Chief Secretary’s appointment of Selangor State Secretary without consultation with Mentri Besar violation of both the spirit and letter of Selangor Constitution
Posted by Kit in Constitution, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat, Selangor on Thursday, 30 December 2010, 9:32 am
The appointment of Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi as the new Selangor State Secretary by the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan on behalf of the Public Service Commission, without consultation with the Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, violates both the spirit and letter of the Selangor Constitution.
It has been argued that there is no mention in the state constitution that the Mentri Besar must first be informed of the appointment nor that his consent was needed.
This is a flimsy and unacceptable argument, for going by this literal interpretation, Putrajaya should not have involved the Sultan in the appointment of the state secretary as there is equally no mention in the state constitution that the Sultan must first be informed of the appointment nor that any royal consent is needed.
What is pertinent is that constitutional conventions like meaningful consultation with the Mentri Besar and the Sultan on the appointment of the top state civil servant are carried out to uphold the integrity of the state constitution and to fulfill the mandate given by the people of Selangor when they voted for the government of their choice in the last general elections.
Although the Selangor State Constitution is silent on the role of the Mentri Besar on the appointment of the state secretary, just as it is silent on the role of the Sultan on the same matter, the Chief Secretary who has been delegated the constitutional task to make the appointment, should be mindful of the different political coalitions running the Federal and Selangor state governments and the importance of ensuring an appointee who could work as a bridge-builder or at least not seen as inimical to the Selangor state government interests vis-à-vis the Federal government. Read the rest of this entry »
Softening up students to Islam with History syllabus
Posted by Kit in Education, History, nation building, UMNO on Thursday, 30 December 2010, 9:23 am
Commentary
Written by Centre for Policy Initiatives
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Whose history is the government pushing on our students and to what effect?
On Oct 23, Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that History will be made a must-pass subject for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia beginning 2013. This puts the subject on par with Bahasa Malaysia in its degree of importance.
The ministry will introduce a revised SPM History curriculum in 2017 as in that year the cohort which started Form One in 2013 would have reached Form Five. Fresh elements to be incorporated when the History syllabus begins its new cycle are ‘patriotism’, ‘citizenship’ and ‘the constitution’, which by extension implicates the so-called social contract.
Muhyiddin said the reason for the move to expand the History syllabus is so that patriotism can be instilled in Malaysian youths.
On Dec 16 – responding to objections raised by some quarters on his proposal – Muhyiddin guaranteed that the government does not have any “ulterior motives” and reiterated that the government in its decision “only want to introduce a history education to appreciate [patriotism] to help them [the Fifth Formers] become more patriotic”.
Is this the real agenda of Umno and the Ministry of Education bureaucrats and their support group of academics or is this another Umno political lie? Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s suicidal slogan
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Media, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 29 December 2010, 8:20 pm
by Dean Johns
Malaysiakini
Dec 29, 10
It seems to me that the more persistently Najib Abdul Razak propounds his “1Malaysia. People first. Performance now” slogan, and the more desperately he defends it, the more damage he does to himself and Barisan Nasional. So naturally I’m 1 big supporter of the thing.
For a start, the “1Malaysia” part of it is so blatantly false that all it does is remind the hearer or reader of BN’s long-term strategy of dividing the nation’s races and religions, the better to try and ensure its eternal rule.
And this is not just an allegation, but an absolute fact. As evidenced by the BN government’s stacking of the civil services with employees of one particular race, through the wildly unequal allocation of government scholarships and contracts, to its supporting the concept of ketuanan Melayu through official economic policies, racist pressure-groups like Perkasa and publications like Utusan Malaysia.
Thus the “1Malaysia” phrase itself is such an outright and obvious lie that the long-running controversy over its originality appears virtually irrelevant. Yet Najib persists in claiming authorship as though his political survival depended on it. Which I fondly hope it does, given that the version of the concept with which I’m most familiar, “One Nation”, was the name of the notorious Pauline Hanson’s Australian political party, which long ago self-destructed. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #46
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Wednesday, 29 December 2010, 10:37 am
Chapter Six: Malaysia: Assets and Liabilities
Bless Our Geography!
Allah has been generous to Malaysia. Malaysians are reminded of this every time they read about natural disasters occurring elsewhere. There are no earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, or devastating floods. God has spared Malaysia such natural calamities.
Then there is the climate; it is not visited by extremes of heat or cold. Whereas Californians have to pay to warm their houses in winter and cool them in summer, Malaysians are spared such expenses. And if Malaysians were to design their homes well with cross drafts and adequate natural ventilation, air conditioning would not be essential. It is only for comfort. In temperate zones heating a home is essential lest you freeze. Home designs in temperate zones must necessarily be more complex to cope with both winter and summer. Unlike Malaysians, those living in temperate zones need two sets of clothing.
Read the rest of this entry »
Reconceptualising federalism
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, nation building on Tuesday, 28 December 2010, 12:12 pm
By Azly Rahman
“… Democratic and aristocratic states are not in their own nature free. Political liberty is to be found only in moderate governments; and even in these it is not always found. It is there only when there is no abuse of power. But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go. Is it not strange, though true, to say that virtue itself has need of limits? …
“To prevent this abuse, it is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power. A government may be so constituted, as no man shall be compelled to do things to which the law does not oblige him, nor forced to abstain from things which the law permits … .” – Baron de Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws, Book XI
Read the rest of this entry »
Questionable measures taken to improve the standard of English amongst Malaysian schoolchildren
Letters
by Mrs. Sheela R
Dear Mr. Lim,
The government has promised concrete measures in improving the standard of English taught to Malaysian schoolchildren, with the demise of the PPSMI. (“Teaching of maths and science in English”) .
As a mother of three schoolgoing children, I have serious misgivings that the government is sincere in its endeavour.
To illustrate further, I would like to produce an extract from a Year 4 primary school English textbook used in Singapore (which incidentally was used by my son in his Malaysian school as a supplementary text, at the equivalent grade level): Read the rest of this entry »
Lessons from WikiLeaks for Malaysia
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Articles, Defence, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Monday, 27 December 2010, 11:42 pm
by AB Sulaiman
Malaysiakini
Dec 27 10
COMMENT
In the last few weeks, WikiLeaks has been the focus of the world’s attention. Founder Julian Assange has followed the principle that a government might have secrets but these are not to be used to cover abuses. Bad government is bad for the country; that seems to be his credo.
So he leaked out inter-governmental documents despite the ‘secret’ or other similar labels stamped on them. It looks like human rights, open democracy and light-speed push button communication offered by the Internet has combined in a new version of the perfect storm, wreaking havoc to secretive cross-border communications.
Thanks to WikiLeaks we are now able to taste not only more of the spice of the hot curry of international politics but also to know the ‘off the record so please do not quote me’ other people’s views of us.
Is WikiLeaks good or bad; is it morally sound, is it legally tenable? And should we embrace this new communication ‘medium’ with all gusto and enthusiasm?
I am no expert on the question of the morality and legality of this issue. But I am of the view that WikiLeaks is decidedly good for the country.
My reasons are basic. I am in favour of the good old fashioned way of running a country, especially one like ours whose buzzword is ‘nation-building’. Read the rest of this entry »
The LoyarBurok Book Review: “Perak – A State Of Crisis” – An Unabashed Self-Indictment By The BN Government Of Its Undemocratic Takeover Of Perak
Posted by Kit in Constitution, NH Chan, Perak on Monday, 27 December 2010, 4:13 pm
By NH Chan
27 December, 2010
[LoyarBaca’s first publication Perak: A State of Crisis (PASOC) has been a runaway hit and will soon be in Malaysia’s major bookstores through leading indie, activist distributor, Pak Chong’s GerakBudaya. We have sold out copies at hand for the moment (2nd impressions are on the way), but you may purchase them directly from GerakBudaya here. Here, after a brief hiatus, NH Chan re-appears to pen his thoughts on PASOC. ]
On the cover of Perak: A State Of Crisis, 2010 – the book is described as “Rants, reviews and reflections on the overthrow of democracy and the rule of law in Malaysia”.
On the back cover is this apt but accurate assessment by Marina Mahathir: “The people of Perak voted in March 2008 for a new government, then woke up one day to find that they had an entirely different one in place. A must read.”
Why is this book a must read? It is so because the book is a chronicle and commentary of the events that led to the unceremonious overthrow of the PR Government in Perak. The direct involvement of the BN protagonists who engineered the treacherous takeover – whose actions in that sordid episode spoke louder than words – has demonstrated unequivocally to the people of this country and to the world that they are the unquestionable “bad guys”.
With such unyielding and nefarious mindset in the BN camp, it looks like the choice for the voters in the next elections is between “good and bad”, “right and wrong”, “democracy and oligarchy” etc. The choice is obvious for no one wants to be governed by a group of self-serving people for this is the meaning of “oligarchy”; such an attitude in the psyche of the BN mindset would inevitably lead to “resource-draining corruption and rampant inequity” – to borrow a phrase from Audrey Quay in her “Editor’s Preface & Introduction” (page v) – as the Perak debacle has brought to light. Read the rest of this entry »
A government out of step with public opinion
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Mariam Mokhtar, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak on Monday, 27 December 2010, 2:54 pm
by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysia Chronicle
27th December 2010
When Communication and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim revealed that eighty-four percent of Malaysians understood the 1Malaysia concept, would it be safe to say that Deputy Prime minister Muyiddin Yassin is in the 16 percent group?
Earlier, Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak said that the 1Malaysia concept described how the ‘spirit of togetherness and the ability to rise above political differences’ were important for continued peace and stability in the country.
He said, “Although some might like to think it (1Malaysia) is for political purposes, it is actually for nation-building.”
Would he care to tell us how much he has spent on all the 1Malaysia posters, advertisements, billboards, badges and other paraphernalia where 1Malaysia has been plastered around the countryside?
Instead of spending millions on frivolous projects, why not spend that money on its people? The nation could do with improved healthcare, better infrastructure, quality teachers and schools. At a time like Christmas, several hundreds if not thousands of Malaysians roam the streets because they are destitute. Money could be channeled away from the promotion of 1Malaysia, and be used for a good cause to help these homeless people.
If 1Malaysia has to be continually drummed into us, then it says a lot about Najib’s leadership. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan’s 100-day reform plan: Malaysia unbound
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 27 December 2010, 10:41 am
by Terence Netto
Malaysiakini
Dec 27, 10
COMMENT
You could call it ‘Malaysia Makeover Phase 1’ – this Pakatan Rakyat 100-day reform plan, enunciated a week ago at its second annual convention in Kepala Batas.
You could also call it by more grandiloquent terms like ‘National Recovery Plan’ or ‘Malaysia Revival Programme’, as both are appropriate to the necessity of the task and its gravity for our future.
Definitely, the latter two labels have got more oomph if less alliteration.
But they suffer for reason of their ready comparison to such monikers as ‘Great Leap Forward’ and ‘Marshall Plan’ – the former a misnomer for a murderously disastrous plan that brought much grief to China, and the latter a programme of economic aid that helped western Europe revive after the devastation of world war.
No, Pakatan’s 100-day reform plan is less hubristic in its goals, though surpassingly vital for the reform of the Malaysian polity. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib is denying the undeniable when he claimed his 1Malaysia slogan is not political
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, nation building on Sunday, 26 December 2010, 11:23 am
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is denying the undeniable when he claimed that his 1Malaysia concept is not political but a tool to foster unity among the different communities for nation-building.
Najib cannot deny that in the 20 months since the introduction of Najib’s “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” slogan, instead of giving Malaysians a new sense of being Malaysian, the reverse has taken place.
As a result, the brain drain of talented Malaysians regardless of race has again returned to the fore, despite the proposed establishment of a Talent Corporation to attract the best brains in the world to Malaysia.
In the past 20 months, despite Najib’s 1Malaysia concept to create a Malaysia where every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second, there had been an unprecedented rhetoric of irresponsible politicking, racist extremism and religious bigotry.
The year could not have ended on a worse note for 1Malaysia when even Malaysia’s religious pluralism came under attack as if it is something anti-national, un-Malaysian and a great liability when the country’s racial, religious, cultural and linguistic diversity are the nation’s greatest assets and keys as to whether Malaysia can achieve inclusive, sustainable high-income developed nation status. Read the rest of this entry »
Celebrating the Challenge of Christmas!
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh on Saturday, 25 December 2010, 7:28 pm
by Martin Jalleh
Christmas Day, 2010
Christmas is here. For many of us who are Christians, we have allowed rampant commercialisation and the “Walt Disneyfication” of Christmas to reduce our Christian spirituality to mere sentimentality.
By all means, let us enjoy the carols, cakes, cool cards and cozy nativity scenes, but let us also put Christ back into Christmas and remind ourselves that Christ did not enter a world of comfortable spiritual sentiment.
Whilst commenting on what King Herod represents in the Christmas story a Bible scholar describes the real world in which Jesus Christ entered into and why He did: “Herod represents the dark side of the gospel. He recognizes something about Jesus that in our sentiment we fail to see: that the birth of this child is a threat to his kingdom, a threat to that kind of domination and rule. Jesus challenges the very power structures of this evil age.”
“Jesus enters a world of real pain, of serious dysfunction, a world of brokenness and political oppression. Jesus was born an outcast, a homeless person, a refugee, and finally he becomes a victim to the powers that be. Jesus is the perfect savior for outcasts, refugees, and nobodies. ” Read the rest of this entry »
Winners ignored, 5th placers lauded?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Education, Letters, nation building on Saturday, 25 December 2010, 2:41 pm
by Ooi Chin Wah
Letters
Malaysiakini
Dec 22, 10
The World Robot Olympiad (WRO) is an event for science, technology and education, that brings together youths from all over the world in order to develop their creativity and problem solving skills through challenging and educational robot competitions.
Participating teams need to create, design and build a robot model that looks or behaves like human.
This year the task of organising the competition was given to the Philippines. The Ministry of Education and many private companies in the Philippines jointly sponsored the event.
The steering committee consists of well-known academicians from China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Singapore. 250 teams from 22 countries participated. Read the rest of this entry »
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Posted by Kit in Announcement on Friday, 24 December 2010, 4:11 pm
Most Malaysians against 100-storey project, poll shows
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Friday, 24 December 2010, 2:50 pm
By Leslie Lau
Executive Editor
The Malaysian Insider
December 24, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 — The majority of voters in peninsular Malaysia are against the proposed construction of the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka project, a recent survey by the independent Merdeka Center has revealed.
The survey, conducted between November 30 and December 11, found that 65 per cent of those polled disagreed with the construction of what would be the tallest building in the country.
Opposition to the project was uniform across all three major communities.
Sixty per cent of Malay voters polled disagreed with the project while 76 per cent of Chinese opposed its construction. Among Indians, 58 per cent were against it.
The findings suggest that a recent online protest on the Facebook social networking site was a fair reflection of public opposition to the project. Read the rest of this entry »
Selangor Exco should review decision to ban 1Malaysia logo from billboards to prove Muhyiddin wrong that Pakatan Rakyat is afraid of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, Pakatan Rakyat on Friday, 24 December 2010, 1:26 pm
The assertion by Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government has banned the 1Malaysia logo from billboards in the state because of Pakatan Rakyat’s fear of the concept is downright ridiculous.
He further claimed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia vision is increasingly popular and this scared Pakatan Rakyat.
Muhyiddin’s statement is downright ridiculous as he himself has declared that he does not fully endorse the 1Malaysia concept, whose official objective is the creation of a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, geography and socio-economic grouping second.
When I challenged all Ministers in Parliament in March this year to declare that they are Malaysians first and their race, religion or region second, to demonstrate their support and commitment to the 1Malaysia concept, Muhyiddin had responded that he was Malay first and Malaysian second.
Read the rest of this entry »
A Year Won by Public Relations
Posted by Kit in Kee Thuan Chye, Pakatan Rakyat on Friday, 24 December 2010, 9:26 am
by KeeThuan Chye
MalaysianDigest.com
23 December 2010
IN politics, 2010 has been a year of the triumph of public relations.
Barisan Nasional (BN) played the public relations game to the hilt and scored major points. Pakatan Rakyat (PR), on the other hand, showed a lack of public relations savvy and is now suffering for it. Its public image is experiencing such a severe decline that the coalition may not soon find the road to recovery, much less the road to Putrajaya.
Public relations is about spinning illusions; it’s no substitute for good, honest politics, but unfortunately, its role in creating positive public perception about the party has made it an essential political weapon. Employing the services of Apco, McKinsey and Co, and other public relations companies, BN has wielded the weapon to its advantage.
This year has seen it come out with a series of three-letter abbreviations to sell as dreams to the Malaysian public. Considering how easily some Malaysians have fallen victim to Internet scams, you have to say it’s been clever of Prime Minister Najib Razak to hawk GTP, ETP, NEM and whatever else to make it appear he’ll deliver sure success. Never mind that he has done nothing to bring about the much-needed reforms that are essential to putting our institutions in proper working order again, such as restoring the independence of the judiciary, revamping the police force, freeing the media, making the Elections Commission independent, etc.
BN of course has the means to pay for the public relations advice using taxpayers’ money, and it has the government machinery to showcase the gimmicks. Not to mention the cooperation of the mainstream media as well. PR, however, has none of these at its disposal. It depends quite a bit on the vagaries of luck and circumstance. Read the rest of this entry »
100-day reforms: BN has lost and Pakatan deserves a chance
Posted by Kit in Election, Mariam Mokhtar, Muhyiddin Yassin, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 23 December 2010, 7:02 pm
by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysia Chronicle
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin scoffed at Pakatan’s 100-day reforms in the event that they formed the federal government and reminded the public ‘why BN has been in power for more than half a century and counting’.
His shameless attempt to discredit Pakatan is an insult to the electorate. He said, “Pakatan can promise the sun, moon, stars and mountains… But that is not the way of the BN government. We cannot squander our nation’s wealth.”
Muhyiddin is far removed from reality. People are disillusioned. After 53 years, the nation is more divided than ever, and our economy is in tatters. Our standards in education are falling, our defence budget is spiraling out of control and the civil service is bloated. The Prime minister’s residence and the King’s palace are undergoing a multi-million magical transformation whilst some people live without piped water and electricity.
Does Muhyiddin still think the electorate deserves to give BN another chance? Is 53 years of failure not long enough? Read the rest of this entry »
Mid-term poll suggests Pakatan can keep Selangor
Posted by Kit in Election, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 23 December 2010, 6:33 pm
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
23 December 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — A Merdeka Center mid-term survey of voters showed that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was likely to retain Selangor in an election, despite a marginal decline in Malay support.
According to the survey report released to The Malaysian Insider, 57 per cent of the 1,214 respondents polled believed that Selangor PR was heading in the right direction while 28 per cent thought otherwise.
There was a slight dip in Malay confidence, however, from 63 per cent agreeing in June 2009 that the state was on the right track to only 55 per cent in August this year.
Support from the Chinese community was maintained at 53 per cent in the same period despite a small decline to 47 per cent in January this year.
The PR government scored the highest with the Indian community, with a steady increase in support from 63 per cent to 72 per cent across the same period. Read the rest of this entry »
Nazri, Kit Siang clash over rights panel procedures
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, Parliament on Thursday, 23 December 2010, 6:18 pm
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Lim Kit Siang today differed over whether Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had the right to defend himself at a parliamentary panel questioning his claim that government strategist APCO Worldwide had links with Israel.
Malaysia has no official ties with Israel, which is seen as an enemy by some Muslim states due to their occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Today, Nazri insisted that Parliament’s Rights and Privileges Committee was not a place for Anwar to defend himself on his APCO-One Israel claims, saying that the committee only served as a an “investigative body” to his accusations.
Nazri said the committee’s scope was only to determine a prima facie case on whether the PKR de facto leader should be suspended for misleading Parliament. He also reiterated that Anwar had denied himself the chance to put in his defence as a result of the “unruly conduct” by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers in Parliament last week.
“The place for Anwar to defend himself is in Parliament, after the minister has tabled the motion (on Anwar’s suspension) and debated on it. If that did not happen, it was because Anwar had denied himself a chance to do so last week, resulting in Pakatan’s mass walkout,” Nazri told The Malaysian Insider.
Lim, however, claimed that Nazri was wrong is his understanding of the role of the committee, and that Anwar should have been allowed to enter his defence over connecting the government’s public relations consultancy firm to the One Israel campaign under former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak.
The Umno minister’s arguments were then refuted by Lim, who claimed that the Rights and Privileges’ Committee was not just an investigative body but also a panel which conducted the necessary investigations and also passed a decision and findings on the matter.
The decisions and findings, according to the Ipoh Timur MP, would then be submitted to Parliament to be tabled, debated and decided on.
“The committee cannot just come to a conclusion without hearing the merits of the entire case, and this would have to include Anwar’s defence to his claims of APCO’s involvement in One Israel. The findings as well as a decision would have to have been made on the committee level, before submitting it to Parliament. I cannot understand Nazri’s understanding of the roles and functions of the committee,” Lim told The Malaysian Insider. Read the rest of this entry »
