Happy Deepavali to all Malaysian Indians
Wishing Happy Deepavali to all Malaysian Indians.
Despite obstacles and setbacks, the battle of good against evil and light against darkness must be unremitting and unceasing.
Take courage for the night is darkest before dawn
An unconvinced Kit Siang to sue Berita Harian
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Lim Kit Siang is going ahead to sue Berita Harian for saying he remarked “orang Umno kafir” or infidels, saying he remained unconvinced with the Umno-owned Malay daily’s admission of error.
The DAP adviser claimed that the “correction” by the Umno daily did not amount to any apology but instead added “insult to injury”.
Berita Harian admitted today that it had made an error over remarks which it had attributed to Lim (picture) during a PAS ceramah at Sungai Terah, Gua Musang on Monday.
The daily, under the vast Media Prima Berhad group, had yesterday accused Lim of saying “orang Umno kafir” (Umno members are infidels) to “influence Malays to vote for PAS” in today’s Galas by-election. The results of the by-election will be known tonight.
“I cannot figure out how ‘silap tulis’ can be used as a defence, excuse of justification for such a malicious, irresponsible, defamatory and seditious report, seeking to incite racial and religious hatred in a multi-religious and multi-racial country.
“Berita Harian has not made any apology and has added insult to injury by implying without producing any proof that Ali Rustam was right in accusing a DAP national leader of having called Umno Malays as kafirs,” Lim told reporters today. Read the rest of this entry »
Berita Harian admits error over Lim’s ‘seditious’ remark
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
November 04, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Berita Harian admitted today that it had made an error over remarks which it had attributed to DAP’s Lim Kit Siang during a PAS ceramah at Singai Terah, Gua Musang on Monday.
The Umno-owned daily had yesterday accused Lim of saying “orang Umno kafir” (Umno members are infidels) to “influence Malays to vote for PAS” during the now ongoing Galas by-election.
The article quoted Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam as saying that Lim’s alleged remarks were made in the presence of PAS spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during a ceramah in Sungai Terah.
However, in an about-turn today, Berita Harian claimed the Melaka chief minister’s remarks were taken from his speech during a ceramah, and that Ali Rustam’s remarks was not made in reference to the DAP advisor. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP: To sue Melaka CM, Berita Harian over sedition accusation
Posted by Kit in Court, DAP, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Wednesday, 3 November 2010, 6:47 pm
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
November 03, 2010
Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3- The DAP said today that it will initiate legal action against Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam as well as Umno-owned daily Berita Harian for making false allegations against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.
DAP national chairman Karpal Singh demanded that Ali Rustam as well as Berita Harian “ retract and apologize unconditionally” for claiming that Lim had uttered seditious remarks during a PAS ceramah in Sungai Terah, Gua Musang.
“In lieu of the seriousness of the allegations made against Lim Kit Siang, I’ve been instructed as the party legal advisor to take action against Berita Harian and the CM of Melaka, Ali Rustam. It’s a very serious matter in that it adverts to something is very sensitive and something which can be abused… Berita Harian should be responsible. In fact a police report will be lodged against Berita Harian for publishing false news. This is an offence under the Printing Press and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984,” Karpal told reporters today.
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Kit Siang denies ‘Umno kafir’ remark
By S Pathmawathy | Nov 3, 10 1:45pm
Malaysiakini
DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang has denied a news report that he had dubbed bitter rivals Umno as kafir (infidels) during a ceramah (political talk) in Gua Musang, pointing out that he was not even present at the event.
“It is a slanderous report… I have never been there. This is very irresponsible and they are doing it to propagate hatred,” Lim told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.
Malay-language daily Berita Harian had claimed that Lim made the remark during a ceramah on Monday in Kampung Baru Hulu, Sungai Terap while campaigning for the Galas by-election in Kelantan.
PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim were said to have been at the event as well.
Read the rest of this entry »
Ku Li caught in an Umno trap?
Posted by Kit in Election, Razaleigh Hamzah, UMNO on Wednesday, 3 November 2010, 1:25 pm
By Philip Bowring
Malaysiakini
The result of the 12th by-election since the tumultuous general elections in 2008 is in practical terms irrelevant. Whether or not PAS retains the state seat of Galas in tomorrow’s by-election will make no difference to the Islamic party’s control of the state legislature. (PAS captured 38 of the 45 state seats in Kelantan, while ally PKR picked up one and Umno, six)
But it will be a test of the influence of Umno’s most distinguished internal dissident, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, and his calls for sweeping reform of Umno. Galas is part of Razaleigh’s federal parliamentary constituency and is centred on his hometown of Gua Musang in the south of Kelantan. And, together with a federal seat by-election on the same day, the election is expected to play a role in whether Prime Minister Najib Razak will go to national polls in early 2011.
But interpreting the Galas result will not be easy. The 73-year-old Razaleigh, usually known as Ku Li, is between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the Kelantan aristocrat knows that his calls for reform of Umno are unlikely to make much progress if the erosion of support for the Umno-led BN ruling coalition that was seen both in the 2008 federal election and in subsequent by-elections is stemmed or reversed.
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Kit Siang rejects Gua Musang ‘sedition’ accusation
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
November 03, 2010
Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 — An outraged Lim Kit Siang denied today uttering seditious remarks during a ceramah in Sungai Terah, Gua Musang, saying that he was not even present at the function.
“This is a slanderous accusation…I never said this and I was not even there (at the ceramah). This is a twisted and irresponsible plot to spread racial and religious hatred,” Lim told reporters.
Umno-owned daily Berita Harian, in a news report dated yesterday had accused Lim of saying “orang Umno kafir” (Umno members are infidels) during a PAS ceramah in Sungai Terah, to “influence Malays to vote for PAS” for the Galas by-election.
The article quoted Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam as saying that Lim’s alleged remarks were made in the presence of PAS spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) spiritual advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during a ceramah in Sungai Terah.
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In TI CPI of past 16 years, Malaysia is perceived by the world as becoming more and more corrupt while other countries have become less corrupt
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Wednesday, 3 November 2010, 11:12 am
Despite the “1Malaysia People First Performance Now” slogan and the alphabet soup of GTP, NKRA, MKRA, SRIs, ETP etc and one Roadmap after another of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the National Integrity Plan of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysia is the worst country in the Asia-Pacific in Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in past 16 years since the start of the annual ranking in 1995.
In the first TI CPI in 1995, Malaysia was ranked No. 23 out of 41 countries or the 6th highest-ranked nation in the Asia-Pacific after New Zealand -1, Singapore – 3, Australia – 7, Hong Kong – 17 and Japan – 20, with a CPI score of 5.28.
Sixteen years later, after numerous anti-corruption campaigns, two major anti-corruption legislation and “transformation” of the former Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) into Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) with massive infusion of public funds and increase of staffing, Malaysia has continued to remain in the lowest TI CPI ranking of No. 56 as last year but with the lowest CPI score of 4.4 – falling to No. 11 country placing in the Asia-Pacific.
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Galas assault: Heng a liar, says TBH group
Posted by Kit in Election, MCA, Teoh Beng Hock on Tuesday, 2 November 2010, 9:48 pm
By Wong Teck Chi | Nov 2, 10 4:26pm
Malaysiakini
The ‘Malaysians for Beng Hock’ movement released a series of photographs today to prove that one of their members was manhandled by an MCA grassroots leader in Gua Musang, Kelantan, last Saturday.
The movement’s coordinator Ng Yap Hwa said the photographs proved that one of its members, Soh Cher Hai, was in fact violently pushed by an individual who has been identified as the Gua Musang MCA division secretary.
The movement said the photographs were proof that Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Heng Seai Kie had issued misleading statements on the incident.
Heng had claimed that Soh did not exactly fall onto the ground and that she had ensured Soh’s safety before she left.
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Why Umno so desperate? Losing Galas?
Tweets:
11/02/2010 07:25 PM
Tindakan Kit Siang tuduh UMNO kafir melampau (BH) http://bit.ly/dAULXk PemudaUMNO buat lprn polis trhdp Kit Siang (BH) http://bit.ly/cCZr6I
11/02/2010 07:35 PM
My attn just drawn 2Berita Harian rprts – Mcca CM AliRustam accused I had “mencampuri urusan agama Islam dng menuduh orang UMNO kafir”. (2)
11/02/2010 07:37 PM
I was accused of saying this at Galas ceramah in presence on TGNA n Anwar at Rancangan Pemulihan Tanah (RPT) KESEDAR Sungai Terah. Big lies.
11/02/2010 07:42 PM
Police rprts 2b made agnst AliRustam BHarian n naibketua PemudaUmno Putrajaya (4lodging false report). Y Umno so desperate? Losing Galas?
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Leave activists alone, says DAP
By Patrick Lee
Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: The DAP has condemned the police and the MCA for not giving social activists leeway in Galas.
Four people from the social activist group Malaysians for Beng Hock, including Teoh Beng Hock’s sister, Teoh Lee Lan, were arrested on Sunday during the Galas by-election campaign.
The group arrived in Galas to seek justice for the death of Teoh, a DAP political aide.
They were picked up for distributing leaflets on custodial deaths and attempting to goad MCA officials into supporting the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death.
Read the rest of this entry »
DAP: ‘MACC not doing its job’
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament on Tuesday, 2 November 2010, 7:37 pm
By Patrick Lee
Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP has blasted the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for its poor show in stamping out corruption.
Commenting on MACC’s investigations into 11 people for ‘owning excessive’ wealth, an irate Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur MP) said: “An independent, efficient and professional anti-corruption agency would be able to investigate hundreds if not thousands of these cases of disproportionate sources of income immediately.
“Many of these people have lifestyles, houses and cars that would not have come from their official incomes.”
Lim was responding to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz statement that 11 people (political and civil servants) were being investigated by the MACC for having excessive assets, and only two ‘accusations’ had been made between 2009 and 2010.
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Rulers for all Malaysians
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Tuesday, 2 November 2010, 7:36 pm
NOV 2 — “RESPECT CONSTITUTION” screamed the New Sunday Times front page. There is really no need for the “Malay rulers” to have undue misgivings about their humble subjects occasionally dipping into the Constitution and questioning some aspect or other they do not fully understand.
Common, ordinary people like me are not Constitutional experts, unlike at least one of their Highnesses. Fear us not because we are not thinking even remotely of storming the Bastille. Such an unworthy thought has never crossed our minds, and certainly not mine.
We only want to know, as citizens, where we stand in Constitutional terms. It is our right to be enlightened. In other words, what are our Constitutional rights and obligations?
I can understand the rulers’ unease and apprehension after what Mahathir did to denigrate and run their institution into the ground, spewing filthy lies and uncharitable innuendoes against them individually and collectively. And, generally, he succeeded in causing public disaffection. Why was he not charged?
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MACC: All corrupt officials are targeted
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Tuesday, 2 November 2010, 4:51 pm
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has insisted it acts against all corrupt officials, be it “ministers, chief ministers, political leaders or even civil servants.”
At the same time, the anti-graft agency hit out at Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers for “sensationalising” issues, attacking to gain political mileage.
Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, the minister in charge of the MACC, revealed that the commission was still investigating 11 individuals under Section 32 of the Corruption Prevention Act 1997/ MACC Act 2009 for offences relating to “owning assets beyond one’s normal income.”
In a written reply to Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang on October 27, Nazri said that two charges have been made based on that offence from 2009 to September 2010.
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The real power behind the throne
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Tuesday, 2 November 2010, 4:49 pm
By Mariam Mokhtar
Tuesday, 02 November 2010 13:00
Malaysian Mirror
Malaysian Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s illness with chicken pox on the eve of the visit of two foreign dignitaries – Australian Prime minister Julia Gillard and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, is unfortunate but not as awkward as how events have unfolded whilst he is recuperating.
Najib first showed symptoms of illness at the 17th Asean Summit Meeting in Hanoi and according to his wife, Rosmah Mansor, has been asked to rest by his doctors.
Whilst at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, where she paid a visit to the accident victims of the Genting bus crash, Rosmah was reported to be in ‘high spirits standing in for Najib at functions’.
Rosmah appears to be taking her role a bit too seriously.
Read the rest of this entry »
In Parliament, Putrajaya to name errant officials
Posted by Kit in public service on Monday, 1 November 2010, 10:27 pm
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal November 01, 2010
Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — The Najib administration will provide Parliament with a comprehensive list of civil servants who have broken disciplinary regulations and “lack initiative” Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said today.
The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said that the government had compiled a list of civil servants who had flouted the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993, and this included those who were behaving like “little napoleons.”
“The government has taken action against all officers who have broken the rules. Bagan (MP Lim Guan Eng) claimed that there were officials behaving like little napoleons. We will take preventive and punitive action if we find that officials to be portraying the actions of little napoleons,” said Nazri during his Budget winding-up speech in Parliament.
The matter was first brought up by DAP advisor and Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang, who had asked for the government to provide figures for the action taken against “little napoleons” in the civil service.
Read the rest of this entry »
A PR win in Batu Sapi will signify national change, Kit Siang says
By Melissa Chi
The Malaysian Insider
October 31, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang emphasised today the importance of the Batu Sapi by-elections, claiming that only Pakatan Rakyat (PR) could offer Sabah the dire need of change.
“It will have a large implication… it will be a preview to the federal change of power,” the Ipoh-Timur MP told The Malaysian Insider over the phone.
“What this by-election means, is for the first time the people of Sabah in a by-election will be voting for national change,” the federal lawmaker said, confident that if the opposition coalition wins the Batu Sapi parliamentary seat, chances of winning the next general election will be much higher.
He claimed that it is not possible for a “real change” in Sabah change without a national change in government.
“The significance and implications of this Batu Sapi election, this message can be sent out to the voters. I believe the majority of the voters will see the importance… if Pakatan Rakyat wins, there is a possibility of change. Read the rest of this entry »
CORRUPTION: The Pass Mark Eludes Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Articles, Corruption, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 30 October 2010, 12:24 pm
by Tunku Abdul Aziz
Judged internationally, by almost every performance indicator known to man, Malaysia is a duffer, and that is putting it charitably. Our report card is drowning in a sea of red ink. The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index just released shows Malaysia scoring 4.4 points at number 56 out of 178 countries surveyed. Many have questioned the methodology used and have gone so far as to suggest developing our own index. But let me just say this. Whatever we may think, the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index enjoys a reputation second to none as the world’s most authoritative index of its kind. A similar sentiment has been expressed about the world’s top universities index. Shoot the bearer of bad news and retreat to hide under our tempurung and croak our lungs out for the entire world to hear about our version of Malaysia’s achievements. We have become a nation of bad losers.
When Datuk Anwar Fazal, Raja Aziz Addruse, Datuk Param Cumaraswamy and other like minded men and women of the highest integrity met in the Royal Commonwealth Society one night many years ago to discuss forming the Malaysian Chapter of Transparency International Malaysia, they had seen enough, and had become greatly concerned at the speed with which corruption in national life had destroyed the moral fabric and consumed the very soul of our people. It was not the easiest of undertakings to operate an anti-corruption non-governmental organisation during Mahathir’s corrupt and repressive regime.
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Umno’s fixation on the 30 percent
by Kee Thuan Chye
MalaysiaKini
Oct 27, 10 8:08am
COMMENT Every time an Umno general assembly rolls into town, the mainstream newspapers will be filled to overflowing with coverage of the event. Pages and pages will be devoted to the speeches and debates as well as photographs of the gathering.
But if you were to dig up your old newspapers of at least the past two or three decades to refer to the reports on the Umno general assemblies, you’d find that the basic issues and the exhortations of the party leaders are virtually the same.
At each assembly, the things that are said appear to be variations on the same themes – the Malays need to work harder and improve themselves; they need to be on guard against external threats; their rights will never be taken away from them; Umno will forever protect the Malays; at the same time, the Malays must understand that they live in a multi-racial society so Umno will also see to the interests of the other races… Read the rest of this entry »
