Police: PSM ‘communists’ waging war on King
By Hazlan Zakaria
Jun 26, 11 | MalaysiaKini
Penang deputy police chief Abdul Rahim Jaafar today said the 31 Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists arrested yesterday while aboard a bus at the Sungai Dua toll plaza have been charged under Section 122 of the Penal Code.
The activists were participating in the northern leg of the party’s “Udah La Tu Bersaralah” roadshow campaign which kicked off on June 24 as part of the work-up to the upcoming Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 for electoral reform.
Those arrested included Sungai Siput parliamentarian D Jeyakumar. One was subsequently released as he was under-aged. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib: Bersih ploy to stop BN ‘momentum’
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Najib Razak on Sunday, 26 June 2011, 6:54 pm
By Hazlan Zakaria
Jun 26, 11 | MalaysiaKini
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak explained away the planned mammoth Bersih 2.0 rally as nothing more than an attempt to “wrest back political momentum from the BN”.
“It has nothing to do with a memorandum to the Agong. It has nothing to do with allegedly crooked elections,” alleged the PM.
“They resolved that if they want to stop us, this is how they can wrest back the political momentum,” he told over 2,500 delegates attending the PPP annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur today. Read the rest of this entry »
Intelligent politicians, please
By Ali Kadir
June 26, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JUNE 26 — Wanted: some individuals with some modicum of intelligence and competence to lead Malaysia.
Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal (among Umno’s best and brightest judging by fact that one is the second in line to govern the country and the other is the third in line) need not apply.
The two senior ministers are evidence of how hollow the ranks of leaders in Umno are. Today, Shafie Apdal gave credence to the line that it is best to keep silent and keep up the illusion of competence rather than open your mouth and shatter it. Read the rest of this entry »
Kota, kedai and kopitiam
By Zubin Mohamad
June 26, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JUNE 26 — Over the years, I have been going back to Kelantan either to visit my parents and family or to do research on Kelantan performance. During one of the trips, I took a friend to visit some old cemeteries and traditional villages near Kota Baru. After the trip, she said, “Next we should visit the kota-kota in Kelantan.” Kota usually refers to fort, mostly referring to the old fort surrounding a palace or town like Kota Melaka, Kota Kuala Muda in Kedah or Kota Malawati in Kuala Selangor. Kota also refers to a city like Kota Kinabalu or Kota Baru. But perhaps both are related as the old palace or town is usually surrounded by a wall, ie. fully fortified.
In Kelantan, there are a few places with the word kota in front of it such as Kota Kubang Labu, Kota Jelasin, Kota Jembal, Kota Mahligai or Kota Salor, mostly related to the old royal palaces before the present royal administration. They could be related to one another but may have been at war with each other at some time or existed one after the other. Read the rest of this entry »
Opposition leader: Land for Taib’s brother? Why?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Sarawak, State Assembly on Sunday, 26 June 2011, 11:48 am
By Ang Ngan Toh
Jun 25, 11 | MalaysiaKini
Bukit Assek state assemblyperson Wong Ho Leng has demanded to know why a huge parcel of land was alienated to a company owned by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s brother, Ibrahim, and Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Tiong Thai King.
Wong, also Sarawak state legislative assembly opposition leader, said Ibrahim and Tiong, who is also Lanang member of parliament, are already “multi billionaires”.
The 3,000-acre land should have been alienated to PJ Green Field Sdn Bhd, a reputable agriculture company, and not to Victoria Square Development Sdn Bhd, he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan aims for 11 states in GE13, says Kit Siang
Posted by Kit in Election, Pakatan Rakyat on Sunday, 26 June 2011, 11:42 am
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
June 26, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is targeting to control 11 states in the upcoming general elections, says Lim Kit Siang.
The DAP parliamentary leader said the coalition has targeted on retaining Penang, Kedah, Selangor, Kelantan and winning back Perak. He also said that PR is planning on taking over Negri Sembilan, Johor, Malacca, Pahang, Terengganu and Perlis from Barisan Nasional (BN).
“The forthcoming 13th General Election will be the battle of the century as at stake will not only be the state governments of all the 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia but federal power in Putrajaya as well,” said Lim at a dinner in Teluk Intan last night. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan Rakyat’s 3 state targets in next general elections
Posted by Kit in Election, Pakatan Rakyat on Sunday, 26 June 2011, 8:37 am
Pakatan Rakyat has three targets for the states in the next general elections, viz:
Police intensify clampdown on pre-rally roadshow
Posted by Kit in Bersih, DAP, Human Rights, Police on Sunday, 26 June 2011, 7:23 am
by Regina Lee
Malaysiakini
Jun 25, 11
The police have intensified its efforts to clamp down on polls watchdog Bersih’s pre-rally roadshow as it kicked off nationwide yesterday.
Supposed to begin in Uptown market in Shah Alam last night with a series of speeches, the police had cordoned off the commercial centre as early as 5pm as well as erecting roadblocks around the city.
The law enforcers made their presence felt by bringing along three police trucks and 50 police personnel together with scores of other plainclothes police officers.
One of the speakers, PKR Youth deputy chief Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainuddin, was quickly arrested and whisked off by the police 10 minutes after he arrived, even though he was “doing nothing” in the area, according to him. Read the rest of this entry »
Something rotten at the Duta courts
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Court, Judiciary on Sunday, 26 June 2011, 7:16 am
by Hafiz Yatim
Malaysiakini
Jun 25, 11
Shakespeare wrote in the play ‘Hamlet’ that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. Court of Appeal judge NH Chan had also made similar remarks when he wrote the Ayer Molek Rubber Co Bhd vs Insas Bhd judgment in 1995, where he described the case he was presiding over as being about an injustice perpetrated by a court of law.
Can yesterday’s conviction of the infamous ‘Datuk T’ trio be said a travesty of justice deserving the local version that goes “something is rotten in Duta courts” resulting in possibly another charge looming over Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim? Read the rest of this entry »
Karpal: Public porn screening in court ‘a first’
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Court, Judiciary on Saturday, 25 June 2011, 6:32 pm
Malaysiakini
Jun 25, 11
Karpal Singh slammed the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate Court’s handling of the Datuk T proceedings yesterday for showing the sex video to the public and for allowing Anwar to be implicated in his absence.
“This is the first time in legal history of the country that a pornographic video clip produced as an exhibit in court has been played on two big screens, one facing them magistrate and the other the public gallery,” said the Bukit Gelugor MP and veteran lawyer in a statement today.
Karpal said in such situations the public gallery would always be cleared.
While he agreed that as a fundamental element of the charge against the Datuk T trio, the screening had to be done in the presence of the magistrate and relevant parties, and this should not include the public. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin insists Bersih political, threat to security
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Election, Muhyiddin Yassin on Saturday, 25 June 2011, 5:37 pm
By Melissa Chi
June 25, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has deemed the July 9 Bersih rally as politically-motivated and a threat to national security as well as the country’s reputation.
Apart from calling in the organisers for questioning next week, police also insist they will not issue permits for at least three rallies planned on the day. Read the rest of this entry »
No such thing as runner-up in GE, says Najib
Posted by Kit in Election, Najib Razak on Saturday, 25 June 2011, 5:31 pm
Jun 25, 11 | MalaysiaKini
Najib Razak said victory in the general election was most important for Umno and BN because in politics, only victory would bring them meaning.
Hence, the prime minister and Umno president said, in a general election there was no such term as runner-up like in other contests which also offered prizes for the runner-up. Read the rest of this entry »
Have cops work with Bersih, Lim tells Hisham
Posted by Kit in Elections, Hishammuddin, Human Rights on Saturday, 25 June 2011, 4:56 pm
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
June 25, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein should direct the police to end its “hostile” stance towards the Bersih rally and work with its organisers instead, Lim Kit Siang said today.
The DAP parliamentary leader said mutual co-operation between the two would ensure a peaceful assembly on June 9. Read the rest of this entry »
True reasons behind gender pay gap
By Ananish Chaudhuri
Jun 25, 2011 | NZHerald
The existence of a gender wage gap in the workplace is well documented. Women earn less than men in similar jobs even after allowing for other factors such as education and experience.
In the United States, annual earnings data released by the Census Bureau last September shows women working full-time make, on average, 77c for every dollar earned by men. Read the rest of this entry »
Don: Cop’s Bersih ban is against constitution
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Elections, Human Rights on Saturday, 25 June 2011, 3:43 pm
By Hazlan Zakaria
25 June 2011 | MalaysiaKini
Renowned constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari, hit out at the cops for their unilateral banning of the Bersih 2.0 rally planned for July 9, pointing out that the police crackdown on the gathering is not only illegal but unconstitutional.
“They have acted illegally because they have publicly stated that they are not going to issue a permit. As a public authority they can only make a decision after an application has been made,” the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) lecturer told Malaysiakini. Read the rest of this entry »
Hannah’s baby vs. an ‘East Indies’ Chinese
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Articles, nation building on Saturday, 25 June 2011, 3:23 pm
By Dr Boo Cheng Hau
25 June 2011 | Centre for Policy Initiatives
My widowed mother was a rubber tapper who took care of me when I was growing up. My younger sister and I used to sleep on the grounds of the rubber plantation in the dark because we helped our mother to tap rubber at dawn. After finishing the work, we headed to school. Neither we nor my mom ever groaned about our poverty. All by herself, she managed to put me through medical school.
I did medicine in Jamaica where the University of the West Indies (UWI) charged an annual tuition fee about RM3,000 (the amount at that time) – which was more of a token sum really. I obtained a seat under the two places reserved in the medical faculty for non-West Indian students. Read the rest of this entry »
Watch your words! Wong warns S’wak opposition
Posted by Kit in Sarawak, State Assembly on Saturday, 25 June 2011, 3:18 pm
By Joseph Tawie
June 25, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today
KUCHING: Second Minister of Finance Wong Soon Koh issued a stern warning to the opposition to behave themselves in the state assembly or they will be referred to the Committee of Privileges of the Dewan Undangan Negeri.
“I don’t mind being be called a ‘motion king’ if I must refer them to the committee of privileges,” he said to reporters. Read the rest of this entry »
GST only removes tax burden on ‘wealthier’ minority, says Pua
Posted by Kit in Economics, Good Governance on Saturday, 25 June 2011, 3:15 pm
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
June 25, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) while reducing the existing income tax will only benefit the “wealthier” minority, says Tony Pua.
The DAP national publicity secretary said that currently only 15 per cent of the working population earned enough to qualify to pay taxes, which meant 85 per cent of the country’s workforce earned less than RM3,000 a month. Read the rest of this entry »
Wearing Bersih 2.0 T-shirt is more dangerous than Osama bin Laden?
Posted by Kit in Election, Hishammuddin, Human Rights on Saturday, 25 June 2011, 2:08 pm
The Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein should stop the madness where a person can be detained by the police for wearing the Bersih 2.0 T-shirt, as if he/she is more dangerous than Osama bin Laden.
Last night, the police have started arresting people for wearing the Bersih 2.0 T-shirt.
This are tweets about the arrest in Shahj Alam last night:
This is not the reaction of the police in a developed democracy but the response of a repressive and undemocratic government which is afraid of the voice of the people. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno goes berserk with Bersih
By Mariam Mokhtar
June 24, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today
Ambiga Sreenevasan, the Bersih chairman, may yet be the person who leads this country out of the quagmire. Ambiga was the Malaysian Bar chairman from 2007-2009 and in March 2009, received the US Secretary of State’s Award for International Women of Courage from Hillary Clinton, with the US First Lady, Michelle Obama in attendance.
Mrs Clinton praised Ambiga for her pursuit of judicial reform and good governance. She described Ambiga as a champion of religious tolerance, a staunch advocate of women’s equality, whose work and influence was felt in Malaysia and in other countries. Read the rest of this entry »
