Beng Hock not suicidal, psychiatrist tells RCI
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Teoh Beng Hock on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 7:06 pm
By Boo Su-Lyn
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — Teoh Beng Hock was in the lowest risk group for suicide when he entered the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), a forensic psychiatrist said in his report to a royal panel investigating the DAP political aide’s death today.
Dr Paul Mullen also said in his report to the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) investigating Teoh’s death that there was no reason for Teoh to conclude that he had shamed himself or betrayed his colleagues when he was questioned by the MACC.
“In brief, it is my opinion that Teoh Beng Hock was firmly in the lowest risk group for suicide when he was taken into MACC custody,” said Dr Mullen in his report, which was provided to the press today.
“His statement (to the MACC)… does not seem to clearly implicate him, or anyone else, in offences… this is not a context which, in my experience, leads to suicide in custody… there is nothing of which I have been made aware to explain panic and distress sufficient to drive him to conclude his honour had been irreparably tarnished,” added the Australian doctor. Read the rest of this entry »
Blogger behind Christian Malaysia report deletes posts?
Syed Jaymal Zahiid | May 10, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
A check by FMT showed all posts on the issue have been removed or deleted from the pro-Umno blog.
KUALA LUMPUR: The blogger responsible for Utusan Malaysia’s Malaysian Christian conspiracy report, marahku.blogspot.com, appeared to have deleted all posts related to the allegation amid escalating racial tension between the country’s Christian and conservative Muslim communities.
A check by FMT showed all posts on the issue have been removed or deleted from the pro-Umno blog just as Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein revealed that nine police reports had been lodged against Utusan and those behind the allegation.
The removal of the postings has triggered questions over the veracity of its allegations as seen on the ongoing debate on the microblogging site Twitter.
Pro-Umno Twitter users were also seen questioning the reasons behind the removal: Read the rest of this entry »
Umno’s Christian plot to bag Muslim votes’
Posted by Kit in DAP, General, nation building, Religion on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 6:39 pm
RK Anand
Free Malaysia Today
May 10, 2011
In an interview with the Vatican Radio, the Herald’s editor Father Lawrence Andrew says the government is stirring up a controversy to revive Muslim support.
KUALA LUMPUR: The allegation of a Christian coup being planned is an attempt by the Umno-led government to stir up controversy to revive Muslim support, said the editor of Catholic weekly, Herald.
Speaking to the Vatican Radio, Father Lawrence Andrew claimed that the government felt that it was losing the popularity it once commanded.
“Because they are losing popularity, they will enjoy some uneasiness that will create confusion – that will create fear – in the people,” he said.
He said the allegation was absurd, pointing out that Christians made up less than 10% of the population. Read the rest of this entry »
Anwar’s driver claims murder attempt on boss
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Crime on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 6:30 pm
By Clara Chooi | May 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
PETALING JAYA, May 10 — PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s driver today alleged a sinister murder attempt on his boss after discovering that the brakes of the Mercedes Benz he was driving had been tampered with last month.
Abdullah Sani Said, the 51-year-old driver who has worked with Anwar for 28 years since the latter was still the deputy prime minister, lodged a police report on the incident at the Tropicana police station outside the party’s national headquarters here this evening.
Abdullah Sani said he made the discovery on April 19 following an incident on his journey back to Kuala Lumpur from Perak in the Mercedes Benz S350 with the number plate KCD 77 which, he said, was on loan to Anwar from a close friend.
Read the rest of this entry »
Anwar’s driver claims sabotage plot with car
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Crime on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 4:40 pm
By Regina Lee | May 10, 11
Malaysiakini
Opposition leader and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s driver has claimed a plot to sabotage the former’s car.
Alleging that the car frequently used by Anwar has been tampered with, driver Abdullah Sani Said, 51, said that there could be a more sinister motive against Anwar.
Anwar’s driver of 28 years, Abdullah Sani said he was driving the former’s wife and party president Wan Azizah, together with the Selangor Menteri Besar’s political secretary Faekah Husin, from a party function in Chemor, Perak in the middle of the night on April 19 when something went awry with the car.
Traveling in a Mercedes Benz S350, they were on the North-South highway when a lorry overtaking them forced him to jam his brakes.
Read the rest of this entry »
Defeated PAP leader: Party must transform
Former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo reiterated that the People’s Action Party (PAP) must transform to respond to the significant developments in Singapore’s political landscape, stressing it would determine the island-nation’s fate in the 21st century.
In a statement today following his remarkable defeat on home turf Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC), which he has held since 1988, Yeo (right) admitted that he had felt the need to voice the ruling party’s need to transform, well before the campaign for the 2011 Singapore general election began.
“It was not something I felt I could say when the campaign started.
“As we ended our campaign on May 5, I talked about the importance of transforming the PAP. This is a belief I’ve held for some time,” said the two-decade politician.
Read the rest of this entry »
Existing systems better, cheaper than myemail service
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, IT on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 3:46 pm
By Koh Teng Gee | May 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
I refer to Idris Jala’s advertisement “Truth and Lies About myemail.”
I believe people at Pemandu are not aware that a practical and secured system is already in place which is also cost-effective. All that the government agencies need to do is to implement it.
Many GLC’s and Government Agencies already have their portals in place. Many had already made arrangement with banks for online payment. Currently, these agencies send billing statements by post to customers. Payment can be made online at their portals, via online banking bill payment, at one-stop payment centres or their office counter. To go paperless, what they need to do is to inform their customers when the eBilling statement is available at their portals.
Read the rest of this entry »
Penang increases funds for Islamic projects
Posted by Kit in Islam, Penang Government on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 3:43 pm
By Yow Hong Chieh | May 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — The Penang government has increased allocations for Islamic projects in the state by 22 per cent to RM33.3 million this year from RM27.4 million last year, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said today.
He said the state government would provide funds to the Islamic Affairs Department and the state secretary’s office to assist “religious projects” like religious schools, mosques and syariah courts in Penang.
He added the Penang government has also set aside RM2.3 million this year to acquire land for the purpose of building religious schools.
“This is far more … than what was allocated in the final year of my good friend’s administration,” Lim said, referring to former Penang chief minister and Gerakan president, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon.
Read the rest of this entry »
Will the Chinese Vote Swing Epidemic Spread Across the Nation?
By Dajmarizal Zolkipli
Malaysian Digest
After Malaysians were struck by the Bieber ‘fever’ in recent weeks, Malaysian politics are now rocked with an epidemic of a different sort: the Chinese vote swing fever. This latest vote trend was evident in the recent Sarawak state election result. However, the Chinese vote swing may well have started when Gerakan was rejected by the Penangites in 2008 general ‘tsunami’ election when DAP took over the state – an apparent validation that the majority-Chinese (43.6 percent) population there favored the Opposition. In Penang, Malays make up 40 percent of its population while 9.9 percent are Indians.
DAP’s commendable performance – snatching 12 out of 15 seats they contested – in the 10th Sarawak state election proves that they are the dominant opposition party in Sarawak. Analysts suggest a certain kind of resurrection of Chinese protest votes taking place in the April 16 state election.
Post-Sarawak Election
Read the rest of this entry »
Ignorance – the enemy of change
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Religion on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 2:50 pm
By Philip Ho
klik4malaysia
We are in the 21st century, and would be celebrating our 54th Merdeka in less than three months time but what is becoming of Malaysia?
Has Malaysia progressed politically, socially, economically and technologically after almost 54 years of independence?
Especially when extremist NGOs like Perkasa whom the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional government are even afraid of, continues to spew garbage from their progress-challenged minds?
The racial and religious rhetoric has come to a sickening point in the past 36 months, but Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has just refused to take decisive action against what would have been deemed seditious and an outright threat to the peace and harmony of Malaysians.
Read the rest of this entry »
Bishop decries fixation over Christian PM issue
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Religion on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 2:44 pm
By Terence Netto
May 10, 11
Malaysiakini
Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing said an obsession with the racial and religious leanings of a prime minister, or for that matter, of any other holder of high office in Malaysia is “fundamentally disorienting”.
In comments to Malaysiakini on the latest twist to the debate on an alleged Christian move to dethrone Islam as the official religion of the country, the bishop of the Melaka-Johor diocese, said:
“Allowing the debate over which race or religion wielded precedence in the matter of who is qualified to become a holder of high office in the country is fundamentally disorienting.
“We should not allow the debate to revolve obsessively around these parochial considerations.
Read the rest of this entry »
Prove your mettle, MCLM tells Najib
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Najib Razak, Religion on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 2:32 pm
By Tashny Sukumaran | May 10, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must prove his mettle as the “leader of 1Malaysia” by speaking out against Utusan Malaysia over its Christian plot report.
In making the call, Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) president Haris Ibrahim also wondered why the authorities were slow in acting against the Umno-owned newspaper.
“Why has there been no action against Utusan under the Sedition Act?
“Is the Umno-led BN government complicit in this attempt to sow racial and religious discord or else powerless to act against an emerging group of fascists?” he asked in a statement.
Read the rest of this entry »
The one who refuses to fade
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 2:23 pm
By RK Anand | May 10, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
“Scary isn’t it? One minute, you’ re revelling in all that pomp and pageantry and then suddenly, zilch.”
Although it was a remark made in jest, the prospect of facing such a situation had obviously sent a chill down his spine as the politician squirmed uncomfortably in his chair.
And as if to distract himself from such a ghastly premonition, he reached for his coffee, never mind that it was piping hot, and took a gulp. His eyes registered alarm as the simmering dark liquid made its way down his throat, and he stuck out his tongue to let the cool air salve the stung muscle.
This is why we need the rehabilitation centre, he continued when his tongue returned to its normal temperature, mustering a nervous smile in between his words.
Read the rest of this entry »
‘Malays don’t need Umno’
By Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | sakmongkolak47
May 10, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
A former Umno state assemblyman cites two areas which received ‘least attention’ to explain why Chinese will not vote for Barisan Nasional
Why would the Chinese give up their freedom to pursue their self-interest for ‘interferences’? The great advances achieved by the Chinese as a whole happened when there was least ‘interference’ from the government and its little and not so Little Napoleons.
Let me give you some examples. Every town and city in Malaysia displays the same characteristics. I am most familiar with my hometown, Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur. In Kuantan you have a section of town dominated by Chinese (Ayer Puteh) and in Kuala Lumpur you have (Old Klang Road).
In my schooldays, these two areas were and are still dominated by the Chinese. Both these areas enjoyed least attention from the government in the past.
Read the rest of this entry »
Christian state: PAS demands apology from Hisham
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Religion on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 2:07 pm
By Regina Lee
May 10, 11
Malaysiakini
PAS has taken Hishammuddin Hussein to task for his remarks on a media report that Christian groups are plotting to turn Malaysia into a Christian state.
Party vice-president Mahfuz Omar demanded that Hishammuddin apologises for his statement, which Mahfuz claimed had made the Christian-Muslim relations in the country even more tense.
“It was a completely inappropriate response,” said Mahfuz, who is also the Pokok Sena MP.
Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia last Saturday front-paged a report about a pro-Umno blog that said there was secret pact and agenda to make Christianity the official religion of the country.
The daily also reported that a meeting between Christian pastors and DAP in Penang plotted the appointment of a Christian prime minister.
Read the rest of this entry »
Help, Umno has contracted panic disease!
By Shanker
May 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
They say that when the US sneezes, the world catches a cold. Well, I think in Malaysia, the equivalent comparison is when Umno goes into panic mode, the rest of the country suffers alongside their anxiety attacks.
Has Umno contracted panic syndrome? Well, the symptoms are there for us to observe; from racist and religious diatribes spewed by its mouthpiece Utusan and the various sub-contractors Umno employs, to demonising sections of society that dare vote against their wasteful rule of this country, to getting their crumb-seeking support-club members (especially the MCA) to play the fear factor card by “threatening” that Chinese representation in the government would diminish should their votes shift away from BN.
Yo MCA — dudes, I think these days your reasoning couldn’t even convince a housefly to come by and taste your pudding. Just how do you manage to put on a straight face and offer pitiful excuses to the many who pay their taxes faithfully year in, year out; but whose deserving children otherwise struggle to secure places in public universities?
Read the rest of this entry »
Avoid lies, Umno
MAY 9 — It’s rich for Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to advise Malaysians not to be influenced by hearsay over Utusan Malaysia’s Christian Malaysia reports.
“Like what the prime minister has stressed, we should not be quick to react. We do not know what has been said. We didn’t hear… If someone begins by saying apple, then eventually the apple will turn into something else.
“I recommend that [Malaysians be] calm and hear what actually transpired,” Tengku Adnan said today.
Where was he on May 7 when Utusan Malaysia came out with its baseless report?
Where was he when pro-Umno bloggers spun the story last week? Where is he now when Utusan and the other Bahasa paper, Berita Harian, report the story like it is factual.
Read the rest of this entry »
PAS says mandatory Muslim PM unconstitutional
Posted by Kit in Constitution on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 1:11 pm
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
The Malaysian Insider
KUALAL LUMPUR, May 10 — PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar said today that the party would not oppose a non-Muslim prime minister as it is constitutional.
Mahfuz, however, said that it is unlikely that a non-Muslim will lead the government as the Muslim community still forms the majority in the country.
“The constitution does not bar a non-Muslim from becoming prime minister. This is not about PAS. PAS cannot stop the constitution but it will not happen because of the current majority we have,” he told reporters during a press conference here.
Mahfuz added that Malay-majority seats will continue to dominate parliament as DAP and MCA will only contest Chinese-majority seats.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia: Transforming to Vision 2020
By Khalid Noorshah
Globalia Magazine
Malaysia is fortifying her resolve to achieve her ideal, Wawasan 2020 or Vision 2020 within the nine years left, to be a self sufficient industrialised nation encompassing all aspects of life from economic prosperity, social well being, world class education standards and facilities, political stability as well as psychological well being. Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak showed that, since taking office in April 2009, he was focused in making Vision 2020 a reality within the timeline. He was well aware that he needs to improve the government to be more effective and at the same time he needed the people to be united as one to face the challenges of a new Malaysia.
In his maiden speech, he announced the One Malaysia (1Malaysia) concept tagged with a slogan People First Performance Now by calling on the Cabinet, government agencies and civil servants to more strongly emphasize ethnic harmony, national unity and efficient governance and attached with it the values of perseverance, a culture of excellence, acceptance, loyalty, education, humility, integrity and meritocracy. Immediately after assuming office, Najib introduced a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in order to measure and improve efficiency and quality of government services and its delivery as well as realising the 1Malaysia concept. The KPI provides a mechanism for evaluation of ministers and other government agencies including performance reviews carried out every six months. Najib identified six major policy areas in which the KPI will play an especially important role in improving the effectiveness of the Malaysian government. Read the rest of this entry »
