word by word, we never cared about it, never knew the importance of it, left alone to understand the history, the reason behind Rukunegara and why is it so important to instil the values of Rukunegara in every Malaysians. Even my favourite, patriotic, selfless, constitutional law lecturer never said anything about Rukunegara!
So what is Rukunegara is all about? Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan Rakyat comprising PAS, PKR and DAP representing Malaysians of all races, religions and regions, will spearhead campaign to save Malaysia from traitors who want to destroy Malaysia by incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred and tensions through lies and falsehoods
Posted by Kit in nation building on Tuesday, 25 February 2014, 8:22 am
Pakatan Rakyat comprising PAS, PKR and DAP representing Malaysians of all races, religions and regions, will spearhead campaign to save Malaysia from traitors who want to destroy Malaysia by incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred and tensions through lies and falsehoods
Malaysia after the 13th General Elections nine months ago in May last year is going through its most dangerous times in the nation’s history.
This is because there are in our midst irresponsible and reckless elements, whom I would even call traitors to the nation, who want to pit race against race, religion against religion, to destroy Malaysia by causing racial chaos or religious conflagration through the incessant incitement of racial and religious animosities, hatred, conflicts and tension spouting lies and falsehoods.
What makes the situation very dangerous is we have a government which seems to have lost it duty and political will to uphold the Constitution and be a government for all Malaysians and to act firmly against the merchants and vendors of hate. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin – stop bellyache, just issue a directive cancelling all punitive actions against Nor Izzat and all other teachers for criticising SBA
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday, 24 February 2014, 3:29 pm
I advise the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to stop belly-ache and just to issue a directive to revoke all punitive actions against Suara Guru Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) chief Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari and all other teachers for criticising the student-based assessment (SBA) system.
What is Muhyiddin hoping to achieve by denying that he was involved in transferring Nor Izzat who had spearheaded a protest against the SBA system within 24 hours from Jerantut to a rural school in Pahang last week?
Let me tell Muhyiddin that Malaysians are not interested whether the transfer order came from the district education office or otherwise, but that as Education Minister he must take full and personal responsibility for punitive actions taken against Nor Izzat and all teachers who had criticised the SBA – and that his first duty now is to countermand all the punitive actions which had been issued not only against Nor Izzat but all other teachers who had been penalised for the courage of their convictions in speaking out against the disastrous implementation of SBA. Read the rest of this entry »
All disciplinary action against SGMM chief Nor Izzat and all teachers who criticised SBA should be immediately withdrawn
With the suspension of the controversial School-Based Assessment (SBA), the Education Ministry should also revoke all disciplinary action against Suara Guru Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) chief Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari and all teachers who criticised the SBA.
The heavy-handed response by the Education Ministry to penalise Nor Izzat and teachers who have come forward to criticise the SBA is totally uncalled for and unjustifiable and must be deplored as a very mean and cowardly manner to suppress legitimate criticism in the education service.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should give his personal attention to ensure that all disciplinary actions against Nor Izzat and teachers who had criticised the SBA should be revoked immediately.
The SBA fiasco transforming teachers into data entry clerks, forcing teachers to get up at 2 or 2 am just to input the grades of students because of online network problems, should be an expensive lesson in the so-called educational transformation of the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Cabinet Ministers and senior government leaders need a re-education in Rukunegara as they seemed to have forgotten its principles and objectives
Posted by Kit in Malaysian Dream, nation building on Sunday, 23 February 2014, 3:30 pm
At the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should direct all Cabinet Ministers and senior government leaders to undergo a re-education in the Rukunegara as they seemed to have forgotten the Rukunegara principles and objectives 43 years after their promulgation.
Although the five Rukunegara principles have been taught in the schools in the past four decades, many Malaysians, including the Cabinet Ministers and senior government leaders will not be able repeat them offhand.
The Rukunegar principles are:
BELIEF IN GOD
LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY
UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION
The RULE OF LAW
GOOD BEHAVIOUR AND MORALITY
Karpal’s sedition conviction has brought Malaysia back under international radar as a “rogue nation” in its system of justice
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, Judiciary on Sunday, 23 February 2014, 9:27 am
DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh’s sedition conviction has brought Malaysia back under the international radar as a “rogue nation” in its system of justice.
When a veteran political leader and senior lawyer could be convicted of sedition for stating the law and giving his opinion on the 2008 constitutional crisis in Perak as there was a belief by certain quarters that the rulers enjoyed immunity and no legal action could be taken against them, Malaysia has undone all the “puny” efforts in the past decade to restore national and international respect and confidence in a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law in Malaysia.
The convergence of recent events, with blatant examples of the police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers involved in a series of unprofessional activities and selective prosecutions, have not helped in restoring public esteem in the independence, efficiency and integrity of these two key institutions – and the judiciary – in the nation’s system of justice. Read the rest of this entry »
Is there a high-powered plot to frame me up like Teresa Kok in 2008 so that I could be detained on the ground of being anti-Quran and inciting racial and religious disharmony?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building on Saturday, 22 February 2014, 12:19 pm
I must give credit to the diabolical “cleverness and creativeness” of the UMNO cybertroopers and those committed to incessant incitement of racial and religious animosities, hatred, conflict and tension in recent months to create racial chaos and religious conflagration in coming out with a new accusation against me.
I thought after some 48 years of Malaysian politics, there will be no accusation that had not already been hurled against me and there could be no new accusation against me.
I had been accused of being anti-Malay, anti-Indian, even anti-Chinese of being anti-Chinese Chinese-educated, anti-Chinese English-educated (not yet accused of being anti-Chinese Malay-educated); I have been accused of being anti-Islam, anti-Hindu, anti-Christianity; I have been accused of being a CIA agent, KGB agent, Australian Secret-Service Agent, a Singapore agent even Special Branch agent at home – and anti-nationalist!
I have even been accused of having caused the May 13 riots in 1969 (if so, why have I been allowed to be at large in Parliament and Malaysian politics over four decades) and most disgusting of all, that I have urinated at the flagpole of the then Selangor Mentri Besar’s residence in Kuala Lumpur when in fact I was in Sabah at the time. Read the rest of this entry »
