Insurgency war from 1948 to 1989 a war between ideologies not race
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin on Saturday, 21 September 2013, 11:47 am
by Dr. Chen Man Hin
21.9.2013
The Malaysian government’s continued refusal to allow the remains of deceased Chin Peng to be buried in his home town in Malaysia is a blot on the humanity of Umno leaders.
The reason for their stubborn refusal was that Chin Peng caused the death of thousands of Malay police personnel in the guerrilla war from 1948 to 1989.
It is not true that Chin Ping killed them in cold blood. There was a guerrilla war going on at that time.
Chin Peng was the leader of the Malayan Liberation Front, which was part of the world communist movement.
It is relevant to point out that there was another guerrilla war going on in Vietnam from 1955 to 1975, between the Vietnam National Liberation Front and the American army in Vietnam, with war casualties running into tens of thousands for the Americans and hundreds of thousands for the Vietnamese. Read the rest of this entry »
Chin Peng Deserves a Place in His Country
Posted by Kit in Kee Thuan Chye, Police on Saturday, 21 September 2013, 10:40 am
By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
21.9.2013
The pettiness of the Government has not been so clearly exposed as it is now over the issue of whether the former Communist leader Chin Peng’s ashes should be allowed into Malaysia to be buried in the land he loved and fought for. Even the police – who should have better things to look out for like the increasing incidences of crime – are putting out alerts to prevent the ashes from being brought back from Thailand, where he died. As if these ashes were lethal and could, by some preternatural means, maim the Malaysian populace.
Imagine this. Police personnel stationed at every entry point into Malaysia from Thailand, including at airports, going through the bags of everyone coming in. As if they have nothing better to do. But then, for all we know, the ashes might have been sent to someone in, say, Indonesia instead, and this person comes into Malaysia with it, unchecked. How stupid can it get?
Meanwhile, the authorities still quibble over the trivia that Chin Peng was not Malaysian because he could not produce the necessary documents to prove he was so, but it seems more likely that they did not want to let him return, full stop. Read the rest of this entry »
Pak Samad – always the people’s artist
Posted by Kit in civil society/NGOs, Human Rights, Media on Saturday, 21 September 2013, 10:16 am
By Jose Mario Dolor De Vega
Free Malaysia Today
September 21, 2013
A democratic society seeks to unleash the creativity of all its citizens and to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of its most gifted and dedicated, not otherwise.
COMMENT
I refer to the utterly insightful and undeniably powerful essay of Jeswan Kaur, ‘Pak Samad isn’t the problem here’, published in FMT on Sept 8.
I beg the indulgence of the reader and may I be allowed to add a few words of concurrence and to explicate my own take on the whole matter.
According to the National Cultural Policy of the Australian government, the role of the artist is as follows:
“A democratic society seeks to unleash the creativity of all its citizens and to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of its most gifted and dedicated. The value of creativity is something that is increasingly recognised and valued. Creativity is an essential attribute in an increasing number of occupations.
“The most gifted artists, however, take the ability to imagine, adapt, empathise and collaborate to another level through training, practice, discipline and courage. The extraordinary achievements that come when the most gifted individuals combine capacity and skill is something we recognise.”
From this description, we can deduce that artists are creative people and that their creativity is necessary for the development of one’s society. Further said, creativity is something that must be recognized and valued by the said society that produced the artist. Read the rest of this entry »
Cry, My Beloved Malaysia
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building on Friday, 20 September 2013, 7:30 pm
by Aerie Rahman
The Malay Mail Online
September 16, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 — The framers of our Constitution envisaged Malaya as a nation infused with lofty values. They wanted a secular nation with Islamic characteristics. Provisions were made within this sacred document to safeguard individual liberty.
Equality is enshrined but tempered with Article 153 to reflect the social realities of Malaya. However, the original intention was to make this article temporary and subject to review – which was not to be.
These are the fundamental values that Malaya shared with any other progressive nation: liberty, equality and secularism. Read the rest of this entry »
What more does RoS want?
by Teresa Kok
fz.com
Sep 20, 2013
Yesterday (Sept 19), a RoS ( Registrar of Societies) spokesman was reported in The Star as saying that DAP has failed to deliver to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) original letters from the 500 delegates who were allegedly unable to participate in last year’s party polls.
The spokesman said it has been a month since the DAP leadership claimed to have the letters that will help clear the air on allegations that 753 delegates were denied of their right to vote but DAP has yet to submit them.
I want to first ask a question which reflects the indignant sentiment of many DAP members and supporters – “What more does RoS want?”
When RoS directed the DAP to hold fresh Central Executive Committee’s (CEC) election, does it not mean that he has completed the investigations into complaints against the party, despite the fact that the complaints are baseless and malicious?
By asking for the letters, is the RoS saying that the department has not completed its investigation? Then why was the instruction to DAP to order a fresh CEC election? Read the rest of this entry »
Fed-up of broken promises, threats, Orang Asli men speak their mind at Tribunal
Posted by Kit in Elections, Indigenous people on Friday, 20 September 2013, 12:47 pm
By Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
September 20, 2013
Broken promises, deplorable living conditions and threats have spurred six Orang Asli from villages in Kuala Lipis, Pahang, to travel for at least 12 hours to Kuala Lumpur to testify in the Bersih People’s Tribunal.
Norman a/l Kong took two hours from his village – Kampung Pos Senderut – to the nearest tarred road, for a bus, then another eight hours from the road to KL while Kampung Regang’s Sani a/l Sobang took longer.
They are one of hundreds of villagers from deep within Kuala Lipis, which comes under the Cameron Highlands constituency, who are disheartened with the lack of amenities that were promised to them time and time again by the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates before every general election.
Worse, the villagers claim that they were “threatened” and “forced” to vote for BN. Read the rest of this entry »
One positive statement regarding Umno please
Zan Azlee
The Malaysian Insider
September 20, 2013
My colleague, Dzulfitri Yusop, a fellow journalist, asked me yesterday if I could make one positive statement about Umno or name one positive member of Umno.
I laughed. Too many people like to assume that I am anti-establishment just for the sake of being anti-establishment all of the time without being rational.
So I thought really hard to come up with a positive statement to show that I was not one of those ABU (Asalkan Bukan Umno, or Anything But Umno) people. We have to always keep an open mind, right?
Quite some time passed by and I still could not think of anything positive to say about the party aside from it being formed in my home state of Johor. Read the rest of this entry »
Déjà vu
Posted by Kit in Elections, nation building on Friday, 20 September 2013, 8:55 am
Kapil Sethi
The Malay Mail Online
September 19, 2013
SEPT 19 — Enforcement officers attempt to demolish parts of a Hindu shrine. The row over the use of the word Allah intensifies. Sermons proclaim that the social contract is non-negotiable. More travellers die in express buses. A headmistress in Shah Alam asks her Chinese pupils to go back to China. The prime minister hopes that Utusan Malaysia continues to prosper. It comes to light that some schools are installing CCTVs in toilets.
Rewind to approximately three years ago. A temple is to be relocated. People bring a cow’s head and desecrate it. A High Court judgement allows Christians to use the word Allah and a firestorm erupts. The NEM is revealed, roundly criticised for diluting the social contract and promptly shelved. More travellers die in express buses. A headmistress in Johor asks her Chinese pupils to go back to China. Utusan Malaysia continues its rhetoric. There are calls in Terengganu for 1 Malaysia toilets to be used by both sexes.
While it looks like that in addition to road safety and privacy, in the area of race and religious relations there is no change, in reality it points to a deterioration rather than stasis. Instead of broad social cohesion punctuated by a few incidents of chauvinism, the situation seems to be turning on its head.
Instead of a gradual levelling of the playing field and an emphasis on merit and needs over communal privilege given the steady economic rise of Malaysia, what is being witnessed is growing stridency in asserting the permanence of majority privileges fuelling rising discontent among the minority.
But is this deterioration in race and religious relations in Malaysia mirrored elsewhere? Are the economy and public policy impacted by this, even the wider political system? Read the rest of this entry »
Anwar tells of special task force to issue ICs to foreigners in Sabah
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir, Sabah on Thursday, 19 September 2013, 5:05 pm
by Lee Shi-Ian
The Malaysian Insider
September 19, 2013
The Royal Commission of Inquiry on Sabah’s illegal immigrants problem today heard from Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that indiscriminate issuance of Malaysian identity cards had begun during the time of second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.
Anwar, the Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 until his dramatic sacking in 1998, Ibrahim, told the Inquiry that between 1972 and 1984, there was an influx of refugees fleeing fighting in the southern Philippines.
The refugees were granted identity cards indiscriminately between 1979 and 1990, said Anwar, who said a special task force was formed by the National Security Council for this purpose.
“The task force is still active today,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
A matter of human dignity
Posted by Kit in Education, Human Rights on Thursday, 19 September 2013, 4:52 pm
by KJ John
Malaysiakini
Sep 17, 2013
I was touched and moved by Marina Mahathir’s excellent treatise on the value of human dignity in her most recent column in The Star. Hers related to our school system. That motivated me to share my own experience and that of my two sons in our school system.
My experience of abuse
First my own experience given that I am now already 63 years old. Yes, when I was in Form Two, in the Ibrahim Secondary School of Sungai Petani, one afternoon, my friend Gobalkrishnan and I went to play basketball in our school. We borrowed the school basketball which was kept by the canteen operator after signing our names in the book.
While we were making hoop shots a younger student in school uniform came and asked to take the basketball for his class because his teacher wanted the ball for his PE class. We said no, as we had borrowed and signed for it.
After a while the class teacher turned up with the same boy and asked for the ball; I said the same thing that we had signed up for the ball to play. He slapped me across the face and threw the ball at my friend’s head. Then they walked away with our ball! Read the rest of this entry »
Why are our English teaching standards so low?
Khairie Hisyam Aliman
The Malay Mail Online
September 16, 2013
SEPT 16 — Recently we heard that out of 60,000 English teachers nationwide, about 70 per cent of them did poorly when sitting for the English Language Cambridge Placement Test.
Last Monday, Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said these English language teachers, classified as “unfit” to teach the subject, had been sent to courses to improve their command of English.
“The ministry will also consider sending them overseas for exchange programmes to take up TESL (Teaching of English as a Second Language) courses,” a news report quoted him as saying, while adding that a good portion of these teachers had enrolled in local English courses.
Well, now talk last year of Malaysia possibly importing English teachers from India is put in a different perspective. But the core of the problem is also brought to light — what’s up with our teacher recruitment process?
While I am all for continuous self-improvement whatever your job title is, these “unfit” teachers have no business teaching English in the first place. If they are unfit to teach English to our kids and have to be trained further to be good enough, how is it that they became English teachers in the first place? Read the rest of this entry »
The Moon-Cake Festival
by Allan CF Goh
Up in the blissful autumn night,
Hanging by the majestic pines,
The silvery moon proudly shines,
Sprouting her divine light so fine.
The serene lake tries valiantly,
To mirror the moon’s bright splendor,
By reflecting a rounded light,
Water-dancing in paired ardour. Read the rest of this entry »
Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Plan – Najib’s double-barrelled repudiation of the New Economic Model and 1Malaysia policy
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 18 September 2013, 3:03 pm
The 50th Malaysia Day had been the most troubling Malaysian anniversary since it was declared a public holiday four years ago, for only two days earlier, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had virtually renounced his reformist credentials as Prime Minister for all Malaysians as well as the torch-bearer for national transformation, whether governmental, political or economic.
Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Najib’s announcement of the RM31 billion Bumiputra Economic Enforcement Plan two days before Malaysia Day was “a very lucky day” and “the most-awaited event”, and it is understandable why Muhyiddin was so elated, for it marked the triumph of his “Malay first, Malaysian second” stand and the ignominous trouncing of Najib’s 1Malaysia policy in less than four years.
It was in March 2010 that I challenged Muhyiddin and all the Cabinet Ministers at the time whether they fully supported Najib’s 1Malaysia Policy, reminding them that the goal of 1Malaysia as spelt out by the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme Roadmap was “to make Malaysia ….a greater nation: a nation where, it is hoped, every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second and where the principles of 1Malaysia are woven into the economic, political and social fabric of society”.
I had specifically asked Muhyiddin and all the Cabinet Ministers whether they were prepared to declare that they were “Malaysian first” and their race second.
There was total silence from all the Cabinet Ministers at the time after Muhyiddin had declared that he was “Malay first” and then only a Malaysian.
It is pathetic that in the past four years, there was only one UMNO Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who dared to publicly declare that he is Malaysian first and Malay second.
Even Najib himself had never ever declared that he is “Malaysian first, Malay second” despite his proclamation of the 1Malaysia signature policy in the past four years. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia gets “very high risk” corruption ranking in procurement of defence equipment
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Defence, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 18 September 2013, 12:13 pm
by Jennifer Gomez
The Malaysian Insider
September 18, 2013
There is a “very high” risk of corruption taking place in Malaysia in the procurement of defence equipment, according to an international study by Transparency International UK’s Defence and Security Programme (TI-DSP).
Malaysia scored 25.14 out of 100 in a 6-band rank which exhibits “very high” risk of corruption among 21 other countries.
The other countries in the study were Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Palestine, Pakistan, Rwanda, Singapore, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
“Malaysia’s band ranking went from “D” – high to “E” – very high,” the statement noted.
With the latest findings, local anti-graft watchdog Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) is urging the Ministry of Defence to abandon its practice of direct negotiations with certain parties and instead carry out open tenders.
It also called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration to submit an annual budget, which includes the defence budget, to Parliament for debate, consideration and approval.
This, TI-M said, would allow citizens to know how their tax money is being spent and also avoid outdated military equipment being purchased at very high cost. Read the rest of this entry »
Land of scandalous possibilities
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh on Wednesday, 18 September 2013, 11:48 am
– Martin Jalleh
The Malaysian Insider
September 16, 2013
Today, we celebrate our land of (a)
Forced patriotism
Façade of a multi-racial-religious nation
Foisted respect for the authorities
Failing and fading social fabric
Fabricating and spinning media
Fictitious and twisted history
Fogged education policy
Flagging international image
Fear and favour causing high brain drain Read the rest of this entry »
Where is my government?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Good Governance, nation building on Tuesday, 17 September 2013, 11:34 pm
— Malaysians for Malaysia
The Malay Mail Online
September 17, 2013
SEPT 17 — As a taxpayer of more than 3 decades I am increasingly disillusioned by the present government. I am not able to call them “my” government as they do not support me or my needs. I can very clearly see the Government of the Malays and the Muslims but I am not able to see the government of the Chinese, Ibans, Indians, Kadazans, Orang Asli and the rest of us.
My hard earned tax ringgit are being used to pay the wages of the Malay majority civil servant (in excess of 90 per cent), build numerous suraus in every government building, finance government projects that benefit their rich families and friends, etc. But why are my needs, and those of my sisters and brothers of other ethnic origins and religious persuasions, not supported? It would be good to see a breakdown of tax contribution by ethnicity. It would be no surprise to see that the majority of our taxes are contributed by Malaysians who are ignored by this government.
I see the government speaking up and fighting for Malay and Muslim rights. But why do they not defend my basic human rights? Why are my needs ignored? Why are my rights trampled on by the government? Recently the minister of the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry was very quick to act against employers who discriminate against women wearing the ‘tudung’ (Muslim headgear) as employees. But why is there no similar response to all the ethnic and religious injustice meted out to those of us from different ethnic and religious persuasions? Read the rest of this entry »
Najib Has Set Us Back 40 Years
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, NEM, NEP, UMNO on Tuesday, 17 September 2013, 7:08 pm
By Kee Thuan Chye
msn.com
16 Sept 2013
Najib Razak shows once again that his actions are often driven by his own paramount desire to stay in power. He’s about to be challenged for the position of Umno party president soon or returned unopposed, a situation that will also determine whether he retains the position of prime minister. Most likely, from the look of things, he won’t be challenged, but he still needs to consolidate the reason he should stay on as president. So last Saturday, he abandoned his 1Malaysia slogan to announce a Bumiputera economic empowerment plan that is obviously designed to win him support from the ethnic community that patronises his party. He exposed his own contradiction and reaffirmed what we have come to see as his real belief – that he doesn’t care what means he uses as long as he achieves his end.
By his action, Najib also shows yet again that he is a flip-flopper. He has apparently forsaken his New Economic Model, which was introduced in 2010 to phase out the outdated New Economic Policy (NEP) in favour of affirmative action based on needs rather than race, and make Malaysia more competitive and investor-friendly. But now with the new Bumiputera economic empowerment plan – to which he is dedicating a whopping RM31 billion, to be dished out in the form of loans, contracts and programmes – it looks like he is reinforcing rent-seeking, which will retard sustainable growth.
By his action, Najib has set us back 40 years – to 1971, when the NEP was introduced. He has fortified the idea that there are two classes of citizens in Malaysia – Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputeras – thereby totally subverting his 1Malaysia stance. But whereas one of the stated objectives of the NEP was to eradicate poverty, Najib’s Bumiputera economic empowerment plan is not aimed at helping the needy. It seems to be providing crutches even for those who don’t need them. Read the rest of this entry »
Former foes hold no grudges against Chin Peng, they want to move on
by Eileen Ng and Diyana Ibrahim
The Malaysian Insider
September 16, 2013
Two former policemen who fought Chin Peng and his communist troops have called on the public to move on, with one saying that he was sad over the death of a “friend”.
Former Special Branch deputy director Tan Sri Yuen Yuet Leng who led the fight against the communists, said he has come to terms with the Malayan Emergency and considers Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leader Chin Peng a friend.
“I lost a friend, an enemy who became a friend. Rest in peace my friend,” said Yuen.
After the signing of the 1989 Peace Accord in Haadyai, Thailand, between CPM leaders and government officials representing Malaysia and Thailand, both Yuen and Chin Peng were seen talking and joking with each other, surprising those who were present.
One of them asked Yuen, “Don’t you have resentment against this man?” – referring to the feared Communist leader.
“I turned to Chin Peng and asked him whether he wanted to answer the question. He said no and asked me to answer instead.
“I said: we tried to kill each other (previously) but today, we are alive and in Haadyai, so where’s the resentment?” he told The Malaysian Insider in a telephone interview today.
Yuen said there were no hard feelings between them as each was working for the people in their own way. Read the rest of this entry »
Hari Malaysia
Posted by Kit in nation building on Monday, 16 September 2013, 3:11 pm
Video by Pete Teo
In Malaysia, Sarawakians look for a fairer deal
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building, Sarawak on Monday, 16 September 2013, 7:18 am
by Desmond Davidson
The Malaysian Insider
September 14, 2013
Only three years ago and 47 years after the formation of Malaysia did the 2.4 million people of Sarawak, together with those in Sabah and the peninsula, mark the birth of the country on a national scale.
This year will be the fourth such celebration. But how do Sarawakians feel about what should arguably be the country’s most important national event?
“There’s something lacking. I’ve never felt the spirit of Malaysia Day,” was 50-year-old paraplegic Josh John’s reply to The Malaysian Insider in Sarawak’s capital city, Kuching.
To this former accountant, who lives in the city’s Batu Kawa suburb, every Malaysia Day is “just another holiday”.
John (pic) attributed the lack of feeling for Malaysia Day to the government’s failure to emphasise how important it is.
“To this day, the government still places emphasis on the importance of Malaya’s independence from the British rather than the historically more significant event – the birth of the country.
“So what do I think of Malaysia Day? Not much,” said the father of one, who became wheelchair bound after suffering a viral attack to his spinal column that left him paralysed 17 years ago.
Violet Yong, a DAP assemblywoman, also cannot understand why Hari Merdeka continues to be more important than Malaysia Day.
“Why is August 31, the Malaya independence day and which has nothing to do with Sabah and Sarawak, an event still more important than Malaysia Day?” she asked.
“The emphasis should be on September 16 rather than August 31,” she said. Read the rest of this entry »
