Forget about Talent Corporation and other transformation initiatives of NEM and TMP if Najib cannot stop extremist forces exploiting race and religion from rearing their ugly heads
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building on Saturday, 21 August 2010, 3:15 pm
This should be a special and unique month not only in the 53-year nation-building of Malaysia but the 18-month premiership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the theme of the Merdeka month celebrations from August 1 to September 16 is “1Malaysia Transforming the Nation” – first time after Najib’s full-year premiership and less than six months after the unveiling of the transformative NEM.
Messages and the spirit of Malaysian unity and inter-racial and inter-religious goodwill, harmony and solidarity should be pervading all nooks and corners of the country and infusing Malaysians with what they are saying are doing in these six weeks to put into practice and action the 1Malaysia slogan which Najib had proclaimed since becoming Prime Minister in April last year.
But the opposite had been the case as never had Malaysia been so divided, discordant and un1Malaysia in the past two decades, with persistent, irresponsible and inflammatory incitement of the politics of race and religion in recent months to stoke racial and religious animosity and hatred in plural Malaysia, going against the very grain of what 1Malaysia stands for.
Even the schools and the young generation of Malaysians are not spared, as illustrated by the cases of the racist outbursts against school children, one in the south in Kulai and the other in the north in Sungai Petani, demonstrating utter contempt and intolerance of 1Malaysia and our ethnic, religious and cultural diversity which are the country’s richest assets by school principals who should be the “role models” and standard-bearers of Najib’s 1Malaysia! Read the rest of this entry »
Another ‘racist’ school head in Kedah
Meeting to discuss racist remarks by another HM
The Star
Saturday August 21, 2010
SUNGAI PETANI: The Kedah Education Department is organising a meeting between parents and authorities of a school here following complaints that the principal had scolded non-Malay students for eating outside the school canteen.
Its director Shahidan Abd Rahman said he had spoken to the school principal involved after learning about the incident on Thursday.
“We will call a meeting soon on the matter, involving him, the parent-teacher association and parents of the students concerned,” he said here yesterday.
In the incident, the principal had allegedly scolded 10 Form Three students for eating outside the school canteen at about 7am before classes began.
The students were eating outside because the lights in the canteen were not switched on.
The principal had purportedly told them off for “not respecting” their Muslim friends and that they “should return to their country of origin if they did not show such respect”. Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan Malaysia’s front-page headline is the most irresponsible act in history of Malaysian journalism
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Najib Razak, Penang Government on Friday, 20 August 2010, 3:37 pm
The Utusan Malaysia’s front-page headline today “Nama Guan Eng ganti Agong – Disebut dalam doa khutbah Jumaat: Umno Pulau Pinang bantah” is the most irresponsible act in the history of Malaysian journalism – utterly baseless, a mischievous and dangerous incitement to religious hatred, tension and discord in plural Malaysia and goes against all the principles and values espoused by 1Malaysia.
The first Merdeka month celebrations themed “1Malaysia Transforming the Nation” should celebrate Malaysia’s unity in diversity of ethnicity, religions, cultures and beliefs, the concepts of inclusiveness, social justice and the 1Malaysia principles of culture of excellence, integrity, wisdom, humility, loyalty and the twin commitments of People First, Performance Now.
But we have the opposite as illustrated by Utusan Malaysia’s front-page headline of falsehood and dangerous incitement to religious hatred, discord and tension.
Read the rest of this entry »
Racial remarks: Headmistress must be sacked
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building on Friday, 20 August 2010, 10:36 am
It is difficult to reconcile how a principal of a secondary school could be so insensitive and dumb as to utter derogatory words to denigrate students under her care. She had shown utter contempt to the Chinese and Indians in this country.
It is unbelievable that she could have said, “Chinese students…can return to China.” It is amazing that she could have likened the prayer strings worn by Indians to a dog leash.
It is difficult to believe that she is a teacher and an educator. With this warped and distorted view of the Chinese and Indians, what kind of values can she impart to her students under her care? What kind of character can she inculcate among her students? She comes across as subhuman.
How she got promoted is a mystery. How she got selected to be a teacher is a wonder. Unfortunately, there are many of her ilk in the Teaching Service doing immense damage to this nation. Two years ago, we had one dumb discipline teacher in Anderson School who ordered Hindu students to remove their religious wristband and shave off their moustache and beards, which they had allowed to grow ahead of fulfilling their vows during Thaipusam
We have this kind of people not only in schools Read the rest of this entry »
BN party backs boss on ‘Umno bad for 1M’sia’ stand
Free Malaysia TodayThu, 19 Aug 2010
By Dominic Legeh
PENAMPANG: Barisan Nasional component party Upko is standing by its president Bernard Dompok, who was labelled as irresponsible by Sabah Umno.
Upko secretary-general Wilfred Madius Tangau said it was unfortunate that Sabah Umno liaison deputy chairman Salleh Said Keruak could not read the “pulse of the people” well.
He was commenting on Dompok’s remark that Umno was a hindrance to the promotion of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia concept, which he said was spot on.
“The fact is, this burning question is not in the mind of Dompok alone, but is a pertinent question in the mind of the grassroots including those of BN component party leaders. We support fully what our president has courageously stated publicly,” he said in a press statement. Read the rest of this entry »
Porntip the most trusted individual in all of Thailand
Posted by Kit in Teoh Beng Hock on Thursday, 19 August 2010, 10:18 pm
From http://www.lifestyleasia.com/articles/culture_4/readers-digest-trust-survey_4336.htm
Conducted in October 2009, the survey found Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunan to be the most trusted individual in all of Thailand while Doctors were the most trusted group.
Most Trusted Individuals: This survey found that out of 80 individuals Thailand’s renowned forensic pathologist and director of the Forensic Science Institute, Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunan was ranked as the most trusted individual of the year. She was followed by Phra Ajarn Alongkot Dikkapanyo, the head monk at the famous Buddhist AIDS temple, Wat Phra Baht Nam Phu, Dr. Sumet Tantivechakul, secretary general of the Chaipattana Foundation, Phra Promkunaporn (Prayut Payutto) acclaimed spiritual leader and winner of an UNESCO Prize for Peace Education, and Phanya Nirunkul media tycoon who was the fifth most trusted individual. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP supports Anwar’s call for proof of allegation of the existence of an alternate constitution to replace the current one to erase special rights of the Malays and the position of Islam as the official religion
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Constitution, DAP, Najib Razak, nation building on Thursday, 19 August 2010, 2:07 pm
DAP supports the call by Parliamentary Opposition Leader and Ketua Umum PKR Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for proof of the allegation of the existence of an alternate constitution to replace the current one to erase special rights of the Malays and the position of Islam as the official religion.
This allegation by the Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria is a very serious and inflammable one and should not be made without proof.
This allegation has already been the basis of a very alarmist front-page Utusan Malaysia headline “Elak perang besar” on Tuesday and an incendiary article entitled “Benar, ‘perang besar’ boleh berlaku di Malaysia” yesterday.
DAP leaders had never heard or known of such an alternate constitution.
Any such an alleged alternative constitution could not have emanated from Pakatan Rakyat as the component parties of PKR, PAS and DAP had reaffirmed commitment to the fundamental principles of the Malaysian Constitution in a common platform last December.
Read the rest of this entry »
What will they do about racism now?
Posted by Kit in nation building on Thursday, 19 August 2010, 12:30 pm
COMMENT Let’s wait and see what action will be taken against Siti Inshah Mansor, the principal of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Kulai, for the racist remarks she allegedly made at the Merdeka celebrations in her school.
The police will be concluding their investigations soon, under Section 504 of the Penal Code. If they have a case, Siti Inshah could be charged with provocation, which carries a maximum imprisonment of two years, a fine or both.
Meanwhile, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang has called for her to be sacked. MCA president Chua Soi Lek calls for her to be transferred to a desk job and given counselling. How generous of Chua.
If she did what she is said to have done, she should instead be drawn and quartered, like in the good old days. Or have her head put in a cangue – you know, like in the Chinese movies, where the head and hands are locked up within a square wooden contraption.
Or she should be given the Japanese treatment – force-fed water while someone jumps on her bloated tummy, or hung from a tree by her thumbs, and displayed publicly for all to see that this is what happens to racists.
Read the rest of this entry »
E-census error – how can it happen?
Letter by Chuah Siew Eng
Dear Editor,
I wish to draw to the attention of the public of a possible glitch in the e-census. An answer I clicked for the category “religion” revealed to be different in the PDF copy I printed. Thinking I may have made a mistake, I reviewed my answers and confirmed that it was not my error. When I sought an explanation, the supervisor of the census takers for my area confirmed receiving another complaint over the same problem two weeks ago, adding that she had reported the problem to the Statistics Department. If that were true, why wasn’t it corrected for a whole two weeks? How many more people would have unwittingly assumed the computerised process would record their answers faithfully, as I almost did were it not for a note at the final page prompting a PDF check before submitting the form?
While my problem was eventually rectified (I received a polite call from the Department asking me to try the e-census again and this time it recorded what I inserted), I wonder whether it has been truly corrected in a fresh form.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #28
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Thursday, 19 August 2010, 10:18 am
Chapter 4: Modern Model States
Don’t Cry For Argentina (Cont’d)
Argentineans today must be wondering where they had gone wrong. How could they mess up such a wonderful country? With such promising attributes and rich resources, it would take a real effort to screw things up. The Argentineans did not accidentally stumble their way down; they must have deliberately taken that path of self-destruction.
I deliberately choose this Latin American country as a negative example, of how not to proceed; or how to mess things up royally. To see how far Argentina had fallen, a cursory review o f its history would suffice.
In the early 20th century Argentina enjoyed a standard of living much higher than that of Western Europe. Capital and labor poured in to tap the country’s wealth. United States too had a massive influx of European immigrants at that time. Unlike America however, Argentina did not have a dominant culture into which the immigrants wished to assimilate. Thus the Italians in Argentina pretty well maintained their own culture and value system, as did the Spaniards and other Europeans.
Read the rest of this entry »
TBH inquest – Porntip sure not suicide
Posted by Kit in Teoh Beng Hock, Twitter on Wednesday, 18 August 2010, 1:17 pm
Otw 2ShahAlam 4TeohBengHock inquest mired by controversy over last-minute appearance of yr-long TBH note. Porntip 2testify after 2nd autopsy
08/18/2010 08:48 AM
Air of expectancy in ct. Waiting 4coroner’s apprnce. Porntip here. Also Karpal Gobind MalikImtiaz TBH fmly members. Porntip shd open inquest
08/18/2010 09:25 AM
Coroner enters court 2start today’s inquest proceeding
08/18/2010 09:28 AM
Porntip recalled 2witness box.
08/18/2010 09:31 AM
Read the rest of this entry »
The racial time-bomb is ticking fast
Posted by Kit in nation building on Wednesday, 18 August 2010, 5:30 am
by Thomas Lee
Racism continues to rear its ugly head, more than half a century after our country gained in its independence in 1957.
The latest fiasco involves the principal of a school in Johor who has been reported to have said that Chinese students can return to China, and that the prayer strings worn by the Indian students are like a dog leash.
A total of 17 police reports have been lodged by parents against the nonchalant female school head who is rumoured to have some influential political connection.
According to some parents who had lodged police reports, the school head had made the pejorative and derogative comments during the launching of the school’s Merdeka celebrations on Thursday 12 August 2010.
She was quoted as saying that “Chinese students are not needed here and can return to China or Foon Yew school. For the Indian students, the prayer string tied around their neck and wrist makes them look like dogs because only dogs are tied like that.”
Such offensive, insensitive and racist remarks can only be made by a rude and uncouth person, who is described in Bahasa Malaysia as kurang ajar. And it is simply incredible and beyond comprehension that such a shallow, insecure, and blockhead person could be appointed a school principal.
Read the rest of this entry »
If Najib’s 1Malaysia is to have real meaning, Siti Inshah should not only be removed from the education service, there should be no place in civil service for other Siti Inshahs
Posted by Kit in nation building on Tuesday, 17 August 2010, 12:56 pm
In the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election in August 2008, the Bukit Bendera Umno chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail referred to the Malaysian Chinese as pendatang, orang tumpang and totally untrustworthy Malaysians.
In February this year, the special officer to the Prime Minister, Datuk Nasir Safar labeled Indians and Chinese in Malaysia as “pendatang”, and added insult to injury in declaring that “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially women came to sell their bodies”.
Last Thursday, at the launch of the Merdeka celebrations of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Kulai, 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.”
The severest disciplinary action must be taken against Siti Inshah, who is clearly unfit to be in the education service of a multi-racial society like Malaysia let alone a school principal – going against the very precepts of the 1Malaysia policy enunciated by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak since April last year.
Read the rest of this entry »
NDM-1 – is it the death knell for medical tourism?
Letters
THE MEDICAL SENTINEL
Medical tourism, long ostracized as an evil third world nations with limited health-care resources should not be dabbling in, may have finally met its fatal match. Last week, the British based, Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal reported the emergence of highly resistant bacteria carrying a new gene termed New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1) and specifically associated it with medical tourism as the bacteria seems to have originated in patients frequenting India and Pakistan for procedures such as cosmetic and transplant surgery. NDM-1 is actually an enzyme that is produced by bacteria. The ability of bacteria to produce NDM-1 is apparently the result of mobile genes that can readily jump from various different bacterial populations allowing them to incorporate these special genes into their chromosomes.
The danger of NDM-1 is that it can fight against most known antibiotics known to man, thereby rendering the human species defenseless against these superbugs. It was first discovered in December 2009 by Yong and associates who described them in a Swedish national who fell ill with an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection that he acquired in India. The infection was unsuccessfully treated in a New Delhi hospital and after the patient’s repatriation to Sweden, the gene was identified there.
Read the rest of this entry »
Patriotism, Mr Mayor, is not in flying a flag
Posted by Kit in nation building on Monday, 16 August 2010, 6:43 pm
By Thomas Lee
Ipoh Mayor Datuk Roshidi Hashim has issued a ruling to all shops and business premises in the city to fly the Jalur Gemilang on National Day on 31 August and the state flag during the Sultan of Perak’s birthday on 19 April if their want their business licences renewed.
Roshidi said those who failed to comply with the ruling would also be compounded or blacklisted.
According to Roshidi, the new ruling is part of the effort by the Ipoh City Council to inculcate patriotism among city folks, especially the business communities.
This is another of those nincompoop rulings by a smart-aleck Little Napoleon using blackmail arm-twisting tactics to enforce a gimmick found only in countries ruled by authoritarian dictatorial governments such as Nazi Germany or the Japanese Imperial Administration during War World Two.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s eight-year consecutive omission from World’s Top 500 Universities Ranking 2010
For the eighth year in succession, Malaysia has been left out of the World’s Top 500 Universities ranking in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s “Academic Ranking of World Universities ARWU 2010” released yesterday.
This is the latest proof that the long-talked about higher education reform based on meritocracy and academic excellence is not making much headway.
It underlines the economic and nation-building crisis confronting Malaysia and the warning of the New Economic Model (NEM) that the “human capital situation in Malaysia is reaching a critical stage” because “We are not developing talent and what we have is leaving”.
Read the rest of this entry »
For The Love of Allah, And Only for That!
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Islam on Monday, 16 August 2010, 11:10 am
Rabi’a al-’Adawiyya
By M. Bakri Musa
During this Ramadan, like all previous ones, mosques will be full of worshipers and the treasuries of Muslim charities will be flooded with generous donations. This is true of my little Muslim community here in the southern tip of Silicon Valley, California, as well as in the heart of Islam, Mecca.
In my community, praise be to Allah, we have no difficulty finding sponsors for our weekly community iftar (breaking of the fast). We have also conveniently made our annual fundraising event, “Feeding of the Soul,” during Ramadan. As my folks back in the old kampong would say, we are mengambil kesempatan durian runtuh (taking advantage of the durian season).
However, as my young Imam Ilyas observed in his Friday sermon, this heightened spirituality and generosity during Ramadan, while certainly praiseworthy, would be more so if we could extend them throughout the year.
Read the rest of this entry »
Is new Medical Act responsible for dumped babies?
Letter
by Rudolf Tiller
IS NEW MEDICAL ACT RESPONSIBLE FOR DUMPED BABIES?
The frequency of babies/ fetuses found dumped at doorsteps, garbage dumps, drains, rivers, some killed blatantly and buried, or flushed down toilets have been on the rise over the last two to three years. Media reports suggest that the incidences reported are just the tip of the iceberg.
Shahrizat has claimed more support be given to single mothers. A lawyer apparently by profession, her latest outrageous outburst has now been to reprehensibly execute the parents. Ali Rustam has this novel idea that special schools be built only for teenaged mothers but soon after decided that an expedient scheme would be to actually reduce the matrimonial age to a minor 15 years. Rosmah on the other hand, appears totally lost and doesn’t seem to know actually what to do. But at least she has not come out with some of the ludicrous propositions suggested by Shahrizat or Ali Rustam.
Read the rest of this entry »
Is NEM a pipe dream?
Posted by Kit in DAP, MCA, Najib Razak, NEP on Sunday, 15 August 2010, 11:21 pm
Breaking Views
The Malaysian Insider
August 15, 2010
AUG 15 — Tun Abdul Razak Hussein could never have imagined that his brainchild, the New Economic Policy (NEP), would ever split the country.
That it has 40 years after coming into being. Meant to eradicate poverty among all Malaysians and uplift the Bumiputeras who were economically backward then, it is now seen as the sacrosanct right of every Malay.
Especially the corporate ones who fear losing their tranche of Approved Permits (APs), shares and government contracts.
The NEP’s great defender today is Datuk Ibrahim Ali, the diminutive Perkasa chief with lofty ambitions of keeping privileges as Malay rights. With him, to a certain extent, is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who argues the policy is needed until the Malays reach their targets. Read the rest of this entry »
The IMF Report Card on Malaysia
Commentary
by Observer
Background
The IMF, under Article IV of its Articles of Agreement, holds bilateral discussions annually with its Member countries. These discussions are in the nature of a review of member country economic policies, recent economic developments, IMF staff assessments of prospects and the presentation of policy recommendations. A report is then prepared for presentation to the Fund’s Executive Board of Directors. At the conclusion of the Board Discussion, a Public Information Notice (PIN) is released together with the full report. The Article IV consultation with Malaysia for 2010 took place in May/June of this year and following Board consideration, the PIN and the Report were released on August 13th 2010.
In its customary approach, these IMF documents are highly nuanced and attempt to convey the Fund’s views in measured and balanced tones in order to minimize possible disagreements with the country in question. They err on the side of caution and down play differences and criticisms of policies. The 2010 Malaysia report needs to be read in that context. It is remarkable that the report questions past policies, takes a somewhat critical and skeptical view of many current government policies and expresses open disagreement in certain instances. The report also exposes the dithering and inability of the Government to take firm measures in pursuit of its own announced policy reforms. This brief analysis attempts to highlight and bring to the fore a number of issues that in the view of the Fund reflect on the Government’s capacity to take on the task of implementing its modest reform agenda.
Read the rest of this entry »
