Is the dissemination of racist lies, poison and incitement, regardless of the harm to Malaysian nation-building, the surest way to high votes and influence in the upcoming UMNO party elections?
There has recently been an unprecedented outpouring of racist lies, poison and incitement in Umno media and social media, whether facebook, twitter or blog, raising the question:
Is the dissemination of racist lines, poison and incitement, regardless of the harm to Malaysian nation-building, the surest way to high votes and influence in the upcoming UMNO party elections?
Two days ago, the UMNO official newspaper, Utusan Malaysia carried a report quoting a former Umno deputy minister, Dr. Mohd Fuad Zarkashi making the accusation that the DAP’s criticism of the film “Tanda Putera” “samata-mata ingin menyembunyi kebiadapan Penasihat DAP, Lim Kit Siang yang bertindak kencing di depan rumah Menteri Besar Selangor ketika peristiwa 13 Mei 1969”. (Utusan Malaysia 7.9.13 p.13)
How can the former Umno deputy minister say, and Utusan Malaysia publish, such dastardly falsehood, when this is a most irresponsible and downright lie?
I was never in Kuala Lumpur at any time during the May 13, 1969 racial riots, and the director of Tanda Putera, Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba had claimed that the fabricated urination incident in her film was her “creative licence” in her fictitious account of the May 13, 1969 racial riots!
This is not an isolated instance, as there had been a recent spate of malicious lies and falsehoods in UMNO media and social media, like the blog post of former Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin last Tuesday (3rd September 2013), accusing me of having “sowed the seeds of death” in causing the May 13, 1969 riots.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tanda Putera, a replacement for Bukit Kepong
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Monday, 9 September 2013, 11:11 am
— Ravinder Singh
The Malay Mail Online
September 9, 2013
SEPT 9 — “Tanda Putera” was not a natural birth. In contrast, I believe, “Bukit Kepong” was.
“Bukit Kepong” was a film made in 1981 and based on an incident in Bukit Kepong in 1950. It portrayed a historical fact and was not produced with any ulterior motive.
However, certain vested interests saw how it could be put to political use. It became the prime weapon in the election campaigns of the ruling coalition. For the next several elections it became “mandatory” viewing by the electorate starting a few weeks before each election, and almost to the eve of the election.
The TV screening of the film was calculated to “motivate” the voters into supporting the ruling coalition to ensure a “peaceful” future. If not, another Bukit Kepong could happen again.
Impulses reaching the brain through the sense of sight are very powerful. They account for about 80 per cent of all that the mind absorbs. So, screening of the film at the critical hour before the elections was a calculated strategy to condition the minds of the viewers to believe something and react accordingly at the ballot box. It was mind-conditioning.
Having been used for campaigning purposes at a few elections, it had become stale. This is when someone got a brainwave to produce a designer movie to replace Bukit Kepong. This brainwave, I believe, did not originate in Shuhaimi Baba’s mind. It had to be the mind of a master strategist, as far as election campaigning goes, that came up with it. Read the rest of this entry »
In search of lost truth
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Monday, 9 September 2013, 8:53 am
Aerie Rahman
The Malay Mail Online
September 6, 2013
SEPT 6 — The polemical Tanda Putera was screened a few days ago to mixed reviews. I dislike reading reviews before experiencing the said movie/book/concert myself as it conditions my mind to see things according to the reviewer.
However, since Tanda Putera didn’t make it to any cinemas in London and probably won’t ever, I read and listened to reviews to get a glimpse of all the fuss.
What piques my interest about this film is the brouhaha surrounding it. Some people are angered at the RM4.5 million grant it received. Some are angered at how it masquerades itself as a historical film when some parts are purely fictional. Some are just angry.
At the heart of the controversy there is actually a contest: a contestation of the truth as to what really occurred on that fateful day of May 13, 1969, the contextual considerations that triggered the violence and the subsequent events that unfolded after that day.
Most people are unsure and uncertain about this black spot in our history. Materials on this topic are insufficient.
Since the truth is unclear, people start to formulate their own versions of the truth. I can’t blame them; the truth is after all elusive and relative. The truth is liable to be subjected to various interpretations and manipulations to suit the ears of the hearer and wishes of the maker.
Films such as Tanda Putera are controversial because it is perceived as being intellectually dishonest by telling only one side of the story. The huge subsidy demonstrates the government’s power in the production of a certain historical narrative. Read the rest of this entry »
Setpol Encik Lim Kit Siang dan UITM
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, DAP, UMNO on Sunday, 8 September 2013, 10:58 pm
– Sakmongkol
The Malaysian Insider
September 08, 2013
Apa sudah jadi kepada pemimpin Umno? Respons mereka terhadap isu-isu yang dibangkitkan sejak akhir-akhir ini dibuat dalam keadaan hysteria.
Dua minggu lalu, bila Anwar Ibrahim mencadangkan perbincangan meja bulat, cadangan tersebut dibaca sebagai cadangan menubuhkan kerajaan perpaduan.
Anwar Ibrahim mengajak pemimpin Umno yang bengap untuk berbincang mengenai polarisasi kaum, mengenai rasuah, mengenai pengurusan ekonomi negara, mengenai jinayah dalam negara dan perkara2 umpanya.
Perkara yang mudah ini pun pemimpin Umno tidak faham sebab diserang penyakit sawan babi dan hysteria.
Pemimpin-pemimpin PAS pun saya harap fahamlah dahulu cadangan Anwar itu. Ini bukan kerajaan perpaduan.
Bukan untuk bergabung dengan Umno. Tak ada orang hendak bergabung dengan Umno. Umno parti fiudal, rasuah dan rasis dan zalim kepada orang Melayu.
Kita bukan ingin bergabung, kita hendak lawan Umno sampai Umno kalah. Kita hendak memerdekakan orang Melayu dari perhambaan Umno yang feudal ini. Read the rest of this entry »
“Useless” research — the seed of great breakthroughs
– K Ranga Krishnan
The Malaysian Insider
September 06, 2013
A few weeks ago, as I was preparing to welcome our new batch of students to Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, I came across a wonderful and thought-provoking paper by Abraham Flexner — the educator whose report a century ago revolutionised medical education worldwide — titled The Usefulness of Useless Research.
I was struck by the clarity of the paper’s exposition on how research driven by curiosity leads to unexpected advances.
Flexner wrote this article in 1939 to address the growing discussion on why research has to be useful, a discourse that is happening to this day.
He recounts an illustrative interview that he had with George Eastman of Eastman Kodak fame. Flexner asked him who he thought was the most useful worker in science. Eastman said Guglielmo Marconi, the man credited with using wireless waves to produce the radio.
Flexner then pointed out to Eastman that the real credit belonged to James Clerk Maxwell, who predicted and developed the underlying principles of electromagnetism, and others like Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, who detected and demonstrated these electromagnetic waves.
Neither of these men had any thought about how their work would be useful. Read the rest of this entry »
A DAP man tells how Malaysia’s future “is tied to the BN”
by Sheridan Mahavera
The Malaysian Insider
September 07, 2013
By his own admission, Anthony Loke Siew Fook “ditakdirkan” to join the DAP.
“I started being interested in current affairs since I was in primary school,” says the 36-year-old Seremban native who went to St Paul’s primary and secondary schools.
His father was a DAP member, his nanny’s husband was a member, while his other family members and neighbours were all supporters. A teenage Loke also looked on DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang as a hero.
This was more than two decades ago, when opposition parties and their members were considered eccentric.
“Next to my father’s old shop in Temiang was a newspaper vendor. I remember squatting there everyday to read Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian and (the now defunct) Watan.
“That was at a time Utusan was critical and balanced,” laughs Loke, saying his favourite sections were politics and sports.
“I always read the politics section first”. Read the rest of this entry »
Is helping fellow Malaysians racist, Kit Siang’s aide asks Noh Omar
by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
September 07, 2013
Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, one of DAP’s young and upcoming leaders, has challenged former Cabinet minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar to point out how helping Malaysians get a tertiary education could make her racist.
The Umno Selangor state liaison chief and other politicians had criticised the political secretary to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang after she proposed that an institution like Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) be set up for non-Malays.
“First of all, I did not say that we should open UiTM to the non-Bumis. In the interview I mentioned that we should have something like UiTM for the non-Bumis,” she told The Malaysian Insider late last night in Kuala Lumpur.
In an earlier interview with the Malaysiakini news portal, Dyana said a higher learning education institution like UiTM should be set up for non-Malays. She said she felt sorry for her non-Malay friends who were denied the right to pursue their education at higher learning institutions. Read the rest of this entry »
Anwar Ibrahim & reformasi: From the eyes of an ordinary citizen
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Pakatan Rakyat on Friday, 6 September 2013, 1:43 pm
– Anas Alam Faizli
The Malaysian Insider
September 06, 2013
“No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones.” (Nelson Mandela)
Growing up, I remember sifting through my father’s collection of old newspaper clips. One reported that a certain persona by the name of Anwar Ibrahim was about to join Umno. That paper clip was from 1982.
Many in Anwar’s circles and followers at the time viewed him as their next hope for a leader that could strongly challenge the government. Needless to say that move to join Umno was not welcomed by many; my mum, a member of JIM included. In 1996, while tabling the budget in Parliament -an annual event where I await with bated breath for him to introduce a new vocabulary – a practice he was famous for – Anwar was surprisingly spotting noticeable breakouts.
Mum responded “Baru nak matang lah tu…(he is probably just about to mature…).” The consternation she felt then remained.
The financial crisis a year later shook most of the tender South East Asian economies, while Anwar was at the pinnacle of his political career. I did not really understand my parent’s remark then about how Anwar would soon “get it”. I soon did.
I watched 2nd September 1998 unravel on television while I was on campus down south. I will never forget that moment; sitting down dumbfounded trying to gather my thoughts.
From then onwards, keeping track of Anwar’s ceramahs around the country, news and developments, became daily affairs. Anwar’s famous: “Ini adalah konspirasi dan fitnah jahat untuk membunuh karier politik saya”– echoed in mind every day. Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s ban the purple dinosaur
A tongue-in-cheek piece
by Sheela R
It takes so little to offend these days. Be it a movie, a book, an artwork or even a rock concert, it has become almost fashionable to denounce slightest aberration to our perceived high moral standards.
I for one, am deeply offended by the sight of a particular purple dinosaur, making its appearance on pre-schoolers’ television programmes. Let me elucidate with well-thought-out points, one by one.
It is purple in colour. It is a well-known fact from Stephen Spielberg’s movies that dinosaurs are brown and perhaps yellow, but definitely not purple. (Well he is as good an authority as any other and, being Malaysian, you will surely excuse me for the shoddy and completely unsubstantiated research.) We are misleading pre-schoolers with this erroneous fact and worse, there lies a danger that they may grow up wanting to dress as gender-neutral purple dinosaurs. Do I detect a certain derision in you? Well I am merely following the example set by our well-meaning officials, who choose to ban performing artists on account of their dressing, for fear of corrupting our Malaysian youth with their sartorial tastes. Read the rest of this entry »
Institutionalised racism?
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Thursday, 5 September 2013, 9:50 pm
KJ John
Malaysiakini
Sep 3, 2013
I also have a dream. Martin Luther King Jr had the original dream for the US of A from 50 years ago, which we all remembered recently together with CNN; it was the same year we also became Malaysia.
As we move into the second half century, after 50 years of nationhood; my dream is that we may yet become 1Bangsa of Malaysians.
In other words, I have a dream of One Nation, One People; a nation-state made of one single class and category of Malaysian citizens; wherein the sun shines equally on every Malaysian without ethnicity, religious or cultural considerations; including all who are citizens, even if by the backdoor as we already heard from the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) in Sabah.
But, who or what is our greatest current stumbling block. I agree totally with Brother Haris Ibrahim about his premise and thesis: that it is Umno’s agenda to realise a Ketuanan Melayu nation-state which remains the most important and detrimental factor in realising our one Bangsa of Malaysians dream. Why do I say also this?
Let me simply review how this misdirected but strategic intent was “evolved into what is now called the Biro Tatanegara or National Civics Bureau (BTN) by all promoters of that skewed agenda.” Some fringe groups supported by a former president of Umno today already sing the same tune today, every day.
Where did BTN and Ketuanan Melayu agenda start? Read the rest of this entry »
East Malaysia: primus inter pares
By James Chin, Guest Contributor
New Mandala
4 September 2013
Last Saturday Malaysia celebrated her 56th year of independence in Dataran Merdeka in central Kuala Lumpur.
Many people in East Malaysia, however, may not be celebrating. Why? 31th August is the date of independence for Malaya but not the Malaysian federation. The fact is, the federation of Malaysia was proclaimed on 16th September 1963, and the federation of Malaysia is 50 years old, not 56. This simple fact is often ignored by Putrajaya much to the annoyance of East Malaysians.
When Najib Tun Razak became Malaysia’s prime minister in 2009, he declared that 16thSeptember is be called “Malaysia Day” and added it as a public holiday in the country. Prime Minister Najib’s concession was no doubt linked to the 2008 general elections when voters from East Malaysia helped Barisan Nasional to retain power when voters in the peninsula abandoned the BN.
While recognition of 16th September is welcomed in East Malaysia, the bigger issues for most East Malaysians are the ‘20 Points’ and political recognition that East Malaysia should treated as an equal partner, not merely two of the 13 states in the federation. Read the rest of this entry »
RoS DG’s statement that DAP members should not “harbor false hopes” of forming new party if DAP is deregistered now makes sense as it is proof he had been on acting the script of Umno/BN DDD squad
Now the pieces are falling into place, and the totally unwarranted statement by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) Director-General Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman in the Star of 26th July telling DAP members not to harbor “false hopes” of forming a new party if the DAP is de-registered by the RoS is making sense.
DAP leaders and members had been mystified by Abdul Rahman’s end-of-July statement “out of the blue”, for the notion of forming a new party if the DAP is deregistered had never been raised or entertained by anyone in the DAP, whether leadership or membership, as there could be no plausible ground for the deregistration of the DAP.
Three allegations had been cited by the highly-funded Umno/BN “DDD” (Demolish/Destroy DAP) campaign in the first seven months of the year to question the validity of the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections at the DAP Congress in Penang last December, but none of them had been able to withstand scrutiny despite the mysterious last-minute publication of a scurrilous and defamatory booklet packing some 100 lies and falsehoods against the DAP in 12 pages.
Although this booklet of lies is by a phantom “Father Augustus Chen”, it is distributed nationally in four languages, Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese and Tamil, and given widest publicity in the Umno-BN controlled media, whether print, radio and television, despite being an illegal publication without identifying the printer and publisher! Read the rest of this entry »
Tanda Putera fails to honour Tun Razak
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building, Zairil Khir Johari on Thursday, 5 September 2013, 10:49 am
by Zairil Khir Johari
5 September 2013
I am disappointed in Tanda Putera’s failure to honour Tun Razak’s achievements.
According to the Malaysiakini articled titled “Zam: DAP irate as its logo stands out in Tanda Putera” dated 4 September 2013, former minister of information Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin is quoted as saying that the DAP is against the film because the party’s logo is prominently displayed in the film’s controversial May 13, 1969 racial riot scene.
I would like to state that I have seen the film, and having done so, I admit that I am sorely disappointed. However, my dissatisfaction against the film stems not so much from the fact that the DAP was constantly maligned (indeed, our logo appeared to be omnipresent in most of the racial riot scenes, although there was no direct reference linking the party to the riots). This is because I had expected nothing less than a perversion of reality, as how the DAP has been constantly victimised and misrepresented in recent times, most notably over the CEC election.
I was also not surprised by the grossly unfair and one-sided portrayal of the Chinese as the main instigators of the racial riots. That too was expected, considering the film was fully funded by a RM4.8 million grant from FINAS (National Film Development Corporation) and MDEC (Multimedia Development Corporation). After all, race-baiting and provocation is everyday fare for the BN-controlled mainstream media. Read the rest of this entry »
Citation for Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Thursday, 5 September 2013, 10:18 am
– Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
The Malaysian Insider
September 04, 2013
Corruption is a social cancer. It undermines development, erodes public trust in government, weakens the state, and infects the morals of society. It is an urgent concern, particularly in developing nations that can ill afford its cost. One such nation is Indonesia, for many years ranked among “the most corrupt countries in the world.” Today, however, Indonesia has embarked on one of the world’s most admired campaigns against corruption.
Rampant and systemic corruption has long been a festering issue in Indonesia. Since the 1950s, the Indonesian government formed different anti-corruption bodies, but these were mostly short-lived showcase pieces, sabotaged by the lack of serious political will.
Then, amid the collapse of the thirty-two year Soeharto regime, Indonesians decided they had had enough, and resolved to take the problem by the horns. With the initiative of civil society and pressure from international organizations, the Indonesian government passed a law in 2002 creating Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK), or the Corruption Eradication Commission.
An independent government body, KPK is enabled by a strongly-crafted law premised on the conviction that corruption is an extraordinary problem that needs to be tackled by extraordinary means.
Thus KPK has a far-reaching mandate, exercising exceptional powers that range from investigation and prosecution to prevention and the coordination of agencies authorized to combat corruption. It can conduct searches and seizures, freeze assets, impose travel bans, compel cooperation from government agencies, and even intercept communications without prior judicial approval. Its powers are such that a civic leader remarked, upon the law’s passage, that politicians were “inviting a tiger into their house.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tanda Putera: History or fiction?
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Thursday, 5 September 2013, 12:32 am
Mahdzir Ibrahim
Free Malaysia Today
September 4, 2013
How can Finas justify this work by Shuhaimi Baba, investing millions of ringgit and in the process jeopardising our racial harmony. For what? The truth?
COMMENT
I’ve watched Tanda Putera. Aside from wanting to know what the hype was about this film, I considered the price of the ticket as my contribution in support local filmmakers. Hopefully, the small amount I paid, to some extent, will be able to help develop the local film industry.
According to media reports, Tanda Putera cost around RM4.5 million, with the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) contributing RM2.5 million and the Multimedia Development Corporation RM2 million, excluding sponsorship from GLCs such as MAS.
With that huge amount of investment, the technical aspects of the film was far from satisfying. The quality of computer generated images were messy. The settings, props and costumes also fell short of capturing the atmosphere of the 60/70s era, unlike Bukit Kepong or Leftenan Adnan. Is it because the producers wanted to save on budget?
After watching it, I wondered if the film was about the history of May 13, or something else?
There were the infamous scenes depicting youths urinating on a flag pole. But, it’s not clear if this incident really took place or derived from historical facts. If true, where and what is the source? Before this, we never heard about it. So we want to know the facts, either from police reports or notes by historians.
It is not clear from the scene where the flag pole is located. Was is it in the compound of Harun Idris’ (Selangor Chief Minister) residence or at the government office or a hawkers area? If it is linked to the residence, it’s probably an assumption just because the pole is flying the Selangor flag. Or, is the urination scene a figment of the director’s imagination?
According to an eyewitness account by one Habib Ahmad, based in Kampung Baru at that time, it is almost impossible that the incident took place in the Menteri Besar’s residence. Read the rest of this entry »
Regime crisis, not just a ‘race riot’
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building, NEP on Wednesday, 4 September 2013, 11:27 pm
— Clive Kessler
The Malay Mail Online
September 3, 2013
SEPT 3 — A regime crisis, a complete implosion of the then existing national ruling formula and framework: that, and not a “race riot”, was what occurred in May 1969.
And that fact, that distinction, needs to be emphasised and repeated.
Even now.
Especially now.
Now that Tanda Putra is being widely screened, amidst heated and acrimonious controversy.
A regime crisis, not just a “race riot”: that is a truth that has long been denied and is still routinely resisted.
But is it an essential truth that cannot forever be evaded.
Tanda Putera – Filem sejarah atau fiksyen?
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Wednesday, 4 September 2013, 6:08 pm
Oleh Mahdzir Ibrahim
Roketkini.com
31.8.13
Filem Tanda Putera telah pun saya tonton di pawagam. Selain mahu melihat sendiri gembar-gembur tentang filem ini, ia juga saya anggap sebagai sumbangan peribadi saya kepada penerbit filem tersebut demi menyokong kemajuan filem tempatan. Mudah-mudahan dengan wang tiket yang saya bayar itu, sedikit sebanyak akan dapat membantu memajukan lagi filem tempatan.
Saya sebagai penonton mempunyai pandangan sendiri, saya akan cuba berlaku adil menilai filem ini.
Menurut laporan media, kos filem ini sekitar RM 4.5 juta, ia dibiayai oleh Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional Malaysia (FINAS) sebanyak RM2.5 juta dan RM2 juta lagi daripada Perbadanan Kemajuan Multimedia (MDeC). Tidak termasuk penajaan dari syarikat kerajaan seperti syarikat penerbangan Malaysia (MAS).
Dengan kos tersebut, saya fikir hasil dari aspek teknikalnya tidaklah begitu memuaskan. Penggunaan teknik CGI atau Computer Generated Image yang digunakan tidak sempurna dan tidak kemas malah jika difikir-fikirkan, ianya tidak perlu bagi filem sebegini. Namun terpulanglah kepada pengarah kerana itu haknya.
Begitu juga dalam dalam aspek rekabentuk produksi, props dan costume. Ia tidak cukup sempurna untuk menggambarkan suasana di zaman tersebut sedangkan filem ini berlatarkan suasana diera 60/70an. Jauh bezanya dengan props dan costume filem Bukit Kepong atau Leftenan Adnan. Adakah kerana penerbitnya ingin berjimat, kita tidak pasti.
Selepas menonton, saya tertanya-tanya adakah filem ini mahu bercerita tentang sejarah 13 Mei atau apa? Read the rest of this entry »
Is Pak Samad a hardcore criminal or terrorist?
– Tan Zhong Yan
The Malaysian Insider
September 04, 2013
The arrest of Datuk A. Samad Said just after midnight is certainly absurd, crazy and uncalled for. Is there a need for the police to arrest the old man at that hour when they can do so during the day?
Of course, everyone should be equal before the law and that no special position or privileges should be given to anyone including Pak Samad for his status as the national laureate but back to the question, is there such a need for this arrest to take place just after midnight?
The crime or offence that Pak Samad is investigated for is in connection with the flying of the Sang Saka Malaya flag and not for murder, rape or robbery. Pak Samad is not a hardcore criminal nor terrorist requiring the arrest to take place at such a late hour.
The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and our Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should give a valid explanation with regard to the arrest or make a public apology to Pak Samad as arresting the man in that ungodly hour certainly seems to be an act of intimidation. Read the rest of this entry »
After all these years, Malaysia still held hostage
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Mahathir, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 4 September 2013, 4:46 pm
Ooi Kee Beng
The Malaysian Insider
September 04, 2013
In thinking about 2013, the year the Federation of Malaysia celebrates its 50th anniversary, one cannot but compare the national atmosphere to that in 2007, the year the Federation of Malaya celebrated its 50th anniversary.
I remember that the New Straits Times under Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan ran a week-long serialisation in January that year of my book The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time (ISEAS 2006) with the express purpose of putting the country into a contemplative mood and reminding Malaysians of what nation building is all about.
Given the faltering reform programme of then prime minister Tun Abdullah Badawi, 2007 couldn’t help but be a contemplative — and agitative — year for many Malaysians in any case. Be that as it may, to be fair to Abdullah, much change had come to the country after he took over from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in October 2003.
Otherwise, the latter would not have been using his considerable political acumen back then to undermine his successor’s position. Only Dr Mahathir’s bad health that year limited his attacks on the prime minister. Read the rest of this entry »
Fit for Golden Raspberry Award
Posted by Kit in Mariam Mokhtar, Media, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 4 September 2013, 7:59 am
Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Sep 2, 2013
What happened on May 13, 1969 was terrible, not just for every Malaysian, but also for the armed forces and the police. If the country is to move on and start the healing process, then the May 13 demons must be exorcised, once and for all; but first, the truth must be freed.
The National Operations Council (NOC) which was created in the aftermath of the disturbances by Najib Abdul Razak’s father, sought to return the country to normality, by restoring law and order, as well as re-establishing trust between the races. Its scope was limited and it did not seek to provide a definitive account of the tragedy.
If Najib is sincere in wanting reconciliation, one of the first things he should do is to hold an inquiry into the May 13 riots. Investigators will be hampered by Umno Baru’s unwritten rule, which is that anyone who disagrees with them is either Chinese or communist. Read the rest of this entry »
