Strongest “intelligence” for 3-day police gridlock of Klang Valley nothing but a lie – Hamid should apologise and even resign in disgrace
Posted by Kit in DAP, Parliament on Tuesday, 15 July 2008, 4:00 pm
The strongest “intelligence” to justify the three-day police lockdown of Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley has proved to be nothing but a lie.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar alleged that Pakatan Rakyat leadership had met last Wednesday to plot a demonstration in Parliament yesterday to coincide with a no-confidence motion on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
This is what Hamid said, as reported by the Star:
Syed Hamid said intelligence was also gathered from a July 9 meeting chaired by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. at the PKR headquarters.
“Anwar said at the meeting that some BN MPs would give support to PKR (on the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister) and he would then lead the demonstration at Parliament,” he added.
Syed Hamid said the meeting was attended by various leaders, including DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, DAP vice-chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw and PAS treasurer Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli.
“This proves that the threat was very real. The intention was clear, we had to take some action to prevent bigger things from happening.”
There was no such Pakatan Rakyat leadership meeting at the venue, date, time and for the purpose alleged. Read the rest of this entry »
Road Block Causes Failure in CLP Examination
Letters
by Ganesh
I refer to Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar’s apology with regards to the massive traffic jams caused yesterday. What Syed Albar does not realize is that, not only were people late in reaching their offices and thus productivity was affected, many people also missed important examinations.
Monday was the first day of the Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) examinations held in University Malaysia (UM). As the examination was 9 am, many left much earlier from their houses. As for me, I left 7am from my house located in Subang Jaya. Usually by 7.30 am, I would be passing EPF.
However, to my shock and horror, I only reached UM at 10.30am, by that time, it was too late to sit for that particular paper. I was crawling in a standstill jam all the way on the Federal Highway. It was too late for me to turn and use any alternatives as it was a bottleneck jam everywhere and impossible to use any other alternatives.
Many people sitting this examination were either late or just failed to turn up because as one knows, reaching late to the examination hall, one would be barred from entering the hall.
And the CLP examination is such, that if you miss just one paper, you might as well resit the whole examination the next year as you would clearly fail the whole examination having not sat one paper completely. Read the rest of this entry »
How to radicalise our universities
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, Education on Tuesday, 15 July 2008, 6:55 am
by Dr. Azly Rahman
My parents, like those of many of you readers too, only managed to complete Darjah Tiga/ Standard Three of their education. Poverty and the nature of ‘human capital revolution’ during the 1940s did not afford them the luxury of being in an ivory tower. Hard times.
One became a taxi driver and the other first, a seamstress and next, a factory worker in Singapore assembling microchips for a German multinational corporation. They would leave for work at four or five in the morning and come home at seven at night. That was the story of their lives. I am sure they too had the dream of entering a place called the “university.”
They spent their time -hard times- that took toll on their personal lives, raising their children to enter the university.
But they had an intelligent hunch, they believed universities will make everybody come out smarter and able to think critically, creatively, and altruistically. They did not have the knowledge of political economy to decipher the fact that universities are closely linked to the politics of the day. Read the rest of this entry »
Police Paralysis of KL and Klang Valley – preview of a Police State
Posted by Kit in Parliament on Monday, 14 July 2008, 3:35 pm
Never before in the nation’s history has there been such a massive police mobilisation, paralysing the Federal Capital and the Klang Valley as today creating a massive traffic chaos, when there is totally no cause. It is a preview of what a Police State could be like.
In the past two days, the police had created infernal traffic congestions with roadblocks in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding areas locking up the Klang Valley, purportedly to forestall a Pakatan Rakyat public gathering or demonstration in or near Parliament because of the Standing Order 18 no-confidence motion today which is to be presented by the Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Ismail after question time at 11.30 am.
The Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia not only rejected Azizah’s no-confidence motion, he also rejected my motion under Standing Order 26(1)(p) to refer the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee for failing to comply with the parliamentary motion dated 28th April 2008 directing the IGP to ensure that MPs are not obstructed in their passage to and from parliamentary meetings.
Many MPs from both sides of the House met with police obstruction today and did not have free passage to Parliament, which is against the specific parliamentary directive to the IGP contained in the parliamentary motion of April 28, 2008.
No good or convincing reasons were given for the rejection of both motions by the Speaker. In the protracted arguments in the Dewan Rakyat over my proposed privilege motion, I had occasion to remark that a Speaker should not speak too much – and that the best Speaker is one who does not speak. Read the rest of this entry »
Long Goodbyes Are Only For Lovers!
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Bakri Musa, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 14 July 2008, 6:51 am
by M. Bakri Musa
Despite the apparent standing ovation Prime Minister Abdullah received upon announcing his retirement in front of UMNO members on July 10, 2008, there was no love lost between them. Likewise, despite the effusive tribute heaped upon Abdullah by his chosen successor Najib Razak on that same occasion, there is also no love lost between the two.
In announcing his resignation so far ahead, and thus ensuring a long drawn-out transition, Abdullah ignored a fundamental element in human (and also political) relationship. That is, long goodbyes are only for lovers! Abdullah should ponder the lyrics of the chorus line in Ronan Keating’s song, “The Long Goodbye.”
Come on baby, its over, let’s face it!
All that’s happening here is a long goodbye!
[For an accompanying music video, please click this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5_k2pdvNTU ]
While it may be sentimental (and hence tolerable) for lovers breaking up to have long goodbyes, such a protracted political transition would be disastrous for a nation. Far from clarifying the leadership crisis, it only compounds the uncertainty.
Let’s face it. This belated ‘love’ between Abdullah and Najib will not last; neither will they, politically. The world of politics is like the animal world. When you are seen as weak, your predators will quickly pounce in for the kill. While it would be obscene to celebrate such an outcome, nonetheless it would be therapeutic for UMNO, Malays, and Malaysia.
I am uncertain of what a standing ovation after Abdullah’s announcement means. Perhaps they wanted to hear yet another statement reaffirming the same, only this time for him to make the date much earlier. They would then continue giving him ever more enthusiastic ovations – thus calling for even more announcements – until he declared his withdrawal right away! At which point he would bring the house down! Read the rest of this entry »
A totally synthetic crisis
Posted by Kit in Parliament, Police on Sunday, 13 July 2008, 11:48 pm
The Police is creating a totally synthetic crisis out of nothing, as no gathering or demonstration is being planned by Pakatan Rakyat in or near Parliament tomorrow.
Police roadblocks, causing massive traffic jams in Kuala Lumpur today and which will be even worse tomorrow, are not only pointless but completely unwarranted and unjustifiable.
As no gathering or demonstration in or around Parliament is being organised by Pakatan Rakyat tomorrow, the news report below paints a very surreal situation in the Federal capital: Read the rest of this entry »
JPA scholarships – why, why, why?
Letters
by A student
Dear YB,
I have some question to ask on JPA Scholarship which I don’t understand.
1. Perkongsian kuasa dengan kaum-kaum lain di dalam pilihan raya 1955 membuktikan bahawa
i. orang melayu berupaya menwujudkan perpaduan antara kaum
ii. tindakan pemimpin pada masa itu adalah keterlaluan
iii. orang melayu sanggup berkorban demi mencapai kemerdekaan
iv. orang bukan melayu terhutang budi kepada orang melayu
– This is the sample question of “mock examination” for JPA Scholar students who are to be sent to Canada sponsored by JPA. The choice number iv. is most racist and offensive, as without Orang Bukan Melayu, i.e. Chinese and Indians, Malaysia won’t get independence. Read the rest of this entry »
Public banned from Parliament on Monday – ridiculous & outrageous!
Posted by Kit in Parliament on Saturday, 12 July 2008, 10:53 pm
Ridiculous! Outrageous!
This is my immediate reaction to news report of a directive by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz banning members of the public from Parliament on Monday purportedly to thwart a demonstration to be organised by the Opposition over the Standing Order 18 motion by Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Wan Azizah on no confidence in the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
How can the public be banned from Parliament when the public gallery is an integral part of parliamentary process to ensure that it remains open, accountable, transparent and democratic?
If Parliament is to conduct its proceedings in “closed session”, there must be strong security justification – and not just on the pretext of a rumour of an Opposition demonstration in Parliament building on Monday.
For the record, this is the first time that I have heard of such a rumour!
Even if Parliament is to take extraordinary security measures in the parliamentary precints, it must be decided by Parliament itself and not by the Executive – unless Parliament is nothing more than a mini government department. Read the rest of this entry »
Congrats Datuk Seri Azizah – well-deserved!
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat, Penang Government on Saturday, 12 July 2008, 3:20 pm
Just came from the investiture ceremony at Dewan Sri Pinang by the Penang Governor Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas on his 70th birthday celebrations.
This was the first investiture ceremony that I had attended.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) President Datin Seri Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail has become a “Datuk Seri” – as she has been conferred Darjah Panglima Pangkuan Negeri (DPPN), the second highest honour in Penang.
It was ten years ago that Azizah started on the journey that catapulted her to become a political leader in her own right.
The six years that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was in prison saw Azizah transformed from a self-effacing housewife giving quiet support to her husband and taking care of her kids into a political fighter through a tumultuous decade of Malaysian politics.
Azizah, who is now the Parliamentary Opposition Leader, deserves all the accolades and the honours conferred on her today, making her the new “Datuk Seri”.
Can Abdullah deliver reforms in 24 months which he failed to do in five years?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib Razak, UMNO on Friday, 11 July 2008, 1:54 pm
The announcement by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday of a 24-month transition plan for him to step down as Umno President and Prime Minister in June 2010 and hand over power to his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is clearly the product of an intense multi-faceted power struggle involving various factions inside Umno as well as players outside Umno.
It was only two weeks ago that Najib made the startling public statement after a back-to-back Umno and Barisan Nasional supreme council meetings on the same day that the Prime Minister presented the Ninth Malaysia Plan Mid-Term Review in Parliament that he did not dismiss the possibility that he might contest the Umno presidency in the coming Umno party polls.
Such a statement did not really square with Najib’s declaration yesterday after Abdullah’s announcement that he had never won positions in the party through challenges against incumbents, adding: “Why then should I start now? I will not do something (challenge my boss), something I do not want to be done to me.”
It has been reported that Abdullah and Najib had discussed the power transition plan over five meetings in the past month, and if so, the public ultimatum by Najib two weeks ago that he could go for the Umno President’s post would have factored prominently in yesterday’s event. Read the rest of this entry »
UMNO’s Latest Psy-War Materials Exposed
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, nation building on Friday, 11 July 2008, 10:46 am
by Azly Rahman
[Azly has clarified that the piece below appeared in Malaysia Today, linked to the Malaysia Waves blog and that he had not received the email personally. – Admin]
(NOTE: This is an email I received from a reader exposing the latest brain washing tricks deployed by UMNO’s apparatus called Biro Tatanegara(BTN). Mind you BTN is 100% funded by tax payer’s money)
Biro Tatanegara. Does it ring a bell? Government propaganda or honest student development programme? For those who aren’t aware of it, Biro Tatanegara or BTN for short is under the Jabatan Perdana Menteri and it has several modules which all public university students have to attend in the name of “Student Development”.
On the 6th of July 2008 in UiTM Shah Alam, there were three separate talks being held under BTN with the first one being titled “Pendidikan”, second one titled “Ancaman Keselamatan Negara” and the third one titled, “Patriotisma”. Smell anything funny yet? No? Read on. You won’t even have to smell it after you are done reading this. It’ll be stuffed down your throat.
I would like to only focus on the first speaker, Dr. Idris bin Md. Noor. He was supposed to talk about education as that was the title of his speech, but the content was far different. He first went on with the usual introductions but in less than a few minutes, he suddenly touched on the forum on the discussion of social contract in Malaysia that the BAR council organized.
He criticized it with all his heart, saying no one should discuss about it as it is unquestionable. Fair enough, I thought at first. Freedom of speech right? But what if he suddenly accuses the “Malay” speaker in the forum, which I’m guessing is Farish A. Noor, as a traitor to the Malay race as a whole?
And while he was browsing through his files on the laptop which was projected on the big screen, it was no surprise for me that I saw files entitled “Ketuanan Melayu”. He also then went on about the Malay’s obsession with magic and ghosts, he said that it is all wrong beliefs through the perspective of Islam because if they really could use magic and other dark arts for fighting, then they should kill Karpal Singh with it. Read the rest of this entry »
“Standing ovation” for Abdullah’s retirement announcement
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Thursday, 10 July 2008, 10:10 pm
The announcement today by the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that he would hand over the Umno leadership and premiership to Najib Razak in June 2010 was given a standing ovation at the meeting of Umno division and branch leaders.
What was the “standing ovation” for?
Sultanate of Sulu & North Borneo/Sabah issuing birth certificates for children born in Sabah
In Parliament yesterday, I gave the Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Chor Chee Heung a copy of a birth certificate issued by the Sultanate of Sulu & North Borneo/Sabah for children born in Sabah, challenging Malaysian sovereignty in Sabah, as he said he was unaware of the existence of such birth certificates.
DAP MP for Kota Kinabalu Hiew King Cheu had earlier given me a copy of the birth certificate issued by the Sultan of Sulu & North Borneo/Sabah for his “subjects” in Sabah, raising disturbing questions about the future of Sabah – especially with the unchecked influx of illegal immigrants in the past four decades with many native Sabahans feeling that they have become foreigners in their own homeland!
According to one estimate, the number of illegally-legalised illegal immigrants through one Project I/C after another in the past four decades have already exceeded the number of genuine Sabahans.
I had asked the Deputy Home Minister to cause a full investigation into the issue of birth certificates by the Sultanate of Sulu & North Borneo/Sabah for children born in Sabah and to make a ministerial statement in Parliament, hopefully before the adjournment of the present meeting on July 17. Read the rest of this entry »
Authoritarian solution?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Najib Razak, Politics on Wednesday, 9 July 2008, 9:09 am
( From Australian Broadcasting Corporation transcript of the Protes rally at the Kelana Jaya Stadium on Sunday. Clive Kessler is professor sociology at the University of New South Wales and one of Australia’s foremost Malaysia watchers.)
Clive Kessler: The situation in Malaysia at the moment is remarkable and that the brave hopes of independence have turned into an unbelievably sordid soap opera and the popular feeling among many people on the streets is precisely that. That in the sense they find the politics unbelievable, damaging and destructive and they see that more clearly than many of the political principles themselves.
Edmond Roy: He’s got a point. Consider this: the Opposition leader of the country is accused of sodomy.
The country’s Deputy Prime Minister is accused of conspiring to quash a murder investigation involving his private secretary and two of his bodyguards.
And last week, the Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak was accused of having sex with the murder victim, Mongolian translator Altantuya Sharribuu, whose body was blown up with weapons-grade explosives in a forest outside the capital. Read the rest of this entry »
My Personal Experience On The Protes Rally
Letters
by TT
There’s a reason we separate military and the police: one fights the enemy of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.
(William Adama – Battlestar Galactica)
Was a little skeptical after knowing the government would be sending in the army to ‘look after’ us for and during the protes rally.
Got up very early on 6th July 2008, not for church, but headed towards the Stadium Kelana Jaya with much enthusiasm knowing I will be part of another history again.
Undecided should I drive or take the ever ‘reliable’ public transport after knowing there will be police blocks on those main roads. One can wonder why they spend so much of resources which is causing nothing, but pure nuisance to the public, instead combatting the up and rising crime rates!. Anway, decided to take a Sunday drive from Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur through SS2, Petaling Jaya eventhough I can go straight via the federal highway.
Traffic was suprisingly smooth flowing. Read the rest of this entry »
North-south highway 3rd lanes
Letters
by J.Y.
I am a frequent user of our North-South Expressway and I have this
IMPORTANT experience to highlight and share:-
I was driving back to Penang yesterday afternoon (24 June 08) when I saw
the unfortunate accident in the opposite direction involving the passenger
bus that skidded and overturned at Tanjung Malim. I didn’t know that the
skidded bus was from hometown Penang untill I watched TV3 news later in the
evening and was shocked to learn that the accident took two lives.
Now, this is what I need to share:-
I am a building contractor with over twenty years of experience and I have
been driving my 5 series BMW (latest generation and a dammed solid road
holding car) each time I travelled to KL. Lately, the new extended 3 lanes
highway had been opened up for use and since then, I have also been using
it quite oftenly.
HOWEVER, when I used it each time it is WET, I can really ‘feel’ that the new road surface is extremely SLIPPERY! To share with some of you, my car comes with a built-in traction control mechanism (skidding prevention mechanism) and you can feel it each time it is activated. Previously, I don’t come across this kind of slippery feel except when I drive over a
paddle of water at certain speed. Read the rest of this entry »
Kelana Jaya Stadium anti-fuel price protest
Kelana Jaya Stadium anti-fuel price protest
Date: 6.7.08 (Sunday)
Time: 10am – 12am
Venue: Kelana Jaya Stadium, Selangor
From Malaysiakini
Kelana Jaya rally: 10,000 people at noon
Malaysiakini Team | Jul 6, 08 10:08amThere is a carnival sort of atmosphere at the Kelana Jaya stadium this morning at the day-long anti-fuel hike rally.
People started trickling into the 50,000 capacity stadium since early morning, to be greeted by vendors selling Pakatan Rakyat party mementos, T-shirts, cassettes and posters. Read the rest of this entry »
Balasubramaniam’s 2 contradictory SDs – the immediate concern
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Sunday, 6 July 2008, 7:53 am
(Speech at the DAP Kuching Solidarity Dinner in Kuching on Saturday, 5th July 2008 at 9 pm)
In the past 36 hours, the country has been convulsed by the two contradictory statutory declarations by private investigator P. Balasubramiam over the linking of Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak with the murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.
A great debate has been going on since Balasubramaniam’s second SD yesterday contradicting his first SD made public on Thursday with such devastating effect as to whether the private investigator had committed the crime of perjury, liable under the Penal Code to an offence which carries a maximum of seven years’ jail.
I think this question is secondary. My immediate concern of the two contradictory SDs by Balasubramiam is not whether he had committed a criminal offence, but his personal safety and a new low in public confidence in the police and justice systems. Read the rest of this entry »
Another Ops Lalang in the works?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Human Rights on Saturday, 5 July 2008, 1:33 pm
(Speech at the 2,000-People DAP Batu Pahat dinner in Batu Pahat, Johore on Friday, 4th July 2008 at 10 pm)
In Parliament last evening (Thursday), the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters that the people should not to listen to rumours of an impending emergency rule.
He said:
“The government was stable. The security is under control. Everything is under control. Don’t believe anything you hear.
“I don’t think anybody should be worry. There are too many rumours.”
Rumours have indeed become very rife in recent times, with Abdullah as Prime Minister under siege since the March general election 125 days ago – from both inside Umno, Barisan Nasional and outside.
In practice, rumours should not be given much credibility. However, in Malaysia’s political culture and tight mainstream media control, rumours have greater credibility than other countries as many rumours had subsequently proven true than the many official denials issued by purported authoritative sources. Read the rest of this entry »
Altantuya/Najib link – PI Balasubramaniam SD1 vs SD2
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Friday, 4 July 2008, 4:37 pm
Private investigator P. Balasubramaniam created shock waves yesterday when he made public his statutory declaration (SD) linking Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak with the murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, with several astounding assertions about the relationship conveyed to him by both Altantuya and Abdul Razak Baginda.
Today, Balasubramaniam created a second round of shock waves when within 24 hours he retracted his statutory declaration with a second statutory declaration, claiming that he was forced to make his earlier declaration under duress.
The initial public reaction to Balasubramaniam’s second SD is one of shock and disgust, with some dismissing and condemning the episode as a “Plague on both houses”!
Serious-minded Malaysians however cannot have the luxury of ignoring the SD acrobatics of Balasubramaniam as at stake are very grave issues about the integrity of the system of justice and good governance, the reputation of powerful office-holders and ordinary people(both dead and living).
As the initial feelings of shock and disgust settle down, it emerges that Subramaniam has done the impossible – making more Malaysians believe in his first SD by his second SD of retraction. Read the rest of this entry »
