Police efficiency, independence and professionalism major casualties of the Sri Carcosa sex tape caper
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Police on Wednesday, 23 March 2011, 4:58 pm
Police efficiency, independence and professionalism are again the major casualties of the Sri Carcosa sex tape caper targeting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim two days ago on Monday.
Would the police stayed on the sidelines, claiming ignorance of the flagrant commission of crimes and impotence to act until Anwar lodged a police report, if the target of the Sri Carcosa sex tape caper had been the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin or anyone of the Cabinet Ministers?
Would the de facto Law Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz in these circumstances come to the defence of the mysterious “Datuk T” and made the astounding declaration “Don’t kill the messenger” and claimed that there was nothing illegal in the Sri Carcosa sex tape caper?
And if there is nothing legally wrong in the Sri Carcosa sex taper caper as claimed by the de facto Minister, then what is the police investigating about following the report lodged by Anwar?
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Was it a big fat lie, Mr PM?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Articles, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 23 March 2011, 10:48 am
By P Ramakrishnan | Aliran President
Was Anwar’s bid to takeover Putrajaya on 16 September 2008 a “big fat lie” as Najib has claimed? P Ramakrishnan reminds us about a certain trip to Taiwan.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was reported by The Sunday Star (20 March 2011) as having said that PKR had gone to the extent of telling the ‘biggest political lie of the century’ when it announced it would take over the government on 16 September 2008.
“We have to keep repeating this because human memory is short and they forget, but we must remind the people that it was the biggest political lie of the century,’ he said.
He said PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had made the Barisan Nasional worried when he claimed that more than 30 of the coalition’s elected representatives would cross over, “But in the end, it was all a big fat lie’ he added.
Sex Video: Who Is the More Immoral?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Kee Thuan Chye, Sarawak on Wednesday, 23 March 2011, 10:43 am
OH no! Not again! They’re gunning for Anwar Ibrahim over another alleged sex scandal. The video revealed by the mysterious “Datuk T” showing a man resembling an Opposition party leader having sex with a woman, said to be a prostitute, is obviously targeted at him.
But the timing of its revelation to the media on March 21 suspiciously coincides with the dissolution of the Sarawak State Assembly, paving the way for state elections. Not to mention the part in Mahathir Mohamad’s recently launched memoir, A Doctor in the House, that claims Anwar arranged to have sex with four girls when he was deputy prime minister in 1998.
What has Malaysia turned into? The sordid sex opera capital of the world? What are we showing the world? That we are a nation of sex maniacs? Or, worse, that our politics is so dirty that we turn to sex to discredit our enemies?
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Malaysia opposition vows to support Anwar after mystery group shows alleged sex video of him
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 22 March 2011, 6:54 pm
By Julia ZappeiThe Associated Press
22nd March 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s opposition pledged Tuesday to fight allegations that Anwar Ibrahim was filmed having sex with a prostitute, insisting its leader’s troubles won’t fracture his three-party alliance ahead of national elections expected within a year.
A sex video depicting a man believed to resemble Anwar was shown to several Malaysian journalists under mysterious circumstances Monday. It has not been publicly circulated, but opposition officials are scrambling to convince people that it is a plot hatched by the government.
Prime Minister Najib Razak denied authorities made the video, which marks the latest accusation of sexual misconduct confronting Anwar. He is currently on trial on charges he sodomized a 25-year-old male former aide and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Anwar’s top allies held a news conference Tuesday to voice their support for him, claiming the video was simply the latest effort to smear Anwar’s reputation.
“All Malaysians must express their outrage and condemnation that Malaysian politics have reached a new depth of character assassination,” said Lim Kit Siang, a veteran official in the Democratic Action Party. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Interlok’ and Our Tragic Reality
Posted by Kit in Kee Thuan Chye, nation building on Tuesday, 22 March 2011, 10:38 am
I HAVEN’T read Interlok by Abdullah Hussain, but some of those who have, accuse it of racial stereotyping and derogating Chinese and Indian Malaysians while others say it is a novel that calls for inter-racial unity. The interpretations appear so poles apart that one might wonder if they are talking about the same novel.
I suppose how we read it would depend to a considerable extent on our racial background and predispositions. And these have been so coloured by the politicisation of race that has been at the centre of Malaysian life for so long that they will not be easy to shake off. Our biases die hard.
I’m always on the side of literary freedom. If a writer expresses a view that I am vehemently against, I would nonetheless defend his right to say it. At the same time, I would exercise my right to critique it. I believe this is the best approach to any discourse. Even if, in the process, people get offended.
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The prelude to the Battle for Putrajaya
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat, Sarawak on Tuesday, 22 March 2011, 10:29 am
By Thomas Lee
The dissolution of the 71-seat Sarawak legislative state assembly on Monday 21 March 2001 has set the stage for the introductory phrase of the Battle for Putrajaya.
The Sarawak state election is a foreshadow of the battle royale between the Barisan Nasional and its formidable foe Pakatan Rakyat in the impending 13th general election for the control of Putrajaya.
The Sarawak Barisan Nasional is not expected to have an easy time sailing through smoothly in the current state election, unlike almost all previous state elections when it literally had the monopoly of the Sarawakian support.
The alternative Pakatan Rakyat coalition is going all out to cash in on the current revolutionary fervor in Egypt and in almost the wholes region of the Middle East to sound a clarion call to the people of Malaysia for an electoral revolution to oust what it claims to be an oppressive and corrupt regime. And Sarawak will be the acid test on whether the momentum of the March 2008 tsunamic impact is gathering force or losing steam in its march to Putrajaya.
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Why, Malaysia?
Posted by Kit in Articles, nation building on Monday, 21 March 2011, 11:28 am
As we bring #WhyMalaysia week to a close, Lisa Ng writes a heartfelt customer complaint letter to our tanah tumpah darah, our beloved Bolehland, Malaysia.
My dear Malaysia, it doesn’t get more melodramatic than this, does it? “This” being about whether to stick with you till “death do us part” or to walk away, even if for a little while, especially if there is evidence of ill-treatment.
You see, for Christians, marriage is an unbreakable covenant between God and the couple. Some people would call it a “contractual promise” of sorts. Others would say that, however we term it, the general principle of faithfulness applies to Man and Motherland. The only difference is, even Christians are not so cruel that they insist we stick with our hurtful spouse (or even parent in some cases) if our wellbeing is at stake.
That is why my Conscience was clear when my family decided to depart from your bosom to—not necessarily greener—but relatively safer pastures. At least for now.
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #57
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Monday, 21 March 2011, 11:22 am
Chapter 7: Enhancing Human Capital
Enhancing Human Capital Through Education: Revamping Schools and Universities
The Malaysian government recently published a massive plan, Educational Development – 2001-2010, aimed at revamping the entire education system. However, only a year earlier it had undertaken another massive revision of the curriculum, and that project was yet to be completed (it was not yet begun to be implemented!) when this new policy was unveiled. Despite its 250 pages, replete with the obligatory buzzwords like knowledge workers, IT revolution, and globalization, the report fails to address the glaring inadequacies of the present system. These include the atrociously low standard of English, abysmal levels of science literacy, and appalling mathematical skills of our students.
To address the increasing disadvantage that graduates of public universities face because of their low English fluency, the government proposes to have private institutions use Malay as the medium of instruction. In other words, handicap everyone to the same level of mediocrity!
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Only way to ensure Taib steps down as Sarawak Chief Minister is to deny BN 2/3 majority in Sarawak State Assembly
Within a few hours, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has demonstrated that his talk of stepping down as Sarawak Chief Minister is so vague and elastic that he and he alone is the sole decider of what it means – and not even the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is prepared to cross his path.
Taib is in fact asking for a blank cheque to continue as Sarawak Chief Minister until he could groom a successor and “form a new team” to govern Sarawak – two tasks which may take him the entire term of the next government after he had dismally failed in the past 30 years to prepare for a succession.
When he announced in Serian yesterday morning that he will step down after the next Sarawak state polls, he spawned speculation whether he was talking of a timetable ranging from one to five years.
By the evening, at the Kuching International Airport, he had lengthened the timetable speculation from three to five years! Read the rest of this entry »
High turnout in Egyptian constitutional poll
Posted by Kit in Egypt, Elections, Middle East/Africa on Saturday, 19 March 2011, 11:20 pm
Voters to decide on a package of constitutional reforms in the first election since Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow.
Aljazeera
19 Mar 2011
Millions of Egyptians have turned out for today’s constitutional referendum, the first vote following the overthrow last month of Hosni Mubarak, the country’s long-serving president.
Voters are deciding on a package of nine amendments, about half of which deal with the conduct of elections. One would make it easier for independent candidates to run for president; another would re-establish judicial oversight of elections.
The amendments were drafted by an eight-man constitutional committee, which was appointed by the ruling military junta. They must be approved or rejected as a bloc.
There were early reports of high turnout, with voters in some districts predicting an hours-long wait before they would be able to cast their ballots.
“This is an historic day for Egypt,” said Yahya al-Gamal, the country’s prime minister, after casting his vote in Cairo. “I have never seen such large numbers of voters in Egypt. Finally, the people of Egypt have come to realise that their vote counts.” Read the rest of this entry »
Taib not stepping down as Sarawak Chief Minister any time soon
Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is not stepping down as Sarawak Chief Minister any time soon.
This is obvious from his latest very elaborate political dance which he had choreographed over his intended resignation as Sarawak Chief Minister.
Cutting through all the verbiage and verbosity indulged by Taib yesterday, the message is very clear: Taib will lead the Barisan Nasional into the state general election expected next month and he will continue as Sarawak Chief Minister after the polls!
Reason? Taib has not yet been able to groom a successor! Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should give full report to Parliament on the previous “bad experience” with nuclear power which former PM Mahathir had mentioned
The Cabinet meeting yesterday was a great letdown and disappointment.
In the wake of the Japanese nuclear meltdown crisis triggered by the double calamity of 9.0 earthquake and tsunami last week, the failure of the Cabinet Ministers yesterday to discuss widespread concerns in the country about Malaysia’s nuclear power plans is the height of irresponsibility and negligence.
The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr. Maximus Ongkili did not tell anything new when he said after the Cabinet meeting that the Malaysian Nuclear Power Corporation would proceed with accepting tenders for companies to conduct a feasibility study on the government’s plans to build two 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plants by 2022.
What really shocked Malaysians is his revelation that the Cabinet had not discussed this matter at its meeting yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
Interlok: Time to Make a Stand
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin, nation building on Friday, 18 March 2011, 3:03 pm
by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee | CPI
As the drama over the Interlok textbook issue continues to unfold, it is important for Malaysians to understand the context and the stakes involved, and to make a stand.
There are some defenders of the book who have argued that withdrawing or even just editing it will rob Malaysian writers of their artistic freedom and integrity. To these people, I would like to say “hello, where have you been” – Interlok has already been edited twice, in 2005 for Edisi Pelajar and in 2010 for Edisi Murid. Its literary integrity was already compromised by the shedding of some 85 pages even before this latest controversy.
In fact, copyright for the edition distributed free to schools no longer belongs even to Abdullah Hussain but to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Hence Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement that his ministry “will ensure that any amendments made will not affect the storyline of the novel and the noble message that the author wants to convey” is nothing short of whitewash. According to reports, Muhyiddin is not permitting anything beyond deletion of the word ‘pariah’.
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Speedy action by Malaysian Government in evacuating Malaysians in Japan needed
Posted by Kit in environment, Foreign on Friday, 18 March 2011, 1:45 pm
In view of the worsening nuclear crisis situation in Japan, the Malaysian government should take proactive steps in ensuring the safety of Malaysians in Japan.
The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili, said today that the situation does not warrant an immediate evacuation of Malaysians living there, as readings taken in Tokyo, Miyagi and Ibaraki yesterday afternoon averaged about 0.17uSv/hr (microsieverts per hour), which was lower than the maximum allowed radiation dosage of 0.5uSv/hr for the Malaysian public.
In contrast to the minister’s calm response, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the overall situation was “very serious” though did not appear to be deteriorating. The chief US nuclear regulatory official said radiation levels around the fuel ponds were extremely high and “potentially lethal” near the reactors. Explaining the decision to deploy helicopters on Thursday, Toshimi Kitazawa, the defence minister, said conditions at the reactors had reached a critical point.
IAEA also reported that in some locations at around 30 km from the Fukushima plant, the dose rates rose significantly in the last 24 hours (in one location from 80 to 170 microsievert per hour and in another from 26 to 95 microsievert per hour). Dose rates to the north-west of the nuclear power plants, were observed in the range 3 to 170 microsievert per hour. Dose rates in other directions are in the 1 to 5 microsievert per hour range.
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Isn’t religion a sacrosanct right of a community?
By P Ramakrishnan | President of Aliran
It is rather difficult to understand how our Muslim friends can be so easily influenced which may result in their straying away from their sacred religion. Any notion that this may be the case insults the intelligence and the very faith of the Muslims.
Any suggestion alluding to this possibility gives the impression that all the daily vigorous religious programmes over radio and television, the numerous courses conducted to explain and strengthen their faith in Islam, the many religious classes and the daily five-time compulsory prayers, the existence of mosques easily accessible to the faithful and the Friday sermons, are a failure. This is absolutely wrong and ridiculous.
I was a product of a mission school – so were my many Malay friends of that period. The Lord’s prayers were part of the weekly school assembly ritual. Even to this day we – Muslims and non-Muslims – remember the Lord’s prayers. In fact some of my Malay friends even say “Amen” at the end of a speech whenever our classmates meet up. This did not in any way indicate that they are not steadfast in their faith. No one has renounced their religion to embrace Christianity.
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Japan’s Unsavory Options
Daniel Wagner
The Huffington Post
March 17, 2011
Japan’s first week of this crisis has revealed to the world what many Japan watchers have known for many years — that it was woefully unprepared to deal with an inevitable severe earthquake and its repercussions.
TEPCO (the Tokyo Electric Power Company) and the Japanese government have unfortunately fulfilled the expectations of many who are familiar with their histories addressing crises, in which they have proven either inept or purposely misleading in delivering trustworthy information to the public. To proclaim, as one Japanese minister did last weekend, that the amount of radiation released at that time was equivalent to a CAT scan was simply absurd. We should not have expected more from TEPCO, which has in previous instances delivered purposely misleading information. But the Japanese government had an opportunity to shine in managing this crisis; it has regrettably fallen fall short of the mark.
Had TEPCO and the government either had a handle on what was occurring at the Fukushima nuclear complex, or been honest and forthright in reporting what was occurring, they might have put themselves in a position to reach out for international assistance more rapidly, and the events over the past week at the complex may not necessarily have unfolded as they have.
U.S. government officials have expressed alarm at how this ordeal has been handled and envision a possible ‘dead zone’ in Northeast Japan for decades. We could see a scenario in which a large swathe of northeast Japan becomes permanently uninhabitable. Were that to occur, the impact on the Japanese economy would clearly be severe and would preclude the idea of rebuilding areas impacted by the quake and tsunami. As bad as that would be, the impact on companies expecting to participate in the rebuilding effort would be unwelcome, and the anticipated ‘bounce’ in global share prices as a result of spending an anticipated $200 billion to rebuild the area would prove to be premature, since it may not happen at all. Read the rest of this entry »
Comparing Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Accidents: Q&A
By Adi Narayan
Bloomberg
Mar 17, 2011
March 15 (Bloomberg) — Radiation leaks from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s earthquake-stricken reactors in northeastern Japan represent the worst nuclear power accident since the meltdown at Chernobyl, Ukraine, almost 25 years ago, scientists say.
Military helicopters are dumping water on containers holding spent uranium fuel to prevent them from overheating after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disabled a cooling system, Tokyo Electric spokesman Kaoru Yoshida told reporters yesterday. Once exposed, the spent fuel rods may catch fire and melt, spewing radiation into the atmosphere.
“Radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures,” U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko told a congressional panel in Washington yesterday.
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the accidents at Fukushima, Chernobyl in 1986 and Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, in 1979. The information is drawn from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, the World Health Organization in Geneva and interviews with radiation safety experts in the U.S., Australia and India. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia should learn the lessons from the Japan Nuclear Catastrophe
Posted by Kit in Energy, environment, Foreign on Thursday, 17 March 2011, 3:02 pm
The last six days has been the hardest moments for Japan as a nation as they are faced with an earthquake of a magnitude of 9.0, followed by the nuclear explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plants with a radiation contamination threat.
Malaysians extend their greatest sympathies to Japan for the earthquake that has struck in such unexpected fashion. Indeed, the people of Japan had shown great courage in face of the national tribulation which has been described as the worst disaster of the nation after World War II.
The incident had revealed the inconvenient truth for the proponent of nuclear power that it is a high-risk gamble. Officials in Japan have said that the nuclear reactor was built to withstand disasters. Yet the accident which occurred has caused such detrimental result.
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What’s the hype about?
By Francis Loh | Aliran
Francis Loh finds the hype surrounding the proposal that we should do away with the ethnic/race categories in application forms befuddling.
Give the ethnic group of the following Malaysians: Abdullah Badawi? Samy Vellu? Ling Liong Sik? Karpal Singh?
Yes, Abdullah is Malay, Samy is Indian, Ling is Chinese and Karpal is Indian of Sikh faith. No prizes for getting the right answers. Most Malaysian school children would be capable of doing so. Hence, even if these individuals do not state their ethnic group or race orally or in any form, we would still know which ethnic group each belongs to.
In fact, Malaysians are also not required to state their ethnic group or race when they register themselves to vote. Yet the ethnic breakdown for each electoral constituency can be worked out. We know that the political parties determine the estimates for each constituency by going through the electoral rolls. Or if they do not have the capacity to do the counting themselves, they rely either on the estimates that the Elections Commission or the major newspapers provide. Whether the newspapers rely on the Commission’s estimates or the other way around is not so clear. Anyway, the point is that we can determine the race or ethnic background of most Malaysians by reference to their names.
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Two unreasonable and unacceptable conditions for the release of the 35,100 copies of Bahasa Malaysia Bible should be withdrawn immediately
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, Religion on Thursday, 17 March 2011, 11:27 am
The two unreasonable and unacceptable conditions for the release of the 35,100 copies of Bahasa Malaysia Bible, Alkitab – each copy should be stamped “For Christians only” and each copy should carry a serial number – should be withdrawn by the Barisan Nasional government immediately as they smack of discrimination at their worst and will expose Malaysia to international ridicule, scorn and condemnation.
In less than 24 hours, the goodwill which the Najib administration had hoped to generate from the release of the 35,100 copies of Alkitab – 5,100 copies in Port Klang and 30,000 copies in Kuching Port – had been dissipated not only by the two unreasonable and unacceptable conditions, but the most ham-fisted way and trigger-happy manner in implementing them.
The Bible Society of Malaysia, the importer of the consignment of 5,100 Alkitab impounded at Port Klang for about two years, has protested at the “defacement” and “violation” of the Bahasa Malaysia Bibles as it has been informed that the scriptures have been stamped with the words “Al Kitab Berita Baik ini untuk kegunaan penganut agama Kristian sahaja” (‘This “Al Kitab Berita Baik’ is only for the use by Christians only”) and the Home Ministry had stamped spaces for the serial numbers into the Bibles.
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