Government should stop waste of public funds which end up in greater national embarrassments like the “strangest” cloak-and-dagger CSIS seminar featuring Nazri in Washington yesterday
Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Anifah Aman should give an assurance that the government would stop waste of public funds which end up in greater national embarrassments like the “strangest” cloak-and-dagger Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) seminar “Governance and Rule of Law in Malaysia” featuring the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz in Washington yesterday.
I agree with the former United States Ambassador to Malaysia John R Mallot who had described the seminar as the “strangest” he had attended in Washington DC. The reasons for such an appellation would include:
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Seminar Panellists – Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and former Chief Justice and now head of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory panel Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad who were billed to appear with Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz never showed up. Nazri told the seminar he did not know where the two were in Washington.
The presence of the Abdul Gani and Hamid would have reinforced criticisms of the lack of progress in judicial and institutional reforms to restore international confidence in the independence and integrity of key national institutions. This is why I had publicly gone on record to criticize Abdul Gani’s participation at the CSIS seminar as his first duty is to carry out the duties of the Attorney-General independently and professionally to ensure national and international confidence in the administration of justice rather than to join in government’s international roadshows to win foreign hearts and minds that there is the just rule of law and a truly independent judiciary in Malaysia.
A Failed Mission in Washington DC
by Raja Petra Kamaruddin in Washington DC
It was a strange scene at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington on Wednesday morning. When the seminar on Governance & Rule of Law in Malaysia began, only one of the speakers came into the room, Nazri Abdul Aziz.
Attorney-General Gani Patail and former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamed were somehow nowhere to be seen. And in good Malaysian fashion, the seminar started 10 minutes late.
The seminar’s chairman, Ernest Bower, looked tired and nervous, saying that he had received a number of e-mails expressing concern that the seminar would not be balanced. He said that he wants a dialogue on important issues. Therefore he also has invited the opposition to speak at CSIS. He hopes they will accept.
Ernest Bower then shocked the audience of about 40 people by saying that the session was ‘off the record’. The flyer announcing the seminar never said it was an off the record session. It doesn’t matter though. The session was so boring there is very little to report anyway.
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The weakness of PERKASA
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman on Thursday, 25 February 2010, 12:26 pm
by Azly Rahman
I have been following with interest, yet again, with the development of a new Malay-centric interest group called Perkasa.
Is its creation a necessity in an age where in the emerging force of change is multiculturalism and the rise of neo-Malays with cosmopolitan and cosmotheandric perspectives ready to abandon ultra-Malayness?The weakness of Perkasa lies in the gradual boredom-ness of its existence, in face of the excitement of radical marhaenism.
Ho hum. That is what all these newer developments in Malay-consciousness is about, as if we have not heard enough calls to protect the rights of the Malays – rights already enshrined in the constitution.
Ho hum. That is an expression of boredom unto all these, when we know that modern crutches and structures of disabilities of the Malay culture – ultra-nationalistic Youth parties, Biro Tata Negara, cow-head protesters and a myriad others – are still used to make the Malays scared of their own shadow.
Ho hum, when we are presented with the boring story of yet another organisation whose goal is to promote the philosophy of ‘we versus them’ in a country mystified with the slogan ‘1Malaysia’; of being and becoming one in a metaphysical world of blue ocean strategies of shark-eat-shark.
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Thursday, 25 February 2010, 12:17 pm
By Bakri Musa
Introduction and Overview
A Father’s Query
Growing up in colonial Malaya, my father insisted that his children attend English schools. This was surprising as my parents were Malay school teachers and the country was then in the grip of intense nationalistic fervor, anticipating independence. Malay teachers were at the vanguard of this movement, specifically in UMNO.
In his later years my father would confide to me his reasons. He wanted us, his children, to learn the ways and secrets of the English, and to discover what it was that made them so successful that they could control an empire. What was it about Britain, he wondered, an island half the size of Sumatra that it could produce a race that would control a vast portion of the globe? Why was it that the British who colonized Malaysia and not Malays over Britain?
My father was not the first to ponder such matters.
The American biologist Jared Diamond in his Pulitzer prize-winning book, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies, recounted his experience with a tribal chief in Papua New Guinea at the end of the Second World War. At that time the Allied forces were regularly dropping supplies and other “goodies” to the troops and natives on the island. These cargo drops were much anticipated. To the Stone Age natives, these precious gifts were literally falling from heaven.
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Poor, unworkable attempt to discredit Penang
Posted by Kit in Letters, Penang Government on Wednesday, 24 February 2010, 8:11 pm
Letter by Lilian
I refer to the letter Penang must arrest this alarming decline. As a citizen journalist and a Penangite who loves my island, I wish to point out some of the things that the writer mentioned in his letter. Being a citizen journalist, it is my habit to observe and report on things on the ground.
Firstly, I found that the same writer has written the same letter to The Star and The Sun in January. Obviously, he is still sore from the ‘supposed nightmares’ he encountered in Penang after two months. A blogger had posted these two letters on his blog and claimed it as a blatant attempt to discredit the Penang government by BN/Umno.
I shall not dwell into the political side of things. But I can provide my own observations:
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Penang has improved tremendously in terms of cleanliness. The writer said he found Penang to have deteriorated so much that it made him to swear not to visit the ‘Pearl of the Orient’ ever again. But as a Penangite, I can see the state has improved a lot in terms of cleanliness in recent months.
Right-thinking Malaysians gravely concerned at the rise of intolerance and bigotry under Najib’s 1Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Religion on Wednesday, 24 February 2010, 4:05 pm
According to Malaysiakini, four police reports were lodged in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur yesterday over an article last Friday entitled “Persuasion, not compulsion” by the Star managing editor P. Gunasegaram for allegedly containing seditious material which insulted the Malays and Islam.
The police reports state that Gunasegaram’s commentary on the recent syariah whipping sentence meted against three women was an insult to Muslims and contended that Gunasegaram has no right to comment about Islamic jurisprudence because he is not a Muslim.
There were calls for Gunasegaram to be sacked as Star managing editor and for boycott of Star unless there is an apology.
I have not read the Star article before the police reports. The Star has no love for me and I have no love for Star. However, as a matter of principle, I read Gunasegaram’s article and I find it quite rational and sensible, there was no intention to insult or scandalise Islam and it should be the last object for criminalisation and the subject of police reports.
The whipping of women under syariah criminal offences legislation has created controversy for a variety of reasons, including for contradicting civil law where women are not punishable by caning under Section 289 of Criminal Procedure Code.
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The Malaysia Divide
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 24 February 2010, 2:05 pm
An institutional overhaul is long overdue in Kuala Lumpur.
By ALICE LLOYD GEORGE
Kuala Lumpur | The Wall Street Journal
“The Leopard,” Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s celebrated novel about the crumbling feudal order in 19th century Sicily, made famous the line, “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” That pretty much sums up the predicament of Malaysia’s ruling elite today.
The sodomy trial of Anwar Ibrahim drags on in Kuala Lumpur, with the opposition leader’s freedom and political career hanging in the balance. But the true significance of this anachronistic case does not depend on the outcome in the courtroom. The political assassination of Mr. Anwar aside, Malaysia is witnessing the death throes of a political machine that has run the country for over five decades. Mr. Anwar is a skilled politician who holds together an unlikely alliance of opposition parties—his conviction would certainly be a blow for the prospect of real political pluralism in Malaysia. But he also serves as a vessel for wider social forces and a disenchantment with the country’s leadership. Another figure would surely take his place at the head of the reform movement.
The ruling coalition was founded on the principle that the three main races—Malays, Chinese and Indians—participate in politics through their own parties. Coupled with an elaborate system of affirmative action, this has allowed the United Malays National Organization to maintain a lock on power by protecting Malays from the winds of competition. After the opposition made unprecedented gains in the March 2008 elections, desperate tactics were called for, hence a rather tired repeat of the homosexuality charge first brought against Mr. Anwar a decade ago, now dubbed “Sodomy II” by a skeptical public. The government has denied that the trial is politically motivated.
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Can Muhyiddin pass three simple tests as to whether he is sincerely and seriously committed to Najib ‘s 1Malaysia concept?
Posted by Kit in Muhyiddin Yassin on Wednesday, 24 February 2010, 9:42 am
Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is only half right when said that my head is “filled with problems” but half wrong when he alleged that these problems are about Pakatan Rakyat.
My head is indeed filled with problems but they are not about the Pakatan Rakyat but are compounded by the life-and-death struggle of Umno and the other Barisan Nasional component parties including MCA, Gerakan and MIC after the political tsunami of the 12th general election in 2008 and the pathetic 10-month history of Najib’s “1Malaysia” slogan and concept which may meet the fate of being the first slogan of a Prime Minister with the shortest useful life-span.
Muhyiddin’s suggestion that that I am bankrupt of ideas and his allegation that I had run out of issues to use against the government are “old hats” and “no great shakes”, as they had been thrown at me by Umno, MCA and Gerakan leaders for over four decades but to no great avail, or Umno and the Barisan Nasional would not be fighting for their political life after the March 8 “political tsunami” while the stocks of DAP and Pakatan Rakyat, whatever our problems, are on the ascendance.
Instead of making personal attacks and baseless accusations that I was laying a “trap” to “cause friction between him and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak”, Muhyiddin should have responded to my call to him to declare whether he is the right-hand man of Najib or former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir in the Najib premiership.
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Malaysian Circus goes to Washington
by Martin Jalleh
For a little more than a month in 2010 Umno has gone full steam with its scare tactics, saber-rattling tricks, silly threats and sinister theatrics. Now it is all set to take the Malaysian (political) circus to the US and to show Uncle Sam a far “superior” sample of democracy and governance.
The trip is by courtesy of Apco Worldwide, a global PR firm, employed by the government to resuscitate, redeem, and re-engineer the PM’s flagging image at about RM20 million. The firm has allegedly offered similar services to dictators and corrupt leaders worldwide. They must feel very at home here in dealing with the “most corrupt institution in the country”.
But why is Umno off to the US with its best circus clowns to impress the US when they just told those lowdown politicians in Down Under that to Umno it is a no-no to interfere in the affairs of Bolehland? Why waste the people’s money and be bothered about what the US thinks of us? Alas, the answer to such a mystery belongs only to those who can go the lowest.
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Twitter conversation – LKS and Kuli
Posted by Kit in nation building, Oil, Parliament, Razaleigh Hamzah, Twitter on Tuesday, 23 February 2010, 6:48 pm
limkitsiang: Oil royalty – Najib is Razak’s son or Mahathir’s heir? http://bit.ly/93SgAj
04:12 PM
razaleigh: My fellow dinosaur w/ a memory of a better day RT @limkitsiang: Najib: Razak’s son or Mahathir’s heir? http://bit.ly/93SgAj
04:22 PM
limkitsiang: @razaleigh shld not have 2depend solely on memory Shld have documents somewhere Petronas etc though mayb OSA Must wait 4regime change 1st?
04:30 PM
razaleigh: Why don’t I put the PDA up on my blog, YB RT @limkitsiang: @razaleigh shld not have 2depend solely on memory
04:34 PM
limkitsiang: @razaleigh good idea but PDA makes no mention of “offshore”. Aren’t there some documents/records somewhere referring to it?
04:42 PM
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Cockcroach and Blood Stained Blankets in Hospital
Letter by Ganesh
My wife recently delivered our baby in Pantai Hospital Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. Being a premium hospital situated ideally to cater to the Damansara Heights and Bangsar affluent residents, one would expect minimum standards of service and hygiene to be practiced.
I was appalled to find that the hospital had blood stained blankets and was infested with cockroaches.
Our nightmare began on the first day we checked in at about 1 pm. That evening, the hospital forgot to serve the tea time snack and also the dinner meal. When asked why, they could not give a proper explanation and had just said, “sudah lupa”.
My room was a brand new room that was just set up for a new patient. Initially, there were no blankets. My wife who was admitted, was freezing in the room for several hours. I had to ask several times for blankets to be given. However, when the blankets did come, the blankets were heavily stained with dried blood and urine. Refer to the enclosed picture. The staff nurse confirmed it was dried blood. I was shocked beyond believe. I immediately asked the nurses for an explanation but they were unable to give me a reasonable explanation. I demanded for the blankets to be changed.
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Oil royalty – Najib is Razak’s son or Mahathir’s heir?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Oil on Tuesday, 23 February 2010, 4:08 pm
I agree with veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah that the federal government’s full-page advertisements in Malay weeklies on the oil royalty controversy is an insult to the intelligence of all Malaysians.
The full-page advertisements contain an important omission – the reply 35 years ago in Parliament by the then Prime Minister, Tun Razak to my question whether all states in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah had signed agreements with Petronas for oil exploration along the coastline and what were the joint profits for the state.
As recorded in the Parliament Hansard of November 12, 1975, this was Tun Razak’s reply: “All states in Malaysia, except Sabah and Sarawak, have signed the agreement with Petronas under the Petroleum Development Act 1974. I have been informed that Selangor had agreed to sign the agreement.
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Recent caning of three Muslim women latest in series under Najib’s premiership flooding Malaysia in adverse worldwide spotlight inimical to our international image and competitiveness
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Tuesday, 23 February 2010, 10:29 am
The recent caning of three Muslim women for allegedly participating in illicit sex is the latest in a series of events flooding Malaysia in adverse worldwide spotlight inimical to our international image and competitiveness in the ten months Datuk Seri Najib Razak has taken over as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Before I came, I googled the two words “malaysia caning” and there were 257,000 search results. I next added another word to google the three words “malaysia muslim caning” and the finds multiplied by 30 times to return 6.45 million results.
Malaysia cannot continue to be in adverse international spotlight if we are to restore our international competitiveness by regaining national and international confidence in good governance; the rule of law; a democratic, progressive and model multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious modern nation to be ideal destination for FDIs, haven for tourists and hub for international students.
There had been a series of adverse publicity for Malaysia world-wide since Najib became Prime Minister negating all his efforts to project a new slogan, 1Malaysia – such as the divisive “Allah” controversy, the sacrilegious burning of churches and attacks on mosques and other places of worship; the 5-0 Federal Court judgment seeking to legalise the undemocratic and unconstitutional ouster of Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin in the Umno power grab in Perak; the mysterious death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock at Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters last July, Read the rest of this entry »
Why Australian MPs protested the Anwar trial
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Foreign on Monday, 22 February 2010, 10:28 am
By Michael Danby | The Malaysian Insider
FEB 21 — Last week saw an unusual event in Australian politics: backbench members of Parliament from both sides took a foreign affairs initiative, independent of their party leaderships.
Sixty Members and Senators — Labor, Liberal, Green and independent — signed a letter which was presented to the Malaysian High Commissioner protesting against the current trial of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim on charges of “sodomy.”
The letter was signed by, among others, Laurie Ferguson, Malcolm Turnbull, Greg Hunt, Bob Brown, Nick Xenophon, Duncan Kerr, Deputy Speaker Anna Burke, Jennie George, Gary Gray and Mark Dreyfus QC.
It followed a speech which I gave in the House of Representatives on Feb 3, in which I drew the House’s attention to the 2nd Sodomy trial in Kuala Lumpur of Anwar Ibrahim.
I’m very grateful to all the Members and Senators who signed the letter. I can’t recall another backbench initiative like this in recent times.
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Is Muhyiddin the right-hand man of Najib or Mahathir in the Najib premiership?
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 22 February 2010, 8:58 am
Tun Abdullah tried to distance himself and tinker with the Mahathir legacy, without really daring to dismantle it when he was Prime Minister – but that was enough to ensure a swift and ignominious dismantling and end to Abdullah’s hapless premiership.
One great difference between the Najib and Abdullah premierships up to now is over their stance on the Mahathir legacy – in the Abdullah premiership, the Cabinet Ministers stand mute on the subject but in the Najib administration, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has emerged as the custodian of the Mahathir legacy with a powerful following!
This is why Muhyiddin’s utterances and actions are not only important for one who is only half-a-heartbeat away from the premiership but as a surrogate of the Mahathir legacy – undoubtedly of the most powerful former Malaysian Prime Minister in the nation’s history.
Just look at some the media headlines on Muhyiddin in the past few months:
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Five myopic judges in Federal Court
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Judiciary, Perak on Monday, 22 February 2010, 8:52 am
By NH Chan
On Feb 9, the five-member Federal Court panel handed down a unanimous decision on Nizar Jamaluddin versus Zambry Abd Kadir. The judgment of the court was read by Chief Judge of Malaya Arifin Zakaria.
The judgment is 40-pages long and if you have the stamina to persevere to the end of the judgment you would have realised that these judges of the highest court in the land have, under the pretext of interpretation, decided that the Perak sultan has the power to dismiss the incumbent Menteri Besar Nizar when the Laws of the Constitution of Perak does not confer any executive power on the sultan for so doing.
If the sultan has no power to dismiss Nizar then, we should ask, how could the Federal Court commit such a devastating error to their reputation as judges of the highest court in the land?
That is why the ability to pick out the one real point that matters is so important. That is why young advocates learnt how to spot it very early in their career if they are not to bore the judge, whom they are addressing, to tears.
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Towards A Developed Malaysia – Part 3
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Education on Monday, 22 February 2010, 8:47 am
By M. Bakri Musa
[Presented at the Third Annual Alif Ba Ta Forum, “1Malaysia Towards Vision 2020,” Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, December 5, 2009, organized by Kelab UMNO NY-NJ. The presentation can be viewed at www.youtube.com (search under “Bakri Musa RIT”) or through this link]
Encouraging Malays Entrepreneurs and Scientists
The Malaysia of today under the leadership of Tun Razak’s son is a very different country. With the overall elevation in the level of the education, the needs and aspirations of the citizens have also changed; the curve has shifted to the right. We have to respond to this new reality of higher needs and much greater aspirations.
Today our major dilemma is the lack of Malays in science and technology, as well as in business. Actually these are old dilemmas but because they have been incompetently handled, they are again resurfacing, over fifty years after independence.
I was young during Tun Razak’s time. Yes, the lack of Malays in science then was palpable, with fewer than a dozen Malay science graduates. The prevailing wisdom – and not just among non-Malays – was that we Malays did not have what it would take to handle science and mathematics.
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Anwar, Allah and the caning of women
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Religion on Monday, 22 February 2010, 5:00 am
By Jema Khan | The Malaysian Insider
FEB 18 — I have been a loyal member of Umno since they came to Sabah in the early nineties. I have served in the Umno Youth exco, as Umno Youth chief of Sabah, as Umno Youth chief of Tuaran and even as a branch leader in my division.
I retired fully from politics in 2000 to focus on my business with a sense of satisfaction in having done some good both in Sabah and in Malaysia. That was good enough for me and I felt I had done my duty and could now concentrate on my business, family and myself.
In the passing of time since, I have seen many a friend being elevated to the highest level of Government. That pleased me in that at least I knew the main players in Government personally. From time to time, I would give my views to them on this issue or that when the opportunity arose. I would not be writing this if there was a more discreet way to repair the serious damage done to my country.
I consider myself a liberal Malay and have always acted as such even when I served Umno a decade ago. Although I would toe the party line eventually in most issues, I espoused my liberal views often to my compatriots and they listened though not necessarily agreeing. Nevertheless, we all remained firm friends. Today they seem unable to tackle issues which I consider basic and yet having serious repercussions.
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Najib should ask Umno media like Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian and government tv and radio channels to give him a chance to prove that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians
Posted by Kit in Media, Najib Razak, nation building on Sunday, 21 February 2010, 1:13 pm
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak asked the Chinese community in Malaysia to give the Barisan Nasional government a chance to prove itself when he went to the national Chinese New Year celebrations in Pandamaran New Village in Klang yesterday (Malaysian Insider).
Najib should ask Umno media like Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian and government television and radio channels to give him a chance to prove that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians by stop playing the race and religion cards like their current campaign against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Is Najib unaware that not only the Chinese in Penang and Malaysia, but all other Malaysians whether Malays, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans in the country are following with disgust the irresponsible politics of race and religion being daily perpetrated by Umno-controlled media against the Pakatan Rakyat Penang State government and Penang Chief Minister?
Everyone can only reach one conclusion, that Najib is not serious and fully committed to the 1Malaysia slogan and concept or he would not have allowed the Umno media to continue on such a rampage in exploiting the race and religious cards in Penang!
It is no exaggeration to say that the biggest enemies of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept come from within Umno and Barisan Nasional and not without.
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Anwar Ibrahim is the cause celebre in the court of world opinion
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Dr. Chen Man Hin, Najib Razak on Sunday, 21 February 2010, 11:24 am
By Dr Chen Man Hin
Ever since Sodomy 2 trial began, the name of Anwar Ibrahim has rocketed in the major newspapers spanning the globe from east to west and north to south.
In Jakarta, Bangkok, Hong Kkong, Taiwan, Tokyo, Sydney, Washington, New York, London, Paris, Rome, Cairo, New Delhi, there was universal protest that Anwar should be tried once again on trumped up charges of sodomy.
The editorials in Bangkok Post, New York Times, Washington Post, Asian Wall Street Journal were replete with derision, mockery and scorn that a prominent opposition leader could be arraigned before the court on trumped up sodomy for a second time.
In 1998, Anwar was tried and jailed for six years on trumped up charges of sodomy. He was later exonerated from the false charges. The international community is therefore shocked with disbelief that the Malaysian Government is trying the same trick again.
They are aware that Anwar is a very strong contender to be Prime Minister. He is leader of a strong opposition coalition PAKATAN which won five states in the 2008 general elections.
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