Fully support Teo’s apology to Selangor Sultan over Surau Al Huda controversy
Posted by Kit in DAP, Islam, nation building on Sunday, 29 August 2010, 1:30 pm
I fully support DAP MP for Serdang Teo Nie Ching’s apology to the Sultan of Selangor for any unintended offence caused by her visit to the Surau Al Huda in her constituency in the course of her parliamentary duties to help her constituents.
Malaysians are shocked however at the intemperate language being used by some elements to foment disaffection.
I refer to the Malaysian Insider report today that Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali is calling for “strong action” to be taken against Teo, saying that she must be charged for “desecrating” the Surau Al Huda.
Even more shocking, the Perkasa chief “attempted to draw an analogy between Nation of Islam preacher Malcom X, who was gunned down at Manhattan Audubon Ballroom by three Black Muslims in 1965 and Teo’s surau visit which has been highlighted by Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia last Friday”.
Ibrahim was quoted as having sent the following SMS to Malaysian Insider: “In America, Islamic preacher Malcom X, who preached to Christians and entered their churches was shot dead but in Selangor an ‘unclean DAP politician’ was dragged into the surau’s prayer room”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Burma’s ailing dictator resigns military post
by Ben Doherty
Guardian
27th August 2010
Than Shwe and other generals quit military to apparently ensure they stay in charge as civilians after November elections
Burma’s reclusive and ailing dictator, Than Shwe, has resigned his military post, exiled Burmese media have reported, paving the way for him to become president in Burma’s government after the elections.
Shwe, the despot who has brutally ruled south-east Asia’s poorest country as commander-in-chief of the armed forces since 1992, yesterday handed control of the army to his adjutant general. However, the 77-year-old will remain head of the Burmese government.
More than a dozen other senior military officers also resigned, in an ominous sign for the country’s forthcoming elections. Inside Burma, Shwe’s resignation of his military role is being seen as a significant step towards ensuring he and his military cadres remain in charge after 7 November’s national elections, the first to be held in Burma for two decades.
“I think this means only one thing – he wants to be president,” a source inside Burma told the Guardian. Read the rest of this entry »
National Day on August 31 is deadline for Najib to prove he is serious about “zero tolerance” for racism in the country, particularly by public servants
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building on Saturday, 28 August 2010, 5:13 pm
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should have received public feedback that his declaration yesterday of a “zero tolerance” towards racism and pledge to take immediate action against those found to have made racial slurs had been received with great cynicism countrywide as another Najibism which is good for soundbites and publicity but never to be taken seriously – that it would be forgotten once delivered.
In fact, public cynicism about Najib’s political will and leadership after 16 month as Prime Minister in his various policy pronouncements because of the large gulf between proclamation and action has culminated in Merdeka month celebrations this year with the theme “1Malaysia transforms the nation” highlighting the failures of Najib’s 1Malaysia rather than celebrating the new Prime Minister’s signature nation-building programme.
The question now is whether Najib can inspire confidence in time for National Day on Tuesday, August 31st in his “zero tolerance” policy for racism by taking firm and decisive action in the next 60 hours against racists who had created inter-racial misunderstandings and tensions in the past weeks?
Read the rest of this entry »
Teo Nie Ching apologises to Sultan of Selangor
DAP MP for Serdang Teo Nie Ching has issued a public apology to the Sultan of Selangor over the Surau Al-Huda incident. Her statement reads:
Pada hari Ahad 22hb Ogos, saya sebagai ahli parlimen Serdang telah mengunjungi Surau Al-Huda, Kajang bertujuan untuk menghulurkan bantuan berbentuk sumbangan kerajaan untuk memperbaiki pagar surau, dan berbuka puasa bersama ahli jawatankuasa dan jemaah surau.
Oleh kerana saya telah dijemput untuk memberi sepatah dua kata, saya dengan secara ikhlas memberikan sedikit penjelasan mengenai program pendidikan kerajaan negeri yang memanfaatkan rakyat Selangor.
Saya menyesal bahawa perkara ini telah menimbulkan perasaan keresahan antara umat Islam negara kita dan isu ini telah diperhangatkan oleh pihak-pihak tertentu atas sebab-sebab politik. Read the rest of this entry »
Anwar Ibrahim again battles dubious sex charges
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim on Saturday, 28 August 2010, 12:01 pm
by Mark MacKinnon
Globe and Mail
Aug. 27, 2010
Prosecution appears to be thinly veiled attempt to ruin Malaysian opposition leader’s reputation and political career
There is an uncomfortable pattern to life for Anwar Ibrahim, the charismatic leader of Malaysia’s opposition. In 1998, shortly after he quit the authoritarian government of Mahathir bin Mohamad, he was convicted and jailed on trumped-up sodomy charges.
Six years after that conviction was quashed and he was released from prison – and just as it looked like he and his multi-ethnic coalition might finally oust the long-ruling United National Malays Organization from office – Mr. Anwar finds himself trapped in the most awkward of reruns, once more accused of “consensual intercourse against the order of nature.”
The charges again look to be a thinly veiled attempt to ruin Mr. Anwar’s reputation and sabotage his political career in this Muslim-majority country. The trial to date – dubbed “Sodomy II” in Malaysia’s unsubtle government-controlled press – has produced a succession of lurid headlines about lubricant tubes and stained underwear, while Mr. Anwar and his lawyers have been denied the right even to see the medical records of the man with which he is alleged to have had anal sex.
But instead of letting the scandalous court proceedings force him to the sidelines, the eternally optimistic Mr. Anwar has been using good humour and his ever-present BlackBerry to turn even the most awkward of headlines to his advantage, holding up the charges against him as proof of the absurdity of the system he’s trying to change. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s funniest and tragic court video
Posted by Kit in Teoh Beng Hock on Friday, 27 August 2010, 10:24 pm
Video of Teoh Beng Hock Inquest proceedings on 18th August 2010
MACC Lawyer Datuk Abdul Razak Musa cross examining renowned Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand.
Najib should walk the talk of a zero-tolerance policy for racism and religious incitement starting with Utusan Malaysia with zero-tolerance for delay in taking action
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Najib Razak, nation building on Friday, 27 August 2010, 6:40 pm
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has finally broken his silence, declaring a “zero tolerance” policy towards racism and pledging immediate action against those found to have made racial slurs.
It is welcome although belated – provided it is not an empty declaration. Najib’s belated declaration raised the question whether he means what he says for two reasons:
Firstly, it has taken him two long weeks to make his first public statement since the deplorable incident at the launch of the Merdeka celebrations of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Kulai, where the school principal Hajah Siti Inshah binti Mansor said: “Pelajar-pelajar Cina tidak diperlukan dan boleh balik ke China ataupun Sekolah Foon Yew. Bagi pelajar India, tali sembahyang yang diikat di pergelangan tangan dan leher pelajar nampak seakan anjing dan hanya anjing akan mengikat seperti itu.”
In my statement on Tuesday 17th August, I had asked the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to put the issue on top of the Cabinet meeting the next day for two reasons: Read the rest of this entry »
Where has our leadership gone?
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Friday, 27 August 2010, 1:19 pm
Sometime in 2007, Lee Iacocca, wrote a book titled ‘Where Have All The Leaders Gone?. In light of what is happening, I find the subject matter of the book, becoming more relevant by each passing day. We should now begin asking the same question- where have all our leaders gone?
In the early part of the book, Iacocca asks a question which we Malaysians should also be asking- where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder at what’s going on.
The level of corruption goes unabated. Ezam Mat Nor says he has got boxes and boxes of hard evidence against Rafidah Aziz and Mat Nor Yaakob and a slew of UMNO leaders. Why doesn’t he turn them over to the government? Rais Yatim should be arrested for concealing material that can help the government bust the 18 high profile corruption cases that he once loudly announced. Was that his pompous piety and righteousness that were on display? Where are the evidence? RTM itself should be investigated as to why only one company seems to monopolize all the advertising rights?
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Eh, Tun dah lupa?
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, nation building on Friday, 27 August 2010, 12:46 pm
By Art Harun
Every year, during the first two or three days of fasting, I suffer from headaches. That is because my blood sugar level drops. Thank God this will go away after the 3rd day of fasting.
Low blood sugar level may cause hypoglycemia. In some cases, symptoms of hypoglycemia include impaired judgment; irritability; belligerence; confusion; belligerence, combativeness and rage. Thankfully, as far as I know, I don’t have those symptoms.
When Tun DrM said yesterday that meritocracy and “meritocrats” are racists, my first reaction was one of irritation. Then I was bemused. Later I was amused. And finally today I think it must have been the fasting month and the obvious low blood sugar level which was affecting him.
Meritocracy as I understand it is the act of rewarding or awarding an individual or a body of individuals or any entity with anything based on merit. Like awarding a student who has scored 13 As in SPM a place in the university. Or awarding X Sdn Bhd a contract to maintain a submarine because X Sdn Bhd has successfully maintained 15 other submarines before this without any problem at reasonable costs as compared to any other company who were bidding for the job.
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Stand up and be counted, Malaysia
Posted by Kit in nation building on Thursday, 26 August 2010, 4:11 pm
By Azmi Sharom | Brave New World
It is strange that in the 21st century, we are still having to face the problem of institutionalised racism.
OVER the past week or so, there have been some developments in our country which are more disturbing than usual.
In particular, the two cases of alleged racist remarks by school heads; the accusations that Penang mosques have replaced the Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the Chief Minister’s name in their prayers; and the continued insistence that Article 153 of the Constitution is equal to an inalienable right that could not be questioned.
These events are interrelated and it seems to me that they indicate that there is a battle of ideology going on in the country now.
On one side is the idea that a person’s ethnicity and religion entitles him to be treated better than anyone else who is different. On the other side is the idea that equality is an aspiration that is both noble and necessary for nation building.
Read the rest of this entry »
When will Najib and his Ministers wake up and realize that the twin crisis of human talents and investments confronting the country are more than a matter of economics?
Posted by Kit in Economics, Finance, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Thursday, 26 August 2010, 10:32 am
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed is quoted in today’s press as saying that Talent Corporation has been tasked with attracting at least half of the 750,000 Malaysian professionals working overseas to come home as part of its efforts to draw the best brains in the world to Malaysia.
Speaking at the launching of the Public-Private Partnership’s website www.3pu.gov.my, he said seeking out the Malaysian diaspora for the top brains was necessary as the Government aimed to hit the target of RM115 billion per year in local and foreign investments to turn the country into a developed nation by 2020.
It is shocking that Nor Mohamed could come out with such an unrealistic and “tall order” not only because of the dismal failure of previous government “brain gain” policies but in the light of recent events when the unchecked escalation of the rhetoric of race and religion would have the effect of giving a major push to greater brain-drain from the country instead of pulling back talents from the Malaysian diaspora to return to serve the country.
It is time that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Ministers wake up and realize that the twin crisis of human talents and investments confronting the country are more than a matter of economics.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #29
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Thursday, 26 August 2010, 9:36 am
By M. Bakri Musa
Chapter 4: Modern Model States
The Relevant Lessons For Malaysia
At first glance, Malaysians cannot readily identify with any of these three countries. Although they differ in a number of significant ways, nonetheless each has important lessons to offer Malaysia.
The most obvious difference is that none of three countries have multiracial societies and the accompanying interracial problems. South Korea is ethnically and culturally homogeneous. There may be some tension between the Buddhist majority and the Christian minority, but that does not lead to serious social or religious conflict. Polarizations and schisms in Korean society are more along regional and class lines.
Argentina is also deeply divided along class lines; between landowners and workers, and urban and rural dwellers. Ethnic differences are not significant as they are all essentially Europeans. Granted there are significant differences between the Germans and the Italians Argentineans (language, culture, religion), but those are of not of the same scale as the differences between Malays and Chinese.
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Acronym soup swamps Malaysia reform drive
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, NEM on Wednesday, 25 August 2010, 11:31 pm
Reuters
Global News Journal
Aug 25, 2010
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak says he has embarked on a series of radical economic reforms. In reality it feels as if he has unleashed a barrage of incomprehensible acronyms on the unsuspecting public of this Southeast Asian nation.
The charge for economic reform is being led by the snappily named PEMANDU. As well as being the Malay word for “driver” it stands for the government’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit.
PEMANDU is in charge of formulating and implementing NKRAs (National Key Result Areas), MKRAs (Ministerial Key Result Areas) and getting “Big Results Fast”, according to its website, although it singularly failed to win political backing for a radical revamp of Malaysia’s costly subsidy regime. Read the rest of this entry »
Has Mahathir crossed the Rubicon to declare war on Najib, 1Malaysia and NEM?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Mahathir, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 25 August 2010, 12:48 pm
Shock, outrage and consternation are understatements of the reactions to the latest outbursts by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad when he denounced the proponents of meritocracy as “racists too” and warned the Malay community that they risk losing political control of the country if they remain disunited.
It is not just the spectacle of the former longest-serving Prime Minister of Malaysia adding oil to the cauldron of the politics of race and religion but the repudiation of the Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia which he had proclaimed two decades ago.
In 1990, beginning his second decade as Prime Minister, Mahathir spelt out Vision 2020 to achieve in 30 years a fully developed Malaysian nation made up of one “Bangsa Malaysia” with a sense of common and shared destiny, distinguished by the pursuit of excellence, fully aware of all its potentials, psychologically subservient to none, and respected by the peoples of other nations.
Read the rest of this entry »
There must be some degree of decency in politics
Posted by Kit in Islam, Lim Guan Eng, Penang on Tuesday, 24 August 2010, 11:54 pm
by P Ramakrishnan
President
Aliran
24th August 2010
There must be some degree of decency in politics.
Why are the police taking such a long time to complete their investigation into the serious allegation that the name of His Majesty, the Yang di Pertuan Agong, had been substituted with the name of the Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, during the Friday sermon in certain mosques?
That is the question that is bothering Penangites.
This allegation has the potential to disrupt the harmony and unity that we enjoy in Penang. This controversy has been deliberately hatched to create political turmoil and destroy our peace. It can have terrible repercussions that will affect the existing goodwill among the various communities.
When there is so much to lose, why is there no urgency to bring the mischief-makers to book immediately? What is causing the delay and what is the problem facing the police? Read the rest of this entry »
Penang’s Special Area Plan
Posted by Kit in Penang, Thomas Lee on Tuesday, 24 August 2010, 7:33 pm
by Thomas Lee
mysinchew.com
2010-08-24
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has invited the public to help provide input, meaning ideas and suggestions, to the state government as it seeks to prepare a special area plan (SAP) for Georgetown, a requirement as a world heritage site under Unesco
Guan Eng said the feedback from Penangites was important as they are the biggest stakeholders as residents of Georgetown, which was listed as world heritage site in 2008.
The SAP provides for the protection of the heritage sites and would be prepared by Putrajaya according to Section 16(B) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976. The plan covers an area of 259.42 hectares within the city of Georgetown, and must be submitted to Unesco on or before 1 February 2011.
The massive area has more than 1,700 historic buildings in hundreds of sites, representing the different stages in the historic development of Penang.
In view of the extensive and expansive scope of the whole SAP, with wide-ranging socio-economical implications, it is obvious that the state government would not be able to go it alone in this undertaking. Certainly, the private corporate sector and concerned individual residents of Penang must be enlisted to participate and be involved to make it a resounding success.
I suggest that the state government should consider embarking on the SAP with a new strategic preservation, maintenance and development schema involving a sort of decentralized pursuance of the SAP based a tripartite set-up involving the state, the residents of the particular site, and a private development company. Read the rest of this entry »
What’s next for Malaysia?
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Media, Pakatan Rakyat, Politics, Post-2008 general election on Tuesday, 24 August 2010, 7:17 pm
By Karim Raslan
The Star
Tuesday August 24, 2010
All societies need change and countries that don’t change or can’t change remain ossified and stagnant.
A few weeks ago, I hosted a lunch for a Malaysian politician and an Indonesian businessman.
The politician and I were struck by the tycoon’s steadfast support of his nation’s democratic traditions.
He stressed that he would not be where he was now had it not been for Reformasi and the turbulence of 1998.
Indeed he made a powerful argument that his country wouldn’t be powering ahead were it not for the transformation that took place after Soeharto’s ouster.
Interestingly, I think most Malaysian businessmen, including those dependent on government contracts, would agree with my Indonesian friend.
All societies need change and countries that don’t change or can’t change remain ossified and stagnant. Read the rest of this entry »
Last Cabinet meeting before National Day on August 31…
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 24 August 2010, 1:38 pm
Tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting is the last before National Day on August 31 and its greatest challenge is to demonstrate it has the “political will and leadership to break the logjam of resistance by vested interest groups” to kickstart and stay the course of the NEM (New Economic Model) transformation process.
There can be no more useful thing for the Cabinet Ministers to do tomorrow than to revisit the New Economic Model unveiled by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on March 30 and the dire warnings that Malaysia is “on a burning platform” and that “the status quo is not an option” as it will only put Malaysia at risk of being overtaken by other countries, just as we had overtaken others in the past.
The Cabinet should in particular revisit the frank and brutal admission by the NEM of the crucial and critical role of “unwavering political will and leadership” to break the logjam of resistance by vested interest groups and short-sighted factions and to “stay the course” when resistance is encountered.
Read the rest of this entry »
MACC “commits suicide”!
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Martin Jalleh on Monday, 23 August 2010, 1:42 pm
By Martin Jalleh
18 Aug. 2010 – The Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), very tragically, “committed suicide” today. It killed the very little that was left of its own integrity and credibility.
Its public image plunged to the very depths with the help of its advocate Abdul Razak Musa. He had at first advocated self-strangulation. He even demonstrated how it could be done.
When that failed, the very experienced lawyer of 24 years assisted the Commission to take a wild leap out of the window of logic, common sense and civility. Read the rest of this entry »
There is a sickness in the country which is total mockery and negation of Najib’s 1Malaysia policy
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Najib Razak, nation building, UMNO on Monday, 23 August 2010, 11:28 am
With eight days to go before the National Day proper on August 31 and 24 days before Malaysia Day on Sept. 16, Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region should be celebrating a new sense of pride and unity as Malaysians after 18 months of the 1Malaysia slogan and policy proclaimed by Datuk Seri Najib Razak after he became the sixth Prime Minister in April last year.
But every 24 hours is demonstrating the opposite.
There is a sickness in the country as illustrated by several headlines in a matter of a few hours by online media Malaysian Insider yesterday, viz:
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“Perkasa, MPM want Soi Lek arrested under ISA”
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“Pakatan wants to ‘destroy’ constitutional monarchy, claim Malay groups” (a lie)
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“Ibrahim Ali follows Tee, tells those who disagree to get out”
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“Malay groups want vernacular schools abolished”
