text:
Archive for the 'demogoguery' Category
Apartheid, BN, challenge, child marriage, criminalisation of non-Muslim entertainments, crony suppliers, election commission, gay, hegelian dialectic, Islamists, Karpal, Kayveas, Malaysia's Political Gorean Club, mandate, Martin Jalleh, maudlin sentimentality, media inaction, Musa Hassan, names, neutrality, NLP, Pandikar, police coup, police neutrality, politicians the real enemy, polygamy, reverse reverse psychology, supplier collusion
In 1% tricks and traps, advice, amendments to law needed, Apartheid, bad laws, best practices, better judgments, better laws, Bumiputera Apartheid, checks and balances, collusion, conflict of interest, conscientious objection, Conscription, critical discourse, cult of personality, Democracy, democratisation, demogoguery, dishonest academia, domestic terrorists in the political sphere, drug laws, equitable political power distribution, equitable wealth distribution, Ethics, feminist saboteurs, Forced Conscription, Forced Military Conscription, freedom of choice, Freedom of Expression, freedom of speech, gambling, gaming, gender politics, government, haram zones, homosexuality, if not contrived, individualism, Informed Consent, intent, intentional omissions, Invasive Laws, lack of focus, Malaysia, meaningless platitudes, media, media collusion, media sabotage, media traps, media tricks, misplaced adoration, misrepresentation of facts, mob mentality, non-Muslim rights, non-Muslim Rights in a Muslim country, PDRM, political correctness, Political Fat Cats, politics, pretentious, propaganda, psychiatry, quorum, racism, red light district legalisation, secularism, self policing, separation of powers, sneaky proselytization methods, social freedoms, spirit of the law, spiritual abuse, spirituality, undemocratic, unprofessional behaviour, waste of mandate on December 12, 2012 at 8:52 pm
MAN UP TO YOUR POST & FACE ME IN THE RING – Anwar tells Najib – by Anwar Ibrahim – Tuesday, 04 December 2012 17:17
As the 13th General Elections draws near, UMNO has been showing signs of being increasingly insecure and uncertain about its future hold on power.
Being unable to counter our ideas and policies in a constructive way, it has instead launched a relentless campaign of hate and fear mongering. With the mainstream media at its complete disposal, UMNO is using every trick in the book to sow racial discord and instil fear among the people of the consequences that will befall them when Pakatan Rakyat comes to power.
Lies and May 13 scare-mongering
The just-concluded UMNO General Assembly provided yet another pretext to go on overdrive in this offensive of lies and intimidation led by Prime Minister and UMNO President Dato' Seri Najib Razak. We condemn his reckless statement that Malaysia will lose its sovereignty in three years after Pakatan Rakyat takes over. The idea is sow the seeds of distrust among the people that Pakatan Rakyat leaders are traitors who will pawn the nation's sovereignty for political power. Citing no facts nor providing any evidence, Najib's scurrilous suggestion is therefore totally unfounded and can only be made by someone who has neither respect for the truth nor any sense of moral rectitude.
As a prelude to this loss of power scenario, delegates were also falling over each other in raising the spectre of a repeat of May 13th riots if Pakatan Rakyat comes to power. We understand that Wanita chief Dato' Seri Shahrizat Jalil is trying to revive her political career having been forced to resign as minister by the multimillion ringgit NFC scandal. But to resort to such low hand tactics is inexcusable. To bring back the ghost of May 13th is to attempt to sow animosity among the races particularly between the Malays and the non-Malays and to spread fear among the people of violence and bloodshed if UMNO loses power. This is not only reckless but highly seditious and therefore criminal.
REAL THREAT
It is clear that Pakatan Rakyat has emerged as a real threat to the UMNO-Barisan Nasional hegemony and this has caused guns for hire to make blatant allegations about our leaders acting as proxies for foreign powers with me being singled out as proxy apparently for both the United States and China at the same time! While we may laugh away this non-sensical allegation, the fact is that with the nation-wide print and electronic media completely under its control, UMNO is spreading this lie with the intensity and ferocity that would make Goebbels proud. Employing the method of spreading 'the big lie' by constant repetition, the media attempts to paint a scenario of the country facing financial doom and under the control of foreign powers if Pakatan Rakyat takes over.
The UMNO media is also stoking the fire of communal and religious discord publishing the inflammatory racist statements of delegates. The fear mongering in this regard centres on making Muslims feel that Islam will be undermined if Pakatan Rakyat comes to power. According to UMNO, only they are the champions of Islam, not KEADILAN or even PAS. Thus, they spread the lie that apostasy cases will increase and that Malaysia may be turned into a Christian state if UMNO loses power.
Low caliber personal attacks
Najib's keynote address in the UMNO General Assembly was full of vitriolic against Pakatan Rakyat and personal attacks against its leaders, me in particular in language totally un-befitting a statesman. Should the rakyat continue to bear with leadership of such caliber? What is the policy of the Umno president going forward for the nation? Where are the blue prints for the economy and social justice, for health care, housing and education? Najib must stop this campaign of lies and intimidation.
If he has valid issues with Pakatan Rakyat, then he should accept my invitation for a debate so that all Malaysians will be given the opportunity to see for themselves who is lying and who is telling the truth. Stop hiding behind the protective wall of your propaganda machinery and taking potshots at Pakatan Rakyat and me.
Man up to your position as Prime Minister and face me in the ring!
Anwar Ibrahim is the Leader of the Malaysian Opposition & PKR MP for Permatang Pauh
Najib just needs to grant the below 3 items :
;to make the opposition disappear. If the opposition makes clear on the above as well though, Najib indeed will have a tough time and who knows be on that slippery Scorpene and Altantuya slope to political and social oblivion . . . as for Anwar, the Rakyat should know that ccording to some sources, only 8% of PKR members vioted for the current PKR Committee. This means that 92% of the PKR members which might not even want some people in the committee (the whole of Anwar's family is in the committee btw – NEPOTISM) either were not given time to select the committee or were intentionally left out or worse still, did not care at all. On PKR's part, no attempt was made to ensure that the members voted, possibly because if 92% of those left out voted, Anwar, family blocs and Anwar cliques in PKR might not even make it to the PKR committee which uses the undemocratic practice of CHOOSING who gets to run in what constituency. If no honest attempt is made to revote at at least 66.6% quorum, PKR might as well be deregistered as a political party or the ROS could penalise PKR for having a committee which was not voted at a 66.6% quorum as per democratic principles recognized worldwide. PKR is a very slipshod run political party. Man up and face in the ring? Tak a look at that 8% quorum backyard first . . . what are the 92% saying?
Child marriages: Rethinking the issue — Art Harun – December 04, 2012
DEC 4 — Child marriage has somewhat become something of a phenomenon in Malaysia.
In a New Straits Times report dated June 13, 2010 (republished by asiaonenews), the following was published:
"….according to the 2000 Census, there were 11,400 children below 15 years of age who were married — 6,800 girls and 4,600 boys. Of the 6,800 girls, only 2,450 were Malay. This means that the syariah court gave its consent to each of these 2,450 underage girls to get married.
"The remainder of 4,350 girls were non-Malays comprising 1,550 other Bumiputeras, 1,600 Chinese, 600 Indians, and 600 others. It is not known whether they had got their licence from the relevant minister, but even if they did, it would have been illegal, since there are no legal provisions for a non-Muslim under 16 years to get married."
The report added:
"Last year,(2009) 479 children under 15 years, two of them boys, were getting ready to tie the knot. And 32 of them were below 10 years. None of them were found to be HIV-positive.
"This is based on Health Ministry statistics of premarital HIV screening for Muslims, a compulsory requirement for those wanting to get married.
"However, it is not certain if any of these applications for marriage were approved by the state religious department."
The legal age for marriage for non-Muslims in Malaysia is 18 years old. For Muslims, however, the legal age is 16 years old. However, in the case of Muslims in Malaysia, the syariah courts are empowered to allow marriages of children who are under 16 years of age.
There are alarming and disconcerting reports about child marriages in Malaysia. In early 2010, there were reports of two marriages involving 10- and 11-year-old girls married off to men in their 40s in Kelantan. The 11-year-old was later found in a state of shock. The syariah courts later ruled the marriages illegal. The ground for illegality however was not based on whether there was adequate consent from the children or on their respective age but was rather based on procedural non-compliance.
Child marriages, particularly among Muslims in Malaysia, although not a societal norm, are however a socially acceptable practice among a section of the society. Mass weddings involving children are, for instance, carried out. The state lends its approval and sanction either by publicising such weddings on the front page of its mainstream newspapers or by its leaders attending such weddings. In December 2010, for instance, a 14-year-old girl participated in such wedding by marrying a 23-year-old teacher. This was widely reported.
Recently, the syariah court granted permission to a father to marry off his 12-year-old daughter to a 19-year-old boy. In the application for permission, it was cited that the girl had run away to stay with her boyfriend and refused to come home. Marriage was, apparently, the only solution to solve the problem and to protect the family's honour and reputation.
If only life was that simple.
Let's consider what the laws of this country say about children under 18 or 16. They can't enter into a binding contract save for those which affect their necessities. They can't even buy tobacco products and alcohol. They can't have a driving licence. They can't watch movies of certain types without an adult accompanying them. They cannot be contractually employed. They surely can't vote in a general election. They also cannot enter clubs. Generally, a boy or man can't have sexual relationship with any girl of 16 or less even with her consent. That would be statutory rape.
Why is that? That is because the law assumes that a girl or any person, regardless of gender, of less than 18 year old (or 16 in the case of statutory rape) is not able to give free consent. For the uninitiated, free consent is a necessary element in a contract or in sexual acts in order to determine whether the acts constitute rape or otherwise.
Regardless of the above, strangely, sexual acts involving girls of 16 or less will be all right and completely legal if she is legally married! The law is indeed an ass!
If children under 18, or as the case may be 16 years of age, are presumed by law not to be able to give free consent to enter into a contract or to have sexual relationship — or to exercise proper judgment whether or not to buy tobacco products or alcohol — on what premise does the state legalise such sexual acts through a state-sanctioned marriage?
What is most unsatisfactory about the marriage of the 12-year-old is the blatant transfer and absolution of parental responsibilities by the parents and the courts to the 19-year-old groom as well as the 12-year-old bride. Reading the case, the first question which crept up in every reasonable person would be, "how can a 12-year-old girl have a boyfriend?" And "how can a 12-year-old run from home to be with her 19-year-old boyfriend?" Then, we would ask "what will happen to the 12-year-old after her marriage?" "How is she going to cope with all the responsibilities that come with a marriage?" "Can she be a good mother?" "Can the 19-year-old support his family?"
On July 19, 2012, Malaysia ratified the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child with the following reservations:
"The Government of Malaysia accepts the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child but expresses reservations with respect to articles 2, 7, 14, 28 paragraph 1 (a) and 37, of the Convention and declares that the said provisions shall be applicable only if they are in conformity with the Constitution, national laws and national policies of the Government of Malaysia."
The Convention defines a child as "every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier."
Article 18 provides:
"States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child. Parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians, have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The best interests of the child will be their basic concern."
"States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child."
In view of the aforesaid provisions, which we as a nation have chosen to accept without reservation, it is thus with a degree of perplexity that child marriages, even involving girls as young as 12, are taking place without nary a thought on the welfare of the child and the responsibilities of her parents.
In "Secular on Non-secular — what history tells us", I have reproduced a section of the Reid Commission report with a sentence unintentionally omitted. I wish to take responsibility and apologise for that omission. The particular section should read as follows (with the omitted part in bold):
"We have considered the question whether there should be any statement in the Constitution to the effect that Islam should be the State religion. There was universal agreement that if any such provision were inserted it must be made clear that it would not in any way affect the civil rights of non-Muslims. In the memorandum submitted by the Alliance it was stated — 'the religion of Malaysia shall be Islam. The observance of this principle shall not impose any disability on non-Muslim nationals professing and practising their own religion and shall not imply that the State is not a secular State'." — art-harun.blogspot.com
Law is artificial and is not higher than the law governing 2 individuals in what they decide with each other. Sama suka sama (this is Malay for consensual and mutual) is more important than all of the above and can overrule the mere word of law being as aspect of law via spirit of law. A mob of hantu in British smocks (i.e. judges – being rhetorical here) have no right to pressure the young lovers who's young tender minds doubtless will be impacted by the sheer pathos of society and the false ethos of Syariah or Civil court over emotions between 2 people. The statuary rape concept is nonsense so long as there was genuine love between any persons in any cases. And this is the law of 'god' or 'nature'.
Much like sexuality, attraction is natural or god given, and a whole mob of adults in society should never have any say. As for finance etc.. the state can easily handle that instead of enriching politicians and cronies. The funds should go to allowing these very young couples to set up home etc.. As in normal adult cases, sometimes there will also be divorces, but divorce or even break ups is a mechanism of the environment and people around them influencing them. Without any external influence whatsoever, normal marriage ages should drop drastically which looks like that is what nature intended.
The issue is to ensure the instance education begins for a child that relationships especially life relationships like marriage are taught to them and even citing good yet very clear negative and positive examples of marriage and what entails so that a few months after your child can read and write they will know all the basics but yet also not be influenced. That is why we have PUBLIC EDUCATION, to ensure the insanity of the parent's marital lives or society's sexual taboos do not colour the children's ability to be independent.
The use of the law as above is vicious and manipulative and needs amending.
Pak Lah's kin linked to power meter supply storm – by Mohd Farhan Darwis – UPDATED @ 03:26:48 PM 04-12-2012
PETALING JAYA, Dec 4 — The family of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was linked today to a company that supplies the controversial digital electricity meters to Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) alleged to have hiked up energy consumption bills and gained the national utility company billions of ringgit in profit.
According to PKR's investment bureau chief Wong Chen, Noor Asiah Mahmood, who is the younger sister to Abdullah's (picture) first wife, the late Tun Endon Mahmood, owns Ombata-Ambak Holdings Sdn Bhd, which has a 15 per cent share in Malaysian Intelligence Meters Sdn Bhd, the latter which is one of five companies contracted by TNB to supply the new digital meters.
Wong alleged that the programme to switch analogue power meters for digital ones had showed consumers would be contributing RM6.88 billion to TNB's profit over the course of 10 years. The programme has been stopped temporarily on the orders of Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui since October.
"Our research shows TNB has 8.03 million consumers now and the average price for each meter is RM250, therefore this programme had the potential to reach RM2 billion.
"For the financial year 2012, TNB's revenue from all consumers is RM34.4 billion, if the electronic meter had given a conservative raise of two per cent, the additional burden on consumers would be as much as RM688 million a year.
"Seeing as the life expectancy of this meter is only 10 years, consumers would ultimately have to pay as much as RM6.88 billion to TNB for that duration," Wong told a news conference at the opposition party's headquarters here.
PKR strategy director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who was also present, said the issue was not a small matter as consumers would have to pay up to 50 per cent of the cost of their power bills.
"Therefore, PKR urges TNB to be transparent and responsible in this matter to reveal who are the electronic meter suppliers, the price paid for the meters and whether it was competitively priced at local and international standards, and whether an open tender had been called or was it a direct negotiation?" Nik Nazmi asked.
The Seri Setia state lawmaker also called for TNB to fund an independent body to investigate consumer complaints on the new meters and to act on the findings that bind the utility company to consumers.
Last October, Chin said TNB had halted the replacement of analogue electricity meters with electronic meters until a standard operating procedure could be fixed.
He had made the decision after receiving public complaints saying power consumption had spiked after switching to the new digital meters, causing them to be also billed "retrospectively".
"This operation will go on but our main task is to educate people on the new meter," the minister had said then.
However, Chin had said replacing the analogue devices with the new meters would continue for households where the electricity meters were damaged or suspected to have been tampered with, resulting in losses.
The B*!@#$%s had everything, society gave them all the power to help the nation, believed in their goodness, yet greed still could reach these spiritually weak willed and corrupted men :
i) political power in the (greedy?) bid for PM, cost perhaps B*!@#$%'s mother
ii) perhaps greed for wealth and corruption cost B*!@#$%'s wife (and we won't go into the Hadhari stuff which Al Azhar would doubtless scuttle as potentially offensive, unintellectual vainglorious, rehash of Islam if properly examined . . .)
Those who keep taking and never regarding those who help them, will never be have enough to pay from places where they have never and do not deserve to work, when time to collect comes. Some of us 'work' harder than most, some of the worst just take the efforts, and give away the nation's treasures and harm the country despite everything. Only the deserving should be given high position – on a net tally, B*!@#$% has harned the nation and done less than what the lowliest street sweeper does for a living . . . and I won't even get into KJ (and the 4th floor boys) as well . . . Forced Military Conscriptions btw were implemented during B*!@#$%s watch, this is the classic example of the smiling crocodile politician, very disappointing and hopefully not characteristic of the Malays as a race.
GO ON LEAVE, Hisham told – Monday, 03 December 2012 16:06
Former inspector general of police Musa Hassan's claim of interference by Home minister Hishamuddin Hussein in police affairs has been described as serious, and as such PAS Youth said the latter must go on leave pending a probe.
"Hishamuddin should be a gentleman and emulate Shahrizat (Abdul Jalil, Wanita UMNO head) who took leave following the National Feedlot Corporation scandal," said PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan.
Musa last week dropped a bombshell ahead of the 66th UMNO general assembly accusing Hishamuddin of violating police protocols by giving instructions to junior police officers and a district police chief without his knowledge.
"So, I highlighted to him (Hishammuddin) Section 4 (1) of the Police Act (1967, which says) that the command and control of the police is by the IGP and not the minister. Of course, I cannot be rude to him as (he is) a minister. I talked to him nicely. He didn't like it," said Musa.
Hishamuddin sidestepped the allegation saying it was Musa's ploy to divert attention from the UMNO meeting.
Musa however dismissed Hishamuddin's claim as a personal opinion.
Nasrudin meanwhile called for the establishment of an independent commission to investigate Musa's allegation.
He hoped the police would protect the people "based on law instead of protecting (a) political party by following its instruction blindly".
Good. 'Rule-of-law' is taking out the political-bureaucracy as well. The judiciary should learn from Musa and take out the obvious among politicians who have harmed the nation – by Human Rights principles, an ex-Police Chief could by popular revolt overturn a government (presumably in Malaysia's case to grant the below 3 items) as per the Human Rights Charter and Islamic principles of non-discrimination and non-disenfranchisement – to ah . . . 'protect the minorities' Human Rights' and 'dignify properly practiced Islam' . . . ahem.
The international community is behind both police and judiciary if such actions were taken, and that makes Bar Council a farce for not acting before I posted this and several earlier comments. What happened in some of our lives really? Decades long audits of the system? Looks like the political bunch had better be serious in the future, in any case term limits as well. Perhaps the police could turn the tables on the REAL criminals of the country.
PAS should know that every ethical act they do is being cancelled by every Islamist action of abuse against especially non-Muslims PAS makes. PAS is not moving forward at all and confirms PAS's use of ethics as an expedient (PAS seems to have no love or understanding of ethics and principles, but knows the value of using the same.) counter-apologist actions to balance Islamism, which is not what almost all Malaysians want. Perhaps PAS is not a political party and more a religious organisation that should go to Al Azhar at Cairo to learn about separation of faith and state.
PAS Islamists Abuse non-Muslims, deny non-Muslim activities :
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/12/18/nation/12474892&sec=nation
Sultans know the difference even as Sultans themselves have most probably tacitly approved Malaysia's other great flaw . . . the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA by not taking initiatives in starting a Royal commission to grant the above 3 items :
http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2012/11/countries/malaysia/selangor-sultan-sharafuddin-idris-shah-supports-separation-of-mosque-and-state
Malaysia is STILL a 3rd world country . . .
'PERCEIVED' discrimination is why people shun BN – Kayveas – Monday, 03 December 2012 07:10
KUALA LUMPUR – People's confidence in Barisan Nasional (BN) has eroded as they are affected by perceived discrimination and prejudice under the coalition's rule, PPP president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas cautioned today.
He said this is why, despite various transformations introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, some groups still support the Opposition "blindly".
"The transformed government of BN must eliminate the feeling of prejudice and discrimination among the people.
"We should make the people feel that there is fairness, justice and equality," he said in his speech at the party's annual general assembly today.
He added that the BN administration should facilitate every citizen and eliminate any form of frustration.
When met on the sidelines of the event, he said: "It's not an easy task (but) the PM is working on it, he needs time but he is already showing so much of improvement."
-thesundaily
Perceived? The fact is that we do not have the below 3 items which is not PERCEPTION but FACT as opposed to Kaveas' DECEPTION. This shameful article is mere apologism for lack of :
Keep selling out human rights principles and accepting inequality as normal, and in the end Kaveas will not deserve to be a HUMAN. (Hate to sound 'spiritually racist', but caste stature cannot be erased apparently even with all the wealth and stature in the temporal world that Kaveas has) to accept such status as 2nd class citizens is surely a sign of lower caste ancestry . . . only equality is acceptble . . . ) Traitor to the UN and traitor to the idea of equality and 'The Enlightenment' which would never accept the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA.
Karpal says touched by Pandikar's apology – Sunday, 02 December 2012 08:25
KUALA LUMPUR- DAP chairman Karpal Singh is deeply touched by the apology made by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to him on Thursday, the last day of the August house sitting.
Karpal who is Bukit Gelugor Member of Parliament said this in a statement here today.
In reciprocal, he also asked for forgiveness for the many transgression in which an apology was due from him to Pandikar Amin.
On Thursday, Pandikar Amin apologised to Karpal over his spontaneous remarks that the MP might have been suffering from pain for not raising his hand when taking oath as an MP.
The incident happened at the beginning of the 12th parliament session on April 28, 2008 and Pandikar Amin in his apology said that he only found out later that Karpal could not raise his hand.
Pandikar Amin also said the remarks was made when he was still new and had no intention to hurt anyone and he would feel bad if he did not apologise to Karpal.
Whats 'touching' (being sarcastic here) is that Karpal's physical pain is more important than the meaning of the MP's post, and the fact that Pandikar Amin is effectively on the side of those that will not grant :
A$$ hurting? Aww poor baby. Remember we still live under apartheid and not be swayed by sweet nothings . . . Karpal is getting old and weak no? Replacement time . . . No need to 'sayang' whatever injuries . . . the best apology would be to END APARTHEID and a timely snap back along these lines from Karpal would have been better for the Rakyat than this maudlin sentimentality. Term limitless, nepotistic colluding MPs on BN and Pakatan sides who care more about this sort of sandiwara are the worst kind of politician. Politicians are disposable, get in there for your 1 term and 23K x 4 years of salaries (thats near 1 million btw), amend some laws and get out, we don't need this sort of old friends among term limitless dictators and nepotists pathos to muddy the voter's minds with regards the above 3 items.
Waning popularity a message from the people, Najib warns BN – by Zurairi AR December 02, 2012
Najib asked voters to give BN more time to execute the changes it has planned for the country. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 ? Again calling for change in Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today voters are choosing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) because they want to send a message to the ruling coalition.
"The message is for us to change as a party," the BN chairman said while launching the People's Progressive Party (PPP) annual general meeting (AGM) here.
"They want BN as a party to be more fair, inclusive, and so that every citizen of Malaysia will receive equal treatment and benefits from BN."
The prime minister's remarks came after PPP president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas's address, in which the latter said voters are flocking to PR because they are "worried" by perceived discrimination and prejudice under BN's rule.
Fresh from closing Umno's annual assembly here yesterday, Najib again called on voters to give BN more time to renew itself by supporting it in the polls.
"We're in the process of renewal. Real changes are taking place in Malaysia.
"Real changes are taking place while the same party is in power in Malaysia," the Umno president said.
Najib also criticised the "Ubah" (change) slogan touted by DAP and PR, comparing their call for change to the recent "Arab Spring" revolution.
"If we change, are we sure we're getting something better?
"(The people involved in Arab Spring) are not enjoying the 'spring weather'. They're still in the winter of discontent," Najib said.
The prime minister said that the revolutions in the Middle East had caused the countries involved to lose out on tourism and currency exchange, as well as suffer declines to their security.
But Najib also confessed that winning the next general election will not be easy, saying that voters' opinions were now easily swayed by current issues.
"Before this, we can just put a songkok (to contest) and we would still win.
"Now we need to read the desires of the public, understand the wishes of the people."
Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice.
"The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground.
"These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that," Najib added to applause from the floor.
Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice. The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground.
Politics should be about bettering civilian lives regardless of faith or ethnicity via honesty, and civilisational Islam (or any other religion), is not about crony laws and racial privileges. As mentioned elsewhere, were a screen applied to ensure meritocracy (to mask race), a translation machine (to mask language), and a voice modulator and distortion screen (to mask gender) applied at a job interview, we'd be surprised at the choices we make based on POLICY rather than race or religion.
Then the concept of NATION would be real. Right now the 'needs basis' is based around wrong things like religion and race or even gender 'quotas', which is very backward and insulting to the host race the Malays, disenfranchises the minorities, and men in general wherever quotas for women occur. Let the best people lead irrespective of faith gender or ethnicity, and let them be limited in terms AND chosen with the above tech applied so that the above racial or gender or religious cues will not affect choices. A first world 'Meritocracy' of logic and ability (as opposed to mob minded and pathos based DEMOCRACY of majority where the minority loses the rights to majority much like Morsi described – why can't ALL RIGHTS be included in that sickening draft resolution that favours Islam so much?!? Egypt is NOT Islamist-Arabist, Egypt is Polytheistic AND uses Hieratic . . . Egyptians INVENTED BEER and also ate pork, Egypt was not Islamic UNTIL the Arabs militarily subjugated and conquered the Egyptians and destroyed and forbade Egyptian culture . . . ) must include :
If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system BN must ensure the above 3 items with that mandate BN already has. If BN does not grant the above 3 items, there is no point giving that mandate to BN again in GE13. BN can make the choice to as PM Najib said, '. . . treat every citizen equally . . .'.
Is interracial integration more possible under convergence or divergence? — Boo Cheng Hau – December 01, 2012
DEC 1 — The recently announced National Education Blueprint contains nothing new. And it shows the powers-that-be have no real intention to listen to the public or make any bold reforms to our ailing education system.
It is a repetition of the sad old story about racial prejudice, not much different from the so-called "National" Education Policy which was largely based on Umno's Malay nationalist belief that the national language should be the sole medium of instruction.
Proponents of the Malay-medium-only policy also emphasise the Malay nationalist perspective of history that having one common language — such as in our neighbours Indonesia and Thailand — can save Malaysia from disintegration.
Racial prejudice and political demagoguery as the basis for our nation's education agenda of true unity will not get us far. Let me prove how discriminatory is our education system and the false impressions that it projects.
How my friend succeeded in the US
I had a taste of victory for what it means to have "equal opportunities" in education about 30 years ago when I argued for admission, on behalf of a schoolmate, into an American university which has produced some Nobel laureates.
My friend was originally from Taiwan but studied in a Chinese independent secondary school in Malaysia. She did not sit for the SPM or UEC. To my surprise, the admission officer of the American university requested for UEC results in lieu of SPM qualifications.
She did not sit the UEC because the exam was still new at that time. After a long discussion, the admission officer agreed with my proposal that she be admitted conditionally on producing evidence of completing 12 years of primary and secondary education — a standard which almost all American universities and colleges go by.
She was then admitted "under probation" for one semester, meaning she would be considered a regular student after the period of study with a GPA of 2.0 and above (an average of C and above). She graduated eventually without any impediment.
Her experience goes to show how democratic, liberal and flexible the American education system is. This is one of the key factors that allow the United States to become the most technologically advanced country, and one to which many talents from other parts of the world choose to emigrate.
The value of the UEC
In the 1970s, nobody in Malaysia took the UEC exams seriously except for the powers-that-be which attempted to ban it on account that the exam was (perceived to be) "anti-national".
Nonetheless besides Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore where the UEC was recognised, many American universities and colleges had already begun accepting it as a gateway for college admission. As far back as exactly 30 years ago, one of my classmates was admitted to the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology based on her UEC results and Chinese independent school coursework assessments.
Would our public universities and UiTM open its admission policies and welcome UEC holders by integrating them into the mainstream higher education institutes rather than discriminating them? Some top American universities even admit Chinese independent secondary school students based on school results and class ranking without referring to standardised examinations such as SPM, UEC, GCE, SAT and the like.
Yet after 30 long years, our own Malaysian government still despises the UEC as "anti-national". In fact, except for respective language subjects, all UEC subjects are offered in three languages, in other words, one can opt to have his maths, science or other papers tested in English, Malay or Chinese.
Chinese independent school graduates are barred from using their UEC results as a means of admission to local public universities and teacher training colleges. This discrimination is deemed necessary to maintain Umno's self-righteous "National Education Policy" for the promotion of "interracial unity".
How can political demagoguery such as Umno's ever help in promoting national unity and interracial integration? One could argue that the party is actually more interested in maintaining its tight grip on power by continuing to mislead the country that vernacular schools somehow pose a hidden threat.
STPM and matriculation — apple and orange?
The powers-that-be have since declared that racial quotas are no longer applied in local public universities. Instead, they claim a "merit-based" admission system has been put in place.
However, at the same time, university admission standards are "diversified" into two separate entry points — STPM and matriculation.
After years of protests by the non-Malays, only 10 per cent of matriculation programmes has been opened up to the non-Bumiputeras, and even this percentage is described by the Malay nationalists as a "sell-out" of Malay rights.
Non-Malays are supposed to be grateful for this small "kindness", like once upon a time coloureds were supposed to thank their white masters for allowing them to go to schools in apartheid South Africa despite great disparities along racial lines in school facilities.
Almost all the non-Malays who managed to gain a seat in local public universities are students who sat the STPM. Many rue this blatant division of university entrance assessment — de facto along racial lines — as comparing apples and oranges.
Satu Sekolah's inherent contradiction
The authorities contradict themselves by professing a single-language system to promote national unity through putting children under one roof but at the same time segregating them either at Form 1 or when they finish Form 5.
There is an obvious discrepancy between the teaching facilities provided to the vernacular schools which sorely lack government aid and support and the residential schools and Mara junior science colleges as well as the elite schools catering for Malays — e.g. the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) and Tunku Kurshiah College (TKC).
Institutional racism practised in public university admission routes gives rise to an added dimension of polarisation. The racial distribution of students is further exacerbated when non-Malays, erroneously seen as well-to-do, are enrolled in private higher institutions of learning. Most people seem to forget that privately funded education, whether locally or abroad, comes at a heavy cost to their parents.
The indirect makings of apartheid
To generalise most Malays as "poor" and all non-Bumis, particularly the Chinese, as "rich" is just as good as apartheid.
The Malay ultras believe they are above being associated with the apartheid system in South Africa created with the ostensible excuse of helping the "poor", Dutch-speaking whites of that country.
But then what should the international community make of UiTM — Malaysia's biggest public university with campuses in every state — where almost all its students belong predominantly to a single race?
In the former apartheid of South Africa and during the 1950s in the Confederate states of the American south, physical segregation was made visible by the sign saying "No Coloured and Dogs allowed".
In Malaysia, there are no signs to say "No Non-Bumis and Dogs allowed". However, de facto apartheid still permeates through the fabric of the Malaysian public education system. It is de facto racial segregation in its utmost hypocritical disguise without leaving any physical evidence.
Therefore, I see no difference between those poor whites in the former Confederate states of the American south that once held demonstrations against university admission of black students and those Malay ultras that hold demonstrations barring "non-Bumiputeras" from entering local public institutions.
UiTM students did after all demonstrate against their university opening its door a crack when Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim proposed relaxing the admission just a tiny bit to the so-called "non-Bumis".
America's highest court ruled for equality
In Brown vs Board of Education (1954), the US Supreme Court unanimously decided that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal".
It stinks of double standards if not a glaring blind spot when vernacular schools keep getting blamed for institutional racism in Malaysia. If mother-tongue vernacular schools (open to all students) are incorrectly termed as racist, then the one-race UiTM is nothing but apartheid.
The old, presumed poverty line along the race divide is no longer valid, not when Malaysia has endured discriminative policies predicated on ethnicity since 1970, which is all of 42 years or almost half a century.
There are very few Malay intellectuals willing to tackle the truth of the matter but Dr Azly Rahman is one of them. At least he's been honest and bold enough to speak out on the "bankrupt Umno ideology" of race supremacy in his article "Dismantle Our Apartheid Education".
What is required is for more members of the Malay intelligentsia to question the veracity of a "moral" claim in the perpetuation of a quota system that amounts to apartheid. The only difference is that segregation, like that perpetuated by residential schools, Mara junior colleges and UiTM, is couched using terminology portraying a righteous morality.
The other difference is that Chinese schools are accessible to any non-Chinese but UiTM does not welcome the non-Malays. In some Chinese independent secondary schools, non-Chinese are given a blanket free tuition.
Are Malays courageous to re-evaluate?
The Malays are a strong majority in numbers and without doubt politically dominant. Why should Umno cling tenaciously to the view that preferential treatment based on race is the "affirmative action" that Malays still require?
Professor Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi in "Memories of Unity" vividly describes his confidence to compete in his science class and how he emerged one of the top students among his almost all Chinese classmates back in the 1970s.
I had a Malay classmate who went to the same Chinese independent school as I did. He graduated as one of the top students and went to a local public university, and he is currently a lecturer at another local public university.
It is a myth that Bumi students are unable to compete with non-Bumi students on a level playing field. This misconception is wrongly used to justify the institutional racism imposed on the public education from top to bottom.
There are tens of thousands of Malays who have made it in local and prestigious foreign universities and thrived in adverse sociocultural settings. There is no moral justification for segregating Malaysian post-secondary students into STPM/ matriculation except for satisfying Umno's racial imperatives.
NEP and education apartheid
A few successful Malay billionaire cronies do not mitigate the failure with regard to certain protectionist areas of the NEP. This includes educational apartheid. The rejuvenation of the vernacular schools since the late 1970s when NEP went into full swing is a consequence of our race policies, and not the chief cause of racism.
The NEP was based upon the empirical generalisation that Chinese and Indian Malaysians were all well off and should be "positively discriminated" against in order to help the "poor Malays".
It's a different story today as the civil service has become Malay dominated and this is empirical truth. The tables have been turned as Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent are marginalised.
The original purpose of the NEP to eradicate the identification of race with profession — Malay farmer, Chinese shopkeeper, Indian clerk — is sidetracked when the civil service has become wholly identified with the Malay race. The racial traits along professions, as reflected in the hiring practices of both the private and public sectors, have been deepened by the NEP.
When I recently requested some documents to be certified by a government department, the Malay clerk gave me a jealous one-eye wink knowing that it was for the purpose of applying to colleges in the US. The one-eye wink might perhaps have been nothing more than the coded message that all you "Chinamen" are rich and can afford to send your children overseas to be educated. This only goes to show up the failure of the NEP in correcting the racial prejudice among races in Malaysia.
How the Chinese prioritise education
The fact is that I told my children I would sell our house and live in a smaller one if we needed funds for their education. I mean education is where they would learn something new and be happy including getting away from institutional racism. We neither hope for JPA or any other government scholarships after hearing so many sad stories of racial degradation.
Selling homes and other property for the sake of children's education among the lower and middle-class Chinese Malaysians is not a new practice. I remember my mother decided to sell off the six-acre rubber plantation left by my deceased father to put me and my sister through university.
She later worked as a babysitter to cover all our expenses studying overseas. We always thought that there might be more Malays who did not have land to sell. Nonetheless, our good reasoning has not helped many Malays to get rid of their own ingrained racial prejudice both against themselves and other races.
As I write this article, coincidentally, my 17-year-old daughter has just received news that a high-ranking American university has agreed to admit her into their Fine Arts programme based on her multiple talents, multilingual skills and ability to play the Chinese zither and flute. Some universities already made it clear, admitting her by waiving the requirement of her SPM or UEC results.
On the contrary, her talent in playing ancient Chinese musical instruments is definitely not a criterion for admission into any local public university. On the contrary, it may even work against her favour as it could be looked at as a form of Chinese chauvinism and clinging to our ancestral roots.
Deserving of places in local universities
I am not trying to boast about my daughter's academic achievement. She is actually a B-average student but it sure makes a parent proud when one's child deservedly gains recognition for her talents, and more importantly she will be able to further develop her talents without being labelled as a non-Bumi.
I am glad that her dedication to social work and extracurricular activities, including organising a joint concert of Chinese orchestra and western bands, won her recognition from some highly ranked American universities.
One of her recent achievements is receiving a gold medal in an international Chinese essay-writing contest in Taiwan. Instead of chucking her unique credential aside, an American university admission director gave great words of encouragement, such as "your family must be very proud of you (for the gold medal received) …We would like you to be with us, and I hope you will continue to contribute to the international programme here if you decide to join us".
I was surprised that she was offered admission and given a partial academic scholarship before we even sent out applications to other American colleges and local private universities.
Some universities are amazed that our students can master two or three languages. They usually give positive encouragement like: "Considering English is your third language, your English is really good." No parents will send their kid to a college where he or she faces the possibility of being humiliated and degraded on account of race, creed and "non-native status" when my daughter is actually a native-born fourth-generation Malaysian.
As a matter of fact, most UEC holders have a greater proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia, which is their second language, compared to English, which is their third language. If the UEC holders can do well in universities overseas that teach in English, why can't they be given the same opportunities by our local public universities?
It might be true that their Bahasa Malaysia may not be as good compared with SPM/STPM holders just as their English may not be as good as the Americans, British or Australians when they enrol in American, Australian or British universities. However if they are given the opportunity to enrol in local public universities, they will be able to polish their BM just like how when given the opportunity to study abroad they are able to polish their English.
More importantly, such openness is needed in order to "converge" the vernacular school alumni into the local higher education institutions and complete an education integration process than forcibly "diverge" them to local private institutions and overseas colleges.
We have to be fair and realistic in assessing our students' language ability based on what is the best they can do in their learning environment. In fact, cultural immersion is the best method to improve Malay language or any other second language proficiency instead of educational segregation like what has been practiced here.
Some 30 years ago, it was rare to encounter Americans learning an Asian language. Today there are American reporters who insist on interviewing me in perfect Mandarin or Bahasa Indonesia. It is a fast-changing world out there but it seems our Umno elites — with the exception of Najib Razak whose son is a fluent Mandarin speaker — are lagging behind time.
The very first step for the Malay ultras to take in the right direction is to cease making a scapegoat out of Chinese and Tamil primary schools. It is an unfounded charge that little children are responsible for racism and racial disunity in Malaysia.
It is, on the other hand, our fear to embrace cultural diversity and true interracial integration that has left us lagging behind many other countries. It is time for the Malay ultras to open their eyes and correct their ingrained prejudice that has worked against their own competitiveness. — CPI Asia
* This article was originally published by CPI Asia.
Is interracial integration more possible under convergence or divergence? — Boo Cheng Hau
How about stopping with the inculpation of hegelian dialectic Orwell state b.s. and understanding that EITHER / OR in this issue should be replaced with :
1) convergence persons
2) divergence persons
3) none of the above types (status quo)
4) ALL OF THE ABOVE TYPES
Don't inculpate a lack of choices in political culture. Each and every group listed above deserves their own spaces. As for interracial integration, first grant :
;and all groups will fall into the new line of EQUALITY. Without equality, there will be no integration much less INTERRACIAL integration.
. . . The very first step for the Malay ultras to take in the right direction is to cease making a scapegoat out of Chinese and Tamil primary schools. It is an unfounded charge that little children are responsible for racism and racial disunity in Malaysia. . . .
That is NOT a first step, that is LIP SERVICE because not scapegoating does not mean policy which scapegoats minority changes, a REAL furst step is granting the above 3 items and if the scapegoating continues at that point the policy of equality would easily overtake scapegoating which will just be bad form that Malaysians will not even care about that will mark the politican as a bad citizen instead. ctual policy is more important than what politicnas say to occupy the people. Looks like BN's propagandists have exposed BN's intentions – never to grant the above 3 items. If 3rd force doesn't make GE13 in time, 3rd force had better be prepared for GE14 where the threat of NEPOTISM and LIMITLESS TERMS, and STATE COLLUSION in GLC and crony contractors in Pakatan Rakyat will be the greatest threat EVEN as the above 3 items are not even granted by Pakatan's discussions so far. End the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA and give freedom of religion to the Malays. Going apostate in Islam IS NOT PUNISHABLE and should not mean Bumi Privileges will be withdrawn from the Malays even as these same rights should be the rights of ALL Malaysians regardless of faith or ethnicity but rather economic status ONLY. Ask the Al-Azhar Islamic University if apostasy was punishable in the prophet's time or liable for 'Islamic Re-education' to keep followers, Malaysian Syariah laws on apostasy are all ILLEGAL in Islamic jurisprudence!
Musa: Political interference in police work is REAL – Hornbill Unleashed – Tuesday, 11 December 2012 08:49
PETALING JAYA – Former inspector-general of police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan (pix) has called on the police and Home Ministry to publicly disclose all crime statistics so as to not confuse people about the actual crime situation in the country.
"The police should disclose all statistics as the people would like to know why there are street crimes around when the NKRA (National Key Results Area) showed that the crime is dropping.
"We do not say that they (government) are manipulating the statistics but the people might be confused if they don't reveal all the reports," he told a press conference here today.
Expressing his backing for the Malaysian Crime Watch Group (MyWatch), a non-governmental organisation which aims to educate and increase awareness on the preparation and prevention of crime, he said a public awareness campaign is important in helping the government and police combat crime at the grassroots level.
Musa claimed that the police now not only heed the IGP but also have to report to government servants outside the force.
He said the police should remain apolitical and not let any political influences seep into the force.
"I'm not hitting at the government. Nobody called me personally (to discuss) and there's nothing on the paper (reporting change). I want to see police force improved. I don't want things to be politicised because the police force needs to be improved for the sake of the people," he said.
"If you want proof, you have to read it in the (news)papers, there are enough proof (of government interference). Now even the police are confused when the chief secretary of the KDN (Home Ministry) directs the police and the police complain to me.
"Perception comes from a real person's action. So it (interference) is real," he added.
Arrest all corrupt politicians (guess who was the MOST CORRUPT . . . ) in some Ops not amounting to a police coup. The Dewan should be emptied by the next session and most of the corrupted MPs and Assemblymen should yield a nice fat purse for Malaysia with those frozen accounts' monies. What say you independent among judiciary and good cops? The international community and goodly among our top institutions and citizens would applaud. Perhaps a stint as interim PM as well since most of DAP are too nepotistic and Mubarak-like to qualify for the Pm's post? Heck, pull together a few generals and consult Susilo (not for a 'ganyang' of Malaysia but a precise 'ganyng' of Malaysia's WORST citizens . . . most Malaysians wouldn't miss corrupted politicians and racists anyway.
FROM CHILDHOOD TO TERRIBLE PRESENT: Sultan launches Rosmah's BIOGRAPHY – Monday, 10 December 2012 17:23
Sultan at Rosmah's book launch.
KUALA LUMPUR- "Rosmah Mansor", a book which chronicles the life of the prime minister's wife, was launched today by the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah.
Yayasan Amanah Perdana Malaysia chairman Shamsulbahrin Ludin, the book's publisher, said the new biography will allow readers a well-rounded glimpse into Rosmah's life from her childhood to the present.
"Some of the facts presented in this book have never been told to anyone before."
Its highlights, he said, include her marriage to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak – in particular, the challenges she faced first as the wife of a cabinet minister, deputy prime minister and now the country's leader.
Written in an informal and relaxed tone, the book features stories from her school days at Tunku Kursiah College, Negeri Sembilan, and includes interviews with her closest friends.
"Many would want to know what life was like when she was a child, in primary and secondary schools.
"In addition to her life in campus and in the workforce, her life at the TKC was filled with interesting events which will certainly draw special attention," Shamsulbahrin said.
The book also includes a special chapter in which Rosmah addresses the public rumours surrounding her life, whether regarding her family or her involvement in current events.
"Most importantly, we expect this book to provide answers in response to slanderous comments leveled at (Rosmah).
"In other words, it is a small effort by us to show her best attribute, that is her humility, through this book," Shamsulbahrin said.
The 164-page biography also details her involvement in community work, especially her efforts to develop the Permata Negara programme, her engagement with non-government organisations as well as her participation in Bakti and in various international programmes.
It also showcases a collection of old and recent photographs.
The book's soft launch was held as part of Rosmah's birthday celebration, which included performances by singer Misha Omar and students from the Permata Seni programme.
Present at the ceremony were the Royal Consort of Pahang Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom, Najib and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Ahmad Maslan.
-NST.COM
Names which turn out especially bad in another language might be the cause of some of the antipathy between races. Won't mention which but those who know English and Hokkien dialect should easily figure which one . . .
HOW TO BE NEUTRAL? EC officers have right to join political parties – chief – Monday, 10 December 2012 17:11
KUALA LUMPUR— Election Commission (EC) officers are within their democratic right to join political parties but they must not be partisan in carrying out their duties, says its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.
The EC chairman disclosed this when responding to accusations by PAS that a senior EC officer in Sabah was holding a key post in the Kinabatangan Umno Youth chapter. The EC's impartiality has been continuously questioned by the opposition and activists over the past years.
"There is nothing wring for any EC officer to join political parties. It doesn't matter if they are in PAS, PKR or Umno.
"It is their democratic right," he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted over the issue.
But Abdul Aziz said that EC officials should not side with any parties or abuse their powers when carrying out their duties.
He also stressed that the EC welcomed reports from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) if the commission officials abused their powers, saying the opposition parties should lodge complaints and provide proof of wrongdoing.
"If there is proof to show the officer is in the wrong, please submit the proof. If possible, give the name, position and pictures.
"We will investigate without favour no matter who the officer is," Abdul Aziz said.
The former top civil servant agreed that EC officials who are in political parties should not mix their duties with political ideology, saying it went against the work ethics of those in government service.
The EC chairman pointed out there were no regulations or laws that prevent government officials from joining political parties, except that those active in politics must apply for permission from the Public Service Department (PSD).
Sabah PAS Youth chief Lahirul Latigu had asked the EC to explain how its officials can hold posts in political parties, saying the silence would affect the commission's credibility to ensure the democratic process is carried out in the country.
"If the EC still chooses to keep silent on this issue, PAS Youth will not hesitate to expose details about the officer who is in politics," he had said.
Reports of EC officers holding posts in Umno have surfaced over the years, including allegations that Abdul Aziz and his deputy, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, are members of the ruling party.
Following such reports against the top two EC officials last May, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz denied that Abdul Aziz was an Umno member as alleged by PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
He disclosed that Abdul Aziz had registered as an Umno member more than 30 years ago in the Ampang Umno division but had since left the party.
"The EC chairman has already clarified that he isn't an Umno member. He has also made sure about it," Nazri had said.
-The Malaysian Insider
Simple. Make laws that disallow EC officers from joining political parties.
The EC postholders and salaries jobs must ALL be people with no political party memberships, no business links to any politicians or even with businesses WITH links to politicians (the more distant the better and should be the criteria for EC posts). We can't have family blocs like in the Pakatan family nepotism party. This way VESTED INTEREST can be avoided. So anyone who fulfil the above criteria ready to offer themselves for 1 term jobs? This will ensure Malaysia is a clean country. The ROS (Registry of Socities), MACC (Acnti-Corruption Agency), PAC (Public Accounts Committee) and Bar Council btw, should also be staffed in a similar manner.
I can't keep it up! My hubby loves sex too much – Monday, 10 December 2012 17:05
Dear Coleen,
I'm having trouble with my husband.
We have three kids and have been married for five years, so we're well out of the honeymoon period.
We're both in our mid-30s and have been together since we were teenagers.
I really thought as men got older their sex drive declined, but it's the opposite with my hubby!
Basically, if he had his way we'd be at it three times a day, every day.
I thought he might be insecure so I talked to him about it, but it turns out he just loves sex!
I love him to pieces, but I can't keep up!
I've tried telling him all this, but the words "No, love, not tonight" just don't register with him.
Coleen says..
First the good news: it's better to work out a compromise from this position than be in the situation where you're having no sex.
It's really fantastic that he still desires you so much after all those years together – for a lot of couples it'd be the other way round – but it's only great if it's what you both want.
Right now you're feeling under pressure, but it's a delicate situation and you don't want to put him off altogether or embarrass him.
Tell him how much you love him and fancy him, but that physically you cannot have sex that often and you don't want to either.
The most successful relationships are the ones where both parties can compromise and that's what he's going to have to do now. And you'll have to do the same.
But don't let it become a massive issue that affects your otherwise great relationship.
A second wife should do the trick. that is why polygamy exists. This article hosts a gay NLP btw – a woman does not need to 'keep it up', the writer if female, has penis envy or wants to be a man, otherwise is subversive of men hoping men become gay. Reading too many NLPs of this sort results in gayness, not that gayness per se is bad, but CONTRIVED gayness resulting ftom, NLPs IS bad . . . Malaysian Chronicle should not abuse their readers like this.
BE WARNED DR M & POLITICIANS LIKE SHAHRIZAT: The next May 13 will be very different from 1969 – by Victor Lim – Monday, 10 December 2012 12:08
YES. I couldn't agree more with Koon Yew Yin (see story reproduced below), a respected Chinese community senior citizen.
In fact, I have also blogged on this earlier: http://victorlim1982.blogspot.com/2012/12/may-13-bogey-umnos-archaic-bid-to.html and http://victorlim1982.blogspot.com/2012/12/umno-must-be-buried-politically-to-save.html
I wish to add two very pertinent points which Mr Koon and I overlooked.
Point No.1: The majority of Malays, I believe some 90% of them, don't pay taxes to the federal government.
They pay what is known as zakat (tithes), a form of Islamic tax.
This means Malaysia has been developed for the past 55 years with contributions from the non-Malays or non-Muslims and the corporate sector.
Therefore, if the business climate is ruined by the super corrupt, evil and racist Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) because it wants to remain in power at all costs, including the propagation of the May 13 violence and bloodshed, who will suffer more? Who is the majority race in Malaysia?
The cousins … the real danger Malaysians' face
Point No.2: However, should violence really break out after BN-Umno loses the next general election, it will not be the same May 13, 1969.
In 1969, the majority of Malays were really living in abject poverty. They were envious of others who were better off economically.
Today, it is an entirely different scenario. That was the 20th century. We are now in the 21st century.
The Malays today are more informed and are therefore able to make wiser judgments politically.
Unlike 1969, the issues today are not about race. Only BN-Umno, for reasons only known to them, stubbornly refuses to change with the times to remain relevant with the rakyat (people).
Politically Bankrupt
All BN-Umno can focus on is its divide-and-rule archaic political strategy to remain in power at all costs.
BN-Umno uses money and its blind-loyalty supporters to stir emotions and violence at Opposition ceramah (political rallies) or to disrupt peaceful public protests.
BN is just unable to think out of the box and is obviously unable to react rationally after the March 8, 2008 political tsunami shock which saw BN losing its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament and five states.
Blinded by corruption
Over the past four years, as the BN continued to try to impose their brute political might and power on the people with the aim of intimidating the rakyat into submission and subservience, the peoples' political restlessness grew enormously.
Now, at its own doing, the BN is living in fear of losing its mandate to govern after the 13th General Election. The dissolution of the 222-seat Parliament is automatic on April 28, 2013.
BN has only itself to blame for failing to use the four years to implement reforms that would endear the rakyat and win back their hearts and minds after March 2008.
It refuses to see the rakyat's demands for justice and clean socio-economic development policies – not continuing with its culture of enriching its families and cronies.
They are the poorest in Malaysia, so the BN-Umno federal government needs to give all the multi-billion ringgit projects to them.
Where has our natural wealth GONE?
It refuses to discard its race and religious political cards for more practical and reforming policies to fast track the progress and prosperity of Malaysians and Malaysia.
Yes! The people are asking: "Where have all the trillions of ringgit in natural resources, including oil and gas, gone?"
Is it also too much to ask the BN government to account for it's more than RM800 billion federal debt? This, the BN has remained mum.
No wonder, the Opposition is gaining ground
The Opposition PR's nationwide political rallies are seeing bigger and bigger crowds by the day and the audience comprises all races.
They break into rounds and rounds of thundering applause whenever Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim touches on issues related to the need to do away with non-race based policies in governance to stimulate and fast track Malaysia's healthy socio-economic growth.
They break into rounds and rounds of applause whenever Anwar explains and proposes people-centric fiscal measures aimed at reducing the financial burden of the people in a fast rising cost of living environment.
Anwar also stresses on the need to provide a higher standard of education for Malaysians, not race, as the impetus for economic and technological excellence. This, he has proposed free education for all, from primary level to tertiary education.
If BN-Umno really resorts to the use of violence when it loses the next general election, it will be the minority Umno Malays fighting with the PKR-PAS Malays backed by the Chinese and Indian communities.
My dear fellow rakyat, it will be very much unlike May 13, 1969.
If there is another May 13 riot, the MALAYS WILL BE THE BIGGEST LOSERS
Written by Koon Yew Yin
As the countdown to the general election begins in earnest, we are getting more and more calls from desperate and irresponsible politicians drawing attention to the possibility of a repeat of the infamous May 13 violence if the election results should go against the expectations of various political parties and interests.
The fact that these calls are directed towards the Bumiputera component of our population, are expressed in the national language, and are widely carried in the Malay mass media and Internet world makes me suspicious of the intentions of these politicians who claim that they are simply doing Malaysians a favour by warning of the backlash should the election outcome not bring about a continuation of the present power structure.
To my mind, these politicians are not only applying crude pressure on the Malay electorate to vote for them but they are also blatantly revealing their trump card – that violence, chaos and political instability will automatically erupt in the event that the opposition parties win the elections.
This blackmailing of our electorate as well as incitement of disruptive and hooligan elements in our society is totally unacceptable. Various academicians and politicians from the opposition have spoken up against such fear mongering in the recent past. However, not enough has been done by members of the business community and other professional organizations to speak out against these warnings and threats although they will be the main losers should another May 13 episode take place.
Much more needs to be done by key stakeholders to condemn the individuals and organizations making the threats as the risk of these threats becoming self-fulfilling prophesies increases by the day.
Shahrizat's not-so-veiled threat
The latest invocation of May 13 took place at the Umno general assembly held recently. In that meeting, the Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil warned that the May 13 tragedy might be repeated should Umno became weak and not be able to overcome its challenges. That this warning was not made obliquely but was served up as part of her opening speech text testifies to the way in which this kind of desperado thinking has become the mainstream in certain political circles.
What is more worrying is that both Najib Razak and Muhyiddin Yassin as Umno president and deputy president, and more importantly as the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, failed to repudiate or rebuke Sharizat for fear mongering. Instead the Deputy Prime Minister attempted to defend the speech by explaining that chaos will be inevitable under Pakatan Rakyat rule.
Other Umno leaders, notably its vice-president Hishamuddin Hussein have even gone so far as to dismiss the attention brought by Shahrizat's May 13 statement as a case of "spinning" and to put the blame on a pro-opposition media and other opposition elements.
"Shahrizat has already told me that this will be another matter that will be used for spinning by certain quarters, just because it coincides with the general assembly", the country's minister in charge of internal security is reported to have said in his dismissal of public concern when questioned about it.
Even if it is a case of over-reaction by the media and a fearful public, it is hoped that Shahrizat and her colleagues will not play with fire or pander to the psyche of insecurity found in Umno party members by constantly harping on the possible recurrence of 13 May and even worst, by condoning or justifying violent and catastrophic racial riots as they appear to be doing in the run-up to the elections.
Aftershocks of electoral violence
Should there be bloodshed and violence arising from the next elections, it will not be non-Malays primarily who will lose out or be hurt by the collapse of the share market and the larger economy as we see a rush to exit the country by local and foreign businesses and investors. It will be all Malaysians especially those who are now enjoying the good life.
Malays must bear in mind that while in 1969 they may have had less to lose, today the situation is completely different. There is Malay control of a major part of the commanding heights of our economy such as the banks, manufacturing, hi-tech industry, etc. and the largest listed companies. These gains which have given birth to the creation of a sizeable Malay middle and upper class will be put at great risk should there be another May 13. They may even disappear as the economic aftershocks and loss of economic confidence spiral out of control.
Another May 13 is unthinkable and unforgivable except to those who are so blinded by ambition and their lust for power that they need to keep reminding themselves and their supporters of that horrific possibility. However, should it happen, unlike in the first May 13 incident, it will be clear as to who are the instigators.
I trust this article will encourage more stakeholders – bankers, business leaders, academicians and leaders of all political parties – to speak out and condemn those who are using the threat of another May 13 if there is a change of government. The Malays must remember that even if Pakatan Rakyat wins control of the government, there will be more Malay Members of Parliament than from any other races.
The Malays will be the biggest losers if there is another May 13 riot. – cpi
All Malaysians likely are friends with the real enemies being MPs and Assemblymen on either BN or Pakatan's side (especially the extreme wealth types, term limitless, or nepotistic) are the ones who pit Malaysians against Malaysian, then pretend to solve problems while making laws worse and fines higher, cost of living higher, but raising their own 23K MP salaries, asking for 750K funerals, having crony businesses and giving crony licences (like the recent Syed Mokhtar's Puncak Semangat granted by MCMC twice the bandwidth spectrum above all other contractors – vestedinterest and anti-trust or anti-monopoly laws any Judges? No? All legal BEAGLES, not a single legal NGO made a peep . . . ). Guess who instigated the riots? Only those minority citizens directly involved should be subjected to Bumiputra Apartheid. So who should be punished for instigating riots? (hint : the extreme wealth, term limitless, or nepotistic . . . collecting 1 million of YOUR tax monies every 4 year term . . . ) . . . Vote 3rd Force!
Musa: Good, honest men victimised – NEWS/COMMENTARIES – by Teoh El Sen, FMT – Monday, 10 December 2012 Super Admin
Ex-IGP speaks out against transfers, saying that crime syndicates are now operating freely with 'blessings from the top'.
Good, honest, hardworking police officers are being transferred from their divisions for doing their work with integrity, claimed former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan.
Musa suggested that these moves are now allowing more and more criminal syndicates to operate freely with "blessings from somebody on top" and also involved politicians at the highest levels.
Musa gave several examples of such transfers, and spoke out against the nationwide enbloc transfer of D7 officers in early 2011.
"After I left, there was an enbloc transfer of D7 officers, right? Not everybody is bad in the D7, why must you change the whole team?" he asked.
On rumours that the transfers were part of a exercise to facilitate syndicates changing hands, Musa said that was not the case, but said it was "because these officers are taking action, because they know a lot of things."
"…. they were afraid that they couldn't direct these people from D7," he said, without explaining who "they" were.
Musa admitted that many of these people given transfers were those he had promoted at one point, but denied that they were part of his 'camp'.
"I promoted people because of their capabilities and have done a good job…they were transferred out and not given any ranks.
"[During the D7 redeployment], the whole country, all the IPK contingents headquarters, some were transferred to the field force."
"See… they were all good officers, when they were under me they arrested quite a number from the syndicates, but now there are no arrests anymore.
Musa said D7 is the division tasked with cracking down on vice, gambling, loansharks, prostitution and also to investigate syndicated crime.
"So they have all the intelligence about them, especially the bosses. These are the ones [D7 officers] who actually go after the [crime syndicate] top [guns].
'Politicians involved in transfers'
FMT: Why such transfers under [current IGP] Ismail Omar's time?
Musa: To make it easier for them to operate-lah, because when I was the IGP, most of them went away, they left the country.
When you say "they" you are referring to?
Musa: The syndicate bosses.
So are you then saying the current IGP is openly allowing syndicates to operate?
Ex-IGP's influence was bad news for Umno – Monday, 10 December 2012 Super Admin
The home minister had to interfere to stop the then IGP Musa Hassan from promoting and transferring his men who would continue working with criminal elements, claims Raja Petra.
(FMT) – Former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan, before his retirement, had allegedly promoted and transferred the "right" police officers who will continue to work hand-in-hand with the triads, claimed popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin today.
However, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had interfered in this exercise, and this has caused a lot of problems for the Chinese underworld and crime syndicates.
"And that is why Musa recently gave his interviews – alleging interference by the politicians in the running of the police force. It is true that the minister blocked Musa's every move," said Raja Petra in his latest blog posting in Malaysia Today.
Raja Petra said that Hishammuddin had decided to act as he feared that a continuation of Musa's influence in the police force would have had a backlash on Umno in the coming general election.
"They know that the voters are unhappy with the police force and that may cost Umno a lot of votes.
"Hence if the minister does not rein in the police, then there is a danger that Umno could lose a sizeable number of votes," said Raja Petra.
In recent weeks, Musa had claimed that during his tenure as the IGP from 2006 to 2010, there had been political interference and inflitration of criminal elements in the police force.
He said that he had raised these issues through the "proper channels" to the prime minister and home minister, but to no effect.
He had also lashed out at his successor Ismail Omar, claiming that he was a weak police chief.
Musa's detractors, however, had responded by saying that it was Musa who had allowed the triads to take control of the police force, of his alleged corrupt practices, and of his underhand tactics to "fix people up", including his former boss Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) chief Ramli Yusuff.
Adding to the list of Musa's detractors, Raja Petra claimed that the former top cop has many grievances against the government, the present IGP Ismail and Hishammuddin.
Musa's role in Bersih violence?
Raja Petra said Musa's bitternes was due to the government's rejection of his request for a further extension as the police chief.
"He then asked to be made the Malaysian High Commissioner to Brunei and that too was rejected. Instead, he was given just a teaching job, which, to him, is a great insult when other retired IGPs before him were given 'good' posts," he said.
The blogger also claimed that many suspected Musa's role in the manner police acted violently against Bersih 3.0 rally-goers on April 28 this year.
Oh dear RPK is a racist! Or should I say fundamentalist? Crime cyndicates? They'd all rather have legal RLDs, Gambling Outlets (non-4D but all regular casino types) and OPZs which the idiot BN government simply refused out of racism and hatred for non-Muslims. RPK, I am disappointed. The above activities are CRIMINALISED there are no criminals among the Chinese community, the entertainment industry was driven underground then labelled as 'criminal' or underworld. Legalise and see how many 'criminals' there are. The Chinese by nature are always law abiding but will try to screw those who prevent them from having fun. These Human Rights abuses have been affliting the Chinese community long enough in Malaysia and probably every other non-Muslim tin the Middle East as well. How dishonest and selfish can a race or faith get?
Musa reveals more, implicates businessman – Monday, 10 December 2012 Super Admin
The ex-IGP claims that former MACC advisor Robert Phang was involved in a communication devices deal for the police which did not meet specifications.
Teoh El Sen, FMT
Several senior policemen were transferred out of the Bukit Aman Logistics Department (Communications Division) and put in "cold storage" for refusing to approve a technically unsound project involving walkie talkies worth almost RM1 billion.
It is learnt that the project was mooted towards the end of 2008 and involved the replacement of more than 30,000 new walkie-talkies for beat policemen, stations and vehicles nationwide, including Sabah and Sarawak.
However, problems arose a year or two after the project, which was a direct negotiation contract, took off as the implementation of the devices were allegedly not according to specifications.
One of the problems was the apparent lack of coverage or "black spots" in certain areas around the country such as in certain buildings, and in one case very little coverage along the East-West highway despite being promised otherwise.
The other issues, which "deviated from the agreed specificaitons", include a recording system which sometimes records when nobody speaks and vice versa; and also incidents where the walkie talkie transmits by itself.
However, despite the flaws, sources said that those within the Home Ministry and top ranking policemen were constantly pressuring a team of technical experts to sign the acceptance of the equipment before the issues were smoothed out.
"[Former inspector-general of police] Musa Hassan did not agree to a project that was not done properly but they used KDN [Home Ministry] to force the technical team to do whatever the company wanted. They were under tremendous pressure," said a source with direct knowledge of the deal.
"By mid 2010, when the first phase was being put out in the Klang Valley, we already noticed that all these problems were surfacing, but they were swept under the carpet.
"They realised that if they signed the project, we will go to jail. So better transfer," added the source.
Investigate Ismail
Speaking to FMT on this, Musa said when he was still IGP, he kept a close watch on the project to ensure that the equipment was what the police needed. However, he claimed, other parties' interests crept in after he left.
Musa said that prominent businessman and former MACC advisor Robert Phang was a consultant for the project and acted as a go-between the police and the provider, a multinational telecommunications company.
"Because he was close with the police. So at that time, I believe that there were some government officers in the ministry who was involved in the company.
"Since it was approved by the government, I had to carry it out. But I made sure that the technical team that overseeing the project does not compromise to ensure that it is up to specifications and to ensure that this communication can be used throughout Malaysia without any hiccups.
"So after I left… I was not quite happy because it was still not up to specifications. I was informed that it would not work well and that is why the technical team refused to sign the commission so that money can be paid," he told FMT.
However, Musa alleged that even Phang threatened the team. "The team received a call from him saying that if you don't sign it, you will be transferred out."
True enough, he added, at least three officers ranked DSP, Supt and SAC were then given letters of transfers out of the department.
"So the team refused to sign, and they were called by the IGP. The present IGP [Ismail Omar] asked them to commission it… because they need the government to pay the money… I don't know how many million. So they got transferred and now it actually went through.
"Officers who have the capability and technical expertise in communication are being put in cold storage by this businessman. That's how good his connections are. He is very close to the IGP now… very friendly with the home minister," said Musa.
Musa said that he wanted the authorities to investigate Ismail for possibly abusing his powers and Phang for allegedly abetting the former.
Robert Phang had neglected to address Bumiputra Apartheid, in this case at least from this, I believe Musa's accusation of duplicity and complicity on Robert Phang's part. Meanwhile, perhaps Musa had not thought in terms of BEING CHINESE when accusing the so-called syndicates of being 'criminals' in the above response. Where synthetics are involved, I am on Musa's side as well, but everything else labelled criminal by Musa should be dropped as mere entertainment and oppression of Chinese by jealous Muslims who are not supposed to have fun.
The current IGP's links in the RLD, OPZ or Gambling outlet is Human Rights CORRECT so long as no Muslims are allowed to use the same, and Malaysia's laws are in fact oppressive and inapplicable. MCA, Gerakan and DAP of course are criminal minded enough to not address these problems while hiding behind a veneer of 'morality' but know this, a MAN who cannot tell the difference between Voltarian Freedoms and Fundamentalism expressed Political Expedience are but mere CHILDREN living moralistic fantasies in the childhood. Those who are moral evidently do not under stand civil society and the ETHICS that allow for civilisation by allowing so-called 'criminal activities' which are simply entertainments tarred with demogogues and fundamentalists, orwellian minded politicians intent on control by suppression of entertainment.
Adults and free citizens (think Amsterdam's OPZs, adult zones (RLDs) and various 'Gambling Districts worldwide, Playboy Clubs, Hustler Clubs, Penthouse Clubs or just the Zona de Tolerancia) who's faith permits enjoy RLDs, OPZs gambling and what not – NO PERSON OR GROUP IN THE WORLD has the right to prevent another group from having access or to set up such entertainments, though 'pushing fun' on the non-consenting is another thing.
The above response describes the sick immatured/oppression-intended pathos of the ethos reliant/blinded Chinese and Indians who are non-'criminal', and I am sure the TRULY EDUCATED can relate to and will stand by what this response means. Citizens are not chattel of the state or their faiths or their retarded neighbours, and the CIVILIAN LAWS *MUST* reflect the reality of FREEDOM, Human Rights and Democracy, MUST protect such rights, Muslims or no Muslims, fundos or no fundos of whatever faith or cultlike sect.
And then the above, which ALL politicians have neglected to implement so they can profit off strife and oppression of the libido or the saporific effects of Organic psychedelics! Freud should take up this cause even from beyond the grave . . .
Non-Muslims feeling the heat – by Wong Chun Wai – Sunday December 9, 2012
We are merely kidding ourselves if we think the rules by PAS only apply to Muslims.
THERE they go again. The PAS-controlled Kelantan state government, which has yet to resolve the controversy over the gender segregation ruling on hair salons run by non-Muslims, has now found itself in another explosive issue.
Four non-Muslims – two men on a plane-spotting outing and a couple in a park – have been issued with summonses for khalwat.
The summonses were for "indecent behaviour" but the four have denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the municipal council enforcement officers were "merely abusing their position".
The first case involved two men in their 30s who were in a car parked beside the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport. They claimed they were watching planes land in the night when they were issued with the summonses by these Taliban-style officers.
This writer can only deduce that Kota Baru must be so boring – the result of a ban on entertainment outlets – that the two young men have to watch planes landing at the airport for entertainment. How these officers can consider their action an offence is mind-boggling.
But we know that the PAS politicians have a great sense of imagination and can conjure up fantasies out of seemingly ordinary situations. They think that getting a haircut from a person of the opposite sex can lead to moral decay and watching concerts can lead to hedonism or excessive pleasure, whatever that means.
Malaysians know that these cranky politician-theologians also frown upon the mixed company of males and females, but two non-Muslim men being punished for being in a car together, that's a new one. Are they telling us now that two men together can lead to immoral activities or that watching planes at the airport can be sexually arousing? Even if they had committed a "gay act", does the council have any jurisdiction over non-Muslims?
The other case involved a 17-year-old boy and a girl aged 15. They were together at the Tengku Anis Park in the town centre, in broad daylight, when they were arrested. They were approached by the enforcement officers and issued summonses on the spot for purported indecent behaviour.
Nothing seems to be safe any more for non-Muslims in Kota Baru. You get fined for having a hair cut by a hairstylist of a different sex, you get fined for being in love and sharing private moments in a park in broad daylight, and you also get summoned for being in a wrong queue in a supermarket check-out.
Before anyone accuses this writer of filing another PAS-bashing piece, it is important to point out that the protest over the latest controversies was started by the National PAS Supporters Congress president Hu Pang Chaw, who is known for his apologist stand for the Islamist party.
Interestingly enough, Hu has also revealed that the male victims had complained to him that the officers had even sought RM500 "to settle the matter", which means that these holier-than-thou officers were open to corruption.
Hu added that "as far as I know, the council has no right to issue summonses to non-Muslims for close contact with their girlfriends in the dark or out in the open". But Hu shouldn't plead ignorance now because the PAS rules have always infringed upon non-Muslims. This is not the first time and it won't be the last.
Don't blame PAS either because they have consistently told Malaysians that their objective is to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State. Barisan Nasional tells us that we are already an Islamic State, but they still keep intact the secular laws and the British-style courts.
But for political expediency, and for selfish political ambitions, there is now a deafening silence from allies of PAS. The only exception seems to be DAP chairman Karpal Singh, who has also consistently spoken up against the hudud laws pushed by PAS. However, his party comrades have decided to keep silent and, worse, are encouraging us to elect more PAS leaders into Parliament and the state assemblies.
It is also pertinent to note that during The Star's interview with the Sultan of Selangor, the Tuanku had revealed that there were politicians who tried to prevent the opening of cinemas in shopping malls in Shah Alam! This is in Selangor and not even in Kelantan. We can also assume that this must be the work of PAS elected representatives.
We know for a fact that the PAS state assemblyman for Bangi, Dr Shafie Abu Bakar, has prevented a cinema from being set up by a non-Muslim, and that the Kuala Selangor PAS wants to stop unmarried couples from watching movies in a cinema there.
We are merely kidding ourselves if we think the rules by PAS do not affect non-Muslims. Despite the promised intervention by PAS' top leaders over the hair salon ruling, nothing has changed until today.
In an interview with The Malay Mail on Friday, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was quoted as saying "even Chinese wives don't agree with (unisex) salons".
He seems out of touch with reality, or pretending to be.
So sue the government or run for politics to get political immunity to make known to the world what is happening here in Malaysia. Have the respect and ethos, the cash to fund proxy candidates? Don't talk here from behind the media.
Najib launches Ah Jib Gor fan club – Updated: Sunday December 9, 2012 MYT 6:50:39 PM
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak launched the Ah Jib Gor Fan Club Sunday to feel the pulse of the people, especially the Chinese community, in the country.
Najib launched the club at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) via tele-conferencing with club members from SM Yu Yuen, Sandakan, Sabah.
The Prime Minister, when interacting said the setting up of the club in Sandakan was a testimony that the people in the country, including the people of Sabah, are confident with the 1Malaysia concept and the transformation agenda of the country.
He said the club can become a bridge for communication between him (Najib) and the people in Sabah to understand the feelings and expectation of the people towards the Government.
"Thank you for your confidence and support. I believe we can use this line of communication to exchange ideas and to make comments from time to time.
"I feel this is a very positive development because this will create not only good communication but also interpersonal relationship between all of you and the governor," he said.
Najib said he hoped the trust of the people towards the Government would continue with the commitment of the Government to establish transformation as the main agenda of the country.
"We believe we are a strong government that can lead the country towards fulfilling the vision of becoming a developed nation. Malaysians are our responsibility and we must strive to promote harmony and stability among the various ethnics in Malaysia," he said.
Najib said 1Malaysia was not just a slogan but rather an overarching philosophy to the principle of the nation, including policies and transformation agendas.
"1Malaysia is about forming, unity and harmony…it is based on fairness, inclusive and moderation…all that are part and parcel of the 1Malaysia philosophy.
"1Malaysia will be our overarching philosophy and with your support this nation will transform to be the first red nation and a nation that we can all be proud of," he said. – Bernama
The lowest of the apartheid accepting 'slaves' KTK par excellence have just confirmed their pariah status. Good job Najib! You'v helped identify which Chinese and which Chinese families are no longer Chinese! Those that are lower than the MCA bunch here will not even be MCA members but who join out of sheer cluelessness. Say 'Massa' or 'Tuan' yer Goreans! How masochistic and unaware of equality can overseas (Malaysian) Chinese get!
NAJIB AN INCREASING LIABILITY: Umno's war-cry sunk by Altantuya & Deepak bombshells Featured – written by Maria Begum, Malaysia Chronicle – Monday, 03 December 2012 07:26
Umno's much-touted 66th general assembly ended with a whimper, its cries of being able to snatch two-thirds of the seats in Parliament downed by missiles that emanated from its own base boomeranging badly on its top leader – the scandal-plagued and embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Despite acknowledging that Umno's notorious corruption was its own worst enemy, Najib failed to speak up against graft, introduce serious pre-emptive reforms or to even promise a new horizon where transparency would be the rule and not the exception.
His political rivals were not surprised, attributing this in large part due to at least 3 major pieces of shocking news that erupted just days before the Umno assembly started.
"What is there to say. It is so clear Umno cannot change. Its leaders can order the mainstream media, the TV and newspapers to black out the news. They can shout at how confident they are to win the 13th general election but Umno delegates and members have that sinking feeling in their hearts," PAS MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad told Malaysia Chronicle.
"Inwardly, many grassroots are disappointed and disgusted by the dishonesty and corruption of their leaders but they won't do much because this is the nature of Umno. It has always been. Those who can't stand it will leave, those who stay will hang on and hope for a piece of the gravy train even though they know it is corrupt."
TRIPLE bombshells, more to come?
The first news break that shocked the country came from French lawyers, who revealed that the investigative judges hearing the RM7.3bil Scorpene case in Paris had decided that, contrary to the Malaysian government's claims, murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu was involved in Putrajaya's acquisition of submarinnes from naval giant DCNS and would be requesting for full records of her murder trial.
This news set tongues wagging as Umno members thronged the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur where their annual congress was held. Perhaps the news reverberated all the more because Najib had foolishly refused to allow the French lawyers to come to Malaysia to brief Members of Parliament on the latest status of case, thereby increasing the suspicion against himself and his wife Rosmah Mansor, both of whom have been accused of involvement and whose former bodyguards were sentenced to hang for the murder.
Next were the twin bombshells dropped by carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan, a former close friend of Rosmah's. According to Deepak, the first couple enlisted his help in overturning a statutory declaration that implicated them in the Altantuya murder. The news sparked calls for a re-opening of the Altantuya murder trial which has been questioned for its 'quality' of justice, with the court accused of ignoring evidence that the bodyguards may have been merely the hired killers and that the people who gave the order to murder still at large.
As if that were not enough and Umno members were not already reeling at the alleged misdeeds of their president and his wife, Deepak went on to accuse a "member of Najib's family" of taking millions of ringgit for his approving the RM100 Puspahanas project, a research centre commissioned by the Ministry of Defense which despite being privatized in 2005 remains only about 20% built today.
"Umno's 'war' 66th General Assembly has ended with UMNO leaders confident and euphoric, with the Umno Secretary-General Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and other Umno leaders declaring that Umno will not only triumph in the next general elections, but will win back the two-thirds parliamentary majority as well as all the four Pakatan states including Kelantan and Penang," DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said in a statement.
"However, 'Man proposes, God disposes'. Although the just-concluded Assembly was painstakingly choreographed and orchestrated, with a lot of do's and don't's for those who spoke at the four-day Umno Assemblies to optimise Umno's appeal in the 13GE, the ineluctable conclusion of rational and thinking Malaysians is that despite all the talk of "transformation", Umno leaders and Umno are incapable of change so long as Umno remains corrupted in the corridors of power.
"Umno and Barisan Nasional have become synonymous with corruption in Malaysia and the 44 months of Najib premiership have shown that Najib is only good at mouthing anti-corruption slogans but totally lacking the political will and commitment to root out corruption, especially grand corruption involving political and government leaders.
"This is why the 66th UMNO General Assembly presented the sad spectacle of the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman, successfuly performing the "disappearance" act despite valiant efforts by the media representatives on a look-out for him to respond to demands by Sabah UMNO delegates that Musa explain the scandal of the RM40million "political donation to Sabah UMNO" which involved him and the Sabah timber trader Michael Chia.
"Also most disturbing is the backing out and silence of the Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi coupled with the failure of Najib to respond to the serious allegations of integrity about a RM100 million defence ministry project in 2005 raised by businessman Deepak Jaikishan implicating the Prime Minister's family and which is also related to the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case. Haunting Najib at the 66th UMNO General Assembly was the ghost of Altantuya Shaariibuu. Why couldn't Altantuya's ghost be appeased?"
BN has the mandate still and can grant :
Even the UMNO Malays might concede on the above 3 items than let Pakatan win.
UMNO will be torn apart after the Judiciary is replaced by Pakatan cronies. we all know how Malaysia works (too many legal beagles too few legal eagles), and the people might be displeased enough with UMNO too that Pakatan need not even 'do the dirty work', many terrible things probably happened by some faction's hands in the past and who knows the aggrieved are just waiting for BN to be politically destroyed . .
BN REALLY should use the mandate to grant the above 3 items, that way at least they MIGHT have some places to run to avoid those they have hurt since independence or may yet turn the 40%+ minority and possibly majority of Malays to their side again. The above 3 items are rightful Human Rights, why risk losses in GE13 by not granting something so basic? Is racism and greed so much fun that GE13 is worth losing? For all the faults the article above points at, the chance to win is still there, IF Pakatan does not confirm the above 3 items and BN grants the above 3 items BEFORE GE13. As they say, ain't over till over . . . but so long as BN does not use the mandate to grant the 3 items, BN with a record of abuses and failures and racism will indeed fail.
THINK NAJIB! If you can't even sort out Dr M or reform Umno, HOW CAN YOU RULE M'SIA? – Hornbill Unleashed – Martin Jalleh – December 10, 2012
The General Elections beckons and it looks as though the Prime Minister (PM) has gone berserk. He is making comments most bizarre! He blurts out statements beyond human logic!
Soon after the last General Elections he had warned his political party that either it changes or the government that it so dominates will be changed by the people.
He now surprisingly admits that Umno needs to change (The Malaysian Insider, 7 Dec., 2012). In other words, his party has not changed – which in fact clearly contradicts what he and his cohorts have been saying!
For instance the Sun Daily reported on 1 Dec. 2012: Following up on his apology for Umno's past wrongdoings, at the opening of the party's 66th general assembly…Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak today closed the annual event by exuding optimism that the people's confidence for Umno is well on recovery mode.
"There is such tremendous response," he told a euphoric crowd of delegates who seemed charged-up to defend the party's hold over Malaysia in the upcoming general election.
"Not just from the Malay people…. The non-Malays also see Umno more positively than in the earlier times.
"They see that with each passing day, Umno is recovering even more… With each passing day, they see that Umno is qualified even more, to rule this country.
"We have shown that we are capable to remedy our condition. We are closing ranks and displaying an extraordinary spirit," he said in his presidential speech at the Putra World Trade Centre here.
"Indicating to the party faithful – and voters at large – that Umno has indeed transformed and improved from what it was in the 2008 general election when the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition it led lost four states and its two-thirds majority in Parliament, he proceeded to dish out warnings at those in the party who may hamper it in the next election."
Mandate from the people to reform Umno? But what if Umno still resists after Najib gets the mandate?
First you say Umno has changed. Yet in your latest comment you admit that it has not changed! Alas dear Mr PM are you not being a chameleon which you so often accuse Anwar Ibrahim of?
What is most preposterous is that Najib says "he needs a mandate from voters in order to reform Umno" (The Malaysian Insider, 7 Dec., 2012)!
"If I want to reform the party, I need a mandate from the people. Without the mandate from the electorate how can I reform the party?" he told the Malay Mail in an interview published recently.
The Malaysian Insider commented: "Reforming Umno has proven to be a monumental task despite the party's and Barisan Nasional's (BN) flagging popularity, particularly in urban areas.
"The Umno president has been pushing a reform agenda which included the repeal of security laws considered draconian and the push for a more multi-racial agenda.
"But conservative forces within the party, especially those linked with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have resisted change and have pushed a more Malay-centric platform.
"Mindful of Dr Mahathir's continued influence, Najib has been careful not to alienate the former PM who had contributed to BN's worst electoral performance in Election 2008 when he campaigned against the administration of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
"But ahead of key national elections due next year, Prime Minister Najib said he was pleading for voters to grant him the mandate to continue his reform policies that can spur Malaysia forward for the greater good even as he acknowledges his party and the ruling BN coalition's sluggishness towards change. (The Malaysian Insider, 7 Dec., 2012)
"With this mandate, a strong mandate from the people, I will deliver what I promised. This is not just about GE13, it's about transforming the nation and I'm committed to it."
Don't be over-ambitious, Najib: Sort out Dr M first before you seek to rule the WHOLE nation
Why don't you try to change your own party before you try to transform the whole nation, Mr PM?
"If I want to reform the party, I need a mandate from the people. Without the mandate from the electorate how can I reform the party?"
The mandate given by the people (the electorate) in the General Elections is to transform the country and not to reform your party! That's Umno's and your job!
Please get the mandate from your own party members to reform your own party! It appears that either you have failed to get the mandate from Umno members to change the party or in spite of the support given to you, you have failed to reform it.
And since you have failed to reform Umno, the party will be an obstacle to your plans to transform the country. It would not make any sense for you to continue as Umno president and as the PM.
And if you cannot even change your own party are we to expect that you are going to bring about change in the country?
Alas, perhaps it is time to change the president of Umno and the Prime Minister of this country!
Shut up Jalleh! I like what Najib is saying here IF thats sincere (doubtful but we'd never know but so long as the below 3 items are actually concretised, the voters couldn't care less and will give PM Najib a second term) and relates to the below 3 items. What is Jalleh doing? Trying to goad Najib into the arms of those racists being berated? If BN grants :
;even the Chinese would vote BN over Pakatan which has never made clear on the above. Of course BN would be unlikely to grant the above given the number of racists, but Najib is indeed thinking and should not be hammered. Are you an UMNO disinfo agent Jalleh? Or just angry in a way that your articles are skewed in a manner that makes impossible the above 3 items?
Waning popularity a message from the people, Najib warns BN – by Zurairi AR – December 02, 2012
"The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground. "These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that," Najib added to applause from the floor.
Politics should be about honesty, and civilisational Islam (or other religion) is not crony laws and racial privileges. As mentioned elsewhere, were a screen applied to ensure meritocracy (to mask race), a translation machine (to mask language), and a voice modulator and distortion screen or camera (to mask gender) applied at a job interview, we'd be surprised at the choices we make based on POLICY rather than race or religion or cult of personality (which harms the accuracy of content via sheer pathos via inverse civility). Then the concept of NATION would be real. Right now the 'needs basis' is based around wrong things like religion and race or even gender 'quotas', which is very backward and insulting to the host race the Malays, the minorities, or men in general. Let the best people lead and let them be limited in terms AND chosen with the above tech applied so that the above racial or gender or religious cues will not affect choices. Finally, a first world 'Meritocracy' of logic and ability (as opposed to mob minded and pathos based DEMOCRACY of majority) must include :
Teen summoned for frolicking in park upset and embarrassed – by SYED AZHAR newsdesk@thestar.com.my – Tuesday December 11, 2012
It is NOT a piggy-back ride, but Islamist Bullying in Malaysia must be addressed against . . . http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/12/11/nation/12441781&sec=nation
KOTA BARU: The 17-year-old teenager, who was issued a summons for allegedly giving his girlfriend a "piggy-back ride" at a public park, is upset and embarrassed following the incident.
The teenager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had a tough time explaining to his mother that he was innocent and that he and his 15-year-old girlfriend did nothing indecent.
The teenager was given the summons for allegedly "piggy-backing" his girlfriend while jogging at Taman Tunku Anis at about 5.30pm on Oct 20.
"The incident was traumatic for me and my girlfriend because although I am not an expert in council by-laws, I think what I did was merely having fun with my girlfriend. It was far from an offence.
"We were just fooling around in broad daylight like any other teenager but the officer who approached us said it was improper for us to act like that in public.
"He continued giving us a lecture on morality and when I thought that we would be let off with a warning, he issued us with the summons," he said yesterday adding that he was now in Kuala Lumpur after completing his SPM examinations.
Summonses had also been issued to two non-Muslim men were for allegedly embracing each other when they were found in a car parked near the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport at midnight on Oct 31. Both have denied the allegations.
The action against the four led to an outcry by various groups which likened it to imposing the Syariah law of close proximity or "khalwat" on non-Muslims.
The teenager also claimed he had argued with the officer as it was unfair to penalise someone when a verbal warning would suffice.
"When I got home that day, I showed the summons to my mother.
"She was very upset at first but when she saw the nature of the offence written in the summons, she believed that I had done nothing wrong.
"My mother thinks I should not have been issued with the summons and that is why she has brought up the matter with lawyers to ask their opinion on the matter," he added.
He said the news about the incident spread and many assumed that he was involved in "hanky-panky business" with his girlfriend.
"All my friends wanted to know what happened in the park. But when I told them that my girlfriend was merely on my back, they did not believe me and after seeing the summons, my friends will now think twice about hanging out with their girlfriends anywhere.
"They are now afraid to even go to the park with their girlfriends," she added.
He said he had been under some stress during the SPM examinations because of the incident.
"But I believe I did okay because my conscience is clear and my family is with me," he said.
Let all Malaysians vote only for MPs who believe in dropping the entire Syariah Court system in favour of the civil court system. Also :
If there are no such MPs running for election, please run for candidacy so that Malaysia will not become an Al-Qaeda or fundo-type-Taliban country.
Abuse of Power, Apartheid, Article 18, authoritarian, Bar Council, collusion, DAP, doppelganger, election watchdogs, foreign election monitors, hair saloon, Islamic fundamentalists, Kelantan, lack of indepdent mindset, May 13 riots, OPZ, PAS, peaceful assembly laws, politicians, propaganda, responsibility, RLD, sabotage, traffic fines, zoning
In amendments to law needed, Apartheid, Bad By-Laws, bad laws, best practices, better judgments, Bumiputera Apartheid, criticism, Democracy, democratisation, demogoguery, dhimmi, dhimmitude, domestic terrorists in the political sphere, Ethics, freedom of choice, Freedom of Expression, gender politics, government, insularism, intentional omissions, Invasive Laws, Malaysia, meaningless platitudes, media sabotage, media tricks, misrepresentation of facts, MPs have not declared assets, neglectful functionaries, neo-colonialism, Nepotism, organic psychedelics advocacy, Organic Psychedelics Zone, red light district legalisation, undemocratic, unkept campaign promises, unprofessional behaviour, voting strategy, waste of mandate, women, word of the law, wrong priority on November 24, 2012 at 7:35 pm
Kelantan's gender segregation rules affect non-Muslim businesses – Friday, 23 November 2012 admin-s
Hanging out: Shoppers standing around outside Nice Hair Salon in KB Mall, Kota Baru.
(The Star) – Hair dressing salon operators are learning the hard way that gender segregation rules in Kelantan apply to non-Muslims as well. They have had to pay many summonses for allowing their female workers to cut the hair of non-Muslim male patrons, which they thought was permissible.
E-Life Hair Salon manager Ong Lee Ting said she had settled 11 summonses since she opened for business in KB Mall in 2010.
Hairy situation: Ong showing one of the 11 summonses she received for allowing her female employees to cut the hair of non-Muslim male patrons.Hairy situation: Ong showing one of the 11 summonses she received for allowing her female employees to cut the hair of non-Muslim male patrons.
The fines were imposed under Section 107(2) of the Local Council Act by-laws which prohibits a woman from cutting the hair of a man and vice versa regardless of religion.
"I have been paying fines of between RM200 and RM350," said Ong, who was issued the latest summons on Tuesday.
"I find the by-laws confusing … they should not apply to a non-Muslim woman cutting the hair of a non-Muslim man."
Gender segregation is among the controversial regulations imposed by the PAS state government, which insists that the rule be also observed at supermarket check-outs.
The last time Ong went to the local council office to pay a compound, she was told that the licence for the salon would be revoked because of the many summonses issued to the operator.
However, council secretary Mohd Anis Hussein said: "As long as they (the salon owners) pay the compounds, they will be allowed to operate."
He added that the salon owners understood the by-laws and the consequences of ignoring them.
Nice Hair Salon manager Alice Ong Lee Ruong was baffled by the rule.
"I would understand it if we were fined for allowing our women workers to cut the hair of Muslim men. But they were attending to non-Muslim men," she said.
Ong, who had settled 10 summonses so far, wondered for how long she would have to pay fines.
"They are not cheap and we have to consider the high rental, salaries of our workers and other expenses," she said.
Another salon manager, who declined to be named, said the council by-laws were making life difficult for hair dressers.
She had been issued four summonses so far.
Kelantan MCA information chief Tan Ken Ten said the by-laws were "not friendly" to non-Muslim business circles.
"The council, in its zest to implement Islamic principles in its by-laws, has caused hardship to the non-Muslim business community," he added.
National PAS Supporters Congress chairman Hu Pang Chaw agreed that the by-laws should not apply to non-Muslim women cutting the hair of non-Muslim men.
He urged the council to review the ruling.
Kelantan's hair dressing laws unlawful, says Karpal Singh – Saturday, 24 November 2012 Super Admin
(The Star) – The DAP wants the Kelantan government to intervene in the municipal council by-laws prohibiting women from cutting men's hair in the state.
Chairman Karpal Singh said he was surprised that the state decided to enforce such a ruling on non-Muslims.
"The state government has publicly declared that Islamic laws will not be extended to non-Muslims. PAS has also stated hudud will only be applied to Muslims.
"There's a lot of concern among the public on what has happened in Kelantan. If hudud is allowed to be applicable to Muslims, there will come (a time that it will) be extended to non-Muslims," he told a press conference in Air Itam on Saturday.
He was responding to reports that hair salon operators in the PAS-ruled state were being fined for breaching the by-laws which prohibit a woman from cutting the hair of a man and vice versa.
Karpal Singh said the ruling was unconstitutional and could be challenged in court.
"In fact, it should be challenged in court. Those concerned should not pay the fines. It is unlawful.
"I hope that the PAS leadership will intervene and do something about it as soon as possible," he said adding that Barisan Nasional should not be presented with issues that it can exploit now that the general election is looming.
Anything and everything BUT ending the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA eh? Karpal has become the Hairdressers/Barber's Association President or State Chinese Association Prsident now? This sort of case is even below the Chinese or Indian Chamber of Commerce or State Chinese Association to address (while in the same breath, we must be aware that the Chinese or Indian Chamber of Commerce, State Chinese Association, probably can't even talk about the APARTHEID oF BUMIPUTERA because they do not have parliamentary immunity – maybe a provision for them to also be granted parliamentary immunity?) , but somehow Karpal can't talk about the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA in spite of parliamentary immunity so this is a great opportunity to look busy while the minoriites remain second class citizens . . . look here 'Karpal' if you don't want to put that Parliamentary Immunity to good use, please give up that decades long seat you're wasting the Rakyats's mandate on, to somebody who will use the same to try to end the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA and lack of :
Is Karpal a REAL lawyer and aware of the responsibility of an MP to the people? Most Malays and Muslims, probably also the Sultans know in their hearts that apartheid is wrong and that technically in Islam the APARTYHEID of BUMIPUTERA is ILLEGAL. Why does Karpal not HONESTLY and legally challenge the racists and Islamists on these facts? Self serving much? Too many family members, too many contracts colluded on? So does the rakyat need this kind of MP or perhaps has karpal and Sons family bloc spent too much time hoodwinking the Rakyat? An MP's job goes far beyond this hair issue, like for Human Rights Articles 1 and 18 . . . do something useful or MP-like, or GTFO of Dewan!
Mediocre! And in overall effectiveness, Karpal is but a decades long malingerer on the taxpayer dollar alongside BN's racism and corrupted worst …
Internal rifts may cost PKR Indian votes – by B Nantha Kumar, FMT – Friday, 23 November 2012 Super Admin
Indian leaders may jump ship if they are not picked as candidates in the coming general election, says a source.
Infighting, backbiting and sabotaging among Indian leaders in PKR could result in the party losing Indian support at the upcoming 13th general election.
The internal rift among these leaders could also play a role in thwarting Pakatan Rakyat's ambition of taking over the federal government after the polls. The opposition pact is made of PKR, DAP and PAS.
Speaking to FMT, a PKR source admitted that there would be "major party hopping" among Indians in PKR before and after the general election.
Declining to be named, the source said many Indians in the party were waiting for PKR to officially announce its list of Indian candidates to contest under the PKR banner in the coming general election.
"If their names are overlooked as a candidate, then they would jump ship to the Barisan Nasional or quit PKR without joining anyone… they have already made plans to this effect."
"Unlike PAS and DAP which have a long tradition and faithful members, PKR is a new set-up. Most of its members are from BN component parties. They ran from there to PKR. They ran because they were sidelined in their respective BN component parties. So when the same thing happens here, they would run again," said the source.
He said the problem among Indian leaders in PKR is "everyone wants a seat to contest".
"Of course, both Malays and Chinese in PKR also face the same scenario but Indians are the worst," said the source, who is very close to the party leadership.
He said PKR Indian leaders in their eagerness to win brownie points have also resorted to "attacking" each other in the mainstream media.
Tip of the iceberg
"Some are sending their supporters to Parliament to lobby for seats. For example, I was told that more than 60 candidate profiles have been submitted for the Bukit Melawati state seat in Selangor despite the incumbent M Mutiah declaring interest in defending the seat.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg. The factions in the party are heading for a showdown," the source said.
He claimed that PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had often met party Indian leaders to get feedback on ways to boost Indian support for Pakatan, but not much was done on the ground to put the plans into action.
"But, this is not enough to woo Indian votes. The Indian leaders in the party are not united. If they are, then they can put up a strong front and lobby for votes of the community. There are several camps within the party and each camp is pressuring Anwar for seats.
Mukhriz (centre bottom), is not a Pakatan MP, just included to show possible phenotype similarities between politicians who benefited from nepotism if any . . .
Indian candidates are you idiots? Who needs to pressure Anwar? Any independent candidate can run for any seat without pressuring anyone. The whole idea of a political party is to keep all MPs captive to the supreme council. Podah!
'Anwar is an attention seeker' – Friday, 23 November 2012 Super Admin
Several BN leaders are appalled at Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's attempt to get Australia to observe Malaysia's general election.
G Vinod, FMT
An MIC leader today chided Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim for seeking attention, especially with his call to Australia to observe the coming general election.
MIC vice-president SK Devamany was referring to Anwar's move to request the Australian government recently to observe the polls, claiming there were a lot of irregularities in the electoral roll.
However, Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr had rejected the former deputy prime minister's request, saying they cannot and would not influence how Malaysia runs its election.
"It's very hard for Australia to do anything about how they're run, as hard as it would be for Malaysia or another government to have a say in how Australian elections are run.
"We're not the election authority for Malaysia," Carr was reported as saying.
Election Commission (EC) chairman Abdul Aziz Yusof also criticised Anwar, saying the electoral body had instituted several measures to improve the nation's election process.
Taking Anwar to task, Devamany said that times have changed and the world community is watching each other's conduct in the information age.
"No point trying to seek attention from other people. They are watching us all the time," he said.
As for Anwar's accusation, the deputy minister said that the Barisan Nasional government is transparent and the former could always voice his grouses to the EC.
"He can always use his position as the opposition leader to get things done. But being the attention seeker he is, Anwar will devise new tactics to keep himself relevant.
"No wonder some Pakatan Rakyat leaders are seeking PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang to become prime minister if the opposition bloc wins the federal polls," said Devamany.
Risk of being colonised again
Echoing Devamany's sentiments, People's Progressive Party (PPP) president M Kayveas said that it was dangerous to get foreign powers to be involved in Malaysia's election.
He also said that with foreign powers' aid, the party benefiting from them would be indebted to the former and thus, put Malaysia at risk of being "colonised" again.
To prevent the colonisation factor, NO foreign government based groups people should to be invited keep tabs on the elections, BUT *ELECTION WATCHDOG GROUPS* from foreign and Australian and other non-Western governments should instead. In fact Australian Elections and other Western nations could do with foreign watchdog groups from other countries ESPECIALLY those not particularly friendly to Australia, to prevent fifth columnists manipulating votes to the favour of their own government. Who knows what collusion goes on between governments these days? Foreign governments cannot monitor without compromising the sovereignty of the monitored state.
Instead, unaffiliated to government/unfunded by government civil society WATCHDOG NGOs favouring opposition would be safest. Anwar thus could be in cahooots with the current majority Australian government with the same feigning disinterest. Now if watchdog groups unfriendly to their respective foreign governments were to be called on as monitors, having nothing to gain, these groups would be the most objective choice. This accusation could be avoided simply by Anwar contacting non-mainstream foreign monitors instead. As for attention seeking, 2 terms as MP limits should put paid to that sort of thing once and for all. For expedience, Anwar could be tolerated for now, but the next great purging of politicians will not be those corrupt, opaque and racist (BN era) but those NEPOTISTIC and TERM LIMITLESS (PR era). This would be true progress then to prevent a Mubarak, Gaddafi or Ali Salleh from forming out of term limitless Anwars and Lim Kit Siangs or whatever groups.
Karpal Singh: Peaceful Assembly Act ultra-vires to Federal Constitution – Saturday, 24 November 2012 Super Admin
(Bernama) – Lawyer Karpal Singh, acting for applicant Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, told the High Court here Friday that the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 had completely prohibited the right to assemble, by way of street protest.
The senior lawyer said the provision under Section 4(1)(c) was not intended to "restrict" but more to "prohibit" the right to assemble.
"Any street protest, actually, was a moving assembly and the Act should not completely prohibit it," contended Karpal by pointing out on the provision of Section 4(1)(c) of the Act, which he argued, was inconsistent and contravened with the provision of Article 10 (1)(b) of the Federal Constitution.
He said the Act defined a street protest as an assembly that was in movement.
"Even Article 10(1)(b) clearly stated that all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably, without arms," he noted.
He further submitted that the word, 'restriction', should be interpreted as reasonable restriction as stated in Article 10, and the constitution was the supreme law of the country.
"Any law passed after Merdeka Day, which is inconsistent with the constitution, should be declared void," said Karpal, who urged Justice Kamardin Kashim to allow Anwar's application with costs.
Kamardin set Nov 30, for respondent (prosecution) to reply to the applicant's submission Friday.
In a related development, Anwar's co-counsel, Ram Karpal Singh, said if the court ruled in Anwar's favour, one of the charges under the Peaceful Assembly Act would be dropped, leaving only two charges still pending at the Sessions Court.
Anwar, 64, together with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, 48, and Rembau PKR branch chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin (third accused), 34, were charged last May 22, with taking part in street demonstrations which allegedly led to chaos in the city.
The three also faced a second charge of conniving with Tangam Raju, Rajesh Kumar Gejinder and Farhan Ibrahim, by inciting them to remove steel barricades at Jalan Raja here on the same day.
They are the first to be charged under Section 4(2)(c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, which carries a fine of up to RM10,000, upon conviction.
Last July 2, the trio were charged with conspiring with Tangam, Rajesh, Farhan and five or more supporters of 'Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih 3.0)' to defy a magistrate's court order dated April 26, against holding a rally at Dataran Merdeka from April 28 until May 1, this year.
Excuse me. No citizen needs to 'assemble' or riot IF our worthless waste of time nepotistic term limitless MPs (Karpal included) make the effort to end Bumiputra Apartheid or are not corrupt. This assembly thing is USELESS and has no weight legally. The wishes of 26 million Malaysians could be stopped by 222 self serving nepotistic and term limitless MPs simply because not enough Malaysians dare to be independents, there is always 3rd Force but even 3rd Force must respect term limits and preferably allow 1-Man-1-Vote systems in ratifying laws or at least ratifying laws on a district by district level.
An MP legally challenging the inequality and apartheid has more weight than 26 million Malaysians illegally marching. Is Karpal a false flag MP? Any and all Malays and other minorities who believe in neutrality and equality by changing the ILLEGAL and DISCRIMINATIVE Constitutional clauses and laws should give term limitless farces like Karpal here the boot. I'd DROP the right to peacefully assembly in exchange for ending APARTHEID and the below 3 items. Now think, which MP is worth voting for. The one who gives you the 'right to assemble' which is the 'precursor to riot' (there is nothing assembling can do, so frustrated assemblers end up RIOTING) but has no effect on policy, or the MP who grants equality and end of apartheid on your behalf so you do not need to march?
Free Rolls Royce offer for "Pornstar" Anwar Ibrahim look-alike by Government of Malaysia – Jul 03-2011
Wanna make some money ? Here is an opportunity: –
Previously, we reported how Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's oppositions leader has been "framed" with several sex tapes HERE.
While Anwar Ibrahim has denied he is the porn star featured in those sex tapes, it's very obvious these explicit videos which you can watch below and read more here, are either recorded or simply made up and released with only one thing in mind … Political Assassination.
It's designed to end the political career of Anwar Ibrahim and to kill the fragile oppositions of Malaysia,which is fighting to boot out the legacy government left behind by Asia's most corrupt dictator, Mahathir Mohamad, and allegation that can never be proven simply because everything including the judiciary is answerable to only one man in Malaysia ie. the Prime Minister … and yes, it's that absurd.
The country is currently helm by son of an ex-premier, who himself is laden with all sort of scandalous allegations including corruption and even … MURDER !
I love Malaysia.
Below is the latest "satire" from a pro-government newspaper (Fact: all newspaper in Malaysia are required by law to report only pro-government news. There is no press freedom in Malaysia.)
Go here if you just wanna know more about the sex scandal.
Swimming against the tide
By Joceline Tan @ Star Malaysia
The free Rolls Royce offer to any Anwar Ibrahim look-alike out there has gone unclaimed and US experts have verified the sex video to be authentic. What now for the leader of the Opposition?
NOBODY has claimed the Rolls Royce that is currently stretched out like a sexy lady on the porch of Zamil Ibrahim's house.
The former PKR politician does not see anyone coming forward now that the country's most talked-about sex video has been found to be authentic.
Zamil, who is now the Kedah chief of the new political party Kita, said he decided to put his prized wheels on the line because he became sick and tired of hearing claims that the man in the video was merely someone who looks like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Posh car: No takers for the sleek and beautiful Rolls Royce which is still sitting on the porch of Zamil's house in Kedah. Inset: Zamil who loves the Rolls Royce.
"I couldn't take any more of the nonsense that it was an Anwar look-alike," he said.
Zamil loves the beautiful vintage Rolls the way some Malay men love their second wives. Nevertheless, he was prepared to hand over the Rolls to the person whom Anwar's supporters claimed had been the Anwar look-alike in the video. It was one of those droll manoeuvres loaded with political irony.
But deep down, Zamil is relieved the car will remain his. It is very similar to the Rolls Royce owned by no less than Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud except that Zamil's is in better condition. The engine purrs, the dashboard gleams with polish and the leather seats are in a plush taupe.
Just a fortnight ago, a Chinese friend borrowed the car for his son's wedding. Zamil loaned the car plus his own driver because he did not want unfamiliar hands at the wheel.
Up against the wall: The sex video episode has reached a pivotal point and Pakatan parties are preparing to move on without Anwar who is seen here officiating at a new PKR branch in Kubang Pasu, Kedah.
There has been no love lost between Zamil and Anwar since the day Zamil claimed he was played out by Anwar over a position in PKR. Unfortunately for Anwar, Zamil does not take broken promises lightly and his quest for vengeance is far from over. A few days ago, Zamil lodged a police report on the police report that Anwar made to deny that he is the man in the video. Zamil's contention is that Anwar had lodged a false police report.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the sex video scandal exploded back in March. The so-called Datuk Trio comprising Tan Sri Rahim Thamby Chik, Datuk Eskay Abdullah and Datuk Shuib Ismail has been charged and convicted. Expert opinion from the US is that the video is genuine and the man in it was reported to be "99.99% Anwar."
End of story? Not quite – the end is still nowhere in sight for this controversial sex video.
"We have passed the climax but this thing has the look of an epic," said film-maker and Umno blogger Syed Azidi Syed Aziz, who is better known by his blogging name Kickdefella.
Talk is rife of a few more videos in the wings, as well as an explosive photograph. The Datuk Trio is not the sort of people you would want to fool around with, as PKR politician and Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul has learnt.
Johari, who was among the first people the Trio invited to view the video, recently found himself the collateral damage in the controversy. Johari has been going about denying that it is Anwar but last week, the PKR side released a video which featured Johari rubbishing the Trio and the sex video. His account was obviously timed to coincide with the Trio's court conviction.
The Trio reacted by unleashing footage of Johari watching the sex video during which he appeared to acknowledge that it was Anwar. Johari did not come out very well from it and, if he knows better, this was just a warning from the Trio.
They obviously have more stuff than what has been seen to date given how cocksure they have been about their claims and actions as well as their willingness to swear on the Quran in the mosque.
But whether the Trio comes up with more of the same is not going to matter very much from now.
The sex video episode has reached a pivotal point with the conviction of the Trio and the authentication of the video. For months, Pakatan politicians had challenged the authorities to charge the Trio, and their conviction has taken the fire out of Pakatan's artillery.
Pakatan politicians have generally ducked the issue of whether the video was authentic or fake. Only one DAP politician had called for the video to be authenticated. He was quietly asked to shut up and no other Pakatan figure has since made such demands.
Their standard line of defence has been that this is "politik lucah" or vulgar politics while PAS took the Islamic and diplomatic way out by insisting that such cases require four witnesses. Very few of them have put their reputation on the line to say that it is not Anwar. Johari is one of them.
But there are still people out there who do not want to accept that the video is authentic despite the tests and analyses by the academic institute in the US.
At the same time, not all of those who agree that the man is Anwar approve of the entrapment. They feel that political victory or defeat should take place via a political contest rather than through sex traps.
But it is increasingly difficult for Pakatan and especially PKR politicians to go on insisting that it is not Anwar.
When asked about this, a PKR official would only say: "Let the public decide whether they believe the 99.99% finding."
Some people think Anwar is finished. Actually, he is far from finished but fewer people now think he is going to be the next Prime Minister – or even that he is Prime Minister material.
A serious matter
"Non-Muslims regard this as a private matter. But for us Muslims, it is a serious thing. I haven't seen the video but my friends have seen it and they can decide for themselves," said a top PAS figure.
Anwar's problem is the growing element of doubt among the swing group, especially the Malay middle ground. The hardcore supporters on either side will remain where they are; it is the swing group that Pakatan has to be worried about.
Anwar probably feels it when he goes on the ceramah circuit. The crowds are there but he knows they are also checking out his belly, his chest and even his nose as they are listening to him. Fortunately, his stomach is quite flat now that he has lost so much weight and is looking rather gaunt.
The sex video, for one, has been a top topic at the ceramah series organised by the Pasir Salak division. Umno ceramah can be quite boring affairs but this one not only had the crowd's attention but had them tickled too.
At one ceramah, the speaker said that given the sex-related incidents associated with the opposition leader, "the whole thing is beginning to look like a hobby."
"Hobbies are okay, but people with this type of hobby, it's better they don't try to become the Prime Minister," said the speaker.
Another speaker said: "Many of us have seen the video, the experts have said it is real, we know it's him, what else is there to argue. Only the PAS leaders are still arguing as though they know everything, as if they were in the bedroom, under the bed."
The ceramah series is the brainchild of Pasir Salak Umno politician Dr Faizal Tajuddin who wanted to counter and neutralise the string of ceramah by PAS, which has been parading its latest celebrity recruit, Bob Lokman, the Malay rocker who said he joined PAS because he wanted to go to heaven.
The main target is PAS but the sex video is one of the bullets being used by Dr Faizal's team.
Many are also waiting to see whether Anwar's wife and daughter, both politicians, will come forward to defend him again now that the video has been vetted as genuine. The family is said to have been in turmoil since the video surfaced in March but they have no choice but to keep up a united front.
It is quite clear by now that Anwar needs Pakatan more than Pakatan needs him. He was a superhero in the aftermath of March 2008 but Pakatan is now shouldering him through his personal problems.
Anwar's nemesis, Kita president Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, put it quite bluntly when he said the opposition has been "utterly compromised" by Anwar and that the latter is "destroying the credibility of the opposition."
Zaid was equally critical of the authority's handling of the sex video, describing it as "foolish and clumsy", all of which added up to what he described as "the tragedy of Malaysian politics."
Pakatan leaders know it as well. Privately, they are already talking of a revived role for Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah in the near future. Dr Wan Azizah has been playing the role of dutiful wife rather than PKR president but Pakatan leaders are ready to accept her if Anwar is indisposed.
"Kak Wan will still lead. We can work with her even though she is not up to mark," said the same PAS figure.
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali is experienced and capable but the Pakatan leaders are still uncomfortable with him. Rising star Nurul Izzah is ambitious but still very green and her haste to be noticed has seen her mired in embarrassing boo-boos such as claiming that the Malaysian submarine could not dive whereas it has dived to its maximum depth off the coast of Sabah with no less than the King onboard.
Recently, Anwar claimed he had the clout to call off the Bersih rally if he wanted to, implying he was still in charge. The rally's figurehead leader Datuk S. Ambiga immediately shot back that the rally is on.
It was a slap in the face for Anwar. The Bersih rally is basically a PAS show and it is the clearest sign that Anwar's centrestage placing in Pakatan politics has been hijacked by PAS.
Moreover, the new PAS battle cry is "PAS ganti Umno", the implication being that PAS has the ability to replace Umno and that can only mean one thing – PAS is positioning itself to dominate in the general election and claim the Prime Ministership.
Pakatan parties are preparing to move on without Anwar. His role as an intermediary between PAS and DAP is quite redundant now that the Erdogans are in charge in PAS. The Erdogans speak the same political language as DAP leaders and they can sit at the same table with DAP.
There is even talk that if Anwar cannot defend Permatang Pauh in the next general election, Nurul Izzah will go there since the election law disqualifies Dr Wan Azizah from contesting a seat which she resigned from.
The days when Anwar could walk on water are over. He is swimming against the current.
This is an old article, but lookalikes can be easily created given the amount of funds BN has. They could get the nearest looking lookalike 'Anwar' add abit of plastic surgery or anyone in the opposition and make them do all kinds of porn for release in the internet EVERY week or make the fakes 'say things' that are politically destructive which will be presented as insider records etc.. Chua Soi Lek could have been smart enough to dodge the bullet but chose to be honest, bravo, but a person who would be honest about invasion of privacy vids, yet not want to challenge apartheid is an oxymoron of sorts. As for Pakatan, the problem still stands and very clearly that Pakatan is a CLOSED party. I have at least tried quite indirectly to sound Pakatan out, and noted the extreme fear and prevention of 'outside' forces taking over. Then after Pakatan's sacrifice of Teo Beng Hock, perhaps was best that some of us were not invited to join anyway. After doing the scrimmage work, the least that some politicians could have done was not betray their would-be supporters to the psychiatric establishment . . .
2 sides of the same Rakyat oppressive coin?
We'd be better off setting up a 3rd Force party to remove the cynical apartheid tolerating hudud accepting guys with similar looking wives (Betty and Rosmah might as well be the same person), drop 50% of DAP's nepotists I say . . . those undemocratic creeps are very harmful to the country, as is any who are term limitless and nepotistic and refuse to make clear on :
;while touting Hudud or an Islamist party PAS par excellence Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood. These Islamists are all the same IMHO, when courting the voters, they say nice things but after gaining power, they turn all Islamist and start persecuting everyone. MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP however have entirely failed to seperate from BN to lead 3rd force which I list below :
Proposed 3rd Force Party
End the APARTHEID and drop the racists. or get the racists to drop apartheid if BN wants GE13. Other than that, the mandate which is unused as of now would likely become Pakatan's, a much worse option in many ways.
Pakatan must do more for Penang Malays – Saturday, 24 November 2012 Super Admin
The Malays in Penang want a Malay Deputy Chief Minister to look after their interests
To this, the congress' president Rahmad Isahak said it was becoming clear that both PKR and PAS have failed to maintain Pakatan Rakyat's hold on the Malays.
Hawkeye, FMT
The Penang Malay Congress has called on DAP to consider appointing a Malay to become the next Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) I if the present leader, PKR's Mansor Othman, relinquishes the post in favour of contesting a parliament seat.
The rumour mill is working overtime in Penang now since PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim announced last week that Mansor, a party vice-president, will contest the Nibong Tebal parliament seat.
The seat is presently held by Tan Tee Beng who had won the seat under the PKR banner in 2008 but has since become an Independent.
Anwar declined to comment on whether Mansor will be allowed to defend his present Penanti state seat on the mainland.
Moving Mansor out of Penang, stengthens the congress' belief that Pakatan is concerned about the Malay ground here and confirms that the Malay electorate is disappointed with them, Rahmad said.
Mansor has been underfire for the last three years for failing to champion Malay issues well, and he is often seen as being subservient to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
To arrest an alleged decline in Malay support, Rahmad said Pakatan needs to revamp its present leadeship allocation.
A Malay DAP candidate, who wins in the next election, should instead be made the DCM I as this will demonstrate to the people that the party is committed to the Malays, Rahmad said.
Talk is that Penang DAP will consider fielding at least two Malay candidates here to challenge the perception among the Malay community that it is a Chinese party.
DAP's failure to field any Malays may also give rise to a number of independent candidates – sponsored by Malay civil groups where 23 organisations have sprouted up in Penang since 2008.
Rahmad said the Malays in Penang have become restless due to the inability of the DAP-led state government to effectively address their socio-economic issues.
The community's grouses are over the lack of affordable housing, erosion of their heritage and culture values, made worse by the demolition of traditional villages on the island and the lack of quality jobs despite a record number of fresh investments.
"If you ask a critically minded Malay if they support Pakatan, they remain speechless. It is not because Pakatan failed them, it is because the issues of the community has gone unnoticed by the inexperienced government for the past four years."
The Malay dilemma
The Malays are now venting their anger on PKR and PAS for failure to convince DAP over the critical need to look at the community's issues.
Even during Barisan's era, the Malay community here has been stirring up issues and expressing their anger, Rahmad said in an interview.
The Malays are in a dilemma here because if they support Pakatan, there is a preception out there that their issues will not be effectively resolved unless a strong-willed Malay leader is appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister I, Rahmad said.
On the other hand, it is pointless to support Umno as the party is part of the Barisan Nasional coalition, which is finding it increasingly difficult to regain acceptance in Penang, he said.
No problem if Penang has a Malay CM, but do grant :
;so that the minorities will not care what race the CM is. Frankly Penang has had a minority CM for too long, on the other hand ALL OTHER Sultanate led STATES have had Malay MBs for too long as well. The door swings both ways . . .
Najib: Change can happen with the same government – by Ida Lim – November 24, 2012
Najib addresses the crowd at the Barisan 1 Malaysia gathering at the Putra World Trade Centre who respond by raising one finger. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — A change in government is not necessary for changes in the country, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.
The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) is ready to change, said Najib, who is also chairman of the 13-member coalition.
"… BN is not a party that is inflexible. We are ready to change.
"Change can happen in our country and we have proven that not necessarily we change government, but we can bring big change with the same government," Najib said at the Barisan 1 Malaysia gathering at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here.
He also hinted that the government may give more cash handouts to the people if the country is well-managed.
He was speaking about the government's financial aid to the working class and other sections of society, such as giving out tyres to taxi drivers and cash handouts to singles under the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) 2.0 scheme, before hinting that more handouts were possible.
"Boleh lagi. We (can) give more in the future with the condition that our country is managed well.
"And all these we are able to do because in the past four years, we have proven that this is not an empty promise…" Najib said.
If BN is unable to grant :
;no change can be expected. BN has the mandate to grant the above now. Why has BN not used that mandate to grant the above? This proves there will be no change. The above 3 items cost nothing to implement.
ASEAN needs formal civil society engagement mechanism on human rights — James Gomez and Robin Ramcharan – November 19, 2012
NOV 19 — Unless appropriate formal and equitable engagement mechanisms are put in place, civil society will be not be in a position to effectively advocate for and ensure the protection of human rights in the region. This is the lesson to be gleaned from the adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) yesterday (November 18) during the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The inability of civil society organisations (CSOs) to meaningfully engage with members of ASEAN over the establishment of institutional and normative human rights frameworks to date explains the limited effectiveness of their advocacy in securing a real protection mechanism for the people of ASEAN.
Much of the discussion emerging from yesterday's release of AHRD has focused on the criticism by CSOs over the lack of adherence to international human rights standards and the rejoinder by ASEAN governmental representative that the tone of the current AHRD is what is politically feasible now within the regional grouping. But the root problem remains the lack of access of CSOs to the inter-governmental process that has crafted institutional mechanisms and the AHRD.
Over the last two years, CSOs seeking to advance the protection of human rights in the nascent ASEAN human rights regime have been confronted with a regional association and member governments that are still deeply wedded to the principle of non-interference and the primacy of national laws.
Beginning with the ASEAN Charter in 2008, which promised the establishment of a human rights body, CSOs have been pressuring member governments to adopt a mechanism that would speak to international standards and include a protection mechanism. At each step towards formalising a regional mechanism, for example in 2009 in the run up to the drafting of the Terms of Reference for the AICHR and now in 2012 in the drafting of AHRD, CSOs have tried their level best to engage with ASEAN but in vain.
On the adoption of the ADHR in Phnom Penh on November 18, CSO criticisms of the declaration continued unabated. While Singapore's Representative to the AICHR, Chang Heng Chee, hailed the advent of the "peer-review" mechanism and the ADHR as "the best that could be done" in the social and political context, the CSO exclusion from the process of crafting a human rights regime remains a blatant fact.
Some 60 CSOs wrote to ASEAN leaders requesting the postponement of the signing given serious flaws in the document. Echoing strongly their comments, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, also called for the same and has stated: "I am surprised and disappointed that the draft declaration has not been made public and that civil society has not been consulted in the drafting of the document."
Poignant criticisms have pointed to AHRD failings to meet existing international standards and the risks of creating a sub-standard level of rights protection in the region.
Pillay has cited as an example the provision on the right to life which, she said, should not be contingent on domestic laws that can be used to justify state-sponsored violence. Further, ASEAN governments want the enjoyment of rights to be balanced with the "performance of duties" and be subject to "national and regional contexts".
Rights in the region therefore stand to be restricted on a wide range of grounds, including "national security" and "public morality". The declaration is further criticised for having too many loopholes that may permit states to bypass international standards. Even Surin Pitsuwan, speaking at the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, admitted: "This document can be improved upon."
On such substantive matters critical to the well-being of all ASEAN citizens, CSOs have been confronted with ASEAN member-states' strategy of selective and limited engagement with CSOs to date over the establishment of a human rights regime in the region. The entire project of crafting a human rights regime is pursued purely as an inter-governmental activity.
With no institutionalised mechanism for consultation, CSO engagement has only been accommodated on a piece-meal basis and only because of the tireless advocacy, persistence and pressure by regional CSOs. This state of affairs has neutralised CSOs' ability to advocate successfully for the protection of human rights in the region.
Such a purely inter-governmental approach is entirely out of step with how inter-governmental organisations such as the UN, the EU and the OAS conduct their own inter-governmental activities. In those mechanisms civil society is mainstreamed into the human rights processes.
In addition to concern over core substantive dilemmas — the lack of real protection of human rights and the failure to meet international standards — the real subtext is the fact that civil society has not been mainstreamed as it should be. Lack of such mainstreaming undermines ASEAN's own call for a more people-centred community.
Civil society organisations, which have historically played a vital role in advancing the protection of human rights globally, and the media (traditional and new), must continue and intensify their push for more transparency in the ASEAN human rights regime, for the respect of international commitments already binding upon ASEAN states, for the respect for universal standards under the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and for real protection of fundamental rights.
When it comes to the development of human rights in the region, the lack of genuine consultation with CSOs by ASEAN's member governments reflects the marginalisation of one of the important sectors within the member states. A formal consultation mechanism is vital to the protection of human rights in the region and to the creation of a more people-centred ASEAN.
* Drs James Gomez (Thammasat University) and Robin Ramcharan (Queen's University Center for International Relations) are authors of the paper "The Protection of Human Rights in Southeast Asia: Improving the Effectiveness of Civil Society Advocacy".
At very least allow ALL activites for registered persons in restricted zones for a start.
Hatred-filled, Dr M would rather have Chua Soi Lek as Prime Minister than Anwar – Written by Moaz Nair, Malaysia Chronicle – Saturday, 24 November 2012 09:50
From the Biblical book of Proverbs (15.33), it says: "The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honour."
The Qur'an (7:94) reads as follows: "Whenever We sent a Prophet to a society, We took up its people in suffering and adversity, in order that they might learn humility."
One seeking honour must have an attitude of humility and recognising his responsibility to others must be his priority. One such personality among the ordinary citizens is the incumbent PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang.
In his speech at the recent 58th Muktamar PAS in Kelantan, he said, "To become the prime minister is not my aim in politics. I would rather be a slave to the people."
Be that as it may, the consensus among Pakatan allies is that Anwar Ibrahim will be made the prime minister in the event of the coalition taking over Putrajaya in the 13th general election. Of course, this is not going to make UMNO's supreme mentor, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, happy.
And Anwar – with his credentials, experience and international exposure – is considered by majority Malaysians to be the most qualified man to head the government.
Becoming a leader is a huge responsibility
As a devout Muslim, Hadi is aware that becoming a leader is a huge responsibility (amanah). As such, he said that "let a prime minister be a person from among those entrusted by the rakyat, who could carry out his duty in good conscience and is blessed by God".
This unmistakeably testifies that PAS advocates the principle of democracy in politics and the tussle to become the prime minister if Pakatan takes over Putrajaya in the next election does not exist at all.
In fact, according to political observers, there is no issue of any political scrimmage within the Pakatan coalition on the issue of who shall become the prime minister. The understanding on this issue has been generally accepted by all the three parties in Pakatan – PAS, PKR and DAP.
PAS and Pakatan Rakyat are not facing a dearth of leaders. Within PAS there are many among them who have a good religious background, are professional and also well-versed with the economy that could be entrusted to lead the nation.
Notably among them are scientist-cum-economist Dzulkefly Ahmad the Member of Parliament for Kuala Selangor, former deputy governor of Bank Negara, economist and consultant Rosli Yaakop and former Menteri Besar of Perak Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, a Member of Parliament and engineer by profession.
Unpretentiousness is the ethos found among PAS leaders. Political pundits have this to say: Even if a leader from PAS is appointed as prime minister this will not be a cause to worry among the non-Muslims. At present two states in the country have Menteri Besar from PAS – Kelantan and Kedah.
They have performed relatively well in the economic governance of the states even though they come from a religious background.
Nizar was chosen
But the best narration that could allay the fears of non-Muslims over PAS is that of what ensued in Perak in 2008. On 8 March 2008, the Pakatan Rakyat coalition in Perak won 31 seats of the 59 seat Perak State Assembly, which enabled it to form the state government with a simple majority.
The DAP commanded the most seats out of the 31 seats held by Pakatan Rakyat and were initially the claimants to the post of Menteri Besar. However, the Perak State Constitution stipulates that the menteri besar must be of Malay descent, and a non-Malay could only be appointed by a royal waiver by the Perak Palace.
To resolve this, all three parties sent their nominations for the menteri besar post to the Regent of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah. Reluctant Nizar was chosen over Ngeh Koo Ham of the DAP and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi of PKR on 12 March 2008 and he sworn in on 17 March 2008 at Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar.
Nizar from PAS ended up working harmoniously with all the coalition members and proved himself to become a popular menteri besar although his stint as the chief of Perak government was short-lived (17 March 2008 – 12 May 2009). This was after a controversial takeover of the State by Barisan in 2009 when three Pakatan assemblymen left the coalition to become Barisan-friendly.
On 11 May 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the Sultan could not constitutionally remove Nizar from office, and that Nizar had always been the rightful menteri besar. However, Nizar at the end of the day lost the legal proceedings when, in February 2010, the Federal Court ruled Zambry Abdul Kadir from Barisan to be the lawful menteri besar.
In the same year Nizar from PAS won the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election with a thumping victory over the Barisan candidate (Ismail Safian) that made him a member of parliament. He clinched the support of Malays and majority non-Malays in the by-election.
Nizar proved himself as a capable and well-liked menteri besar by all the races in Perak though he represented PAS – an Islamic party. He proved himself that he could handle the state with humility, integrity and fairness.
Thus, a PAS man becoming a leader of a state or nation should not become an issue in multi-racial and democratic Malaysia.
Chua Soi Lek as prime minister
Mahathir, in a media report, was cynical when he proposed that Karpal Singh – DAP Chief, a prominent lawyer and Member of Parliament – be chosen as the prime minister in the case Pakatan wins the next general election. This must be akin to suggesting Chua Soi Lek, the MCA President to become the prime minister within the Barisan rank.
By virtue of Mahathir's statement, if Karpal can become the prime minister of Malaysia there is no wrong then for Chua to be elevated as prime minister in Barisan. Perhaps, UMNO under their supreme guru, Mahathir, can ponder over this matter.
Mahathir insinuated that Pakatan is fractious when it comes to the appointment of a prime minister. Political observers opine that the man Mahathir fears most in life is Anwar. Anwar was ousted from the party in 1998 when Mahathir sensed that he would be sent to the political bin if he did not act fast enough on his ambitious nemesis.
Of course, Mahathir will be the most despondent man on earth if Anwar becomes the next prime minister of the country.
The country is now blessed with a two-party system and this bodes well for the people. There may be some minor differences in Pakatan as opposed to major squabbles in UMNO and Barisan.
UMNO has virtually decimated MCA, MIC and Gerakan by its Malay-centric approach to politics and is now all alone against the mounting crusade from Pakatan against Barisan.
The split in UMNO
Pakatan associates have not split to the extent of forming PKR Baru, DAP Baru or PAS Baru just to chase for the prime minister's post.
In 1987, for the first time in twelve years, the incumbent President, Mahathir, was challenged by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for the Presidency of UMNO. There was a forceful campaign to win the support of the approximately 1,500 delegates from party branches all over the country, who came to elect the party officers.
Some were even accused of money politics during the intense campaigns to decide who would be the president of UMNO and subsequently the prime minister of the country.
The official results declared Mahathir the winner, with 761 votes to Razaleigh's 718. There was a major split in UMNO after that episode all because of "a prime minister's post". The vanquished was not happy and brought the matter to the Court.
UMNO was later declared as an illegal entity by the Court for having some "phantom" branches.
Soon after, UMNO Baru was born – laboriously "delivered" by Mahathir – and Razaleigh left UMNO to form Semangat46. This split in UMNO has remained until today. And Razaleigh until now has not given up his hope to become the prime minister.
As Hadi said, "Becoming a leader is not because one desires to become one. It must be with the blessings of God and with the consent and support of the majority".
Buzz is now steeping
There are many more senior UMNO proponents tussling, including the Perkasa Chief who is ambitious, to become or be made the prime minister. The incumbent Deputy UMNO President, Muhyiddin Yassin, has his own supporters who would want him to challenge Najib Abdul Razak – the present yet to be endorsed UMNO president – to become the prime minister and this buzz is now steeping in the party.
And Mahathir will not leave this world a happy man until he could be assured that his son Mukhriz is in line to the throne as well. Ambitious Khairy Jamaluddin – UMNO Youth Chief who holds no ministerial post and is more noted for his penchant for football than the welfare of UMNO – who is not in the good book of Mahathir and Najib is also very keen to become prime minister.
It was reported that Khairy did at one time boast that he wanted to become the prime minister before the age 40. His hope however is dashed under the present UMNO set-up.
Another point that should be highlighted here is that money politics has become the malady affecting UMNO party members who have been jostling up the political ladder since 1981. This mucky, corrupt and irreligious norm is not found in PAS, PKR or DAP.
More perceptible within UMNO
Pro-UMNO media is playing up the issue as though Pakatan is split over the choice of a prime minister in the event of Pakatan winning the next general election but this is a non-issue to the non-Malays as well as the Malays.
UMNO and its supreme but unpopular advice-giver have failed to unnerve those who might be concerned about Pas leading a new federal government.
In a nutshell, all the hankering and throbbing to become prime minister is more perceptible within UMNO than any of the Opposition party.
Of course Hadi in a humble way "welcomed" the sincere proposal by the Ulama Wing Chief – a polite gesture on Hadi's part to please the enthusiastic participants – that he be chosen to become the prime minister.
But wisdom prevailed in him, as he was quick to qualify that his aim in politics was not to become a prime minister. He even warned the participants of the risks of being desperately ambitious in politics.
He then aptly said, "Leadership is a huge trust and a big responsibility. Whoever becomes the prime minister is secondary. The good values of Islam should be upheld. A leader must be trustworthy, not corrupt, of high integrity and who could bring social justice to all Malaysians. And if this is achieved it is enough for me in this world."
The rakyat have not heard this kind of humble statement springing from any UMNO leader since 1981.
. . . Becoming a leader is a huge responsibility . . .
Bullsh1t! All an MP needs to do is amend laws en masse with other MPs, and GTFO of Dewan after the 2nd term so that some other Malaysian will have a chance to do some policy work. All the MPs of today do are argue, never forward useful bills and keep apartheid in place by not challenging what is Illegal in the Human Rights Charter and Islam and virtually every faith on the planet. Responbsibility is making CHANGE by ratifying good policy and forwarding amendments to policy. Not keep the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA in place (BN), threaten to destroy private property (Gambier Threat – DAP), destroy livilihood of the streetside petty traders (DAP), ask for 750K funerals (DAP), ask for raises for MP and Assemblyman salaries (DAP), or try to impose Hudud on Malaysians (PAS), especially non-Muslim Malaysians, or pass off 8% quorum party elections as valid (PKR) or 0.002% (300 out of 1.5 million) for EXCO posts.
The above makes today's hateful term limitless and extremely nepotistic MPs, loudmouths without responsibility. ALL an MP needs to do is change a few things by putting a signature down which any street sweeper can happily do. So far nothing useful from either side, lots of mega contracts for 1% cronies but nothing concrete for the 99%.
. . . He then aptly said, "Leadership is a huge trust and a big responsibility. Whoever becomes the prime minister is secondary. The good values of Islam should be upheld. A leader must be trustworthy, not corrupt, of high integrity and who could bring social justice to all Malaysians. And if this is achieved it is enough for me in this world." . . .
APTLY? Malaysian Chronicle converted to Islam lately? 'The good values of Islam should be upheld.' is the vaguest most threatening thing being said as much as President Morsi of Egypt's 'Absolutist Decree' just recently. There are OTHER good values – of other fiaths, of democracy of HUMAN RIGHTS that too many religions attack constantly. WHAT THE HELL is apt about a potential crypto-Islamist statement like that given the neglect of 40% of the population's seculars or non-Hudu Malays up to 80-95% of Malaysia's population altogether?
Hadi has NOT addressed the seculars since 'accepting the PMship' a week or so ago – Morsi Style! please stop emboldening with this sort of collusion or laziness. Apt? Hadi has forgotten the 40% of non-Muslims and non-Malays as well as possibly 70% of the non-pro-Hudud Malays and Muslims. Malaysia Chronicle sure this can be called 'APT'? Frankly Malaysian MPs are overpaid, even when a 900 minimum wage cannot be implemented, what business have MPs have to take 23K per month of taxpayer monies? MPs salaries are paid by the Rakyat, did any Rakyat say they deserve 23K? On a 1-Man-1-Vote vote, probably MPs will have their salaries LOWERED to no more than 10 times minimum annual wage which would likely be RM$9000, even as minimum wage of $900 already gets ALL MP's dragging their feet . . . the Pakatan MPs are term limitless and nepotistic, do not care for the Rakyat, even as BN MPs continue apartheid . . . vote 3rd Force!
RPK: Do You Think I Give A Crap? – by RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN – Monday, 05 November 2012 16:25
"More I read your articles, more I have an inclination that you really are on a BN payroll." – @bengali kunday.
That was what a reader going by the nickname of '@bengali kunday' said. Well, allow me to reply to that.
First of all, even if I am on the payroll of Barisan Nasional, so what? There are people like those in Malaysiakini, Malaysia Chronicle, and so on, who are on Pakatan Rakyat's payroll. In fact, sites like Harakah and many others actually belong to and are financed by Pakatan Rakyat or parties within Pakatan Rakyat. And they do not hide that fact or are apologetic or ashamed about serving the interest of a political party, notwithstanding the fact that it is an opposition party.
Are you implying that it is okay to be on Pakatan Rakyat's payroll but not okay to be on Barisan Nasional's payroll? Are you also implying that democracy and freedom of choice and freedom of association means you must be on Pakatan Rakyat's payroll but not on Barisan Nasional's payroll?
What type of democracy is this when you are restricted to serving one party's interest but not the other? What type of democracy is this when you have no freedom of choice or freedom of association and are obligated to serve one party's interest but not the other?
You take the moral high ground whenever you feel that someone is serving Barisan Nasional's interest but you do not demonstrate that same moral outrage if someone is on Pakatan Rakyat's payroll. So-called 'independent' human rights organisations such as Suaram openly work for Pakatan Rakyat but that is not repulsive to you. Only if they serve Barisan Nasional's interest is it repulsive.
Secondly, when I write articles very damaging to Barisan Nasional and Umno – such as my two recent articles this week in The Corridors of Power regarding Umno Sabah – you do not consider that as being on Pakatan Rakyat's payroll. However, if I write just one article that is slightly uncomplimentary to Pakatan Rakyat (in fact, the article that I wrote in which you posted that comment is not even about Pakatan Rakyat or uncomplimentary to Pakatan Rakyat) you consider that as being on Barisan Nasional's payroll.
To you Pakatan Rakyat supporters, the decent thing to do is to serve Pakatan Rakyat's interest. Serving any other interest is an indecent thing to do. You decide the moral boundaries and limits of decency and anyone who does not pass your interpretation and yardstick of morality and decency is vilified. Who appointed you the guardian and trustee of morality and decency?
How different are you from the religionists who decide what is moral and what is decent and impose their standards of morality and decency on others? Since Muslims represent the majority population in Malaysia can Muslims then, going by the doctrine of democracy where majority rules, impose their Islamic interpretation of morality and decency on the minority?
Since the majority dictates the ground rules then surely what is compatible to Islam should prevail and anything repulsive to Islam should be barred. In that case the Islamic Sharia law, Hudud included, should be the law of the land. Muslims who are the majority in Malaysia should decide what is moral and what is decent and Islam must be the code of conduct that all Malaysians should live by.
Religionists such as Muslims, even if they are the majority in Malaysia, should not impose their will on Malaysians, even on fellow Muslims, let alone on the non-Muslims. So why should you impose your will on others? The believers of Islam should not vilify those who are not of the Muslim faith. Why should the believers of Pakatan Rakyat vilify those who are not of the opposition faith?
When misguided Muslims adopt the 'either you are with us or you are against us' religious doctrine, you find that revolting, indecent and immoral. But you can adopt the 'either you are with us or you are against us' political doctrine and it is not revolting, indecent and immoral.
What kind of hypocritical double standard is this? You resent it when others impose their will on you and when they decide what is tolerable, moral and decent. But you can impose your will on others and decide what is tolerable, moral and decent. Can you see the hypocrisy that is so thick you can cut it with a knife?
Do you think I care a sh** about Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat? Do you think I care a sh** whether Barisan Nasional retains power or Pakatan Rakyat gains power? Do you think my life is only about the general elections and about who gets to march into Putrajaya? That is a very narrow way to look at life.
Do you honestly think that my mission in life is to make sure that Barisan Nasional does not get kicked out? Do you honestly think that my mission in life is to ensure that Pakatan Rakyat gets to form the next federal government? You have a very narrow mission in life. Do not imagine that my mission in life is as narrow as yours.
Politicians are politicians, never mind from which side of the political divide. And the narrow objective of all politicians is merely to get into power. What makes you think that that is also my very narrow objective? If you think that then you have not been reading properly what I have been writing over these last 35 years.
You Pakatan Rakyat supporters are still too immature. And that is why Pakatan Rakyat is not ready to run the country. Pakatan Rakyat supporters first need to gain some maturity before Pakatan Rakyat can be allowed to form the federal government. You need to suffer another term under Barisan Nasional. This suffering might then wake you up and only when you wake up can we talk about a change of government.
Yes, do keep whacking me. Continue to vilify me. And when you do I will do everything within my power to make sure that the coming general election is going to result in a huge shock and disappointment for you.
Never give a flower to a monkey, the Malays would say. That is like throwing pearls to swine, the English say. And that is how I look at some of you Pakatan Rakyat supporters, monkeys and swine that are not ready to be entrusted with power.
So you want to fight. So let's fight. I have nothing to lose because I don't care a sh** which side is going to win the coming general election. That is what you want. That is not what I want. Just because that is what you want you have this mistaken notion that that is what I also want.
What stupid people you are. If I support Pakatan Rakyat then I am God. If I do not support Pakatan Rakyat then I am a Barisan Nasional stooge. Well, let me break it to you gently. I am neither God not a Barisan Nasional stooge. I am an independent-spirited individual who does not care a sh** about losers like you.
*The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer.
Source: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/no-holds-barred/52461-do-you-think-i-care-a-shit
RPK while full of energy to argue on blogs, evidently is not independent enough to run for MP, even with that vast network and ill gotten wealth from Marina's father . . .
SAVE OUR COUNTRY: Open letter to all Malaysians – by Yeo Yang Poh – Sunday, 25 November 2012 10:11
Dear Fellow Malaysians
It is true that there are things that we Malaysians should be proud of, and be thankful for. It is equally true that many things are not well in our country. They have not been well for some time now.
Matters of safety and security, price hikes, education, issues of equal opportunities and equal treatment, constriction of various forms of freedom, marginalization of several segments of society, the failing justice system, corruption in the public sector, the rising denial syndromes, the arrogance of wrongdoers nourished by their repeated ability to get off scot-free, and the numbness of the public reaction towards misdeeds and the lack of accountability, just to describe a few.
Many of the ills that we complain about in our society are the symptoms of the underlying causes. Some of the major root causes are:
(a) epidemic corruption in a system that does little to prohibit or redress it,
(b) lack of a system of transparency and accountability,
(c) the suppression of various freedoms so as to turn a silent majority into a silenced majority,
(d) a Government that is more interested in commanding than serving,
(e) a Parliament whose overwhelming majority cares more about power-consolidation than nation-building, and
(f) a weak "last bastion" in the form of a failing justice system.
Can things be allowed to go on this way? Can we afford to do so?
Should our future generations suffer the consequences of our permissiveness?
It is quite obvious that we need a better Government and a better Parliament.
But that will not happen if we, the citizens of Malaysia , do little more than blaming the Government and criticizing our Members of Parliament. It is we who put our MPs in the Parliament. It is we who must take the ultimate responsibility.The buck stops at each and every one of us.
My earnest appeal to everyone is therefore as follows:
– discuss the need for a better Parliament and a better Government, with your family members, colleagues, friends and persons close to you;
– make it a point to go and vote in the next election, and to vote for change and for betterment; discard the notion or excuse that your single vote will not matter;
– discard the notion or excuse that politics is dirty and all politicians are the same, and therefore that there is no point in voting;
– influence and encourage as many of your family members, colleagues, friends and persons close to you as possible, to come out and vote for change and for betterment in the coming election.
Meaningless to gripe if you don't VOTE
It is meaningless for us to complain about our Parliamentarians and the Government, if we do not first discharge a simple but sacrosanct duty of choice.
Let us all take the time to look into the beautiful but expectant eyes of our children, and of the children of many others for whom we care.
The future of our nation is meant for them. But millions of them cannot vote. They put their fate in our hands. They rely on us not just for their present living and support. They rely on us, too, to vote for a better future for them.
And after discharging our duty to vote, we must continue to be vigilant, and ensure that our elected representatives account for their actions, and make good their promises.
I humbly suggest to you that change and betterment are not empty dreams, if all of us play our respective parts. I invite you, and I urge you, to answer my appeal as set out above.
Yeo Yang Poh
(former Bar Council President)
So says the 'great legal mind' who propped up Mahathir's racist corrupt government and sat silently while in power as Bar President while APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA and OPs Lallang went on. This legal beagle (no eagle even though was Bar Council President) Yeo Yang Poh entirely failed his watch, did not challenge Malaysia's failed state throughout the 1970s to 1990s.
The legal fraternity worldwide should blackball this failure Yeo and also the Bar Council of today as well for not challenging apartheid. And now Yeo thinks that writing an 'open letter' will exhonerate such neglect and tacit approval of such Malaysian racism, corruption, illegal actions and general malaise? Liar and traitor to all Malaysian, traitor to minorities, traitor to ETHICS and the integrity of the legal system! Shame on Yeo Yang Poh for never raising the possibility of ending the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA!
Malaysia Chronicle must be getting chronic to allow such people to post articles on their media article. Cynical media portal featuring cynical letters from supposed learned writers who sellout the 99% of citizens!
DON'T BE SO 'ULU' UMNO: Stop the May 13 threats, have the GUTS to compete on level ground! – by Lim Kit Siang – Friday, 30 November 2012 15:44
The irresponsible threats raised by UMNO leaders at the 66th UMNO General Assembly of "May 13" and chaos if UMNO loses the 13th General Election, falsely claiming that Malays will lose political power and will be rendered "destitute in our own land", is the best proof of the failure and hypocrisy of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia policy.
If the 1Malaysia Policy proclaimed by Najib after he became Prime Minister in in April 2009 is more than election gimmicks for votes in the 13GE, its philosophy "to create a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian will regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic status second" should have been the guiding spirit of speeches of UMNO/BN leaders and their party conferences.
But this is clearly not the case despite the onset of the 43rd month of Najib's premiership, as illustrated by the 66th Umno General Assembly.
In the first place, an Umno/BN leader fully imbued by the 1Malaysia spirit of "Malaysian first and race, religion, geography or socio-economic status second" would never entertain any notion let alone utter any threat of May 13 or chaos regardless of the outcome of the forthcoming 13th general election, as anyone who could toy with any May 13 threat or warning of chaos because of the free democratic choice of Malaysians in the 13th general election has not only failed to imbibe the spirit of 1Malaysia, but is acting in a most disloyal and unpatriotic manner utterly heedless of the higher interests of the nation and the best future for the country.
Felled by own falsehoods
Such disloyal and unpatriotic notions is all the more reprehensible as they are built on despicable lies and falsehoods, that the defeat of UMNO in the 13th GE will result in the loss of political power of the Malays resulting in the Malays, to quote one speech: "..if we go down in this struggle, we do not have anything left. Pakatan will be brought down to their knees, and eventually become destitute in our own land".
That fate may befall UMNO leaders – and that is if UMNO is incapable of reform even after being ousted from Putrajaya – but definitely it will not be the fate of the Malays.
This is because replacing UMNO/BN in Putrajaya will be the Pakatan Rakyat coalition comprising PKR, PAS and DAP – comprising Malaysians from all races, religions and regions representing the best interests of all.
Do MCA and the other BN component parties agree that if UMNO/BN loses in the 13GE, the Malays will lose political power?
MCA leaders are in fact saying the very opposite – telling the Chinese that if Pakatan Rakyat defeat UMNO/BN in the next general elections, the Chinese will lose even more political, economic, educational, socio-economic and citizenship rights!
Only the corrupt will lose power
Let UMNO and MCA leaders decide on one common message – whether it is the Malays or Chinese who will lose political power if UMNO/BN is replaced by Pakatan Rakyat in the 13GE.
The true answer is that it is not the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans who will lose political power but the UMNO-putras and their hangers-on in the other BN component parties – with ordinary Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region coming into their own to have rightful share in the decision-making process in a more democratic Malaysia.
It is time that UMNO and MCA leaders stop their irresponsible politics of "divide and rule" and compete with Pakatan Rakyat parties instead on "unite and rule" for a more democratic, just, prosperous and competitive Malaysia.
Lim Kit Siang is the DAP adviser & MP for Ipoh Timur
Shaddap and GTFO of Dewan nepotistic term limitless creep!
DON'T BE SO 'ULU' DAP: Stop the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA, have the GUTS to DEMAND level ground (below 3 items)!
Felled by own 90% Failures in the GE12 Manifesto
Such disloyal and unpatriotic notions is all the more reprehensible as they are built on despicable lies and falsehoods, that the defeat of DAP in the 13th GE will result in the loss of political power of the Lim Family Bloc, Anwar Family Bloc and Karpal Family Blocs resulting in the family blocs, to quote one speech: ". . . if Pakatan goes down in this struggle, Pakatan does not have anything left. Pakatan will be(ing) brought down to their knees, and eventually become destitute in Pakatan's own constituencies" to the empowerment of 3rd Force and the very rare handful of honest politicians within BN who subscribe top the above 3 items.
Only the nepotistic and term limitless will lose power.
The true answer is that it is not the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans who will lose political power but the DAP-putras and their hangers-on in the other Pakatan component parties – with ordinary Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region coming into their own to have rightful share in the decision-making process in a more democratic Malaysia by removing term limitless Lim Kitsiangs and Karpals and their families from family blocs in Parliament.
It is time that DAP and PKR leaders stop their irresponsible politics of "falsely-unify and rule-by-kicking out members and being dictators PAP style" and compete to match 3rd Force instead on "TERM LIMITS and END OF NEPOTISM" for a more democratic, just, prosperous and competitive Malaysia.
@AgreeToDisagree is the 3rd Force adviser & MP for The REAL ISSUE (Ending Apartheid via the above 3 items)
ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY: Malaysia can play key role – by Rueben Dudley, Petaling Jaya, Selangor – 23 November 2012 | last updated at 10:09PM
TWO important decisions at the recently concluded 21st Asean Summit in Phnom Penh were: the launch of the Asean Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and delaying the launch of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 12 months, from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2015, to iron out pending issues and prepare the necessary regulations.
RCEP is forged as an alliance between Asean and its six dialogue partners — Australia, China, India, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand — to create a free trade area with great potential for gains through economic cooperation.
To date, numerous free trade agreements (FTAs) and economic partnership agreements (EPAs) have been concluded between single Asean member nations and by Asean as a group with individual dialogue partners. However, the overlapping priorities, procedures and practices have reduced the effectiveness and the potential benefits of these agreements since businesses have to observe the different rules of these various arrangements while it has also increased the cost of utilising preferential concessions.
It is in that context that the Asean RCEP agreement, with its region-wide partners, has the potential to reduce the complexity arising from the current multiplicity of agreements by agreeing on a single package and focusing on Asean's centrality in the region.
Second, RCEP would be a basis for more complementary regional integration initiatives, since the partnership is to be built on the experiences, strengths and drawbacks of the many existing FTAs and EPAs.
It is also hoped that the Asean RCEP could spur efforts to set up an FTA between China, Japan and South Korea, a prospect faced with several impediments still to be resolved. Once established on a firm footing among the three northeast Asian nations, it can certainly enhance further regional economic integration.
All these positive aspirations and moves to achieve effective regional economic integration pivot on the countries concerned strengthening their commitment to, and being ready to work towards, that very goal, both among Asean members and their dialogue partners.
And, it is here, that the decision to delay by 12 months the launching of the AEC becomes critical. In that time frame, all Asean members must make progress to fulfil and implement the agreed road map and targeted actions for the AEC. That must surely be a prerequisite for realising the broader goal of regional economic integration.
One should also keep in mind that RCEP might be perceived as a competitor to the United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). At present, only Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam are a part of the TPP, while several other Asean members and dialogue partners, notably China, are not — a fact that could cause conflict of interests and derail effective economic integration.
Such a situation, if not clearly demarcated so that both the TPP and RCEP mutually benefit its members, could easily complicate further the existing and planned business pacts in the region, and frustrate efforts to achieve effective regional economic integration.
Malaysia, as a founding Asean member, having successful economic ties with all major countries and given its presence in both the TPP and RCEP, can and should play a key role in helping to promote the success of the AEC and the wider goal of regional economic integration, especially in the current context of a globalised economic and trading regime.
No. Malaysia may be a founding member of ASEAN, but has institutionalized apartheid in the social economic system and is nominally Islamo-extremist and Nazi style ethnic communalist to a certain level alongside extreme religious fundo-mindsets against LGBTs and other non-Muslim entertainments. These facts render Malaysia non-viable as an ASEAN signatory until corrected. So long as Malaysia has denied the minorities and non-Muslims :
Malaysia's role in ASEAN will be limited and biased, value deducted and disunifying from sheer inequality of the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA applied against the superminority of 40% of the non-Muslim and non-Malay population.
This is supposed to be one of our 'better' less fundo 'more liberal' Malays. England has extended far too much courtesy and spotlight to this duplicituous sorry specimen of humanity while ignoring worthier Malaysian citizens.
The women haters in Parliament – November 28, 2012
NOV 28 — So, we now have rules in Parliament to stop lawmakers from saying sexist things.
You can stop them saying sexist things but it doesn't change their mentality. It doesn't change the fact that both Umno and PAS have chauvinists in their ranks who demean women with their words and actions.
It's not just Kinabatangan boor Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin. Let's not forget PAS spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat who said, "Padan muka kena rogol" (Serves you right for being raped).
This is also the same man who said attractive women shouldn't work as they can get husbands, unlike their "uglier" brethren.
If I were to tell one of our chauvinistic MPs to his face that he hated women, he would probably reply, "Of course, not! I love women!"
Of course you do.
You love having women in your kitchen.
You love having women in your bedroom.
You love women when they tell you you're right. When they agree with you. When they're meek, pliable and not nearly as good at anything you do.
And when some woman tells you off for something like sexism or chauvinism, you brush her off as some "man-hating feminist."
There's a big difference between chauvinism and chivalry, but to some Malaysian men, they seem to be one and the same.
You don't have to be an MP to be sexist. Take former Umno Kota Kinabalu protem head, Roselan Johar Mohamed, who is famous not because he is current chair of the BIMP-Eeaga Malaysian Business Council but for saying "If you cannot fight rape, better lay down and enjoy it."
He claims he got that from a proverb by Confucius. I counter with a real quote from Confucius: "To subdue one's self and return to propriety, is virtue." Or, in other words, the right thing to do is have enough self-control to conduct yourself properly.
By that measure, too many of our politicians are very un-virtuous indeed.
It's not just the way our male politicians talk about women but the way female politicians are treated in this country.
Why the need for separate women's wings? Why, for instance, can't a woman contest for leadership positions against men in our political parties?
Why must there be separate wings and positions just for the women?
Why can't, say, a woman be the division head for Umno Selangor? Heck, why can't a woman be the mentri besar? Why aren't any of the mentri besar women? Where in our constitution does it specify that a woman cannot be head of state?
The reality is that sexism and chauvinism are entrenched in our local as well as political cultures. Telling our MPs to be "good boys" in Parliament isn't enough because all our men need to be taught to acknowledge women as equals.
Sexism, like racism, is something that will never really go away. But it doesn't mean that we can't do our level best to fight them.
You can start small by gently reprimanding someone like Bung by saying, "That's a sexist thing to say."
Mentally, feel free to imagine hitting him about the head with a rolled up newspaper. Even virtue has its limits.
(The writer would like to emphasise that she suggested to "imagine" and not actually perform acts of violence, no matter how tempting.)
* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
i) You can stop them saying sexist things but it doesn't change their mentality.
Hey you can't stop people from thinking or saying what they want 'Erna'. 1st Amendment Rights, Voltarian FREEDOM OF SPEECH (freedom of life)!
ii) It doesn't change the fact that both Umno and PAS have chauvinists in their ranks who demean women with their words and actions.
Doesn't change the fact that SOME women do prefer chauvinistic men enough to ignore any incidental 'demeaning' of women.
iii) Why the need for separate women's wings? Why, for instance, can't a woman contest for leadership positions against men in our political parties?
Erna are you a Muslim? UMNO and PAS are Muslim parties, seperate wings in fact are 'Muslim Characteristics', even though Malays are not Muslims to begin with. If Erna needs to be apostate, Erna should leave Islam, but do not try to change Islam's gender segregation. In time Islam will become a petty cult with the relic of gender seperation, this does not mean that Islam should change.
iv) Heck, why can't a woman be the mentri besar? Why aren't any of the mentri besar women? Where in our constitution does it specify that a woman cannot be head of state?
Do some work to declare Malaysia a secular state don't compl;ain here. In Islam, the Patriarchy is dominant, if Islam is the faith of the country, all Muslims should be aware that only men are MBs or CMs.Run for politics instead of carrying b@lls on the media portals. How about Erna run as the first apostate Malay woman MP candidate who will forward a bill for MBs to be women, or declaring Malaysia a secualar state Erna?
v) The reality is that sexism and chauvinism are entrenched in our local as well as political cultures.
AND some women like things this way too. And so long as there is demand, there will be supply.
vi) Telling our MPs to be "good boys" in Parliament isn't enough because all our men need to be taught to acknowledge women as equals.
ALL OUR MEN? Sorry Erna, women are not the same as men, or vice versa, NOR are men 'yours', and cannot be equals in the manner hoped for. Some women recognize this, some can't. Are you a lesbian or a man trapped in a woman's body Erna? Erna should have a sex change needed, or if bigendered in preference, lobby for 'shemale' to be included on ICs, Passports and perhaps even specil notes on birth certificates stating sex change or bigenderism.
vii) Mentally, feel free to imagine hitting him about the head with a rolled up newspaper. Even virtue has its limits.
Somone's into rough !@#. Nice! I'd say Erna is a closet lesbian, a man in a woman's body (too many male hormones in food?), or (secretly?) wants to be dominated by a 'Bung-like' man.
viii) You love women when they tell you you're right. When they agree with you. When they're meek, pliable and not nearly as good at anything you do.
Some do some don't. And as the song goes ' There's someone for everyone . . .' So stop picking on actually meek, pliable and ditzy women who are the raison d'etre of misogynistic men as much as meek, as much as pliable and ditzy women posing as such to seek the love of men they like even if these men are on the mental plane chauvinists! Some gaps in logic? Love and marriage is that nuanced, harems polygamous and polyandrous included . . . try the below link for some pretty normal looking polygamous families.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2242665/Sister-Wives-Polygamists-Joe-Darger-goes-vacation-identical-twin-sister-wives-cousin.html
Under the correct circumstances, or without the right backers, the state would haul Erna up and decide Erna was insane and needed to be medicated the rest of Erna's life. How absolutist can anyone get and without thinking through the above facts if not merely being a feminist demogogue intent on limiting the myriad forms of expression in marriage?
ARTICLE 14.5
Govt wants more Chinese to join 'Tukar' project – Wednesday, 28 November 2012 16:08
BERA – The government has tasked two cooperatives to get more Chinese traders to participate in the Retail Shop Transformation Project (Tukar) which has attracted less than 10 per cent of entrepreneurs from the community so far, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said here.
The government had also provided an allocation of RM8 million to the cooperatives – Koperasi Jaya Diri Malaysia Bhd and Koperasi Peralihan Usahawan Bersatu Cina – to do the job, which involved disseminating information on the project in Chinese to the targeted traders, he said.
Ismail Sabri said Chinese traders were reluctant to participate in the project because they could not obtain clear explanation of the project.
"We hope the two cooperatives will help disseminate the relevant information on Tukar in Chinese dialects to the traders for them to better understand the project," he told reporters after a dialogue with Chinese traders in Triang, here, yesterday.
Tukar is one of 13 Entry Point Projects under the Economic Transformation Programme to modernise 500 small retailers and co-operatives by the end of the year.
Ismail Sabri said it was not necessary for traders joining the Tukar project to sell only 1Malaysia products at their outlets as they could also sell other goods.
"The management of the business is upgraded under the Tukar project to be more systematic," he said.
Wednesday, 28 November 2012 20:00 posted by VQiong
Only opportunistic MCA cadre participated. No honourable Chinese will take up the offer.
Muhyiddin: We are just and fair to all races – Wednesday, 28 November 2012 16:14
DYSFUNCTIONAL STATE- Pakatan alienating each other, stoking racial hatred
KUALA LUMPUR: UMNO'S track record of being a just and fair party to all races compares favourably with the dysfunctional state governments ruled by Pakatan Rakyat since the 2008 general election.
Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Pakatan leaders, so used to stoking racial sentiments and religious extremism, had alienated each other in states under its rule.
He said a deep mistrust, racial and religious chasm and differing ideologies and political beliefs could seal Pakatan's fate.
In a rousing speech at the joint opening of the Wanita, Youth and Puteri delegates' conference last night ahead of the party's annual general assembly, Muhyiddin said:
"In Penang, DAP refuses to share power with Pas which has only one representative in the state assembly. Until today, none of the Pas members has been appointed as state executive council members.
"DAP went to the extent of appointing a Parti Keadilan Rakyat representative to handle the state religious portfolio although it knew that Pas was more qualified.
"Similarly in Kedah, the sole DAP assemblyman was not appointed as an exco in the Pas-ruled state while in Selangor, a Pas exco member and a DAP exco member had once clashed over the enforcement of Islamic laws in the PKR-led state."
Muhyiddin added Pakatan's win in the last general election served, therefore, as "a blessing in disguise for Barisan Nasional because it exposed its inability to work with each other".
He said power sharing among opposition leaders "had never existed" because of mistrust.
As for Umno, the deputy prime minister said the party continued to protect the interests of all races.
"Umno has never discriminated against any race in its struggles for the Malays and Islam in the last 66 years."
In an indirect reference to PKR's de facto leader, Muhyiddin hit out at "an opposition leader" whom he said had requested help from a foreign country to oversee the electoral process.
"He is telling lies to the whole world that our election process is not clean. This is treason and a dirty tactic by a desperado."
He said Malaysia under the BN administration had never reneged on its power-sharing promises in governing the country.
He also called on party members to give their all in the final lap before the general election.
"As party frontliners, Wanita, Pemuda and Puteri are the workhorses (pasukan tahan lasak). Go to all corners of the country and the cities, traverse valleys and the rivers, uphold our struggles and, God willing, we will parade our victory torch (in the general election)."
Muhyiddin: We are just and fair to all races.
NO, BN and UMNO are not just or fair to all races. Muhyiddin is not fair to all races. There is no justice or fairness without :
NO EXCUSES: Rescind immediately invitation to Sri Lanka president – PKR tells Najib – Monday, 26 November 2012 08:39
We view with serious concerns the Malaysian government's invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinder Rajapaksa to attend the 8th World Islamic Economic Forum from December 4 to 6 (despite the latest report that he may not be attending).
This invitation is certainly disgraceful and outrageous as President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a suspected war criminal for mass atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan army including the massacres of Tamil civilians and captured LTTE fighters, targeted shelling of civilians, rape, sexual assault, abuse and murder. In April 2011, a UN expert report concluded that as many as 40,000 people were killed in the final weeks of the war between the LTTE and government forces.
Although Malaysia is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), on 9 February, 2009 the government in its presentation at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UNHRC stated that "Malaysia has undertaken a detailed study and held consultations to study the legal implications arising from the provisions of the Rome Statute. Despite several concerns, Malaysia is fully committed to the principles and the establishment of the ICC and their integrity."
We therefore urge the Malaysian government to rescind the invitation to President Mahinda Rajapaksa as this invitation would send damaging signals to victims of mass atrocity in Sri Lanka and globally, Sri Lankan refugees worldwide including in Malaysia, and undermine Malaysia's credibility on issues of justice and the principles of the ICC.
Johari Abdul is the PKR Member of Parliament for Sungei Petani
Another stupido. Won't address apartheid in Malaysia but attacks Sri Lanka. PKR might be racist as well! Vote 3rd Force!
Traffic Fines In Malaysia Excessive – by @AgreeToDisagree –
Seatbelts not fastened, but do we really want to be fined? Get the 222 MPs to remove the fine! If any driver wants to die in an accident from not wearing seatbelts (which is not likely in slow paced jammed up roads in the cities), thats their right to do so.
But fining people only profiteers off the citizens! RM150 is EXCESSIVE especially from this sort of 'victimless traffic offence' thing. Was anyone hurt because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt? Was the driver driving quickly? Was the driver doing so many maneuvers with the car that needed a seatbelt to be worn? So the driver without seatbelt on might just be enjoying a sense of FREEDOM and not being bound into a seat to better enjoy a car ride while NOT being criminal minded. WHY does the traffic code need to be so invasive and consider this a crime? Who wrote the code? Also consider that a person who earns less than 1500 a month and barely saves 150 a month is effectively being bled to death by this sort of fine for a traffic offence.
I strongly suggest that 1% of salaries by applied for fining, and NO FINE by applied for those not currently working. This means that a 1000.00 earner pays 10.00 for a traffic offence, with 3% and 10% being levied for more serious or dangerous offences. Just wait till I get my MP's seat, prepare for MASSIVE overhauls of the system, so are we ready to vote and run for election alongside moi on this issue at least?
Percentage of salary based fines and bails (which seem to all say one thing – the rich are immune to justice and do not feel the pain of fines . . . ) BTW, the officer was 'kind' enough to offer to 'ignore' the 150 fine for a 50 'duit kopi', but even though moi could have put the money to better use, some of us would rather pay the full 150 than encourage bribery and corruption in the police force. BUT BECAUSE some of us also do not believe in destroying a civil servants life with a brownnoser style report, I'll leave the reporting of the bribery issue alone (no bribe paid anyway) and take on the state instead by running for candidacy (by proxy perhaps) simply to lower those damn fines or even amend the criminal codes as well. Whats the point of this sort of shameless profiteering?
Oh and the wheel clamp fine by police is excessive also, 50.00? What a waste of time and productivity, citizens may have slower traffic but saving money and time making trips to the payment counter makes for a happier citizen likelier to vote for the existing government. Plastic bags 0.20 cents? 0.05 cents more likely! To inform, out of sheer spirit some citizens hit with fines may not want to riot or turn cop-killers, but they sure as hell will try to screw the system if the system screws them. Whos's with the 99% in screwing back the system by making fines salary based through forcing MPs to assent to the above by voting someone else? Lets amend the criminal code by kicking out the BN and Pakatan MPs! End the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA! BN and Pakatan look set to not grant :
;so why should we vote them and their 23K salaries? 99% are we ready to vote 3rd Force? Lets LOWER all MP salaries and traffic fines, ditch the Hudud elements in the criinal code ESPECIALLY for non-Muslims and by Human Rights ALLOW Muslims who really want to have Article 18 of the Human Rights Charter their right to exercise what the rest of HUMANITY can!
Abdul Razak Baginda, Altantuya, Amina Mariam Bokhary, Anak Sarawak Bangsa Malaysia, Apartheid, corruption, cyanide minig, Danau Melikin, DAP undemocratic, DCN, debunks of positivist NLPs for Malays, lower minister pay, maid rape, Malaysia Politics, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Mariam Mokhtar, MCA, moderate Islam, Musa Aman, Musa Hassan, Musa money laundering, Najib, Nazri spins, NCR, Oil palm, PAP, Politics, Raub, Sabah, Sarawak Politics, Save Sarawak, Scorpène class submarine, Scorpene, Sri Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary, SUARAM, UMNO, urine drinking
In 1% tricks and traps, 2 term limits, 2nd Amendment, 3rd Force, abstention options, advice, advocacy, Apartheid, best practices, Bumiputera Apartheid, criticism, Democracy, democratisation, demogoguery, dhimmi, dhimmitude, dishonest academia, dishonest clergy, domestic terrorists in the political sphere, East Malaysia, equitable political power distribution, Ethics, freedom of choice, Freedom of Expression, freedom of speech, hudud, insularism, intent, Invasive Laws, Islam, lack of focus, land distribution, Legal Junta, media collusion, media tricks, misrepresentation of data, misrepresentation of facts, money laundering, neglectful functionaries, neo-colonialism, Nepotism, neurolinguistics, Neurotech, neutral spaces, non-Muslim rights, non-Muslim Rights in a Muslim country, orphanage, Orwellian, preventing vested interest, propaganda, quangocrat, secession, secularism, spirit of the law, subtle insults, terrorists, UN, undemocratic, unkept campaign promises, unprofessional behaviour, USA, vested interest on October 26, 2012 at 8:08 pm
UN In Malaysia Hopes Election Commission Will Use Its Election Report – October 24, 2012 22:35 PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 (Bernama) — United Nations (UN) in Malaysia hopes the government and the Election Commission (EC) to use its ground breaking report to enhance Malaysia's electoral reform efforts before the 13th General Election.
UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia, Kamal Malhotra said the report, which was issued last month, presents a strategy to increase the likelihood that incumbent politicians and governments would deepen democracy and improve the integrity of national elections.
Kamal said UN had long established a reputation for being globally the most experienced neutral and credible organisation on such issues worldwide.
"Indeed, since 1991, we have provided electoral assistance to more than 100 UN member states and four territories, including Mexico, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya," he said in his speech at the UN Malaysia Award 2012 here, Wednesday.
Applauding the EC for their recent decision to implement 26 out of the 32 recommendations made by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reform, he said the UN was prepared to share its vast experience and technical expertise in the area. Kamal also said that the UN commends and supports Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in countinuing on a path of law reform through the Political Transformation Programme which was consonant with international human rights norms and standards.
"We know that the government and people of Malaysia are committed to nation building and democratic consolidation," he said.
Earlier, the Malaysian Bar Council was conferred with the UN Malaysia Award 2012 for its role in promoting democracy and human rights.
The UN Person of the Year Award was also posthumously awarded to the late Prof Khoo Kay Jin in recognition of his lifetime of outstanding achievement.
How could the Bar Council accept the award with a straight face when it could not disbar V.K. Lingam for his role in perverting the course of justice?
Mr Bean October 25, 2012 at 7:13 am
Hussin must be his dreaming self again. It is time he has both feet on the ground. The failure to purge the honorable profession of members seen to be flouting its own rules is symptomatic of a wider problem that continues to make a mockery of its struggle to give meaning to the rule of law.
Here is a profession which grew from some 600 members in the '60s to multiples of 3,000 members today in the short space of a few decades and whose members for the most part depend on the government directly or indirectly for their livelihood, to put food on the table for their famiies, it is wishful thinking to think that they could be more than anything else but a group of self serving individuals who would prostitute their profession and betray the principles of their profession, sell their grandmothers and throw others under the bus when push comes to shove.
Having said that there have been a committed and dedicated handful fiercely loyal to their profession who are working to bring back honor to their profession that have alluded it over the years. But even they are powerless to bring change where change is most needed.
Mr Bean October 25, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Toad! This award is entirely inappropriate. How could the UN award the Bar Council when Kugan (ok a car thief is a criminal but does not deserve to die so terribly and under such poor procedure) Teo Beng Hock (political sacrifice by DAP – anyone who took on the ACA at that time was doomed, DAP just didn'y like TBH's politics and sent TBH to TBH's doom) and Altantuya (the world knows this one, diplomatic fallout no end for BN . . . ) died without legal redress? When socio-economic apartheid continues uncontrolled? When forced military conscriptions are unaddressed? Where the country is being bled by term limitless nepotists in either BN or PR coalition, and Orang Asli land is stolen ALL THE TIME? Does the UN know that Malaysia lacks :
;and that the Bar Council (which I visited in person but were all unwilling to address APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA) is asleep on the job regards even Article 1 of the Human Rights Charter which is equality that Malaysians do not have, Article 18 of the Human Rights Charter which is freedom of choice in religion which Malaysia ALSO does not have? Bar Council are panders and colluders to Malaysian insouciance and opacity, hiding behind a legal junta of undemocratically installed judge that collude with MPs to hide all sorts of Human Rights abuses?
For years the United Nations has aggressively worked against the best interests of our country and many of our allies. The UN's actions and intentions toward the United States have been nothing short of reprehensible." Republican congressman Connie Mack Saturday Oct 27 2012 . . .
Well, faux-Muslets at the Bar Council? Did Bar Council bribe the UN for this award? The people don't need a legal education to understand all the above facts. I am shocked at the UN! What is wrong with the UN?
Propaganda online was never this blatant . . .
How many times have the Muslim Traders Association had to protest DAP's policy en masse on the street, and even small traders been targetted, land laws corrupted to benefit DAP, illegal distribution of tax funds that the proud among Penangites refuse to accept?
DAP has institutionalized corruption, while BN's corruption is undertable.
Because one writes a corrupt law (i) much like creating a Minister Mentor and Senior Minister's posts to STEAL tax monies with the assent of MPs, or (ii) 750K funerals for CMs and Assemblywomen wives 120K funerals AT THE Rakyat's expense)
;does not represent the will of 99% of the REAL voters – Representative Democracy is NOT 1 man 1 vote TRUE democracy . . .) does not make DAP any more moral or shows more integrity in DAP.
At least in some cases MCA is ashamed and tries to hide corruption DAP is totally shameless like PAP's creating the 4 million + yearly Minister mentor and Senior Minister posts (this was kept but had Minister mentor created because the short form SM also means Sado-Masochist – and the taxpayers by MP collusion had to tolerate ANOTHER 4 million in a new post for Beloved Leader . . .),
;and writes shameless laws to justify corruption, saying 'thats the law', but none of the Rakyat would ever allow those laws, only the colluding MPs will . . .
Meanwhile BOTH MCA (Barisan) and DAP (Pakatan), dare not attack apartheid. Vote for 3rd Force!
The battle for Nibong Tebal – by Oppailyn Mok – October 26, 2012
The busiest part of the Nibong Tebal constituency is Jawi town. The next general election is expected to be the closest fight to form the new government. And several seats across the nation are likely to see heated battles with the victor winning by the slimmest of majorities. The Malaysian Insider takes a look at some of these hot seats in what will be an intense election for control of Malaysia.
NIBONG TEBAL, Oct 26 — Located on the southern part of Seberang Perai, this small township of about 50,000 people is almost like the last frontier of mainland Penang.
That's because there is a spot in this quiet little town where you just need to take one step forward and you would have left Penang and stepped right into Perak.
Perhaps it is due to its distance from the busy city of George Town but not many Penang folk would venture here except for foodies intent on trying out the town's famed Teochew crab porridge, boiled baby octopus and curried freshwater prawns.
Far from the sea, it may seem strange that this mainland township's fame is tied to "seafood" but considering the Krian River runs through it, the mud crabs and freshwater prawns are obviously local catches.
Jawi is the busiest part of the whole constituency where there is a concentration of shoplots, food courts, wet markets, restaurants, supermarkets and government offices.
Nibong Tebal is spread out over three state constituencies — Jawi, Sungai Acheh and Sungai Bakap — with different racial groups in different villages.
The whole of Nibong Tebal is made up of about 55 per cent non-Malays and about 45 per cent Malays, with a majority of the Malays located in the Sungai Acheh area where agriculture is the main industry.
Jawi town is the main hub with its rows of shophouses.
That's why choosing a candidate to contest the parliamentary seat can be tricky as the contesting parties will need to satisfy the needs of both the Malays and non-Malays.
Previously, the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat and its three state seats, Sungai Acheh, Sungai Bakap and Jawi, were all Barisan Nasional (BN) seats.
In the 2004 general election, Umno (BN) newcomer Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman won the parliamentary seat with a 6,005-vote majority while the three state seats also saw BN winning with huge majorities but in 2008, BN only managed to retain the Sungai Acheh state seat with a slim majority of 250 votes and lost the rest.
This coming election, Zainal Abidin is tipped to be the one to try to win the seat back for BN even though the current MP, Tan Tee Beng, who won the seat on the PKR ticket, is now an independent MP.
Zainal Abidin is tipped to be the BN candidate for the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat.
Zainal Abidin was previously a parliamentary secretary in the Foreign Ministry when he was the Nibong Tebal MP in 2004.
A local boy, Zainal Abidin's family home is located in one of the villages here but other than to his fellow villagers, he is not that well-known in the non-Malay community.
Instead, he often appears at BN functions with Nibong Tebal BN co-ordinator Tan Cheng Liang, who is also former Jawi state assemblyman and tipped to contest the Jawi state seat, purportedly to show a united BN front.
It is obvious that Nibong Tebal has been "under attack" by BN which is intent on winning the two state seats and the parliamentary one back this time around.
This year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced a RM8.5 million allocation for Nibong Tebal for development projects such as construction of a multi-purpose hall in Nibong Tebal (RM3 million), repainting of apartments (RM2 million), repairing of houses in Indian and Chinese villages (RM2 million) and rebuilding of Sekolah Agama Rakyat Al-Amin (RM1.8 million).
Fishing is an industry in the area as the Krian River runs through Nibong Tebal.
A few months ago, Tan handed out cooking utensils and equipment worth about RM160,000 to single mothers and low-income families under the 1Azam programme.
There was also a "promotional blitz" of sorts when the MCA launched its Jom Masuk Kampung (Let's Enter The Villages) roadshow in Penang at Nibong Tebal with all of the top MCA leadership spending the day at various villages in the constituency.
More recently, BN allocated a further RM3 million, on top of the RM1 million it had earlier allocated, to the building fund of SMJK Jit Sin II which is located in the constituency. The school is in the midst of raising RM30 million for its building fund.
But all this attention by BN does not seem to impress many of the constituents. "We are not small children who can be pleased by offerings of sweets and candies. Do they think us stupid?" a resident said when asked if they feel indebted to BN for all the goodies it has been handing out to the constituency.
After speaking to the villagers, it is clear that the general sentiment seems to be one of disgust, disappointment and even hatred for BN and its leaders.
"They think we are slow-thinking villagers who do not know how to access the Internet to get the real story behind their corruption and excesses? There they are spending our money like their own and then when elections come, they pretend to give us little titbits as if it is from their own pocket," one Jawi resident said.
Many of them said they would not give BN another chance to "cheat" and "lie" to them. "If I see any of them, I turn around and walk away. I feel it is really time that we changed the whole federal government, not only change our state assemblymen and MP," said an elderly resident who's been following the political scene closely through the news and the Internet.
A quiet village in Nibong Tebal, where the electorate is made up of about 55 per cent non-Malays and about 45 per cent Malays,
He said it was not really about the individual component parties any more but more about BN versus Pakatan Rakyat (PR). "Even if PR were to put a PAS candidate for the parliamentary seat, I am certain PR will still win the seat," he said.
He added that the scare tactics by BN about hudud did not turn the non-Malays off PR but instead make them even more disgusted with BN. "Again, they seem to think we are fools. We all know hudud is only for Muslims so why should we even be afraid of something that has nothing to do with us?"
Zainal Abidin is expected to go head to head with Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mansor Othman, the Penang PKR chief. Mansor is the incumbent Penanti state assemblyman and it seems he's destined for bigger things, such as a Cabinet position if PR succeeds in its bid to win Putrajaya.
Mansor may be the PR candidate for Nibong Tebal.
A PKR member said voters in Nibong Tebal were not in the least bit angry with PKR over Tan Tee Beng leaving the party and becoming a BN-friendly independent MP. "In fact, voters may construe this as another dirty trick by BN and this may just anger them more so this could mean more votes for PKR," he said.
He said this may be why Mansor may be chosen to contest this seat as he is the PKR state chief and the current deputy chief minister. "Having someone more 'established' and experienced will be an advantage to PKR," he said.
Earlier there was talk that Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wanted to take this seat but he has confirmed that he will continue to stand in Permatang Pauh. There is also talk of Anwar's second daughter, Nurul Nuha, being proposed as a candidate for Nibong Tebal.
Mansor also reportedly confirmed that Nurul Nuha's name was listed as a possible candidate for Nibong Tebal.
So, will it be the relatively new Nurul Nuha or will it be Mansor? According to a voter, it doesn't really matter.
"As long as it is Pakatan Rakyat, we will vote for the candidate but we do not want another frog so the party better put someone reliable there," said the PKR member. Despite the positive reactions PR has been getting from voters there, a grassroots member said it would still be a tough fight.
"We are not so worried about the non-Malay votes but winning the Malay votes can be tough so it will be a close call," he predicted.
Battle? Don't be so dramatic. The MP is supposed to LEAVE after 2 terms preferably or they become a stale colluding farce that cannot challenge APARTHEID despite parliamentary immunity that allow Road Tolls, forced military conscriptions, Astro monopolies (refusing to legalise satellite dishes) and other nonsense like refusing to lower Election Deposits which are so high that the majority of the lower and middle class are prevented from running for election due to the sheer cost in a form of plutocracy that becomes nepotistic then dictatorlike and eventually resorts to sabotage of activists and the 5th estate via social sabotage, staged 'embarassing events' (that result in sh1t cake retaliations) or even worse, neurotech and psychiatric sabotage in extreme cases where the target is too clever for their fundo mindsets, LIES and undemocratic intentions against the people.
. . . so why should we even be afraid of something that has nothing to do with us? . . .
Politics of expedience gives rise to the racists to apply apartheid and fuels the cowardice of Pakatan politicians who think like this. This is an ethically corrupt stance that will lead to dictators, nepotists and death of democracy in general. BN is apartheid and corrupt, but Pakatan is as bad if not worse in this sort of severe weakness. Hudud is an abomination against Human Rights and any person who goes . . . so why should we even be afraid of something that has nothing to do with us? . . . is one of the people of the world who fuels the cause of evil and oppression of humanity. If they have no capacity to care for such issues, they cannot care for democracy and thus are unqualified to run the nation . . .
Novelist portrays dark underbelly of Chinese politics HONG KONG | Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:08am EDT – by Sisi Tang – Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/25/us-books-authors-wang-idUSBRE89O0BQ20121025
HONG KONG, Oct 25 — Chinese author Wang Xiaofang, a former government official turned best-selling novelist, is a forceful advocate for democratization and staunch critic of Chinese contemporaries who he sees as too cosy with the establishment.
Since resigning as secretary to the deputy mayor of Shenyang city in northeastern China, Wang has written "officialdom" novels drawing on his Communist Party insider's experience to expose greed, intrigue, corruption and factional rivalry in the highly secretive and murky world of Chinese politics.
In "The Civil Servant's Notebook," his first book translated into English and due out next month, Wang, 49, skewers politicians reminiscent of Bo Xilai, the ousted politician at the centre of China's biggest political scandal in two decades.
The Shenyang-based Wang, whose 13 novels have been widely pirated and have sold 3 million official copies, spoke with Reuters on the sidelines of the Hong Kong Literary Festival about Honore de Balzac and urine-drinking as a metaphor for absolute authority.
Q: What kinds of difficulties have you encountered in publishing your type of work in China?
A: "My fourth book, 'The Mayor's Secretary,' made its rounds all over China in the search of an accepting publisher. I managed to get through to some publishers that would have frequent changes in management and editors so I can sometimes slip something through but even then, it would get rejected most of the time. I have not published for two years. I have four books waiting to get published. The environment has become more restrictive in the past two years.
"I stayed low profile in mainland China for a while. I don't publicize my work there. There's no TV series or film I can profit from. I have not received Chinese awards. They wouldn't dare make a film out of this, and they're not allowed to. In the beginning I received many threats, telling me to stop or they will chop off my hands. Some officials would look through my fictional work and say I'm writing about them and directly implicating them. They all look for themselves."
Q: How do you feel about the works of other Chinese writers? What's your reaction to Mo Yan being awarded the Nobel Prize?
A: "I give my congratulations to Mo Yan. His works stem from the stories and civilization of his hometown, depicting the life and culture of that society. Not all literature necessarily has to lash out against the government. One can certainly write about a myriad of things in life. Mo Yan took that route.
"Many Chinese writers do comply with the system. They have stable salaries even if they don't write. China's writers, once they earn a bit of reputation, will aim for official positions in writer's associations. The well-known writers in China are all vice chairmen or chairmen of these associations, which means they are Party officials. They have their private cars.
"Most Chinese writers in the mainland eulogize authority. For instance, something like Honore de Balzac's critical realism — mainland writers do not employ that. They employ eulogistic realism. They applaud the system.
"I aspire to a new style of writing, like how Joyce and Proust made contributions to literary history with their stream of consciousness approach, or Franz Kafka's impact on 20th century literature. But there hasn't been a similar literary movement in China. They imitate previous styles and ideas from the West but never created their own genre. Lu Xun, for instance, whom I respect very much, did not create a new style."
Q: How are your books a commentary on the Bo Xilai scandal and on China's current political atmosphere?
A: "The Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun case may seem out of the ordinary, but they are in fact inevitable. There will be other similar occurrences. It's the system. They are all the same characters. There's a character similar to Bo Xilai in my recent book. As long as there's absolute authority, it will produce such authority figures. Absolute authority means absolute corruption. This event shows the urgency and necessity of reform in the Chinese system.
"In this book, one of the officials had been drinking urine for five years because he thinks it has medicinal benefits. Then during a banquet his friends poured him a beer and he cried because he had been drinking urine for such a long time. The urine symbolizes the cultural garbage inherent to the system that the official complies with, and that's believed to be beneficial. I won't comment on the political, but I hope that China can move towards reform. Reform of civil society and law is China's Golden Road towards future progress. I hope the new leadership can bring this about."
Q: Do you see a burgeoning Chinese literary movement? Will this society in transition produce a new crop of writers?
A: "If they all become party officials, then no. Many don't have the courage to rely solely on their pen to make a living…
"Most of the material coming from Chinese writers today, the ones translated into English, talk about the period before or during the Cultural Revolution but do not focus on China's current affairs. As for works that do focus on current society, the ones that write about urban life are full of depictions of song and dance and wealth, while the ones set in the countryside depict the beautiful scenery. They do not touch upon the darkness of current reality. Under such a system, we cannot be ourselves. We become spiritual eunuchs and helpless bystanders. This is extremely painful. Your soul is not free."
"In this man-made system, the human has become a non-human. So if I just sat on the inside and kept watching, then I will also turn into a beetle, like in Franz Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis.' The person from my past political life has passed. The person sitting in front of you is an ordinary man, a writer." — Reuters
. . . urine-drinking as a metaphor for absolute authority . . .
Little wonder the Lee junta family in Singapore introduced 3% reprocessed sewer treated waste water (thats both urine AND faeces), into the water system in Singapore. That way the NLP will affect the people and make them more 'obedient'. Aren't we all glad we are not living in Singapore? Incidentally troublemaker Japan looks quite bad too in creating the 'Faeces Steak'. Please educate the peoples of ASEAN what they are up against writers and 1st world minded nations, the political junta has in place a system of oppression, subtle or not, and purveyors of such 'urine drinking by proxy (i.e. grey water)' mindsets must not be let off and must be outed. 2 terms only!
Hello Shitty!
http://www.dailytech.com/Japanese+Make+Delicious+Nourishing+Steaks+From+Human+Feces/article21932.htm
Jakarta Men Arrested for Alleged Unlicensed Sale of Airsoft Guns – Bayu Marhaenjati & Zaky Pawas | October 22, 2012
Jakarta Police display airsoft guns seized during the arrest of two men accused of selling the illegal guns on Facebook at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday. (JG Photo/Safir Makki) Jakarta Police display airsoft guns seized during the arrest of two men accused of selling the illegal guns on Facebook at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)
TheSplodge – 10:41pm Oct 22, 2012
Commentator Commentary :
What a pathetic waste of time and how is this the 2nd headline? These guns fire plastic pellets for gawd sake. Is this really the best use of police time? Mind you, anything harder than plastic and the police would have run away.
Aceh Shuts Down Buddhist Temples and Churches – Rangga Prakoso | October 22, 2012
Indonesia's Interfaith Dialogue and the Reality Of Religious Minorities' Neglected Aspirations 4:26pm Oct 18, 2012
Sampang Shiites Still Live as Refugees as Government Intervention Fails 12:01pm Oct 8, 2012
Achieve Religious Harmony in Indonesia First, Activists Tell SBY 9:28am Sep 28, 2012
GKI Yasmin Still Unsettled 9:22am Sep 27, 2012
Peace is Key in SBY's UN Speech 8:56am Sep 26, 2012
President Susilo, too busy colluding, or asleep behind the wheel? Any can detest Christians and Buddhists but they have a right to be present in all societies in the world as much as a Satanist or a Goth into Vampirism. Muslims in fact are much noisier what with the loudspeakers and all that . . . Anything beyond the decibel level of human voices should be deemed illegal but why the demolitions in such a fundo manner? President Susilo? Investigations? Reparations?
Mind your language – THE CORRIDORS OF POWER – Monday, 22 October 2012 Super Admin – Raja Petra Kamaruddin
So, legally, a Member of Parliament cannot resign his or her seat and re-contest that seat in a by-election. This means that issue first needs to be addressed. And then we need to amend/abrogate the Article in the Constitution that guarantees all Malaysians freedom of association. You will be denied freedom of association once you get elected into office.
First please read Chief Minister of Penang Lim Guan Eng's press statement below. I have not edited or amended it because I want you to read it as it is.
It looks like someone had translated this statement into English from the original Chinese version. Since this press release carries the Chief Minister's name there should be a higher standard of language used. The grammar and sentence structure should be as flawless as possible and words or phrases such as 'political frogs' should be avoided.
Name-calling cheapens the message. If we indulge in name-calling where do we draw the line? Mahathir al Mamak. Anwar al Jubur. Khalid (Ibrahim) al Lembik. Najib al Tantuya. Ibrahim (Ali) al Katak. Hee al Camry.
Can you see that the list of 'names' we can attach to various Malaysian personalities is endless? You only need to allow your imagination to run wild and Malaysians certainly have a world-class imagination when it comes to giving people 'names'. I bet the comments below are going to be flooded with some very creative and imaginative 'names' of people you love to hate, me included.
Nevertheless, I am giving Guan Eng the benefit of the doubt and will assume that his aides and speechwriters would usually prepare his press statements. I am sure Guan Eng is too busy to sit down with pen and paper and spend hours writing all these statements. Guan Eng has to review the quality of his staff and outsource some of this work if necessary in the interest of maintaining a higher standard.
One of the criteria of a good speechwriter would be the research required. The statements must not only be consistent with earlier statements and the party stand but they must also be consistent with the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the State Constitution, convention, tradition, cultural norms, religious sensitivities, sentiments and whatnot.
There are so many things to consider in making a statement because in this age of the information revolution people will remember what you said even 30 or 40 years ago. So you cannot make a faux pas and get away with it. It will come back to haunt you later. And the 'I have been misquoted' excuse no longer works, as many people have discovered.
I can afford to ignore all these 'pitfalls' and write 'no holds barred'. I do not need for people to like or love me because I will not be contesting the election and, therefore, do not need your votes. The same can't be said for Guan Eng. Public perception and public support is very crucial in Guan Eng's case. This will determine whether he wins or loses the election.
Now, before you go off tangent and start saying that this is a Guan Eng bashing article, please note for the record that Guan Eng is one of my more favourite politicians. I actually went to Penang back in 2008 to help campaign for him. I did not do that for the other Pakatan Rakyat politicians other than Ronnie Liu and Nurul Izzah Anwar (and the proof is all on YouTube if you care to do a Google search).
Nazri Aziz made a statement in Parliament today saying that Malaysia is neither a Secular State nor an Islamic State. And the reason Nazri said this, according to him, is because Malaysia's Constitution is 'silent' on the matter and makes no mention of it.
I find that politicians will quote the Constitution when it suits them and if it does not then they will quote the Qur'an, the Hadith, the Sunnah, the Social Contract, the Merdeka Agreement, the 18-Point Agreement, the 20-Point Agreement, the New Economic Policy, the Election Manifesto, the Reid Commission, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and whatnot.
If Nazri wants to follow the Constitution then the Constitution is also silent on the matter of the race and religion of the Prime Minister. Legally, Lim Guan Eng can become the Prime Minister of Malaysia. But Guan Eng cannot become the Prime Minister even though legally, according to the Constitution, he can. And we know why he cannot and also know that it has nothing to do with the Constitution.
Basically, politicians will make a statement and then they will find the justification for that statement. And most times they will contradict themselves from one statement to another. And if they fail to find the right justification they can always use convention, tradition, cultural norms, religious sensitivities, sentiments, etc., as the excuse to justify what they say.
So which 'guideline' do we follow then? The Constitution, the Qur'an, the Hadith, the Sunnah, the Social Contract, the Merdeka Agreement, the 18-Point Agreement, the 20-Point Agreement, the New Economic Policy, the Election Manifesto, the Reid Commission, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, convention, tradition, cultural norms, religious sensitivities, sentiments, the powers of the Minister, or what?
We must note that each of those various 'guidelines' may contradict one other. So, when yesterday we used one, today we use another, and tomorrow we use yet another, this means we are contradicting ourselves.
Legally, when you vote for someone, whom are you voting for? At the back of your mind you may be voting for the party rather than the candidate. That may be what you are subconsciously doing. But I am asking: legally, whom do you vote for?
When a Member of Parliament stands up in Parliament, the Speaker will address you as, say, "Ahli (Member) dari Lembah Pantai". The Speaker does not address you as "Ahli dari PKR" or "Ahli dari Pakatan Rakyat". So you are the wakil or ahli from Lembah Pantai. That is your 'legal status'. Which party you are from is not the issue. Hence even if you change parties that does not affect your Parliament status.
Now, if we want whoever changes parties to resign (by law) and re-contest the seat in a by-election, we will first need to amend the law that bars someone who resigns from re-contesting for a period of five years.
Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail resigned her Permatang Pauh seat in mid-2008. That means she cannot contest any Parliament seat until at least mid-2013. And that also means she will have to give the coming general election a miss, unless she decides to contest a state seat instead.
It also must be made clear that if you get elected into office you are not Wakil Rakyat but Wakil Parti. And to make sure this is clear, the Speaker must address the Members of Parliament as, say, "Ahli dari PKR" and not "Ahli dari Lembah Pantai".
Can you see the changes that will be required? It is not merely a simple matter of amending a few words in the State Constitution. A paradigm shift will be required including reconditioning the minds of the voters and the minds of those people who the voters vote into office.
Okay, back to Nazri's statement today. Nazri is using the Constitution as his guide and his argument is that Malaysia is neither a Secular State nor an Islamic State. So what are we then?
For sure Malaysia is not a Republic because we are a Constitutional Monarchy. And the nine State Rulers are Heads of Islam in their respective states while His Majesty the Agong is Head of Islam for the Federation (plus the four states that do not have Rulers and instead have Governors).
What powers do the Rulers have as Head of Islam? For example, say, Their Highnesses the Sultans of Kelantan and Terengganu want to implement Hudud in their respective states since these two State Assemblies have already approved it years ago. Can this be done?
Nazri would say 'no' because Parliament first needs to approve these laws. And since Parliament has not approved it (or has rejected it) then it can't be done. New laws or amendments to old laws need to be approved by Parliament.
But then is Islam a State matter under the charge of the Rulers or a Federal matter under the charge of Parliament? Ah, Nazri will argue, but Hudud is a legal matter, not a religious matter. So the Federal government and not the State governments have authority over this matter.
Okay, but then apostasy (leaving Islam), drinking/selling of liquor, adultery, illicit sex (sex outside marriage), khalwat (close proximity), etc., are also religious issues. And they are also legal issues. Each state has its own laws and its own forms of punishment for these 'crimes'. And they differ from one state to another.
We must also remember that although, officially, there are no Hudud laws in Malaysia, those crimes I mentioned above come under Hudud. Hence we DO have Hudud in Malaysia. The only thing is we do not call them Hudud. It is 'silent' as to what they are. So, for purposes of giving them a name, we call them Shariah laws.
But Shariah laws are a collection of laws. And one of these collections of laws under the Shariah is Hudud. So what Malaysia has done is it has allowed the implementation of (part of) Hudud as long as you call them Shariah laws and not Hudud laws. You can implement Hudud laws but do not label them as Hudud although they are in reality Hudud laws.
It is like the issue of usury or riba'. In Islam, riba' is haram (forbidden). So don't call it riba'. Call it faedah (benefit/interest) or keuntungan (profit/gain). Then it is no longer haram. It is halal (kosher).
Sex outside marriage (zina) is also haram. So don't call it zina. Call it mut'a (temporary marriage). You get married for a couple of hours just for sex so it is no longer zina and hence not haram. After the sex you 'divorce'.
Burkha for Nudist Muslims anyone?
Can we take this further? Say you have a bad cough. You then get the doctor (a Muslim doctor if need be) to say that you need some brandy to get rid of your cough. So, for health reasons, you can drink brandy and it is no longer haram. You don't call it arak. You call it ubat.
Yes, then we can issue a fatwah concerning 'defending' Islam and then blow up a school bus with 50 Jewish children inside it. It is not called murder any longer. It is called jihad.
Can you see there is no limit to what we can do when we twist and turn to suit our agenda? And can you also see why Malaysians in general and Malays-Muslims in particular are a very confused lot? They contradict themselves and make statements to suit their objective even though these statements do not make sense.
One day they scream about freedom of this, that or the other. The next day they make a statement that violates all these freedoms. The issue of Islam and the rules of Islam is one case in point. Do we arrest and then jail, cane, fine, tickle, torture, slap, fondle, spank or punch a Muslim who is caught drinking liquor? Furthermore, do we just punish the offender or also the person/establishment that 'collaborated' in the 'crime'?
When you allow prostitution in your massage parlour, not only the prostitutes but also the massage parlour owner will be punished. If your pub employs Muslim staff and they sell beer to Muslims, not only the Muslim customer will be punished. The Muslim staff and the pub owner will face punishment as well.
Is this the law? Yes, according to some states, but not according to the Federal government — or else the government-owned establishments and GLCs will also face punishment. But then they do not face punishment, do they?
So it appears like this is a State criminal law and not a Federal criminal law. People can face criminal action in some states. And this is Hudud although not called Hudud. Hence it appears like the States can by-pass or ignore Parliament if they wish to do so. But then the Federal government says that the States cannot implement or amend laws without the approval of Parliament.
Aiyah! Pening kepala! Yang mana yang betul ni?
Okay, so can Penang introduce laws or amend laws that make party-hopping a crime? Do they need Parliament's approval or an amendment to the Federal Constitution for this? And while on that subject, can Penang then also pass a law that DOES NOT make it a crime for Muslims to drink beer?
And if not, why not? Is it because His Majesty the Agong and not the Penang State government is the authority over Islam? And if that is the case then can His Majesty the Agong introduce Hudud in Penang whether the Penang State Government and/or DAP/Pakatan Rakyat agrees or not?
Yes, confusing, is it not? Sometimes the Minister has sole authority. Sometimes the Cabinet is the authority. Sometimes the Menteri Besar/Chief Minister has authority. Sometimes the State EXCO has authority. Sometimes Parliament has authority. Sometimes the EXCO Member has authority. Sometimes the Ruler has authority. Sometimes the Mufti has authority. Sometimes the Religious Department has authority. Sometimes the Attorney-General has authority. Sometimes the IGP has authority. Sometimes the OCDP has authority. Sometimes the CPO has authority. Sometimes the court is the authority.
And sometimes the dogcatcher is the final authority as to whether to kill the stray dogs by drowning or send them to a dog's home.
Lim Guan Eng's Press Release today
The PR state government will not be deterred by BN's support for the culture of political frogs but is determined to table a historic constitutional amendment to push through an anti-hopping law in the Penang state assembly meeting on 1 November 2012. The State Legal Advisor has been tasked with the necessary process of gazetting the proposed constitutional amendment.
Any amendment to the Penang state constitution requires a 2/3 majority and PR has the required numbers by holding 29 out of the 40 seats. All 3 parties in Penang PR of PAS, PKR and DAP have also supported the proposed constitutional amendment requiring State Assembly members who jump or change their party affiliation to resign and re-contest in a by-election.
BN and MCA have taken the opportunity to hit out at the Penang state government at yesterday's MCA Annual General Assembly by dramatically labelling the proposed anti-hopping law as unconstitutional and that it will even creating a constitutional crisis that will be the very foundation of the Federal Constitution and the nation at risk. The Penang state government believes that the anti-hopping law should be within the Federal Constitution for 3 principal reasons.
One, it respects the democratic mandate of the people being kingmakers by allowing their constituents to either support or reject the decision of their elected representatives to hop from one party to another. As parliamentary democracy is the basis of our Federal Constitution, the anti-hopping law by reinforcing its democratic character will only serve to strengthen the Federal Constitution.
Two, the anti-hopping law does not infringe on a person's right of freedom of association as he or she can join any party subject to a renewal of mandate by the constituents. Finally this will also ensure the practice of political accountability as well as principled values and public integrity in Penang, where elected representatives can not be traded like a commodity at the highest price.
BN and MCA's condemnation of Penang PR's anti-hopping laws provides a stark difference between BN's focus on party interests and personalities as compared to PR emphasis on policies and people.
No word on apartheid but more attempts to control power in DAP? Fools do not understand that a political party is not a family business. DAP really needs to be taught a lesson for trying to force MPs to stay in the party. As per democracy, any MP can leave, but a by-election should be conducted immediately WITH that MP allowed to run for election so long as that MP has not yet spent a second term in office because the people may be on the MP's side and not the party in individually considered cases. This current CM has spent 1.5 terms in office and the political culture has worsened since and become less democratic since DAP won in Penang. Time for 3rd Force parties to take over before DAP becomes a second PAP like in Singapore. They imagine synchronicity will work here to ensure DAP's rule forever. That will not be so, DAP will be kicked out because DAP has failed to keep 90% of campaign promises and has been particularly antagonistic to the Muslims here.
What Is A Private Attorney General
Private attorney general is an informal term usually used today in the United States to refer to a private party who brings a lawsuit considered to be in the public interest, i.e., benefiting the general public and not just the plaintiff.[1] The person considered "private attorney general" is entitled to recover attorney's fees if he or she prevails. The rationale behind this principle is to provide extra incentive to private citizens to pursue suits that may be of benefit to society at large.
Many civil rights statutes rely on private attorneys general for their enforcement. In Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises,[2] one of the earliest cases construing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the United States Supreme Court ruled that "A public accommodations suit is thus private in form only. When a plaintiff brings an action . . . he cannot recover damages. If he obtains an injunction, he does so not for himself alone but also as a 'private attorney general,' vindicating a policy that Congress considered of the highest priority." The United States Congress has also passed laws with "private attorney general" provisions that provide for the enforcement of laws prohibiting employment discrimination, police brutality, and water pollution. Under the Clean Water Act, for example, "any citizen" may bring suit against an individual or a company that is a source of water pollution.[citation needed]
Another example of the "private attorney general" provisions is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). RICO allows average citizens (private attorneys general) to sue those organizations that commit mail and wire fraud as part of their criminal enterprise.[citation needed] To date, there are over 60 federal statutes[citation needed] that encourage private enforcement by allowing prevailing plaintiffs to collect attorney's fees.
Attorneys who function as a private attorney general do so without compensation. The statutes permitting a plaintiff to recover attorneys' fees have been held not to apply when the plaintiff is an attorney.
Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act
The U.S. Congress codified the private attorney general principle into law with the enactment of Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The Senate Report on this statute stated that The Senate Committee on the Judiciary wanted to level the playing field so that private citizens, who might have little or no money, could still serve as "private attorneys general" and afford to bring actions, even against state or local bodies, to enforce the civil rights laws. The Committee acknowledged that, "[i]f private citizens are to be able to assert their civil rights, and if those who violate the Nation's fundamental laws are not to proceed with impunity, then citizens must have the opportunity to recover what it costs them to vindicate these rights in court." Where a plaintiff wins his or her lawsuit and is considered the "prevailing party," § 1988 acts to shift fees, including expert witness fees [at least in certain types of civil rights actions, under the Civil Rights Act of 1991, even if not in § 1983 actions], and to make those who acted as private attorneys general whole again, thus encouraging the enforcement of the civil rights laws. The Senate reported that it intended fee awards to be "adequate to attract competent counsel" to represent client with civil rights grievances. S. Rep. No. 94-1011, p. 6 (1976). The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the act to provide for the payment of a "reasonable attorney's fee" based on the fair market value of the legal services.
The term also refers more generally to any person who holds a general power of attorney from someone else, and also to any person who represents the public in any civil or criminal court proceeding. Most criminal prosecutions today in the United States and other countries in the Anglo-American legal tradition are conducted by public prosecutors who are public employees, but until the late 19th century most criminal prosecutions in the United States were conducted by private persons, usually but not always lawyers, either paid by private parties or asked by the court to serve pro bono. Private criminal prosecutions are still legal in several of those countries, including several states of the United States.
Henceforth with the correct facts and correct case, ALL citizens are Attorney Generals. Meanwhile Bar Council ignores all sorts of abuses in law and constitution . . .
MCA touts 'Ah Jib Gor' factor for Chinese vote – Monday, 22 October 2012 Super Admin – Nomy Nowzir and Hafidz Baharom, The Malaysian Insider
Datuk Seri Najib Razak's popularity or the "Ah Jib Gor" factor will help cajole a segment of the Chinese community back to Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming polls, MCA grassroots leaders have agreed, but warned that the same sentiment could not topple the opposition in its urban fortresses.
This was the resounding sentiment among delegates attending the MCA's 59th annual general meeting at Wisma MCA yesterday, which is seen as the party's final chance to chart its election strategies in the months ahead as it heads into its toughest battle yet.
"Najib is good because he has done a lot of programmes for the people, I am sure the Chinese will vote BN," said one delegate, Lim Chee Cheong, from Rasah in Negri Sembilan.
"Najib has done a lot for the Chinese. And he has our support and the Chinese community support as well," another delegate, Loke Poh Chye from Pengkalan Kota in Penang, toldThe Malaysian Insider.
During the meeting earlier, among one of the key battle cries sounded by the party leadership was a call for delegates to "Stand with Najib", who was extensively described as a leader popular among the Chinese.
In his presidential address, party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek repeatedly praised Najib's transformative policies and attention to Chinese community issues, even telling the prime minister, "Sir, sometimes I think that you are too kind."
At the MCA Youth AGM on Saturday, party deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai predicted that the MCA will "rise again" in the coming polls, citing Najib's popularity among the Chinese community as one of the key reasons behind the possibility.
He said the prime minister's outreach towards the Chinese community, even resorting to social media tools like Facebook to create a Chinese persona, "Ah Jib Gor" (Brother Najib), had successfully convinced voters that the community would not be left out of the nation's development.
"The feel-good factor is coming back. And the commitment from the PM to the Chinese… the Ah Jib Gor factor shows that he will listen to the Chinese community," Liow had said.
But despite these leaders' optimism, several MCA delegates approached by The Malaysian Insider yesterday agreed that the party would suffer the most when attempting to sway the urban Chinese vote, pointing out that in areas like Petaling Jaya Selatan or key states like Penang, it would be near impossible for the MCA to trounce the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal opposition pact.
"I don't think so we can win back PJ, they are entrenched already with the opposition. I don't think we can take Penang back either," said Loh KF, a delegate from the area.
Loh was among several delegates who also admitted that the issue of corruption would be among BN's greatest stumbling block to woo the Chinese vote, complaining that it was hard to answer voters who brought up issues like the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal and other graft cases.
"Bribery is really bad, I was a victim myself," said Sungai Siput MCA delegate Tham Siew Poh.
Tham was also critical of the MCA's focus on hudud law, a wedge issue used against the DAP and PAS who are members of the PR opposition pact.
"Most Chinese already understand that the hudud issue is hands-off, it's a religious question, very sensitive. This issue shouldn't be commented upon.
"After all, hudud has already been implemented in many countries, why be scared if we do no wrong?" Tham said.
But his opinion was not shared by Tenggara MCA delegate Catherine Chia, from Johor.
Chia said the hudud issue was critical to be highlighted on as it affects Chinese culture and was demeaning towards women.
"I think this hudud will affect everybody, not only Chinese, the whole nation. If the nation is under hudud law, we will become just like the Middle East nations. And eight of the most corrupt nations come from that region," Loke said.
Hey MCA morons. How about 'Ah Jib Peng'. ('Peng' = Friend or EQUAL / 朋友 or Péngyǒu). Who needs a 'Gor' (Older Brother in Hokkien dialect)? Who needs to be a Junior or a 'Lek' (Little brother in Hokkien dialect). MCA Pres. malay Title holding Minister Chua Soi Lek, just because your name has a 'lek, does not mean that Najib is EVERYONE ELSE'S 'Gor' for the whole of the Chinese community. And given China's size compared to Malaysia, how the hell can the Chinese Community be a 'Lek'?
At very least equality. . . (and that is already stretching the fact that Malaysia is not even in USA's league to be an equal to China . . . ) Lapdog Alert! Chua Soi Lek, has billions, the MCA has billions, if the MCA cannot even get equality for the Chinese, the MCA are a disgrace to the Chinese community, and already are term limitless as well.
Grant the below 3 items to justify the term limitlessness at very least or GTFO of Dewan! Weak and undemocratic! Shame on MCA! 'Gor'?!? MCA = STUPID and COWARDLY . . . 'Gor' ? More like Gorean (S&M subculture) . . . more so when China is already starting to challenge USA no way will the Chinese be a 'Lek' – in fact the Chinese should be 'Gor'! But this is not the Chinese way, so equality will be fine though the true situation should be that a Chinese PM will be insisted on by the Malays AS WELL AS EQUALITY so that China will be so pleased that they will invest in Malaysia more, than tolerate MCA's misrepresentations and self serving manipulations – indirectly suffering dhmmitude of the local Malaysian Chinese by TACIT ASSENT via inaction . . . Grant the below 3 items to justify the term limitlessness at very least or GTFO of Dewan! Weak and undemocratic yet too wealthy as well!
Shame on MCA! 'Gor'?!? Equal is all anyone will tolerate especially since the Malays could well be Yunnan Chinese who interbred with the Orang Asli (Austronesian Negritos) to become the mixed race calle 'Malay' after all! NO Big Brother mentality par excellence Ketuanan.
Wee: PAS in favour of the dark ages – Sunday, 21 October 2012 Super Admin – Leven Woon, FMT
The MCA Youth chief says that it was only after the separation of politics and religion that the European countries prospered.
MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong attacked PAS for trying to return the country to the dark ages by implementing a theocratic state, which he said was a feudal political system.
In his opening address at the 48th MCA Youth Annual General Assembly meeting today, Wee said that the European countries have spent thousands of years to do away with a political system that combines with religion.
"It was only after the separation of politics and religion that saw the birth of the Renaissance and eventually the Industrial Revolution" he said
Wee told some 600 delegates that it would be mockery should PAS strive to reintroduce a system that had been abandoned by the world.
"We must remember that the democracy and human rights which we have today is the result of the separation of politics and religion.
"We must not allow PAS to return us to an age that has long past us. This ideology must be rejected by the people of this country," he said.
He also took a jab at DAP's inconsistency on the hudud issue, saying that the party chairman Karpal Singah and advisor Lim Kit Siang once made a strong stance against hudud law, but not the current leadership.
"The new generation of leadership in DAP has changed their stand by saying that there is no need to fear an Islamic state as long as you don't steal or rob," he said.
Later at a press conference, Wee was asked if MCA's constant harping on hudud issues would translate to Chinese support to BN. Sarawak's SUPP also highlighted the hudud issue but they did not do well in the state election last year.
Wee said the opposition's reaction would not have been so great if the Chinese were not concerned by the hudud issue.
MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai, who was also at the press conference, believed in the Chinese's wisdom to differentiate between a national election and a state election.
"(In a national election), you elect the federal government, where the Federal Constitution is of utmost importance to the nation. You can't allow PAS to become the government to implement such a policy in this country," he said.
BUT STILL no word for equality? Does Wee know that even without a Theocratic state which MCA has kindly chosen to fight against, that the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA still represents something as bad (though not twice as bad with Hudu as well?). China is virtually becoming the GREATEST nation on Earth at least for this next century as Russia builds up that Russian backyard . . . Wee should never accept less than equality for all Malaysians ESPECIALLY the Chinese minorities.
Malaysia can barely qualify to be China's lackey or match Iran or even the USA. Don't tell me that the Chinese do not deserve at very least equality in Malaysia, even when Malaysia will never ever be China's equal. Since the Chinese are a majority and a eventual dominant power in the world, should the Chinese demand Special Privileges instead? The Malays are not giving the Chinese minorities face in Malaysia and thus are indirectly insulting China by refusing to grant equality. Think Minister Wee, as a Chinese where the China stands, don't be complacent and term limitless.
BTW, MCA youth is not very youthful at all, youth ends the instance people get married or reach 18 or 21 years old, or in some considerations reach puberty. Wee is an old guy with wife and family ALSO multimillions worth, and term limitless to boot. I see no youth there. Wee is a big fat corrupted lapdog-grade boss type that probably has loads of mistresses and possibly drinks 50K in XO/VSOP on the weekends – youth? No way. Gotta be joking. Get some skinny callow (thats callow not sallow as in a certain LCW . . . sellouts to certain spiritual principles . . . ) unmarried AND poor, people to be 'Youth'. MCA's youth are middle aged and even OLD like Wee. Grant the below 3 items to justify the term limitlessness at very least or GTFO of Dewan! Weak and undemocratic!
Sallow (sometimes also caused by certain 'sucking' habits IMHO) :
http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-242241/ss501-kim-hyunjoong?
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20083144,00.htmlpg=42
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream
Musa case: Swiss probe continuing – Hornbill Unleashed – October 22, 2012 – Calvin Kabaron
Bruno Manser Fund says the probe into the RM40 million donation to Sabah Umno is ongoing.
A Swiss government investigation into the mystery donation of RM40 million to Sabah is still going on .
The Switzerland-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) said the case against UBS AG, a Swiss global financial services company operating out of Basel and Zurich, Switzerland, which is linked to the money, is continuing.
Lukas Straumann, director of BMF, confirmed that the investigation launched by the Swiss Attorney General is ongoing.
"It started on Aug 29 and is expected to take a couple of months at least until its conclusion," he said in a message to his affiliates here.
The statement comes after the Dewan Rakyat was told on Oct 11 that the amount concerned that was seized by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) from a Sabah businessman at the Hong Kong International Airport in 2008 was a 'political contribution' to Sabah Umno by an unidentified donor.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz in a written reply to parliament on the outcome of the investigation into the affair denied that the seized amount was Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman's money.
However BMF's Straumann said: "We have submitted strong evidence showing the relationship between UBS and the Musa family.
" From what we see, it is a very clear case of money-laundering. This is why the
official investigation was opened in the first place."
He added that BMF has applied to be admitted as a private plaintiff in order to gain access to the case files.
"This might be a unique chance to find out more on the business between UBS and Musa because Swiss banking secrecy will be lifted during the investigation.
"Our position in this application is much stronger if we are backed by people from Sabah. This is why we seek to get plaintiffs from among Sabahans," Straumann said referring to the BMF offer published in local news portal and also in its letters.
It is understood that several Sabahans have consented to be plaintiffs in the case being pursued in Switzerland.
Musa, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's point man in Sabah and the state's longest serving Chief Minister has found himself in centre-stage after Sabah timber tycoon, Michael Chia Tien Foh, the man caught red-handed with S$16 million (about RM40 million) in his bag was detained by the ICAC in 2008.
Chia had allegedly told the ICAC that the money was not his but the Sabah Chief Minister's. Musa subsequently denied all knowledge of Chia despite claims by Sabah businessmen that the two were close associates.
Nazri, who is also de facto Law Minister, has unwittingly added further controversy to the affair by sweeping it aside as a simple matter.
No explanation was given why the large amount of cash was being hand carried by Chia rather than through a an inter-bank transaction or how the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had come to the conclusion it was a political donation for Sabah Umno after investigating the case for four years.
Musa in a statement at the last Sabah State Assembly sitting said that he was not afraid of any investigation over the RM40 million and that the money was not his but Umno's.
His remarks came days after Najib said in Kuala Lumpur that MACC had completed its investigation and that the papers were then with the Attorney-General, Abdul Gani Patail who is related to Musa through marriage.
While Nazri has claimed that the powerful ICAC wrapped up its case (perhaps through a government-to-government arrangement), it is not known for now how the Hong Kong-based Chia can escape prosecution as it is illegal for anyone to bring or take out such a large some of cash without a permit.
Chia's link to Musa, who is also in charge of Yayasan Sabah which holds in trust for Sabahans large tracts of timber concession areas, was exposed by Sarawak Report which published online, flow charts of the money transactions that connected them.
Why does Nazri pretend there were no arrests? The EU and HK-ACC can obviously see whats happening.
Explosive Altantuya Revelations Coming? – Hornbill Unleashed – John Berthelsen, Asia Sentinel – October 21, 2012
Retired Malaysian police chief schedules mysterious Bangkok press conference Monday to announce "new revelations" in murder for hire case
The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand announced Saturday that Musa Hassan, who retired recently as Malaysia's national police chief, would hold a Monday press conference in Bangkok with "new revelations" over the 2006 murder for hire of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu.
"After her death it was revealed that she had been linked to the sale of two French-made submarines to Malaysia for US$1.3 billion – a deal under heavy suspicion of high-level corruption," the FCCT announcement said. "The current Malaysian PM, Najib Razak, was then Minister of Defense and the national police chief was Musa Hassan. The revelations shook the Malaysian political landscape."
Musa Hassan
It remains unsure if the announcement was a hoax. Attempts to reach Musa were unsuccessful. A Malaysiakini reporter said he has reached the former chief, but that Musa refused comment and said he hadn't heard of the press conference. There was at least one error in the announcement — that Musa had quit as head of the police when he had actually retired with full honors. Although there have also been subsequent rumors that the press conference has been canceled, an FCCT officer told Asia Sentinel it appears to still be on, although it was moved from Oct. 19 to Monday.
The 60-year-old Musa retired on Sept. 13 after 41 years of service, the last six as national police chief. He was previously deputy inspector general. He has long been a controversial figure, having been investigated himself on allegations of corruption, particularly over the release of three members of illegal betting syndicates. Reform critics have accused him of using his police power to thwart investigations into corruption and to protect powerful figures in the government.
Officials with the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition said they had been caught off guard by the announcement that Musa would speak in Bangkok.
Local media reported earlier that Musa has been flirting with Parti Islam se-Malaysia, the fundamentalist Islamic component of the three-party opposition. Musa, however, has publicly denied he intended to join PAS. A source with Pakatan Rakyat told Asia Sentinel Musa had met with a top leader of PAS several months ago, but that the former police chief had no interest in politics and that it was unlikely he would join.
However, if anybody knows where the bodies are buried, so to speak, it would be Musa Hassan.
Six years ago, according to court testimony in a long-drawn-out Kuala Lumpur trial, bodyguards attached to the office of Najib, now the prime minister, dragged the translator and party girl out of a car into a patch of jungle near the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Shah Alam, As she begged for her life and apparently that of her unborn child, they knocked her unconscious, then shot her twice in the head.
Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, members of the elite Unit Tindakan Khas, then wrapped Altantuya's body in C4 plastic explosives and blew her up, possibly to mangle her remains so badly that the fetus would be destroyed, according to a confession that Sirul made but which was never introduced in court despite its seeming validity.
In his cautioned statement, as confessions are called in Malaysia, the police corporal told authorities he and Azilah had been offered RM100,000 to kill the woman and her two companions, who were causing highly public embarrassment for Abdul Razak Baginda, Najib's best friend. The 28-year-old Mongolian woman, in a letter found after her death, wrote that she was sorry she had been blackmailing Razak Baginda.
Ironically, if unknown persons hadn't ordered Altantuya's death, the story of the massive bribes for the purchase of the submarines would by this time probably have disappeared. Similar scandals with the same magnitude of questionable overpayments have since died down, one involving the purchases of Sukhoi jets and another involving the waste of hundreds of millions of dollars on a company owned by an United Malays National Organization crony to build patrol boats. However, continuing questions about her murder have kept the story alive.
As Asia Sentinel reported in June, French police records alleged that Razak Baginda was a central figure in a bribery case in which a total of nearly €150 million in payments were steered to two Razak Baginda companies, Perimekar Sdn Bhd and Terasasi Hong Kong Ltd from subsidiaries of DCN, the French defense giant, in connection with the purchase of the submarines by the Malaysian defense ministry. The records seized from DCN by the French police show that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe were aware of the transactions. Memos obtained by Asia Sentinel show the French expected at least part of the money to be steered to UMNO, Malaysia's biggest ethnic political party.
Despite a 14-month trial, neither the prosecutors, the defense nor the judge asked who had offered the RM100,000 payment to the two men. Najib's chief of staff, Musa Safri, reportedly dispatched the two policemen to pick up Altantuya and her companions, who mercifully weren't around.
Altantuya appears to have been killed at the behest of someone with considerable clout in Kuala Lumpur. If her dying statement to Sirul Azhar is to be accepted, as he recounted it in his confession, she appeared to have been carrying the baby of someone, perhaps high in power in Malaysia.
Najib has sworn on the Quran that he never met Altantuya, although she appears to have been in France at the same time as he was, accompanying Najib's best friend, Razak Baginda. On June 11, 2005, for instance, Najib gave a press conference after having visited the site where the Scorpene submariners were being trained and, according to the log of an Australian submariner association, presented jackets made available by Perimekar – Abdul Razak Baginda's company – to the crew.
After the arrest of the two bodyguards, eventually Abdul Razak Baginda was acquitted without having to put on a defense. There were a long string of irregularities in the trial, which as much as anything appeared to be designed on the part of the judiciary, the prosecution and perhaps the defense to make sure nobody in Najib's office was investigated or called as witnesses.
The two bodyguards were convicted and sentenced to death. Their appeals were supposed to have been heard in February this year, eight months ago. Mysteriously their appeals have been delayed. They were supposed to be heard in August. They have been delayed again.
Last week Musa dropped a 2008 defamation suit against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim after Anwar accused him and Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail of conspiring to cover up a 1998 physical assault which left the then-imprisoned Anwar with a black eye and a permanent back problem. The dropping of the suit also fueled speculation that Musa was moving towards a rapprochement with the opposition. However, an opposition leader said the PR leadership was convinced he dropped the suit because he knew he wouldn't be able to win it.
Send Interpol after the creeps! DAP did not keep 90% of campaign promises, (totally failed GE12's Manifesto by which the voters cast their vote – those voters might as well vote for THEMSELVES as independents), no Local Councils, no asset declarations etc.. So that should mean DAP is also cheating, and are thieves of GE12, with nepotistic dictatorship at the top level in DAP that have caused near a score of top level member quits from DAP. The world now is indeed a global village.
Who wants to be a millionaire? – Hornbill Unleashed – Mariam Mokhtar – October 20, 2012
To those who still doubt that Umno is the curse of the Malays, try cutting off the links between Umno and these people, and see what happens.
Most people are familiar with the song or TV game show "Who wants to be a millionaire?". Had that question "Who wants to be a millionaire?" been put to Malaysians in the past, a majority of the rakyat would have responded, "Yes, I would"; but today, in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's prosperous "1Malaysia", the most likely reply from a Barisan Nasional crony would be a dismissive, "Huh. I'm already a multi-millionaire."
The secret to success? Being an Umno politician, of course; but entry to this exclusive club is conditional upon selling one's soul, integrity and mind, to serve a new master – Umno and all it stands for. So, while some Malays mock other religions for being idolatrous, they conveniently forget that they themselves worship the goddess Umno.
Umno uses religion for control. Umno's brand of Islam is not to make better people out of the Malays, to ensure they live harmoniously with Malaysians of other faiths and to practise the tenets of their religion. Instead, Islam is used liberally in Umno politics, to subjugate and subdue the Malays. Few Malays speak up, because to be seen questioning Umno might be misconstrued as doubting Islam.
The intricate relationship between politics and business existed long before independence, but during former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's era, business and politics became inseparable. Under the guise of the NEP (New Economic Policy), the purpose of which was to lift the Malays out of poverty, Mahathir made some Malays millionaires, in what could only be described as an "overnight sensation".
Umno expanded this business-cum-politics relationship, so that in today's Malaysia, Najib makes no attempt to hide fraud and criminal activity; he just says it is for Umno, so it must be right. Najib does not even bother to deny that having close ties with Umno, will make Umno politicians and their cronies, members of the "millionaire's club".
Established businessmen, landowners, celebrity divas and VVIPs have all become millionaires, some with eight-figure fortunes, all because they pay homage to Umno. Civil servants, members of the judiciary, policemen and chief ministers all have the capacity to make several millions.
To those who still doubt that Umno is the curse of the Malays, try cutting off the links between Umno and these people, and see what happens. Imagine a child learning to ride a bicycle. The use of stabilisers will help. When these are removed, the child may tumble, but after a while, he will get the knack. Why are Malays so afraid of developing their own abilities?
At the event "Sepagi Bersama Perdana Menteri" (A morning with the prime minister) in Teluk Intan yesterday, Najib ridiculed the efforts of the opposition in bringing development to the country, but he was full of praise for BN's track record and experience in development. He rubbished claims that the opposition coalition was stronger than BN.
Najib said, "The BN government knows that in shouldering the responsibility, we've got to have a sense of humanity and tawadduk [humility] to understand the aspirations of the people, to feel the pulse of people."
Must win to survive
Talking about pulse, was Najib at all bothered that the son of one of his ministers can escape punishment after he and his bodyguard beat up men who are only doing their jobs? Would Najib care to comment on the high scale corruption of his ministers and why he is afraid of sacking them?
Did Najib sense the rakyat's anger when Michael Chia attempted to smuggle RM40 million into the country? Was he aware that Sabah Umno members are furious that their party's name was sullied? They believe that to protect Chief Minister Musa Aman, Najib claimed the money was meant for Sabah Umno. It is alleged that the money was Musa's. One wonders how a chief minister would acquire that amount of cash.
Does Najib understand the rage of the rakyat when chief ministers abuse the public purse and use it for personal functions, like the recent wedding of the son of Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam, or last year's scandal, when Najib was alleged to have abused his position and flown close friends and family to attend the engagement party of his daughter to the nephew of the Kazakhstan president?
Najib told the Perak crowd that despite the changing times, the guiding principles of BN had not altered and that it was necessary to have continuity: "The government should have continuity because if there is no continuity, the government can't make long-term plans."
Even a fool can see that Umno needs to win the 13th general election to survive. Umno needs to stay in power, to further ravage the country; Umno politicians need to raid the treasury to maintain their lifestyle. The alternative is a long prison term for robbing the nation, when the rakyat makes them answerable for their crimes.
Najib claimed that change was not good for the country because the people and nation would lose out: "As a developing country with a future, we need continuity, we need it not just for the sake of power, but for the people to get greater benefits under the BN."
Najib might as well have said, "We need to continue to hoodwink you for Umno's prolonged benefit."
He then blamed the opposition for causing dissent among the masses, and teaching them a hatred of BN. He said that BN was confident of winning the GE13.
Naturally, Najib failed to mention the harassment of NGOs, civil liberty groups, the alternative media, the opposition and the ordinary members of the rakyat who have been championing true democracy. He omitted to say that his budget was an election budget.
Najib then told the 10,000-strong audience that BN had plans to develop the coastline of Perak and that the West Coast Expressway project would bring benefit to the people from Taiping to Banting.
Predictably, a few more BN cronies will become millionaires from this lucrative highway project, but most members of the rakyat will gain nothing.
Is Mariam Mokhtar, Amina Mariam Bokhary? As in Sri Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary's daughter?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Bokhary_controversy
I recall Mariam saying something about being involved in orphanages or defending the way Malaysian orphanages were run before once . . .
Suaram takes Scorpene scandal to the grassroots – Hornbill Unleashed – by Susan Loone – October 23, 2012
Yesterday, Suaram teamed-up with youth movement Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) to train some 80 people on how to give ceramah on the issue in their respective constituencies.Human rights NGO Suaram has embarked on a programme to take information about the Scorpene submarine scandal to the masses in an attempt to fight back accusations by the authorities that it publicly lied on the issue.
The campaign plans to attract about 200 speakers, largely from opposition political parties, from around the country to focus on spreading the issue to the people, especially to villagers in the kampung.
NONEFormer Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel (left) yesterday conducted a 'training of trainers' programme for a group of people, made up mainly of PKR grassroots leaders from the northern region of the peninsula.
Cynthia spoke at length about the case during the two-hour session and distributed several documents on the explosive subject to the participants.
She explained the difference between the French and Malaysian court systems, saying that Suaram has always maintained that the case was being investigated by two Paris-based judges and not going through a full-blown trial in France.
The participants were also told that Suaram's revelations on the Scorpene case have so far been based on French judicial papers.
The information was derived from findings made after Suaram filed a complaint against state-owned shipbuilder, DCNS, in 2009 for alleged payment of commissions, which is illegal in France, to top Malaysian officials for the purchase of the two Scorpene-class submarines.
Demonising Suaram
Cynthia was referring to a recent statement by French prosecutor Yves Charpenel, who was quoted by New Straits Times as saying that, despite claims by Malaysian online media, there was no trial going on in the Scorpene case.
Charpenel's statement on this was then corrected by Suaram's Paris-based lawyer, William Bourdon, who said the "inquiry is ongoing" and the question of a trial on the Scorpene matter would be decided by the investigating judges and not by the prosecutor.
NONE"Since the BN-controlled media and the government are all out todemonise and harass Suaram and its efforts to promote transparency and accountability in military spending, which amounts to billions of the rakyat's money, we have no choice but to take this issue to the ground," Cynthia said.
"Since it is impossible for us to be everywhere, we are happy to work with various groups that are interested in the truth and can help us share it with the people," she said.
By harassment, Cynthia was referring to the action of six government agencies probing Suaram, which has been active since Operasi Lalangin 1987 when 106 social and political activists were detained under the Internal Security Act.
Cynthia and her team later spoke at a Bersih event in Padang Serai featuring the coalition's co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan, before launching the Jelajah Scorpene campaign with SAMM in Telok Ayer Tawar late last night.
'Mother of all issues'
SAMM chairperson Badrul Hisham Shaharin told PKR political speakers to equip themselves with proper knowledge about the Scorpene scandal that cost the country RM7.3 billion.
NONEHowever, Badrul Hisham, who is widely known as Chegu Bard, cautioned them not to be too technical so that the crowd they were speaking to fully understood the details of the deal, which was inked in 2002 when Najib Abdul Razak was defence minister.
Badrul reminded the audience that Najib, who is now prime minister, and Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, may have to attend the court in France should they be subpoenaed.
Najib and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin have refused to respond when asked about the inquiry in Paris, while Ahmad Zahid made a U-turnabout testifying in the matter, after having said earlier that he was prepared to.
Two of Najib's former bodyguards were charged with the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, who is believed to be involved in the deal.
abdul razak baginda pc 201108 05Najib's close associate, defence analyst Abdul Razak Baginda (right), was charged with abetting them in the murder, but he was acquitted without his defence being called.
"The Scorpene issue is the mother of all issues and we plan to make it the main issue during the coming general election," Badrul in his speech at the launch of the campaign.
"This issue has opened a can of worms and revealed so many other issues, including possible corruption, transparency and accountability issues, rakyat's money being wasted on military spending and the murder of a Mongolian national," added the former PKR Youth leader.
Other speakers who spoke briefly in support of the campaign included Penang PKR vice-chairperson Abdul Halim Hussein, Kebun Bungah assemblyperson Jason Ong Khan Lee and state PKR Youth chief Amir Ghazali.
Najib has denied any involvement in the case and the Defence Ministry insists that the deal was done above board.
DAP makes no attempt to fight back accusations by the authorities that it publicly lied on the issue of 90% failed campaign promises – failed Local Council Elections, no declarations of MP assets, and many others that caused near a score of top level defections in DAP so far . . . why doesn't Suaram take DAP to task? Selective persecution by SUARAM shows lack of ethics. Quangocrat alert! And with this sort of collusive mindset guess what will happen to Democracy when DAP entrenches itself? Vote 3rd Force!
Danau Melikin native Ibans charged in Court – Hornbill Unleashed (Editor) – October 22, 2012
5 native Iban farmers were this morning charged in the Magistrates Court in Serian this morning.
Village Headman Nyalu Anak Tampa, together with 2 other farmers Sanjan Anak Ambol and Samad Anak Junna, were jointly charged under section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt to Andrew Wong King Kiat, an administrative executive of United Teamtrade Sdn Bhd, a company issued with a provisional lease for 73,000 ha oil plam plantation over the land of which the 3 accused claimed are NCR land of Kampung Danau Melikin and 22 other Iban native communities in the area.
Another Danau Melikin farmer Donny Anak Mambu was accused of using an excavator under his control to damage a bridge across Sg Danau on 27.08.2012 and is charged under section 427 of the Penal Code for mischief and causing damage to the amount of RM25 or upwards.
In the other case, an aged farmer Balon Ak Giang was charged for criminal intimidation, that he had on 27.08.2012 verbally threatened to cause hurt to the oil palm estate manager Lee Beng Sing with the words "kamu jangan kerja sini kalau kamu kerja lagi saya bunuh tembak kamu" (You can't work here and if you do that I will shoot and kill you).
The prosecuting officer informed the court that in both the cases of Donny Anak Mambu and Balon Ak Giang, though separately charged, were one single transaction and witnesses are the same. He applied for the 2 cases to be jointly tried.
All the accused pleaded not guilty and they were each released on RM5000 court bail with one surety each.
The presiding Magistrate Puan Portia Tham ordered the case against Village Headman Nyalu Anak Tampa, Sanjan Anak Ambol and Samad Anak Junna to be managed on 12 November and trial date is scheduled for 3 December 2012.
In the 2 cases involving Donny Anak Mambu and Balon Ak Giang, the Magistrate ordered for case management on 31 October 2012 and trial on 13 October 2012.
Lawyers Baru Bian, See Chee How and Desmond Kho, who appeared in the Serian Magistrate Court this morning, are representing the 5 native accused from Kampung Danau Melikin.
More than 150 other native villagers also crowded the Serian Magistrate Court to show their support for the 5 accused.
File for secession then throw out all charges, throw out all colonialists, all non-locals and make your own country. Only the East Malaysian locals have rights to any East Malaysian land, and the federal 'laws' are written to take those lands especially offensively ancestral lands away! I'm sure the village elders will know who was around before East Malaysia was stolen with obviously illegal laws! BN or PR, also 3rd Force, return all stolen lands or expect secession!
Speaker bans pay-cut motions against ministers – by Clara Chooi (Assistant News Editor) – October 22, 2012 – UPDATED @ 06:17:38 PM 22-10-2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Pandemonium broke in the Dewan Rakyat this morning when Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia announced a blanket ban on all motions filed by MPs to cut the salaries of ministers, a move traditionally used by lawmakers to push through a no-confidence vote.
Pandikar, when addressing the House, reasoned that he had conducted a detailed study on the matter and discovered that no other parliamentary democracies in the world debate such motions.
"The reason is because should this be allowed, it goes against the question of privilege," he pointed out.
"Next, the justifications (for the motion), which in the past were always used, are justifications that have already been touched on during policy stage debates," Pandikar (picture) added.
The Speaker acknowledged that such pay-cut motions under Standing Order 66(9) should not be used for such purposes as this would be tantamount to an abuse of the provision.
Standing Order 66(9) states: Any member may move an amendment to the schedule to reduce by RM……… the sum to be allotted for any head of expenditure in respect of any sub-head or item therein, but at least two clear days' notice of such amendment shall be given.
"If I allow it, and it is debated, and accepted by the House, a question of law will be raised, which is the right of an individual to receive a salary, meaning the minister has a right to a salary; this cannot be taken by the House.
"When this is taken into consideration, I think it is inappropriate for us to prolong this precedent," he said, to objections from several opposition parliamentarians.
When the MPs stood to object to his decision, the Speaker cited Standing Order 57(4) that allows him to reject any motion if he felt that the justifications given were "frivolous".
Arguing, Pua told Pandikar that the motions had been rejected without allowing their applicants to state the justifications for filing them.
Teo also disagreed with the Speaker's assertions, pointing out that she had not raised her justifications during policy stage debates earlier as she had meant to raise them when the motion was debated during committee stage.
In the past, such pay-cut motions were automatically allowed for debate during the committee stage.
At a press conference outside chambers later, the opposition MPs revealed that in Pandikar's letter rejecting the motions, the Speaker had "created" three conditions, which he said was necessary if motions under Standing Order 66(9) were to be tabled in the future.
According to the letter distributed to the media here, Pandikar had said that such motions must clearly state the pay cut amount being sought, reasons for the cut, and detailed justifications for the reasons.
"The Speaker was contradicting himself… in the letter he tells us that we did not give justifications and we should do so under Standing Order 66(9) but then he used his power as Speaker to reject the motion on the grounds that the justifications given were 'frivolous'," Pua said.
Agreeing, Teo said the House should first move to amend the Standing Orders to include these three conditions, instead of allowing the Speaker to "abuse" his power by imposing them without allowing debate.
. . . "If I allow it " . . . If every other or even a minority number of MPs want to discuss this the Speaker cannot deny them the right. Time to vote for another Speaker? Voters really need to kick out BN . . . and at least drop 50% of DAP's term limitless and nepotism corrupted ranks.
Amangate: Umno sinks into deeper QUAGMIRE by Kim QuekSaturday, 20 October 2012 18:55
Parliament should consider censuring Minister Nazri Aziz for giving completely contradictory answers in parliament within the short interval of one week in respect of the contraband S$16 million cash seized in Hong Kong International Airport which both Nazri and Prime Minister Najib Razak denied that it was Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman's money, claiming it was donation to Sabah Umno.
It should also consider rebuking Prime Minister Najib for having irresponsibly denied that the illegal attempt by Michael Chia Tien Foh to board the plane with the contraband cash was not an act of smuggling cash in breach of law, simply because Nazri has made some dubious statements in parliament.
On Oct 11, answering MP Chua Tian Chan, Nazri stated that the Attorney General (AG) had decided that corruption was not proven, based on the reports submitted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Nazri further stated that, based on this outcome of MACC's investigation, Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) did not take any further action.
However, answering MP Tan Kok Wai on Oct 11, Nazri said investigation carried out on the case was not done by MACC, but by Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which had subsequently stated that there was no corruption in this case.
One moment, it was MACC's investigation that led to AG's verdict of no corruption. But the next moment: no, it was not MACC, but ICAC which investigated and concluded that there was no corruption.
MULTIIPLE CONTRADICTIONS
The contradictions are puzzling.
Could it be that Nazri thought our AG and MACC's credibility might not be good enough for Malaysians, and decided to attribute the findings to the world famous ICAC noted for its anti-corruption prowess, hoping to get better reception from Malaysians? Otherwise, how could he reconcile the two completely contradictory statements?
In fact, Nazri not only has problem reconciling these two different statements, but he also has problem reconciling both these statements against a MACC statement a few days earlier.
On Oct 5, MACC's deputy chief commissioner (operations) Shukri Abdul said that investigation on the Hong Kong contraband cash case was still ongoing as its review panel requested for further investigation.
Apart from these multiple contradictions thrown by Nazri to parliament, his claim that ICAC has concluded that there is no corruption is also fishy.
This is evident from the fact that the S$16 million cash seized on 14th August 2008 was only released at the end of the statutory retention period limit of three years, when ICAC failed to wrap up the case due reportedly to Malaysian government's refusal to extend co-operation in the investigation. If there was no case as claimed by Nazri and Najib, would the Hong Kong authorities have kept the money for the full legally allowable period of three years?
In fact, Michael Chia was arrested and investigated for both offences of money smuggling and money laundering.
NAJIB'S DENIAL IRRESPONSIBLE
Sneaking out the country with large amount of cash in breach of law is called smuggling money. I fail to see how Najib could claim it was not smuggling just because his minister Nazri has answered some questions in parliament – and badly answered at that, I must add.
Answering a question in a press conference on Oct 19 whether there was any basis to claims that the money was smuggled or laundered through Hong Kong, Najib answered curtly: "No. It has already been explained in parliament". By that, Najib was of course referring to Nazri's duplicitous answers abovementioned.
It is most unbecoming of the prime minister to base his answer to such a serious scandal on such a shady foundation.
Members of parliament should seek the following from Nazri in parliament, in addition to asking him to explain the many contradictions in his abovementioned statements:
1. Full disclose of the communications between the governments of Hong Kong and Malaysia on this issue; in particular a) whether ICAC has forwarded its findings to MACC including the money flow chart trailing the Sabah timber corruption money all the way to Musa Aman's UBS AG account in Zurich, b) whether ICAC has requested for inter-country co-operation, c) whether ICAC has categorically stated that there was no corruption in the case and that it has ceased to pursue the case further.
2. When did MACC start its investigation, and whether it is still on-going. If so, why it has not been able to complete the task after such a lengthy investigation.
3. What role the AG has played in this case – in relation to the Hong Kong authorities and in relation to the Malaysian government, in particular, MACC.
Unless Nazri is forthcoming with satisfactory answers, he should be censured and referred to parliamentary select committee (privileges and power) for further probing.
Kim Quek is the author of banned book The March to Putrajaya
Strong case to continue probe on money laundering – Calvin Kabaron – Saturday, October 20, 2012
KOTA KINABALU: A Swiss government investigation into the mystery donation of RM40 million to Sabah is still going on .
" From what we see, it is a very clear case of money-laundering. This is why the official investigation was opened in the first place."
Whose money is Musa holding?' – FMT Staff – July 3, 2012
Sabah Chief Minister Musa has claimed that a large part of his multi-million fortune held in foreign accounts is not privately owned by him.
KUALA LUMPUR: PKR wants Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to clarify "leaked" investigation papers that a Swiss bank account linked to Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman contains US$100 million belonging to Umno.
Musa allegedly told Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers that the money in question traced to a bank in Zurich, Switzerland and under investigation by banking and criminal investigation agencies overseas was not his but Umno's, said a senior PKR official.
PKR vice president Tian Chua who is also MP for Batu, said Najib must explain Musa's alleged statement linking Umno and therefore the government to the hitherto secret party slush fund.
The money is part of a large sum being traced by international investigative reporters including of online media, Sarawak Report, who published details of transactions connecting Musa, Sabah businessman Michael Chia as well as many in Malaysian and Swiss banking in questionable financial deals crisscrossing several countries.
When Chia was caught with S$16 million cash in Hong Kong few years ago, he reportedly told the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that the money belonged to Musa.
Musa however immediately denied knowing Chia and by inference anything about the money.
However pictures of them together and details of transactions including payments to Musa's two sons in Australia were then exposed by the online media raising further questions about the matter.
This prompted more information being exposed by authorities in Zurich, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.
According to Tian Chua, on June 15, PKR deputy secretary general Darell Leiking, parliamentarian Sivarasa Rasiah and he held a press conference in the Parliament House questioning the government's inaction despite detailed information becoming public of a money laundering operation that has implicated Musa.
"On June 21, I received a reply from the prime minister on the status of the investigation of corruption allegations against Musa following the arrest of Michael Chia in Hong Kong.
"The answer from PM stated that MACC had provided full cooperation with Hong Kong ICAC and had completed the investigation. Presently the file is on the table of Attorney-General but so far no action has been taken," he said.
Funds 'held in trust'
Tian Chua said the case received new attention when NGO activist Prof Monika Roth filed a suit against Swiss UBS Bank linking the bank with the money laundering operations in Sabah.
However, once again, there was total silence from the Malaysian government, he said.
"A few days ago, I received a mysterious phone call from an unknown person who claimed that he was a staff member of MACC.
"He revealed that the MACC had initiated a new investigation on Musa where he was interviewed by several MACC officers on a date not told to me.
"Musa defended his actions and told the MACC officers to "check their facts with the prime minister."
"Musa claimed that a large part of his multi-million fortune held in foreign currency accounts overseas was not privately owned by him.
"Instead it was held in trust on behalf of Umno. Now the public is eager to know whether this is true, and if the PM is aware of this.
"As the phone call was confidential and I had no means to verify the information, I hereby call upon the PM to step forward to clarify whether the MACC had initiated a new investigation on Musa.
"I also call on (Attorney-General) Abdul Gani Patail to step aside vis-a-vis the investigation related to Musa as it is clear that the AG is unable to convince the public of his impartiality," said Tian Chua.
Why did Nazri say there were no arrests when the Hong Kong's Anti-corruption police can corroborate that there were arrests? Is? Is Malaysian becoming a information blackout or media spin nation? Fortunately mass media is so proliferated now. What was buried in the past before the mass media and internet age? –
Jingga 13 Questions Top Leader on Ex-Maid's House in Indonesia – NEWS/COMMENTARIES – Sunday, 21 October 2012 admin-s
(Malaysian Digest) – PKR-linked NGO Jingga 13 has questioned a top politician over how a former maid has managed to afford a luxurious RM100,000 house in Indonesia.
Jingga 13 coordinator Fariz Musa, who submitted a memorandum to the office of the said politician yesterday, alleged that the maid could not have purchased the house based on her low income earned in Malaysia.
"If she (the maid) hadn't spent a single cent from her (few) years' salary, with a RM300 monthly salary for the first few years, increased to RM500 after that, we don't think she could save even RM50,000."
He claimed that the maid has remained unemployed since 2007, after her return to Indonesia,
When asked how the NGO obtained their information, Fariz said Jingga 13's investigative team video-interviewed the maid in Indonesia in March 2012.
"Our accompanying Indonesian friends have told us that her house is estimated at RM100,000."
"The photos that we took of it show that the fencing and furniture are specially-designed. We think they are not cheap."
Pressed on whether the maid has informed the funding source of her new house, Fariz replied that the maid was afraid to speak "because of Malaysian official restrictions" and that her husband kept interrupting during the interview.
Fariz said he will refer the matter to the Indonesian embassy and subsequently lodge a report to police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Neurotech or sheer lust?
Arrested youth's family fear Johor palace interference, urge cops to help – by Clara Chooi, Assistant News Editor November 04, 2012
Ahmad Abd Jalil is being investigated over allegedly seditious remarks he had made against the Johor Sultan on his Facebook page. – Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — The family members of Ahmad Abd Jalil, who was arrested on Friday for insulting the Johor Sultan, is pleading with the police not to permit the palace authorities to haul the youth to the royal house for an apology.
The family, responding to talks that Ahmad may be brought personally before the Sultan to apologise for his remarks, expressed fear today over the safety of the 27-year-old if he were to be taken to the palace.
According to an SMS from Ahmad's sister to one of the family's lawyer late last night, the police had told her mother that, "if the palace calls, they (the police) would be forced to bring Ahmad to face the Sultan".
"If they want my son to apologise, bring him to court. Once he enters someone else's territory, anything can happen and we wouldn't know who to blame," Ahmad's father Abd Jalil Abd Rahman told The Malaysian Insider today.
"Everyone has to respect the due process of the law. And if they want to take my son to court to extract an apology, then so be it.
"Do not force him into palace custody where we have no control over. We are Penangites. We are not used to having a Sultan and we have heard many horror stories. This is our right," he added.
The 60-year-old former government servant said the police have so far refused all attempts by his family to visit Ahmad, who was arrested in Kuala Lumpur at 8pm on Friday and transferred into the Johor police custody the same night.
As at noon today, Abd Jalil said he will be meeting with the investigating officer in Ahmad's case.
"We hope to have a positive outcome from the meeting… I just want to see my son," he said, adding that if it would look bad on the police if they were to forbid him from doing so.
In an SMS to The Malaysian Insider, Ahmad's older brother agreed with his father in saying that the youth must be kept safely away from the palace compound.
"It is wrong to extract him from the balai/lokap to anywhere. We an apologise but thru proper procedures. Ahmad will apologise openly at court.
"Otherwise, we condone that the system is being used as 'mode of ugutan (threat)'," he said in the text message.
Ahmad is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, believed to be over allegedly seditious remarks he had made against the Johor Sultan on his Facebook page.
He was picked up from his office at around 8pm in Cheras yesterday by several plainclothes policemen before he was brought to the Wangsa Maju police station for questioning.
According to Ahmad's lawyer Mohd Zakwan Adenan yesterday, the youth was at first not informed of his offence, except that he was allegedly being investigated under the Sedition Act 1948.
"They said they wanted to charge him under the Sedition Act for remarks he made on Facebook but when we asked the police which statement they were referring to, they could not answer," he said.
Section 4(1) stipulates that any person who utters, prints or publishes any seditious words, on conviction, would be liable for a first offence to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.
After interrogating him for several hours at the Wangsa Maju police station yesterday, the police raided Ahmad's parents' house in Damansara Damai before taking the youth with them to Johor.
At 3pm yesterday, Ahmad was taken before a Johor magistrate by the police to obtain a three-day remand order.
The reverse could be said of having the case in Penang and the more urban areas of Malaysia, where the animosity towards all Sultans (who due to tacit approval of Bumiputra Apartheid, contributes in substantial measure to this sort of disafffection, or in some uncommon cases monopoly like involvement in business sectors when the mere exalted position of Ruler should be quite enough to not feel inclined to compete with the citizens in government for evidently commercial projects – well maybe consultative roles for favourite related projects i.e. trains . . .) could be intentionally used to dismiss the case intentionally to make a salient point about apartheid (minorities) or absolutism (non-Royalist/anti-royalist Malays) rather than to administer justice which in this case, should be an equitable apology to the the measure of insult offered on the social networking site simply to show magnanimity rather than petty mindedness.
Malaysian judges and the legal system in Malaysia are not impartial, and always are politically motivated rather than professionalism or justice motivated, as much as the Bar Council does not address the lack of :
;for the Bar Council's own political or financial (contract) based profit. I had written on the apartheid issue to every individual Sultan before and had no response whatsoever. Perhaps the letters were intercepted as so many other communications might have been. And due this, or simply crypto-racism, if not authoritarianism, I received no response on the matter whatsoever as any civil society might have and issues like the above continue to mar relations between the intended as symbolic rulers and and the masses. Stature and privilege should be enough to even ignore this sort of insult, the palace certainly has the resources to unofficially argue back without getting directly involved but from the looks of this sandiwara which might well have ulterior motives of sounding out the pop-ulace's less well written to identify those against the palace, has chosen to get directly involved instead.
WOW, HOW RACIST! Dr M's banking reforms INSPIRED by anti-Jew policy – Sanusi
KUALA LUMPUR, — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was inspired by Germany's past policy of limiting Jewish financial influence to help the Malays but it was later thwarted by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, former Cabinet minister Tan Sri Sanusi Junid said today.
Sanusi told a Malay economic forum that Dr Mahathir and former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin were hoping that Malays would control the economy but when they saw progress was slow, they decided to follow the German example of not granting banking licences to Jews.
But the plan failed when Anwar became finance minister and approved two banking licences to non-Malay banking groups — Alliance Bank and Hong Leong Bank.
"We thought that if we can't control the economy, we would follow Germany," Sanusi said at the Malay Economic Congress here. "In Germany banking licences are not given to the Jews."
He said while pre-existing licences had been given to non-Malays, Daim made sure that all banks had Malay directors, which was important to ensure all banks had Malay influence.
"But unfortunately a huge disaster happened (kecelakaan besar); when Anwar became finance minister he approved banking licences for Alliance Bank and Hong Leong bank," he said. "We didn't want to give."
Sanusi said that as a result there are now "two non-Malay banks without Malay influence."
Malaysia's banking system was formerly largely controlled by the Chinese but many were taken over by or forced to merge with government-controlled entities.
The loss of Chinese-founded banking institutions is widely perceived by the Chinese community as of one of the ways they have been discriminated against under the guise of helping the Bumiputera community.
The Umno-led Barisan Nasional government however had previously maintained that direct intervention was required to uplift the Bumiputeras and that mergers would help create stronger banks that could withstand globalisation.
The Najib administration has said however that it will gradually liberalise the financial sector and any banking mergers should now be based on market forces.
Sanusi also said at the forum that Malays were unable to accumulate wealth as while they earned money, it was ultimately spent in non-Malay businesses.
"Who is rich? We are? Where is the money? There is none. It goes through the channels of non-Malays. The money only passes through Malays and that's why we are unable to accumulate," he said.
The former Kedah mentri besar noted that normally political power is held by those who have economic power.
"But Malays have political power because they are smart," he said.
Malays smart? No really overall – listen in to the translated debates and one will find all kinds of stupidity and also unstatemanlike behaviour and words . . . Maybe they make good thieves of conscience and destroyers of Human Rights worthy ideals and UN politically correct aspirations that are the mainstay of civilisation. The other reasons are because the Chinese don't know if the army and police will be fair because the Chinese don't know if the army and police will be fair in the event of a 2nd race riots and finally because MCA/MIC/Gerakan/PPP etc.. are not very brave in fighting apartheid as well is greedy and corrupt, is why the Malays have political power.
Fair, secular nation better label than Islamic, says ex-Perlis Mufti – by Amin Iskandar – Assistant News Editor – October 24, 2012
Asri described the battle over whether Malaysia is a secular or Islamic state as akin to a fight over "branding". — File pic
SHAH ALAM, Oct 24 ? The debate over Malaysia's Islamic nation status has been described as a "branding" quarrel by popular cleric Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, who said a secular nation that is fair is better than an Islamic country that exploits religion.
The Federal Constitution is Malaysia's supreme law but minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said this week that the country was never declared a secular nation; he stopped short, however, of calling it an Islamic state as declared by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
"You can name the country as an Islamic country but you exploit Islam, for what? You name the country secular but give the people rights; that is better. The most important (thing) is the values carried. People like to exploit brands.
"However, I am not interested in terms; I am more interested with the content of a country," the former Perlis mufti told The Malaysian Insider after the 15th Sinar Harian Wacana titled "Ulama's Role, Advising Leaders (Peranan Ulama, Menasihati Pemimpin)" at the Karangkraf Complex yesterday.
"I ask from PAS especially, don't fight about branding. We have to think whether social justice can be carried out in a multiracial country," he said, talking about the Islamist party that has accused Umno of using a secular constitution inherited from the British colonial masters.
Repeated accusations from PAS led then-prime minister Dr Mahathir to announce in 2001 that Malaysia is an Islamic state, in his bid to regain support from the Malay community who had voted for the opposition in the 1999 general election.
Mohd Asri, who resumed teaching in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) after leaving his post as Perlis mufti, agreed that Malaysia was an Islamic state rather than secular.
"The definition of Islamic state is when the country is controlled by Muslims and at least part of the Islamic laws (Syariah laws) are implemented; that is enough.
"The strongest proof that Malaysia is an Islamic state (is) when we Muslims in Malaysia demand for Islam (to be) strengthened in the country," said the scholar who ironically was arrested by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) in 2009 for allegedly being linked with spreading puritanical Wahabi teachings from Islam's birthplace, Saudi Arabia.
Then-JAIS director Datuk Mohammed Khusrin Munawi said Mohd Asri's arrest was for lecturing without approval and not for any other offence.
But Dr Mohd Asri pointed out that being Islamic did not mean forcing non-Muslims to comply with religious laws and practises.
"We cannot demand the non-Muslim to pray, we have to recognise he's a Muslim first, then only we ask him to fast.
"When we ask our country to practise Islam, that means we recognise that it is basically Islamic," he said.
Dr Mahathir claimed yesterday that Malaysia is "by definition" a Muslim country since it is acknowledged as such by the Muslim world.
"We don't care about what these people say in order to make it a political issue," he added, referring to the ongoing debate about whether Malaysia is a secular state.
The former PM also expressed his disappointment that the hudud issue was being politicised by those who are pushing for its implementation.
"(This kind of) hudud, which is used for politics, is not exactly hudud," he stressed. "It is hudud used to give victory over one side.
"Pity the Muslim. If he steals, his hand will be chopped off. But his (non-Muslim) friend who steals together with him will only get two months in jail. Is that fair? That is not Islam."
On Monday, Nazri said in Parliament that Malaysia was never declared or endorsed as a secular state, saying that the word "secular" was not found in the Federal Constitution.
Dr Mohd Asri said the issue of naming Malaysia as a secular or Islamic country frequently became polemic as general elections draw near.
"But we have to know countries don't enter heaven or hell, (the ones) that enter heaven or hell are humans. So we have to correct not just the branding of the country only but what we have to correct is the contents of the country.
"A sign that a country is Islamic (is) when it truly fulfils the responsibilities of its rule to the rakyat.
"Leaders carry out their responsibilities, the people carry out their responsibilities. Where there's justice, God's syariat is there. No matter what you name the country."
The debate over the country's status continues as the 13th general election draw near, with the Barisan Nasional (BN) government's mandate ending by April next year.
In Election 2008, BN lost its traditional two-thirds majority and the five states of Selangor, Perak, Pulau Pinang, Kedah dan Kelantan to federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR), a pact composed of PKR, DAP dan PAS.
Perak has since fallen back into BN's fold after the defection of several lawmakers from PR.
The only spot of good news [except the 'an'] in quite some while. Does Dr.Mohd Asri believe in :
If so, make clear your intent Dr.Asri, if Najib is mentally incapable of doing at least this despite all the power and mandate and respect, how about Asri make an attempt for the betterment of humanity (and becoming a future moderate face of Islam and also a secular PM who understands that non-muslims have a right to their entertainments) raising the stature of Malays, granting Malays who do not want Islam equality, or Malays who do not need Apartheid and would speak for their minority friends and fellow citizens, by endorsing the above 3 items with intent to grant and getting as many less than 2 term MPs as possible to sign on under penalty of vacating the political seat? HONESTY please, not subversion or faux conversions of critics of Islam which will make islam into a petty and insane cult rather than a bona fide religion.
The Feds are Dangerous to the Rights of Minorities – by Mike Maharrey
Jose owns a little market on a big-city street corner. Business is pretty good, but he has a problem with neighborhood thugs coming in – shoplifting, harassing customers and basically making a nuisance of themselves. Jose deals with them as best he can, shooing off troublemakers with a little intimidation of his own manufactured by Louisville Slugger. Every once in a while he calls the cops.
Business continues to grow.
Then one day, Bruno walks into the store. Bruno serves as muscle for the largest gang in the city. He suggests that his syndicate can provide "protection" for a nominal fee. Bruno strongly suggests Jose accept the generous offer.
Of course, Jose ponies up the cash. Sure enough, the neighborhood thugs disappear. No more petty theft. No more loitering. No more customer harassment. But every so often, Bruno makes a visit. Jose knows that a visit from Bruno means the cost of protection is about to rise. On top of that, Bruno's associates eventually begin dropping in frequently at the store. They help themselves to merchandise, intimidate customers and basically create a nuisance.
But unlike the neighborhood thugs who used to cause problems, Jose can't merely shoo Bruno's people away with a baseball bat. He tried it once. They quickly reminded him that they work for Bruno. Bruno runs the neighborhood for the syndicate. Jose can't even call the cops. They won't come. Bruno's boss has them under his thumb. Jose knows he stands powerless to halt the mischief.
While it caused some difficulties and cost him a little money, Jose was able to deal with the unorganized neighborhood thugs that used to hassle him. But he finds he had no control whatsoever over Bruno and his clan.
During a recent discussion about devolving power back to the states and constraining the federal government in its constitutionally prescribed role, a big-government proponent argued that we must maintain a strong hand in Washington D.C. to protect minorities.
"The states have proved they can't be trusted to protect the rights of the people, especially minorities," he quipped.
This narrative has dominated American politics since the 1950s. Southern governors and legislators appealed to the idea of "states' rights" to perpetuate segregation. Mention state sovereignty and proponents of a strong federal government will quickly call up images of Birmingham police officers firing water cannons at black people, and remind us that Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus ordered National Guard troops to block the entrance of Little Rock Central High School in order to keep nine African-American students out. Most Americans consider the victories in the Civil Rights battles of the 50s and 60s shining examples the successful application of federal power.
In fact, brave heroes such as Rosa Parks, and countless nameless folks who simply refused to submit any longer, ultimately won the victory. But the federal government did play a role and helped break down an evil system of segregation in the South.
But as we say in Kentucky, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again.
In fact, the indignities of segregation pale in comparison with some of the evils perpetrated by the feds.
The reasoning goes something like this: certain state governments proved they will oppress minorities in the middle of the 20th Century; therefore we need a bigger, more powerful central government to force the states not to oppress minorities today.
But it wasn't the state governments that rounded up more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans and locked them up behind barbed wire during WWII.
It wasn't the state governments that studied the unchecked progression of syphilis in poor black sharecroppers in Tuskegee, Ala. Federal officials told the subjects of these studies that they were receiving free government health care. They never told them that they had syphilis, nor did doctors ever treat them for the disease. The victims were told their treatments were for "bad blood."
And it wasn't the state governments that sprayed low-income residents in St. Louis with toxic, radioactive particles.
Dr. Lisa Martino-Taylor recently uncovered documents revealing that the feds blew a fine powder made of zinc cadmium sulfide into the air over poor neighborhoods. Cadmium was even then a known toxin, although federal officials claimed in the 1990s that the residents were not subjected to dangerous levels.
But Martino-Taylor says she also found indirect evidence that the powder was laced with a fluorescent additive – a suspected radiological compound.
"There are strong lines of evidence that there was a radiological component to the St. Louis study," she said.
In fact, in 1993 a congressional study confirmed conducting radiological testing occurred in Tennessee and some western states.
The professor of sociology at St. Louis Community College said documents reveal the spraying occurred during two separate periods between 1953 and 1954 and again from 1963 to 1965. The aerosol was sprayed from blowers installed on rooftops and mounted on vehicles as part of a biological weapons testing program.
"The powder was milled to a very, very fine particulate level. This stuff traveled for up to 40 miles. So really all of the city of St. Louis was ultimately inundated by the stuff," Martino-Taylor told CBS St. Louis.
The government planted news stories to cover up the nature of the spray.
"There was a reason this was kept secret. They knew that the people of St. Louis would not tolerate it," Martino-Taylor said. "And they told local officials and media that they were going to test clouds under which to hide the city in the event of aerial attack."
The areas sprayed were predominately black. Army documents called it "a densely populated slum district." This during the same time-period that the feds were "fighting for minorities" in the South.
Evidence points to higher than normal incidences of cancer in residents who lived in the area at that time, although after all these years, researchers admit it's difficult to gather conclusive evidence.
Here's a question for you. Why do we never hear the Tuskegee experiments, or Japanese internment, or feds spraying poor people in St. Louis invoked as a reason to distrust and limit federal power in the same way big government apologists use the Civil Rights era as a rational for growing the federal government and limiting the power of the states?
Fact: governments do bad things. All of them. Local governments. State governments. National governments. The question becomes, how can "we the people" best control them? The answer: limit their power and break them into as many competing jurisdictions as possible.
Americans instinctively distrust economic monopoly. They assume that if one company corners the market on a given product or service, the monopolist will screw the consumer. It will raise prices, limit service and pretty much run roughshod over the customer. After all; no competition exists to hold it in check.
Probably a pretty rational fear.
Then why do Americans so readily embrace a political monopoly centered in Washington D.C.?
Seems to me they're trading the neighborhood thugs for Bruno.
Michael Maharrey [send him email] is the Communications Director for the Tenth Amendment Center. He proudly resides in the original home of the Principles of '98 – Kentucky. See his blog archive here and his article archive here. He also maintains the blog, Tenther Gleanings.
So think minority Malaysians, what the Lynas Radioactive material processing will give 'Muslims' and racists in BN supported by minority lapdogs access to. As of now cyanide particles appear to have affected majority Chinese areas
in Raub the cyanide particle issue is already very serious, they may target Kuantan with radioactive part
in Raub the cyanide particle issue is already very serious, the may target Kuantan with radioactive particles next, and who knows, the worst among the racists would access these radioactive particles and poison water sources in local water treatment in all plants where there are minorities elsewhere? If this does not help the voters' idiotic minorities to vote properly and keep supporting minority lapdogs, the threat of a destroyed and very much sickened next generation seems very likely. Pakatan as well should be watched very carefully for those that do not want to make clear on :
Ahmadinejad, Anglo-French rivalry, cynical Nepalese, insurance in politics, insurance racket, Neurotech, outdated mindset, parochial policy, shark demogoguery, tech sabotage, technofascism via voting machines
In amendments to law needed, best practices, better judgments, better laws, collusion, corruption, critique, Democracy, democratisation, demogoguery, food, France, green, hacking, Iran, land distribution, land sequestration, LGBT, LGBT Hate Groups, media traps, media tricks, Nepal, sex negativism, technofascism, Technology, voting machine, Wealth distribution on October 2, 2012 at 8:23 pm
CREWS: Homosexuals in the military demand special privileges – Toleration doesn't cut both ways – by Col. Ron Crews – Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The American armed forces exist to defend our nation, not to conduct social science lab experiments in which our troops serve as human subjects. Try telling that to this administration.
The first anniversary of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Sept. 20, has come and gone. Now, there is mounting evidence that proves our warnings were not idle chatter. The threat to freedom posed by this radical sexual experiment on our military is real: It is grave and it is growing.
Activists inside and outside our government who pushed the repeal have deployed a smoke screen around the fact that once the military was forced to exalt homosexuality in the ranks, the all-too-foreseen consequence reared its ugly head.
Senior military officials have allowed personnel in favor of repeal to speak to media while those who have concerns have been ordered to be silent. Two airmen were publicly harassed in a Post Exchange food court as they were privately discussing their concerns about the impact of repeal. A chaplain was encouraged by military officials to resign his commission unless he could "get in line with the new policy," demonstrating no tolerance for that chaplain's religious viewpoint. Another chaplain was threatened with early retirement, and then reassigned to be more "closely supervised" because he had expressed concerns with the policy change, again demonstrating no tolerance for that chaplain's religious viewpoint.
At an officer training service school, a male serviceman sexually harassed another male serviceman through text messages, emails, phone calls and in-person confrontations. The harassing male insisted the two would "make a great couple." The harassed serviceman reported the harassment, but the command failed to take disciplinary action.
Service members engaged in homosexual behavior protested a service school's open-door policy for all students that prohibited the closing of room doors for the purpose of hiding sexual behavior. The protesters claimed that they had a right to participate in sexual behavior with their same-sex roommates.
A senior chaplain was stripped of his authority over the chapel under his charge because, in accordance with federal law, he proclaimed the chapel to be a "sacred space" where marriage ceremonies would only be between one man and one woman.
The Navy has allowed sailors openly engaged in homosexual behavior to choose their bunkmates. Imagine in this new age of "tolerance" if a sailor asked to be moved from a close-quarters berthing area because of his concern about another sailor's sexual appetites. We already know what would happen, because tolerance has never been a two-way street.
Obviously, the recent "study" (aka propaganda) claiming that the repeal went off without a hitch should be shredded post-haste. It has no connection to reality.
This is just the first wave in the first year of the assault on the constitutionally protected freedom of our service members. Remember, the groups that forced their sexual experiment on the armed forces represent the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transgender community. It's only a matter of time before a man who claims to be transgender demands to be placed with women during training, in the showers and in the barracks. The women in the units will have no recourse, especially if their objection to living, changing, bathing and bunking with a man is based on sincerely held religious beliefs. They would have two choices: Either accept this outrageous imposition silently or be charged with bigotry, hatred, intolerance and every other name the advocates of this agenda can throw at them. Neither choice is acceptable. When "sensitivity training" is in full force, these women just might face discipline and punitive separation merely for speaking up and requesting a reasonable measure of privacy and protection of their religious freedom.
This outrageous social science lab experiment could have been easily prevented. The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty has worked closely with members of Congress to enact legislation, which has already passed the House, to protect freedom of conscience for chaplains and those they serve.
Even more outrageous is that we have to ask Congress to protect freedom of conscience for chaplains and those who serve in the military. The fact that Congress excluded a religious freedom protection amendment (authored in partnership with Alliance Defending Freedom), to the repeal sends a clear message that our current leadership does not consider, much less respect, the constitutional implications of their actions while they bow in allegiance to the powerful and aggressive lobby of those who supported the repeal.
Col. Ron Crews, a retired Army chaplain, is executive director for Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty.
The colonel needs to get a grip. Much like non-military civvies giving wolf whistles or catcalls to women anywhere in the world do not get reported, the SMS is as discreet as milkitary discipline can expect. One cannot even expect the chaplain to get involved in this sort of communication.
1) The threat to freedom posed by this radical sexual experiment on our military is real: It is grave and it is growing.
The USA needs every able bodied person they can get. There is no luxury of choice at this point. This is not experimental but necessity based.
2) The Navy has allowed sailors openly engaged in homosexual behavior to choose their bunkmates. Imagine in this new age of "tolerance" if a sailor asked to be moved from a close-quarters berthing area because of his concern about another sailor's sexual appetites. We already know what would happen, because tolerance has never been a two-way street.
Well they should all be allowed to move if needed or choose as well. Both homosexual and non-homosexual personnel should be allowed to choose with 'away from' choices on eitrher side given priority. Homosexuality incidentally is a mark of extreme military nature.
3) Senior military officials have allowed personnel in favor of repeal to speak to media while those who have concerns have been ordered to be silent. Two airmen were publicly harassed in a Post Exchange food court as they were privately discussing their concerns about the impact of repeal. A chaplain was encouraged by military officials to resign his commission unless he could "get in line with the new policy," demonstrating no tolerance for that chaplain's religious viewpoint. A senior chaplain was stripped of his authority over the chapel under his charge because, in accordance with federal law, he proclaimed the chapel to be a "sacred space" where marriage ceremonies would only be between one man and one woman.
There is military unit number that needs to be maintained even as USA tries to be the most inclusive nation worldwide, in this case the media will not be friendly and will even allow USA's enemies to attack and weaken the military. Even if the spiritual purity' of a soldier is not congruent with sexuality provided by the Church, a soldier still needs spiritual sustenance and should have access to the chapel so long as the soldier is having sex in the chapel or being disruptive and is generally respectful. Of course the chaplain was in the wrong! The soldier has a right to access the chapel regardless of orientation because Man is more than their sexual orientation and the chaplain made the chapel into a place where sexuality was judged above all else.
4) They would have two choices: Either accept this outrageous imposition silently or be charged with bigotry, hatred, intolerance and every other name the advocates of this agenda can throw at them. Neither choice is acceptable.
Men who do seek men for sex, especially the dominant men who consider women too fragile for 'boisterous' sex, are the most aggressive and exceptional soldiers of the lot. In Roman times this was a norm and accepted as coming with the territory. Perhaps Xian (hermit) and Victorian (Tory) sensitivities have blunted the martial sense of the Colonel. The USA may not want to be too obvious about this so that is the reason.
5) Even more outrageous is that we have to ask Congress to protect freedom of conscience for chaplains and those who serve in the military. The fact that Congress excluded a religious freedom protection amendment (authored in partnership with Alliance Defending Freedom), to the repeal sends a clear message that our current leadership does not consider, much less respect, the constitutional implications of their actions while they bow in allegiance to the powerful and aggressive lobby of those who supported the repeal.
This Colonel Cres has become an old fashioned gentleman, more aristocrat than a practical officer who knows the value in numbers rather than sexuality of the men, and is evidently aged in mindset to find sexual issues distasteful. These are coarse and iron natured issues that evidently grate on the Colonel's age acquired sensitivities or upbringing. They bow to nothing, but perhaps the Colonel has already chosen a time warp of choice, and this does not include homosexuality among militarily viable soldiers who do need spiritual sustenance at the chapel, or dropping religion where needed to protect the military from outside (Islamist infiltrated media) influence. These are NOT special privileges but things the Colonel has not and probably lacks the objectivity to think through, probably due to age from/of fixity of mindset. A good man who could advocate the 3 type of unit format I suggested elsewhere :
i) LGBT friendly and mixed with Hetero
ii) LGBT ONLY
iii) non-LGBT and for Hetero only.
Guess which unit will be able to lead ALL in the army? Evidently (i) the LGBT and mixed, simply because this is about war, not sexuality or religion. Fundamentalism is a luxury, and USA must be a nation for everyone not just anyone's favoured group or in this case unit – so why disallow access to the chapel or complain when fundamentalists are removed from the unit? At least until the above 3 types of units are formed this will continue to be the norm.
'Get out of decaying France while you can', campaign warns – France's youth should leave a "decaying and ultra-centralised country run by old men", according to a new campaign that has sparked debate on how the country treats its younger generation. – By Henry Samuel, Paris – 6:32PM BST 25 Sep 2012
Young French people should seek work and hope for the future abroad, according to an unlikely trio of influential men in their 30s – entrepreneur Félix Marquardt, rapper Mokless and TV journalist Mouloud Achour, who have launched a campaign dubbed "Barrez-Vous"("Beat It").
In a tribune in Libération newspaper earlier this month, they said French young people must face the "embarrassing truth" that they lived in a "sclerotic gerontocracy that is collapsing a little more every day".
Mr Marquardt, who has US nationality, said France's failure to teach English better in schools and its obsession with protecting its language was a major obstacle to mobility.
The country's economic policies have put youth so low on their priorities that one in four people under 25 is out of work, they argue. Meanwhile, France's ageing political class refuses to let the younger generation in.
Their call followed numerous reports about a rising tide of wealthy and successful French who are leaving the country to avoid the new Socialist government's plan to tax the country's highest earners at 75 per cent. David Cameron provocatively offered them the "red carpet" should they choose Britain as their new tax home.
The "Barrez-vous" trio said this was not about "tax evasion, but escape plain and simple" that applied as much to "apprentice restaurateurs, hairdressers and chauffeurs as to bankers".
They apparently had little time for President François Hollande's electoral pledge to make youth his top priority and his 2.3 billion-euro programme to create jobs for 150,000 young people without skills.
They received support from Rokhaya Diallo, founder of anti-racism group Les Indivisibles, who said the young felt totally ignored, particularly those from high-immigrant suburbs where unemployment can reach 40 per cent.
"We're not going to tell young people to be masochists and stay put in a country that clearly doesn't like them," she said.
Critics of the campaign were quick to brand the trio unpatriotic and lacking moral fibre.
Michel Sapin, the labour minister, said: "I don't think the idea of going elsewhere should be an ambition to offer young French people, even if it's very important to know what's going on there."
Right-wing former agriculture minister Bruno Le Maire said: "Beware of provocation. I would say to them: 'Stay and roll up your shirtsleeves'. France is a wonderful country that we're in the process of ruining."
i) In a tribune in Libération newspaper earlier this month, they said French young people must face the "embarrassing truth" that they lived in a "sclerotic gerontocracy that is collapsing a little more every day".
Not really. France is not Socialist enough to allow land distribution yet. At that point rhetoric has no effect.
ii) Mr Marquardt, who has US nationality, said France's failure to teach English better in schools and its obsession with protecting its language was a major obstacle to mobility.
French are among the best resistors of English Linguistic colonialism
iii) The country's economic policies have put youth so low on their priorities that one in four people under 25 is out of work, they argue. Meanwhile, France's ageing political class refuses to let the younger generation in.
True to a point. Term limitlessness is bad.
iv) Their call followed numerous reports about a rising tide of wealthy and successful French who are leaving the country to avoid the new Socialist government's plan to tax the country's highest earners at 75 per cent. David Cameron provocatively offered them the "red carpet" should they choose Britain as their new tax home.
These people have electronic cash like credit cards and bank money. That is not real money or even collectible. Stock markets are not real money. Fiat is not real money though there is some being held. Profit from trade in non-collectible or not yet landed 'commodities' is not real money – many things cannot be collected . . .
Good riddance.
v) They apparently had little time for President François Hollande's electoral pledge to make youth his top priority and his 2.3 billion-euro programme to create jobs for 150,000 young people without skills.
Hollande is an honest man to this point. Thos who leave are the fifth columnists or zombie citizens France can do w/o.
vi) "We're not going to tell young people to be masochists and stay put in a country that clearly doesn't like them," she said.
English media has never been as hateful or subversive of the French as seen here. Drivel propaganda article insulting of the readers' intelligence.
Can Lease Hold Forestry in Nepal Benefit People and the Environment? – Policy Brief Number 56-11, July 2011
In Nepal an innovative form of forestry management, known as the Leasehold Forestry (LHF) Programme, is being introduced to protect forest land and help it regenerate. A new SANDEE study analyzes the role of this programme in improving household welfare in Nepal. The study was undertaken to see whether degraded forest land, a resource available to a greater or lesser extent in all low-income countries, can be managed to both improve the environment and enhance socio-economic wellbeing.
The study is the work of Bishnu Prasad Sharma from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. It assesses whether the LHF programme helps households save time collecting forest resources and whether it helps increase household income. It finds that a household participating in the LHF programs saves 33 workdays in the collection of forest resources and that LHF plots provide resources worth approximately 5 percent of household income. The study recommends ways in which the LHF regime could be restructured to increase efficiency and so further improve social welfare.
The Leasehold Forestry Programme
LHF is an innovative kind of property rights regime. It was introduced in 1993 by the Government of Nepal with the twin objectives of regenerating degraded forest land and alleviating rural poverty. There are presently around 4,000 LHF groups in the country. Together these have 36,000 household members and operate in 26 out of 75 districts. The Government of Nepal considers LHF a high priority and the programme has, according to a series of previous studies, succeeded in improving forest cover in previously degraded land.
Under a LHF regime, the Government hands over state-owned, virtually open access, degraded forest land to a group of poor households. These groups are generally less than ten in number and each household receives around one hectare of land in the form of a lease contract. The duration of a LHF lease is 40 years, although this can normally be extended by another 40 years. The state requires households involved in the LHF programme to protect their
forest lands against degradation from open grazing, forest fires, soil erosion, and other threats. They are also expected to replace open grazing on their LHF land by stall feeding of livestock. LHF rules ban the cultivation of cereals on leasehold land and the programme expects households to enhance their income in a sustainable manner from livestock, timber and non-timber forest products. The basic idea is that LHF will enhance forest regeneration while also making it possible for LHF land to meet basic livelihood needs.
Looking at Two Pioneer Districts
This study was conducted in the districts of Makwanpur and Kavrepalanchok (Kavre, for short). These were the first two districts to implement the LHF program in 1993. These districts were selected for two reasons: (a) they would have mature LHF regimes and (b) due to their location in the lower and upper parts of the mid-hill belts, they would be representative of the topographical diversity that exists in the LHF program.
In 2007, Makwanpur and Kavre had 288 and 243 LHF groups, respectively. Since the LHF program is based on the principle of the natural regeneration of forests, only groups that had completed five years of tenure were chosen for the study. These groups would have had time to get their programmes up and running and to have made a difference to their land. Accordingly, the study assessed 245 and 194 LHF groups in the two districts.
Primary data was collected through a questionnaire survey. This was used to collect information on issues such as This policy brief is based on SANDEE working paper no. 61-11, 'The Welfare Impacts of Leasehold Forestry in Nepal' by Bishnu Prasad Sharma, Patan Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. The full report is available at: http://www.sandeeonline.org
Parochial and disempowering policy overall that inculpates expedience and bowing to poitical oppression. The country belongs to the citizens, so why should land be taken away after 40 years? If population of the country increases in 40 years, what will happen if the family that is leased the land AFTER 40 years if no savings were possible during that time? Will the family be thrown off the land after the 40 year period into even denser population by then?
For most of the countries somewhat off the main Silk Road type or land trade routes or popular sea lanes, the liklihood of increase of jobs is just as poor, so jobs are unlikely to congregate in Nepal but elsewhere, and we do know that degree based or high tech jobs are always limited in number as well as executive or paper work positions EVEN in the USA or Europe, the number of degreeless graduates confirms this, Nepal will be even worse off!
This is not a permanent solution unless subsistence suitable sized land for agriculture (as is the moral right of a citizen of any country to claim with larger sized land possible if populations allow) is GIVEN to that famuily and not leased. If the family manages to gather much wealth then fine, but this appears unlikely especially for Nepal being not on or near any major trade areas.
Suggest that those titles be FREEHOLD and if possible ALLODIAL. Size of land though should be subsistence sized for a single family (or larger if population is less), and that Nepal focus on tourism and organic foods, and population controlled paradigms with redistribution of wealth for development of land and acquisition of luxuries for citizen if tourism is profitable. Being the originating country of Buddhism, the Nepalese should understand that the planet and planet's resources do not really belong to any though overpopulation must be avoided.
Every living being's birthright which is reasonable living space and perhaps a permanent home, must be assured and the overpopulation that has led to the concept of capitalism or state sequestration of land or plutocratic collusion with government's nepotists or oligarchs writing laws that CREATES 'the poor', rather than ensures welth distribution insted of wealth sequestration as well as land sequestration. if every citizen if equal then all wealth of the nation is a collective shared resource. while the lack of stratification based on wealth should be directed at ethical and moral criteria for acces to trhat same wealth (i.e. the most ethical or moral people will get the most wealth while those who are less than exemplary or downright self serving or even criminal will get the least 'shares' of wealth – IN EITHER CASE – this 'Utopian' concept must be tempered with maximum quantums of wealth that are not excessive per 'class' of preferred citizen types as in example below :
Physical Criminals Violent Crimes, Destructive Basic and Minimal Access perhaps half times GDP / 3 times average annual salary sequesterable / 1 star access (Lower Class)
White Collar Criminal Seeks/Creates Loopholes in Political or Legal System Normal Access perhaps 1 times GDP / 10 times average annual salary sequesterable / 2-3 star venue access (Middle Class)
Disruptive Non-Violent Crimes (i.e. Invasion fo Privacy)
Legalistic/Ethical Citizen Does Not Seek Loopholes / Refuses Handout Culture Quality Access perhaps 2 times GDP / 30 times average annual salary sequesterable / 3-4 star venue access (Upper Class)
Moral/Fundo Citizen Exemplifies 'Quaint/Unique' Civilisational Values Luxury Access perhaps 3 times GDP / 100 times average annual salary sequesterable / 5 star venue access (Apex Class)
Then there are Negative Freedoms as well that can also be read about throughout the responses in this blog which some religions are unable to reconcile due to fundamentalist attitudes . . .
The above are being applied barely, and only in part or under double standard – based on nepotism, clique politics or race politics as of now, preventing the 99% of citizens from participating in democracy while sequestering even political power and the right to ratify equality type distribution as listed above. Vote properly Joe Publics, if your MPs all decide there is no road tax, insurance or that land is distributed under freehold or even allodial title, or that the state will distribute wealth of the richest to the limit of anything above 100 times annual average salaries (or as suggested by moi a 20 million limit to all sequestered wealth to any and all), or of tertiary education will be FREE, the equality anf freedom of the citizentry will be that much better and the nation that much stronger.
One might say wealth or military power is the only way, but civilisation values are the key that will underline the right to 'rule' oor 'pontificate'. If all one does is be able to wage war and be wealthy, the world will end up like USA, to a point which is beautifully lower class but has no civilisational values, even as the right to either MUST be maintained and not Theocratically imposed. Balance is lacking, even at the UN these days, and Nepal being 'Buddhist' must mke an effort to displace the 'wealth or war' paradigm for Nepal's own citizens first then spreading out the influence of true civilisation from there.
Being so 'Enlightened' and the supposed birth-nation of Buddhism, an effort must be made wherever there is oppression or unfair fees (like using the Lese Majeste laws as reasonably as possible, not imposing theocracy on citizens, making sure all citizens have freedom of speech, preventing or ending road tolls – perhaps for foreigners only – including opt out options for military conscription, not penalizing for not having insurance, keeping legal fees down to a 1% tp 10% at very most of any citizen's annual salary (instead of denying access to legal services except the rich), even ending of road tax or legalising Satellite dishes so that TV companies cannot collude with politicians to enrich the 1%, making passports FREE or water (certain amount) and electricity (certain amount) FREE etc..) regardless of the cynicism or lack of wexemplars. Someone nmeeds to start somewhere even as the rest of the world or even UN stumbles or gove in to fiat convenience.corruption, and give citizens a FREEHOLD right to land in what is their country as much as the next citizen's, is the only way to go. Not just Nepal is run in a 3rd world manner, but even the st world people fight for democracy and things like the 2nd amendment or term limitless Senators all the time draining salaries and colluding with big business whil ethe rest of the 99% languishes, 40 year leases are CYNICAL to say the least. Those titles be FREEHOLD and if possible ALLODIAL, at least subsistanxce sized as well or larger if there is land to spare. Then spread the enlightenenmt at the UN and free the rest of the landless population worldwide . . .
2 Articles On Why Voting Machines are Not Viable And 3rd World Nations Are Greatest At Risk
Brazil Offering a Model for U.S. Elections? – posted by IFP Contributor Mar 5, 2012
Centralized E-Voting Process that Almost Instantly Records the Ballots of Brazil's 140 Million Voters has Drawn Interest from Election Officials in Other Countries, Including the U.S.
Delivering voting machines to locations in the Amazon rainforest can take up to 2 weeks by vehicle, boat and on foot, but votes are transmitted instantly via a secure satellite network. (Flickr photo)
Brazil, which has about 20 million fewer registered voters than the United States, is providing a model for other nations with its use of electronic voting machines.
The Latin American country uses compact, portable voting devices and a centralized process to tabulate even close elections within hours. Adding to the system's efficiency, Brazil's approximately 140 million voters cast their ballot on the same model of voting machine whether they live in Sao Paulo, Campo Grande or villages deep in the Amazon.
The result is quick and reliable results, according to Brazil's elections agency. Speed and logistical solutions are part of the reason many countries, including the United States, are looking to Brazil for how to run reliable, secure and efficient balloting.
Brazil implemented an all-electronic voting system more than a decade ago and has made improvements since. The municipal elections in October, for example, will employ an upgraded version of an Intel Atom-based voting machine that incorporates advanced fingerprint identification capacity.
"I know in the United States it's different," said Giuseppe Janino, secretary of technology for Brazil's Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE), or in English, Superior Electoral Court. "I realize with so many states it's difficult to find a way to have a central, single system."
In Brazil, the move to its present-day method was in response to an outcry from angry and frustrated citizens, according to Janino.
"We had to do something to make the process reliable," he said. "It took 1 or 2 weeks to show results and outcomes were in doubt through the manual process. It was slow, had a lot of errors — the electoral process was totally untrustworthy."
Reflecting on similar complaints registered about the 2000 U.S. general election, Janino noted the improbability of his country suffering through a controversy like when George W. Bush and Al Gore battled over hanging chad on Florida ballots.
"That wouldn't have happened in Brazil because we eliminate the human interaction at all voting sections," he said. The election secretary added that the absence of paper ballots eliminates the tedious task of recounts, done by hand in the past.
The TSE also hasn't seen cases of mechanical malfunctions that surface from time to time in the U.S., including the DS200 optical ballot scanner used in Florida, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin. Among other "substantial anomalies," the scanner is prone to freezes and misreads ballots, according to a recent U.S. Elections Assistance Commission report. The device built by Election Systems & Software was not decertified by the EAC, but the Omaha-based manufacturer is working to remediate the problems.
Brazil's Nuts and Bolts
Brazil's machines, or urnas, are designed by the government and manufactured by Sao Paulo-based Diebold Procom, a subsidiary of Ohio-based Diebold Inc. that has had the TSE contract since 1999.
Candidates' photos are displayed on the screens of Brazil's electronic voting machines. Source: Brazil TSE (Flickr photo)
Roughly the size of a small toaster oven, the voting machines have a screen activated by a built-in numerical keypad. Voters punch numbers that correspond to the measures or candidates, the latter often displayed with a headshot. Votes are transmitted via a secure satellite network. Battery life is 9-10 hours, which comes in handy at polling places lacking electrical power. A 2-week delivery by vehicle, boat and on foot is typical for locations hundreds of miles into the Amazon, "no easy task," Janino said, as about 15 percent of voters live in rural areas, including rainforest that blankets more than half of Brazil.
The voting machine, which weighs 8.8 pounds, is designed so that even people who do not read or those speaking different languages can successfully make their selections. The visually impaired have an option to hear their votes cast through headphones. Voters can identify themselves with only three fingerprints, a feature piloted in 2008 with 60,000 voters and has since grown significantly.
"We are currently in Phase 2 of the biometric identification program and have around 10 million voters who can identify themselves through their fingerprints in this year's municipal elections," Janino said. "By 2018 we will have 100 percent of the voters biometrically registered."
Although the government has not seen any evidence of fraud since e-voting was first employed, Janino and his department aren't resting on laurels. Hackers are being hired to do their worst to the latest generation of voting system.
"In 2009 we invited hackers to try to get into the system and no one could, so in advance of the next election in October we're inviting more hackers to try again," Janino said. "But they won't be successful."
Mixed Global Acceptance
Workers prepare for the 2010 Brazilian general election at an urban polling location. Source: Brazil TSE (Flickr photo)
Brazil began weaning itself off paper ballots with the 1996 municipal election. One-third of the sections, or what the United States calls precincts, blazed the paperless trail that year. Reports of citizens having trouble adjusting to the new equipment were minimal, according to the TSE. Another third made the transition with the 1998 general election, and when the remainder came on board with the 2000 municipal balloting, top vote-getting candidates weren't the only winners.
"That made Brazil the first country to hold a completely automated election," Janino said.
The second was India. When 380 million Indians cast votes on more than 1 million machines in May 2004, their country's election wasn't the first to be all-electronic, but it was the world's biggest. India, the globe's largest democracy, has used e-voting machines exclusively for national and local elections.
Belgium and the Philippines also use technology in either the voting or counting process for all of their national elections. Countries at various stages of piloting or partially using forms of electronic balloting include the United States, Estonia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan and Russia, according to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
Some countries are moving in the opposite direction. Germany banned e-voting in 2009 after a court ruled that the automated process used for the previous 10 years was unconstitutional. Citing issues over adequate privacy and security safeguards, the Netherlands in 2008 decertified its e-voting machines and moved back to paper balloting. Machines still tabulate results, but the sentiment, as stated by the government, is "as long as there is no good alternative, Netherlands agrees with pencil and paper."
Janino shrugs his shoulders when he hears such things. "There are countries that use paper, and people trust that process even if it is manual and slow," he said.
For countries open to the idea of computerized elections, Brazil is happy to share its knowledge, success and even hardware. Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Mexico have signed agreements to rent the TSE's voting machines for their own elections.
America also has knocked on Brazil's door — not for equipment, but know-how.
"Delegations from the U.S. have come to Brazil," Janino said. "We help them learn about our process, how we implement, what our experiences have been and advise them to find a way to have a central system."
The latest American delegation to visit was from California, the state with the most registered voters and the greatest number of delegates up for grabs in its June 5 presidential primary.
urna-biometrica.jpgRecent advancements in Brazil's standardized electronic voting machine include biometric identification. Source: Brazil TSE (Flickr photo)
Secretary of State Debra Bowen, whose job includes serving as California's chief elections officer, has looked closely at electronic voting since 2007 when she commissioned a complete review of software, hardware, source code and documents of voting systems used throughout the state. With the resulting independent scientific analysis as her guide, Bowen supported a system that, as she described, "offers the best of both worlds."
"I chose to favor the transparency of voter-marked paper ballots, which can readily be recounted, coupled with the accuracy and speed of the computer to do the tedious work of counting multiple races," Bowen said.
On all the voting systems she recertified following the audit, Bowen placed tighter use conditions on the components of voting systems that the researchers found were the most fundamentally flawed and vulnerable to security breaches. Those concerns are a big reason the secretary of state doesn't see California being fully automated anytime soon.
"Because of proven technological insecurities and highly publicized government-hacking successes, I don't see any big push toward all-electronic voting in the near future," Bowen said. "Right now, with proprietary closed-source voting systems, entire institutions have to hope that unethical people don't get their hands on source code or software. Our democracy is not built on trust alone; there are checks and balances, and course corrections after lessons are learned."
While an automated election model mirroring Brazil's doesn't seem to be on the horizon for California, all of its 58 county election offices are required by law to provide at least one electronic ballot-marking machine in every polling place. Although generally used by voters with disabilities, the machine may be used by any registrant.
The U.S. agency charged with testing, certifying and overseeing voting systems across the country takes no position on the electronic vs. manual debate.
"The EAC does not endorse any particular type of voting system and state participation in EAC's program is voluntary," said agency spokesman Bryan Whitener. "States determine the type of voting system they use according to individual state laws and procedures."
The EAC, which was created in the wake of the 2000 presidential election turmoil, is established by the Help America Vote Act that sets functional standards for voting systems used in federal elections. These standards will be followed for the third time when America votes for a president in November, be it by human or machine.
http://newsroom.intel.com/community/news/blog/2012/03
Future Now, Hardware, Bits 'N Bytes, Software Tags: electronic_voting, e-voting, internet_voting, electronic_ballot, voting_machines, ballot_scanning, brazil_elections, election_technology
Brazil Is NOT Offering a Model for U.S. Elections for the reasons in the article shown below :
It only takes $26 to hack a voting machine : Researchers demonstrated three different types of attacks – by Matt Liebowitz
ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE DEMONSTRATED AT REGISTRARS IN NORWALK
A voter access card is inserted into an electronic voting machine during a demonstration at the Registrars-Recorder/County Clerk's headquarters in Norwalk, Calif., in 2003.
Campaigning for the 2012 presidential race has already begun, but what the candidates don't know is that come election day, hackers could be the ones whose votes have the biggest impact.
Researchers from the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois have developed a hack that, for about $26 and an 8th-grade science education, can remotely manipulate the electronic voting machines used by millions of voters all across the U.S.
The researchers, Salon reported, performed their proof-of-concept hack on a Diebold Accuvote TS electronic voting machine, a type of touchscreen Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system that is widely used for government elections.
(Diebold's voting-machine business is now owned by the Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, whose e-voting machines are used in about 22 states.)
In a video, Roger Johnston and Jon Warner from Argonne National Laboratory's Vulnerability Assessment Team demonstrate three different ways an attacker could tamper with, and remotely take full control, of the e-voting machine simply by attaching what they call a piece of "alien electronics" into the machine's circuit board.
The electronic hacking tool consists of a $1.29 microprocessor and a circuit board that costs about $8. Together with the $15 remote control, which enabled the researchers to modify votes from up to a half-mile away, the whole hack runs about $26.
Two of the takeovers show the researchers controlling the buttons on the keypad despite what the "real" voter enters. But in what Warner called "probably the most relevant attack for vote tampering," the researchers were able to blank the e-voting machine's screen for a split-second after the "vote now" button was pressed. While the screen went dark, they remotely entered their own numbers into the DRE's keypad.
Johnston explained in the video: "When the voter hits the 'vote now' button to register his votes, we can blank the screen and then go back and vote differently and the voter will be unaware that this has happened."
Johnston and Warner say that the ease with which this type of remote hack could be deployed highlights the need for e-voting machines to be designed better, with not just cybersecurity, but physical security in mind.
"Spend an extra four bucks and get a better lock," Johnston said. "You don't have to have state-of-the-art security, but you can do some things were it takes at least a little bit of skill to get in."
© 2012 SecurityNewsDaily. All rights reserved
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44706301/ns/technology_and_science-security
Do not even deal in locks, and get a guard/watchman instead. Much like fiat currency is unmonitorable, only pencil and paper as well as HUMAN watched and UN HUMAN monitored voting will work. With Wii based or Satellite tech based technology, even microprocessors can be 'overriden' with signals from an external source. The potential for modification of votes will be as bad as the contrived numerology in Singapore's election results show. The final vote tally numbers will not reflect reality of actual votes but instead believable sentiment as 'watched' by the propaganda ministry of the relevant nation in question which will be 'matched' with a numerology inclined number or percentile. This means that propaganda wars and not actual votes will count, with voting machines potentially unneeded and manipulated.
The man who sent sex text in error to ALL his contacts… and ended up in prison – by Paul Bentley – PUBLISHED: 17:05 GMT, 27 September 2012 | UPDATED: 23:33 GMT, 27 September 2012
Craig Evans, 24, had been jailed for 18 months for inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
Freed after judges hear the messages went out to all his contacts including members of his own family
Tripped up by technology: Craig Evans who accidentally sent a sex text to all his contacts and ended up in jail
Craig Evans must have thought things couldn't get any worse after he accidentally sent a saucy text message intended for a lover to every contact in his phonebook.
How wrong he was!
The 24-year-old swimming coach ended up in prison for sex offences after the text also found its way to two young schoolgirls.
Evans had typed an intimate invitation to his girlfriend asking her if she would like to engage in sex with him 'skin on skin'.
Excruciatingly, a slip of the fingers on his BlackBerry smartphone resulted in it going out via BlackBerry Messenger to all the numbers on his phone.
But as well as having to deal with the humiliation of his family reading the message, Evans's mistake led to far more serious consequences.
Among the recipients of the text were two girls aged 13 and 14, which led to Evans, who teaches swimming in a leisure centre, being arrested and charged with causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
He was jailed for 18 months at Birmingham Crown Court in July.
The story unfolded in court this week when his lawyers went to the Court of Appeal in London to have his conviction overturned.
They argued that Evans's 'misguided use of his BlackBerry' made it 'difficult to conclude that he was targeting anyone'.
Bad mistake: A slip of the fingers on his BlackBerry smartphone resulted in it going out via BlackBerry Messenger to all the numbers on his phone
In the message, Evans, of Birmingham, asked an unknown lover if they would have sex with him 'skin on skin' and whether they would prefer it to be 'fast or slow'.
Granting the appeal, Lord Justice Elias said the circumstances were 'unusual' and agreed that Evans had been 'evidently misguided' in the use of his phone.
He added: 'The facts of this case are rather unusual. Messages… were sent to every single contact in his phone, including members of his own family.'
Quashed: Mr Evans walked free from the Court of Appeal in London after judges accepted his 'misguided use of his BlackBerry'
He added: 'The fact that they were repeated shows that he was evidently misguided in the use of his BlackBerry.
'It is difficult to conclude that he was targeting anyone.
'There were a number of mitigating factors in this case.'
The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Coulson and Mrs Justice Thirlwall, added that the sentence, which he also reduced to nine months, would be suspended 'given the unusual circumstances' and freed Evans.
Challenge the judge's decision in Supreme court. The intention of trhe defendent was not to have sex with younger than legal aged persons but a tech based mistake. A clear apology to the underaged persons and parents should do, not this jail sentence! The judge is not considering these countering facts before passing sentence or deciding the person was guilty! How right he'll be!
Crime: During the ten Operation Cubo days held so far, more than 750 people have been arrested for a variety of offences
When you sign your car over to the DVLA, your signing over title ownership of that car to the them, they own it. Read your V5 documents, it clearly states your the registered keeper, not the owner. Now as part of that contract of looking after the car for them, you have to insure it, tax it, mot it every year and have to have a license to drive the thing. When you dont, the can come and take there car away from you. Now could someone lawfully take something away from you, that they didnt own, without your consent? Course not, its called stealing, but when they own it and you break the terms of your contract they can. Good scam hey, shame not many people know, overwise there would be trouble. What would happen if you didnt sign it over, you guessed it, the cars yours again, but you would have to drive on the roads under full liability, maybe make people better drivers. Ive done it, been stopped by the police a few times, but ive always got my car back.,…..because i own it.
– funkychunkylover , milton keynes, 28/9/2012 07:47
– bluejonny , Portsmouth, 28/9/2012 07:45
They won't stay there long… Too much of a temptation for someone 🙂
– ghost , Dundee, United Kingdom, 28/9/2012 07:44
Where is the numberplate on the ferrari? Is this a con?
– mick BW , Ilkley, 28/9/2012 07:40
Looks like a good police operation. More like this please. Crush the cars.
Should be used by the police as a fast persuit car 🙂 – Puddleduck , This side of the pond, 28/9/2012 07:02 . . . . . . . . That's not such a far fetched idea. I was in Italy a few years ago and a police Lamborghini Gallardo went speeding past us on the motorway.
– Chris , Guildford, 28/9/2012 07:24
Should be used by the police as a fast persuit car 🙂
– Puddleduck , This side of the pond, 28/9/2012 07:02
How long before those two cars are stolen !
– St.. James , Barbados, 28/9/2012 02:33
Fantastic cartoon-like 'angry face' with the headlights and grille on that car!
– J.S. , London., United Kingdom, 28/9/2012 02:21
Insurance is really good for the insurance company. They promote fear inside you to loose your vehicle, but they do not fear to have to pay your damaged vehicle. And they profit a lot…
Amend the law to REMOVE the need for insurance for cars or even homes (do know the risks of no insurance as well, but a careful person or family will finally have the right to save lots of useful cash). Insurance companies have had it too good and insurance is extremely expensive especially for those who barely earn enough to save. Propose a limit if not remove entirely insurance. If a bank can give only 1% to 8% in interest, then what one earns yearly that can be put to insurance for certain mustt not exceed 0.25% to 2%. Imagine being a bank to the insurance company while earning at a middle or low class job! Impossible and unfair! Limits to insurance charges based on salary annual levels at 0.25% to 2% at most OR complete removal of need for insurance for those to at least be allowed to opt out. Forcing people to pay inmsurance at such levels is the same as protection money rackets except that the state colludes and enforces instead! Thats right! GANGSTERISM! If banks cannot even affford to give more than 8% in interest to the 99%, the 99% sure as hell cannot afford to do the same for insurance companies! Making a living out of fear that is backed by state enforcement is neither civil nor civilised! Take the below examples :
In Malaysia, the annual car insurance premium for a RM28,000 600-850 cc car is RM900+. For a RM40,000 1500 cc, the premium is RM1,200+
That comes to near 80 a month. Does anyone among the 99% actually get to save 80 a month for retirement? If that is impossible they cannot be penalized for merely owning a car, or at least muct be allowed to opt out without the state penalizing them further. Or perhaps insurance can be for a few days at a time so that people on long distance will drive respectfully and yet be covered. In the even nothing happens the insurance company still gets paid!
Try this one from the USA :
When I purchased my '03 Chevy Monte Carlo two years ago, the people i bought it from at Ford (i bought mine used) set me up with a dealer to do insurance with and it turned out well. I was paying about $217/mo. to start off with. Each month, my insurance kept going lower and lower. One year later, i was paying about $10 less than what i originally started paying for my insurance.
That comes to near 200 a month. Does anyone among the 99% actually get to save 200 a month for
So please vote to have that requirement for insurance be removed. There MUST BE OPT OUT options especially in insurance. The issue of criminal intent to sabotage uninsured owners might be an issue but that sort of thing should be what the police get their cash or penalising from rather than the protection money paradigm above. Vote for MPs who will allow opt outs for insurance! Instead of deterring uninsured drivers, lets deter the state collusion, insurance potential criminals instead. As for insurance industry people dismayed by this article, please, there are many ways to make a living, no decent person would want to be associated with laws or earning money through fear in this manner. Civilisation or police-council revenue from fines is not a quasi-criminal fear based enterprise.
If enough MPs are voted specifically on the basis of promising to remove insurance (insurance companies barely make up 1% of the popularion, why should 99% of us pay them because out MPs collude to give them OUR money?) monthly protection money . . . meaning insurance payments END FOREVER for those who want to opt out. So ask your MP if they will do this and decide who is votable. If no MP wants to do this, then run for election yourself specifically intending to remove the right or power of enforcement to compound a vehicle not involved in any criminal action, but for simply being uninsured which should be an option that is not criminalized.
Jaws no more: Australia to kill sharks – Published: 27 September, 2012, 16:27 (Reuters / Ho New)
Great white sharks have been considered a 'vulnerable' species since 1996, but the recent spate of shark attacks off the Australian coast has led the country to announce plans for a cull.
Any shark that poses an immediate threat by straying too close to the Australian coast will be killed. There have been five fatal shark attacks in the last year alone. The Premier of Western Australia, Colin Barnett, said that his state had recorded only 12 shark fatalities over the past 100 years, meaning nearly half have occurred in the last 12 months.
Plans were announced on Thursday for an $6.85 million AUD ($7.12 million) programme to be implemented.
This will include $2 million AUD for the Department of Fisheries, which will be responsible for tracking, catching, and destroying sharks considered to be swimming in dangerous proximity to beachgoers. Over A$4 million will be spent on tagging, study and research.
Earlier this year, there were demands for the fishing ban on great whites to be lifted following the death of surfer Ben Linden, 24, who was mauled by a shark in July, 180 km north of Perth, in western Australia.
The most recent attack was in August on 34 year old Jon Hines, who was approximately 960km north of Perth. He suffered abdominal and arm injuries, after punching and scratching at the shark's eyes as he was attacked. He was one of the few lucky survivors.
In January 2006, an attack occurred on a 21 year old girl who was swimming in only waist-deep water.
Environmental groups have been protesting against the plans. Great whites are a protected species, but several of the attacks are believed to have been carried out by them. Great whites can grow up to 20 feet long, and develop 3 inch long teeth.
Colin Barnett told ABC radio, that they will "always put the lives and safety of beachgoers ahead of the shark," reminding listeners that, "this is, after all, a fish – let's keep it in perspective."
French authorities recently approved plans for a cull of around 20 sharks after a series of attacks in a surfing hotspot near its island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean.
Experts believe the 'unprecedented' increase in attacks to be in line with population growth and the popularity of water sports.
Animals, Health, Australia, Biology, Security
Ever thought that overfishing made sharks have no choice but to eat humans? The sea is theirs too and when humans take the food from the sea and leave sharks nothing to eat, sharks can hardly be blamed. Who threw the first punch here? Be fair or there will be reparations. Humans eat land food, sharks eat sea food. Humans are encroaching on shark habitat territory and removing their sources of food . . . in this case, regardless of the repair of Levianthanesque Eaters or Sharks needs no urging. Just because sharks do not evolve weapons to defend their borders or have an ability to speak against encroachment of their fishing grounds, does not mean that humans can enter shark habitat, take sharks' natural food and then kill sharks because there is nothing to eat and humans are the only thing left to eat. Same thing with sonar which are deafening/crippling dolphins and whales with the same encroachment on habitat. Because communication or society or weapons are undeveloped does not mean we have any right to encroach if we are civilised.
Think Red Ameri-Indians or Aztecc/Mayan etc with no advanced weapons being colonized and slaughtered and punished and enslaved for being 'Pagans' or not of similar religion (Xianity). Mass commercial fishing should be banned or commercial fish farmed in a manner that do not affect higher and obviously intelligent forms of sea life (sharks have a near 2 century lifespan or more, whales have the larhest brain, dopphins have sophisticated societies, though in similarly, I still recommend collection of carcasses of the same dying of natural causes – after appropriate spiritual consideration/action is given before consumption. But to kill these life forms especially the ungrown or fertile adults of particularly large and obviously intelligent species is wrong.
Where are those meat growing labs? Dozens of worldwide level religions and not an effort towards 'kill-less' food. But lots of killings of fellow humans in the name of religion or difference of expression in faith or even sexuality. What makes humans think humanity is civilised? The holyman's fat bank account while people starve or freeze to death? The willingness to accept a broken and abusive legal and educational system? Drop a few more superquakes and turn the earth inside out with a volcanic-lava/deluge spin cycle to clean up the 'insane Capitalist-culture' humans Bring back the dinosaurs later to clean up the left overs, at least the great lizards murdered without all that insincerity and faux intellect/insanity based justification and actually made use of the carcasses of their prey as food. And now time to drown out the idiot neighbours with the television . . . while the insane ply the roads thinking they are going to be rich or benefit off the pain of people who can at least think properly. Waste of resources supporting the useless eater race of humanity, especially the regress types, racists and fundos . . .
Iran's President – ATS Members have flagged this thread 96 times – Topic started on 28-9-2012 @ 10:07 AM by Corruption Exposed
I'm sick and tired of the media lying to us about things that are clearly untrue, especially when it comes to demonizing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We all know that all news outlets are agenda driven, but this is just ridiculous!
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All Praise Belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and May Peace and Blessings
be upon the Greatest and Trustworthy Prophet and His Pure Progeny, His Chosen
Companions, and upon all Divine Messengers.
Oh, God, Hasten the Emergence of Your Chosen Beloved, Grant Him Good
Health and Victory, Make us His Best Companions, and all those who attest to His
Rightfulness.
Mr. President,
I thank the Almighty God for having once more the chance to participate in this meeting. We have gathered here to ponder and work together for building a better life for the entire human community and for our nations.
Coming from Iran, the land of glory and beauty, the land of knowledge, culture, wisdom and morality, the cradle of philosophy and mysticism, the land of compassion and light, the land of scientists, scholars, philosophers,
masters of literature, and writers, the land of Avicenna, Ferdowsi, Hafiz, Maulana, Attar, Khayyam, and Shariar, I represent a great and proud nation that is a founder of human civilization and an inheritor of respected universal values. I represent a conscious nation which is dedicated to the cause of freedom, peace and compassion, a nation that has experienced the agony and bitter times of aggressions and imposed wars, and profoundly values the blessings of peace and stability. I am now here for the eighth time in the eighth year of my service to my noble people in this august assembly of sisters and brothers from across the world, to show to the world that my noble nation like its brilliant past, has a global vision and welcomes any effort intended to provide and promote peace, stability and tranquility which can be only realized through harmony, cooperation and joint management of the world.
. . . represent a great and proud nation that is a founder of human civilization . . .
Oh yeah? Empty platitudes and a shifty attitude. Ahmadinejad POINTEDLY kept changing the subject whenever the interviewer asked about a 2 state solution for Palestine/Israel. Why? Ahmadinejad also did not want to address the LGBT rights issue instead saying non-Jews can marry Jews. That was not the question posed by the interviewer who obviously out of being affected by the ethos of a person holding Iran's Presidency (2nd term 8th year?), did not manage to pursue or demnd the question be answered, with Ahmadinejab running off on the non-Jew/Jew marriage tack until the interviewer lost track and was 'successfully' diverted.
As for representing an 'old' ciivilisation, then why does this 'Persian' have an Arab name? 5000 years of Persians are not called Mahmoud or 'Ahmad' anything. Does 'Ahmad' know how to write or speak in Pahlavi? No? So all that this supposed Iran President guy represents is a genetic REMNANT of Persian peoples (who knows how mixed an ancesry that may not even remember 3 generations back before the Pahlavi surname/family was lost) not even an inheritor who doesn't even know how to write or even has a Persian name. Iran does not exist, Persia does but is spiritually and culrutally and even linguistically colonized save for the core of elite that still know Zoroastrinism and Pahlavi but who are unfortunately not in power. Arabs have been around for 1400 years and only after 600s did Arabs learn the power of fundo-ism.
Ask if they will get the moral police down on non-Muslims lobbying for a red light district, or if LGBT people are allowed to have their own district. Nudist colonies? 2nd Amendment Rights? To not be affected by the Syariah Court or Hudud practicioners. Or if either district would even be signed into existence. Ask if APOSTASY is legal. Ask if RELIGIOUS APARTHEID will be applied against other faiths. Littering a speech with love and peace words does not change the above facts. I'll believe Persia when I see Persia. Iran should be 'reset' and USA might be the one to do that if the Persians locals can't. Just look at the fundo mess in the Middle East. Freedom of life does not exist there in Iran and this South East Asian hell I've been trying to cure of APARTHEID and greed and fear based HATRED and fundamentalism of various degrees for near the last 2 decades. Send in the marines and for hell turn the most fundo of the damned areas here into a massive reverse-Auswitcz.
Neurosurgeon Shows How Low Levels of Radiation Such As Wi-Fi, Smart Meters And Cell Phones Cause The Blood Brain Barrier To Leak – Sept 19, 2012 by MARCO TORRES
Neurosurgeon and researcher Dr. Leif Salford has conducted many studies on radio frequency radiation and its effects on the brain. Dr. Salford called the potential implications of some of his research "terrifying." Some of the most concerning conclusions result from the fact that the weakest exposure levels to wireless radiation caused the greatest effect in causing the blood brain barrier to leak.
Since he began his line of research in 1988, Dr. Leif Salford and his colleagues at Lund University Hospital in Sweden has exposed over 1,600 experimental animals to low-level radiation. Their results were consistent and worrisome: radiation, including that from cell phones, caused the blood-brain barrier–the brain's first line of
defense against infections and toxic chemicals–to leak.
Researchers in 13 other laboratories in 6 different countries had reported the same effect, but no one had proven whether it would lead to any damage in the long term. In a study published June 2003 in Environmental Health Perspectives, Salford's team repeated the experiment on 32 additional animals, but this time waited eight weeks before sacrificing them and examining their brains. In those animals that had been exposed to a cell phone, up to two percent of the neurons in all areas of the brain were shrunken and degenerated.
Salford, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at his institution, called the potential implications "terrifying." "We have good reason to believe," he said, "that what happens in rats' brains also happens in humans." Referring to today's teenagers, the study's authors wrote that "a whole generation of users may suffer negative effects, perhaps as early as in middle age."
An argument is sometimes made (not necessarily accurately) to those who express concern about radiation from "smart" meters, Wi Fi, etc, that the radiation emitted from these devices is at such a low level that the public needn't worry about it. However Dr. Salford's studies showed opening up of the blood brain barrier from very low levels of radiation. In fact, Cindy Sage and Dr. David Carpenter write in a 2008 paper (Public Health Implications of Wireless Technologies) it was "the weakest exposure level [which] showed the greatest effect in opening up the BBB [blood brain barrier]."
Dr. Devra Davis, author of "Disconnect" explains the science of cell phone radiation in a very comprehensive way. For example she shows photos of two cells, one whose DNA has been damaged by "gamma" radiation (which is what was emitted in Hiroshima) and another cell damaged by low level pulsing non ionizing radiation (from a cell phone). Both cells look very damaged compared to a normal cell; but she even goes on to say the DNA from the cell exposed to the cell phone radiation looks worse. She also discusses the campaign to discredit reputable scientists and their studies–some of these reputable studies having been around since 1972 (Frey).
In May of 2011, the World Health Organization official recognized that wireless radiation such as emitted by "smart meters" is a possible carcinogen. After decades of corporately-funded, biased research being held up as "industry-standard", there are hundreds of independent peer-reviewed scientific studies now showing there is a clear health hazard with technology emitting wireless radiation in the range that "smart meters" do. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people with a "smart meter" installed, have contracted illness, insomnia, rashes, headaches, and worse. And many have been forced to leave their homes entirely, due to health effects. What's more, in apartment buildings where 30+ "smart meters" are installed in a single electrical room, the dangers are even higher. There have been no long-term health studies done on this high level of Electromagnetic Radiation.
PBS Interview with Dr. Keith Black (neurosurgeon) regarding WHO's classification of RF Elecctromagnetic radiation as a 2b possible carcinogen. "We haven't had any good studies in the pediatric population. A child's skull is much thinner. . . .and the amount of radiation that goes into the pediatric brain is much higher than in an adult. So we should be cautious with how we allow our children to use a cell phone. They're going to be the ones that not only are going to use it at a much younger age but at a much longer duration."
Let's start connecting the dots and end this madness to our health and the health of future generations.
Marco Torres is a research specialist, writer and consumer advocate for healthy lifestyles. He holds degrees in Public Health and Environmental Science and is a professional speaker on topics such as disease prevention, environmental toxins and health policy.
So that fluoride can get into the brain, along with other substances that destroy freewill and autonomy. Neurotech and chemical abuse. Wiifi btw is already in Penang, introduced by DAP political party of Christian term limitless oligarchs and nepotists.
I don't need to use sex to sell records – Adele – 2012-09-27 09:04
I'm not married – Adele
Adele tunes nursery rhymes for baby
'I'd get drunk and forget my words' – Adele
Adele gets married in secret
Adele named UK's richest young singer
Los Angeles – Adele has criticised pop stars who use sex to sell records.
The pregnant diva has slammed her chart rivals – who include Rihanna, Madonna and Lady Gaga – who strip off in their videos to promote themselves and insists most female singers look very different in real life to how they look on screen.
She said: "They don't look how they do in magazines or videos. I have seen them up close.
"Exploiting yourself sexually is not a good look. I don't find it encouraging."
Adele has always had a fuller figure but she insists she would never go on a diet or change her image to try and be more successful.
The 24-year-old singer – whose last album 21 has sold over 23 million copies worldwide – prefers to just let her music define her.
She is quoted as saying: "I have never seen magazine covers and music videos and thought, 'I need to look like that to be a success.'
"To sell more records I don't need to do that. I just stand there and sing. I'm not worried that I'm a 'plus size' and so much bigger than other artists.
"No matter what you look like the key is to be happy with yourself."
– BangShowBiz/Channel24
Adele has decided to target the middle and upper demographic for music BUT must remember that lower class entertainment is something that the middles and uppers may never understand. The right of the lowers to access such entertainment is sacrosanct and cannot be denied, though the source of money and type of star might well be barred access to the discerning and class conscious leery of 'blood diamonds' of the entertainment world (i.e. lazily mixing sex with music or film rather than keeping the 2 separate, connoisseurs or the status conscious would take offense but the general public will not care, does not have energy or time to care).
Private clubs for such things do exist for the proclivities of the rich but when sex becomes the basis of earning of wealth, the people involved will be considered unethical and barred from such and such societies that denounce sex for profit and sex based wealth persons. Adele has somethign there which could raise or at least guard society, and the class conscious will finally have a place and justification for their stuffiness among entertainers.
Then Adele ends with a positivist NLP, contrary to the idea of dissing sex selling entertainers which is the premise of the rant. Sigh. Well the entertainment-music industry is full of fluff heads so who's paying attention but the linguistically inclined or careful readers . . .
Lower class sex reliant producers and music houses by association with churning out sex oriented entertainment for wealth will now find themselves on the short end of the 'snob list stick' in the sense that a upper class black ball of sorts will be applied. Perhaps the 5 star hotels, luxury brand label cars or vehicles and planes – 1st class ticketing for travel services, or even 5 star neighbourhoods might stop the hogh worth sex based wealth types and promoters or purveyors of the same from gaining access to '5 star services' to proclaim a sense of awareness of 'sex-money' much blood diamonds are looked down upon now.
The American 'aristocracy' might want to cosy up to Adele, though careful with the 'Blue Coatism' that tries to forbid any and all from their entertainments. A wealthy crass citizen is as much as a wealthy classy person, though both have rights to dissociate from each other. Try the below Article 11 on the exact opposite of 'don't use sex' Adele, 'do use sex' Gabriella Ellis.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl