As long as Malays remain ignorant and poor, they will be dependent on Umno.

That has been one of Umno’s main strategies in its divide-and-rule policy to remain in power for 55 years.

We want to alert Malays to stop allowing themselves to be perbodohkan (made a fool) by Umno.

Umno fears wise, intelligent, independent and informed Malays. Instead, we have no fear of that and we want to raise the thinking capacity of all Malaysians, especially rural Malays.

The Najib (Abdul Razak)-led BN is only interested in propagating falsehood through its control of the media and to disunite Malaysians via racial and religious issues.

When it comes to really important matters that affect the people, they lose all their courage and do the disappearing act.

The land grabs by state governments nationwide, especially in Johor, are also clear examples of Umno making fools out of Malays.

Mahathir Mohamad, in 1991, amended the Land Acquisition Act 1960, to enable state governments to legally rob people of their land and then alienating the land to their cronies for property development.There is absolutely no doubt that those who have committed a series of financial frauds need to be punished. We already know the massive land grabs of native land in Sarawak. But this has also been happening in Johor – Pasir Gudang, Denga Bay, Gelang Patah and now Pengerang. Mahathir and his family members have benefitted by their endorsements of such fraudulent scheme, they need to pay the price. For all that the police need to be ‘independent’ of political influence peddling so that an impartial investigation can be carried out and the money trail, But Malayalis like to tilt at windmills such as corruption and sexual teases when they are sufficiently bored

Thousands of Malay villagers have been evicted from their customary land under this Act. This is the nasib of orang Melayu under Umno (This is the fate of Malays under Umno).

All natural resources in the country belong to the people and country, not to any individual or organisation.

What has happened to Petronas’ trillions of ringgit in oil revenue? Why is the government in heavy debt?

Has anyone seen the accounts of Petronas, other than the prime ministers?

Anwar, as deputy prime minister and finance minister, has never seen the accounts. Not even Parliament.

What have the last three prime ministers – Mahathir, Abdullah Badawi and Najib – been hiding?The government will not spend on productive assets, we’ll scare the foreigners away and we will never have good infrastructure, schools or hospitals. So what? At least we care for poor people. We`ll keep caring for poor people until our money totally runs out, the nation gets bankrupt, inflation is out of control and there are no more jobs.Of course, that means far more people will be poorer than from where we started. But isn’t that a good thing? After all, it gives us a chance to care for even more people.. Did i miss something in that? Oh yes, nuts. We do need nuts. Some nuts for all Malaysian, please. You know the kind of nuts I am talking about, right?

Urban Poverty is a terrible thing. There are few things as demeaning to a human being as not having the means to fulfil his basic needs in life.The continuance of  urban poverty is particularly surprising because there are so many smart and powerful people who claim to be representing the poor. Politicians like Tengku Adnan, academics, poverty economists, NGOs — there are so many people trying to help the poor. It is baffling, then, why we can’t seem to get rid of poverty. Our public debates are virtually controlled by left-leaning intellectuals, who are some of the most pro-poor people on earth. And yet, they seem to be get-ting nowhere.Well, they won’t. Because while they may be experts on the poor and their suffering, they have little idea about the one thing that eventually removes poverty — money. Yes, it is over-simplistic, but it is perplexing how little our top thinkers and debate-controllers know about wealth creation, true economic empowerment, productivity and competitiveness. For, if they did, they would not support one of the most hare-brained schemes to have ever come out of our illusionist politicians` hat

Try arguing with that! You may see financial ruin for the nation, but how will your data-filled presentation ever compete with the picture of a malnourished hungry child in  the urban village. You can’t. I submit all economics, basic arithmetic, common sense, rationality, practicality fails when someone confronts you with ‘so basically you don’t want to help the poor, right?’Nobody does not want to help the poor. Nevertheless, after being labelled anti-poor, you will be labelled an MNC-favouring, FDI-obsessed capitalist. Stay long enough; you will be branded right-wing, perhaps with a ‘communalist’ slur added too. Welcome to India where one doesn’t debate on reason. We debate on emotions, moral one-upmanship and attacking the debater rather than the argument.

Therefore, like any sane, self-preserving individual, i’d say my official line on is not important to remove poverty. It is only important to come across as a person who cares for poor people. And i do, more than you. That is why my Bill has fruit and vegetables. Does yours? So what if our fiscal deficit swells, the rating agencies downgrade us to junk credit and foreign investors stop investing in our country? We don’t need them. They are all our enemies anyway.

Spurred by a flourishing market, jobs in Detroit’s car factories are moving to India. But India’s growing appetite for cars may not be a good thing in the long run.

The dog days of August are when many Washington DC residents decamp to escape its muggy, humid weather. India is not an attractive option given the distance, and there is the fact that most cities in India have identical weather. But Bangalore, for all its busted bravado about being silicon whatever, still retains its fabulous weather for the most part, and it is to its salubrious environs that your correspondent repairs for some R&R, and to reconnect with the roots since DC in August is deserted in more ways that one.

As one prepares for this getaway, news has arrived that Detroit has just declared bankruptcy, the largest American city to go broke. In 1971, two realtors put up a hoarding near Seattle’s Sea-Tac airport that said, “Will the last person to leaving Seattle please turn off the lights?” It was a facetious crack at the city’s downturn after the airline industry went belly-up, primarily on account of Boeing’s nosedive that brought down its employee strength from over 100, 000 in 1967 to less than 40, 000 by 1971.

But Boeing recovered, and Seattle reinvented itself with Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks and other storied companies. Somewhere down the line, it passed the doomsday mantle to Detroit, America’s Motor City – or Motown – that once employed more than a million people with the Big Three (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) dominating the landscape. When the city declared itself broke earlier this week, GM and Chrysler were the 9th and 10th largest employers in the city with about 4, 500 employees each. The top eight: Detroit Public Schools, City Government of Detroit, Detroit Medical Centre, Henry Ford Health System, US Government, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Wayne State University, and State of Michigan.

In other words, the government and healthcare business (or the sickness industry) are locked in a clinch for the most part. Where did Detroit and its Motown jobs go is a question that brings us to your correspondent’s upcoming home visit and his newest gripe about India’s maladroitness – or maldetroitness. At a recent US-India business engagement, someone asked if Detroit’s loss was Chennai’s gain, considering the number of auto-manufacturers who have flocked to the city. Well, not just Chennai or Tamil Nadu’s gain, it turns out – the world’s auto manufacturers have flocked to all of India. To Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Kerala. India is now one of the world’s largest automotive markets, both in manufacturing (6th, ahead of UK, France, Italy, Canada etc and behind only China, US, Japan, Germany, South Korea) and in sales, including export. Every auto manufacturer worth his dime is in India.

This has been flogged a great success story. Overheated accounts of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, developing ancillary units, export earnings etc are being bandied about. Meantime, we are adding four to five million passenger vehicles each year to our rudimentary road network and zooming past 50 million vehicles, the world’s second fastest growing auto market after China. Chennai itself is on track to becoming the world’s largest auto-hub by 2016 with a capacity of over 3 million cars annually – India’s Detroit.

See any dark foreboding in this whole unfolding scenario? What is more frightening – Detroit Redux, or a road system that is clogged bumper to bumper with 300 million gas-guzzling vehicles – while the west has quietly graduated to smarter forms of transport and communication just as the price of oil, a finite, fast diminishing commodity, is going through the roof? At the heart of India’s economic trouble, to keep it simple, is its trade deficit – primarily the difference between what we export (say about $300 billion worth of stuff) and what we import (about $500 billion worth of stuff). India’s No. 1 import is oil (about $140 billion last year) and its No. 2 import is gold (around $60 billion). Dump both and we’ve bridged the trade gap easily.

Easier said than done. Gold buying is cultural custom that is hard to erase quickly, although the finance minister has done a great job educating people without telling them you are anti-national if you buy gold (” Most people in India think they are buying Indian gold in Indian rupees, ” he told me glumly last week. “They are not. It’s foreign gold in foreign exchange. “) But there’s not a word about reducing oil imports or energy consumption. As if buying SUVs and heavy-duty air-conditioners has always been the norm for India.

Some three decades ago, hoardings at gas stations pronounced in banner headlines, “Save that drop of oil or walk to your destination 20 years from now. ” Didn’t save, not walking. Instead, we are crawling, in vehicles, when walking would indeed be quicker in some instances. Trapped in a carapace that is very American in its essence (wasteful, extravagant, profligate ) we don’t even apply our minds to simpler, more elegant solutions, suckered into the oil trap that has made a mess of the United States.

Which is why, when your scribe is in Bangalore, road trips are restricted to the bare minimum, made with bated breath and gritted teeth. Local sorties are conducted on a bicycle or by walking, with imminent danger to life and limb. Soon, there will be plenty of new energy sources, fuel technologies, and nifty automobiles that will disdain oil, but will we be left holding the can for the traditional industry by then? And what will we do with our 100 million gas guzzlers? How much will our maldetroitness cost us? And will the last person to leave Bangalore/Chennai/Mumbai/Kolkata please put out the light – if there is one.

By syed1145@gmail.com

I had firmly decided not to write any more articles or say anything publicly or appear on TV for quite some time, firstly because I had already expressed my views on several issues, and secondly because some people had started accusing me of seeking popularity or cheap publicity. I regard publicity or popularity seeking as a form of vulgarity, and I never seek it. What I was doing was to put forward certain ideas which I thought were in the national interest, though it is quite possible that some of my views were wrong. But since I was misunderstood by many people, some of whom even started abusing me and launching personal attacks, I thought that the time had come for me to become silent. For this reason I said and wrote nothing for two months, and I would have continued my silence in the future too for a long time but for an event which happened recently.

We talk to our close friends for pleasure. We talk to our opponents to settle differences.Diplomacy is “handling of international relations” and “statesmanship,” says the dictionary. We do not resolve the differences by refusing to discuss them.For those who viscerally hate the Muslims, there will always be reasons, however obscure, to justify their resentment The Roman Emperors used to say that if you cannot give the people bread give them circuses. Much of our media seems to say, if you cannot give the people bread give them raw  sex is the opium of the Malaysians  masses, doled out by the media to the gullible public.Is not the  media behaving largely like Marie Antoinette who said that if the people do not have bread let them eat cakes.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today attributed the occurrence of incidents deemed insulting to Islam to the poor race and religion relations brought about by MCA,MIC and DAP

Hindu  leader Narendra Modi  and all his supporters who killed more than 2000 innocent Muslims are still free. Who is going to punish them ? Some one has to rise and destroy these fanatics. If these people become example of victory than we are looking for a big war in near future which will destroy whole earth.

People like Pastor Terry Jones, who called for the burning of the Quran.  a group of Islamophobic Americans gather to throw hateful slurs at a mosque event in California.  the absolute disrespect of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and his blasphemous film which he called “The innocence of muslims”.  the bigotry and  the sympathy of the people of Texas in ABC news experiment “What would you do?” when Muslims are discriminated.  a Hispanic woman pushing a Muslim man onto an oncoming train, killing him, just because he was Muslim. And the worst of late, the genocide of the Muslim Rohingya people by the so called “Buddhist” Burmese

It has happened. I guess it had to. Perhaps, it happened a few months or a few years ago. Perhaps, it was always there, but swept under the carpet. Society’s dirty secret is finally out — everybody knows about it but nobody talks about it. Ten days ago, I received a call from a Muslim friend. She sounded a little concerned. Her anxiety had to do with her nephew’s admission into one of Mumbai’s better colleges. His marks were good, his conduct exemplary. He had been a prefect at school and participated in several extracurricular activities. I asked what the hitch was. She sounded almost embarrassed as she said, “Well, we are Muslims and that seems to be the problem in a lot of colleges.”

I was shocked. “Are you sure that’s what it is?’ I said, not prepared to believe it was the situation in some of the ‘progressive’ South Mumbai educational institutions. My friend went on to narrate how her nephew had been subjected to blatant discrimination during interviews and told upfront that it was his surname that came in the way. She apologized again for the ‘trouble’ she was putting me through. She added, “If the boy was not as bright, I would have told him to forget it, and do something else. But he is keen to study science and make a mark for himself — he has always been a good student. If he doesn’t get into a recognized college, his career is as good as over.”

I made a couple of calls to friendly neighbourhood college principals and asked whether they were really screening students on the basis of religion. One of them denied it; the other sheepishly admitted that such a directive was in place, but on an informal level. “We don’t want trouble,’’ the principal added virtuously. When i asked him to specify what sort of trouble a young man like my friend’s nephew could possibly cause, the principal replied, “These days, you never know. How can you trust these people?” What do you mean by ‘these people’? I persisted. The principal whispered, “Leave it. Don’t make me spell it out. In any case, we don’t have a vacancy.” I called up another college. The person was enthusiastic and polite, saying their list was still open and the student I was recommending, definitely qualified etc. Then i was asked for the name. As soon as i mentioned it, his voice changed. ‘Let me crosscheck with the clerk. I think I made a mistake. So sorry, admissions were closed yesterday.” Finally, I spoke to a lady who heard me out and said, “Send the boy to me tomorrow morning. I’ll see what I can do.” This story has a happy ending — the boy got in.

But that’s because his aunt was in a position to make a few calls on his behalf. There are thousands like him in Mumbai and across India, who are up against an invisible wall, unable to move forward, determined not to look backwards, but stymied all the way. When I met the young man and his family, they had tears of gratitude in their eyes. The point is: I didn’t do them a favour. And neither did the college. He was entitled to receive the same access and treatment on the basis of merit alone. Any college should have held its doors open for him. Especially as the colleges he had applied to were in Mumbai and not some backward town in the back of beyond.  I felt intensely sad, as I accepted a box of mithai from his emotional relatives. It was as if they had crossed an impossible hurdle when it was just a routine matter of showing your marksheet, paying the fees and getting in. Will this boy ever forget the humiliation? Can his family forget the frustrating days when college after college turned them away on some pretext or the other? Perhaps this experience will toughen the lad and make him excel. Perhaps not. It is the ‘not’ that is worrying. Nearly every known privilege that a non-Muslim counterpart can and does take for granted, is denied to him in what was once a liberal, cosmopolitan city with great colleges and outstanding leaders in every field. Today, those temples of education are practicing a nasty version of religious profiling which is going to lead to major problems if it goes unchecked.

There is no getting away from the current polarization. I used to kid myself that some of my Muslim friends were being ‘paranoid’ when they talked about ‘the problem’ (as we had dubbed it). That ‘problem’ pretty much covered everything — from getting a job to finding accommodation. At the time (post- 26/11), we believed it was a passing phase that would disappear once everything ‘settled down’. Except that nobody quite knew what was meant to settle down or whether it would ever happen. But we consoled ourselves, saying sensitivities at the time were running high — people were angry and afraid. More than that, people were confused. Two years down the line, there are no alibis, no screens to hide behind.  Positions have obviously hardened to such a degree that now city colleges have begun to follow their own quota system and turn down eligible students because they are Muslims. We are a few weeks away from the anniversary of one of the most devastating and tragic events that ripped the city apart. No, we cannot and must not forget what happened. That awful attack was the work of hardcore terrorists. What we are doing may be much worse — we are killing the spirit of innocents. The latter crime may have far more lethal repercussions!

“Our lives begin to end
the minute we become silent
about things that matter.”
Martin Luther King

I would like to begin my article with the words of a great man – Dr Martin Luther King Jr. The person who has always inspired me in my life at one stage or the other. People cease to exist but what they do in a lifetime and the words they speak , last for ever in the ether’s of time.

So… What have we done with this one lifetime we have had? By asking what have we done? I do not mean – Have you changed the world? Have you been a prophet? Or have you been a revolutionary. I mean have you made a positive change to at least one persons life in your entire lifetime … even if it is to your very self? For every drop is a major contributor to the ocean which shall one day rain upon the parched earth from the clouds and make her breathe life in her womb. My aim is to awaken you to your true power, to enable and encourage my young friends to realize that we CAN emerge from whatever struggles and tragedies life has put us through as winners, and by winners I do not only mean professionally but as individuals who will live their life in abundance in every possible sphere.I hope to uplift, and to inspire more powerful ways to think and be by bringing simple stories and excerpts of people who have inspired me always .

When I first read about Helen Keller as a young teenager I could not read without goose bumps and shedding tears. Tears because I was immensely moved, motivated and ashamed. Yes you read right… I was ashamed. I was ashamed of my self and all my extremely petty complaints in life. Her life story moved me deep inside at a level I could not understand at the age of 14. However it was enough to make a shift in my life towards appreciating all the wonderful things I had in my life despite the illness which was slowly gnawing at the roots of all the enjoyable years of my teenage. An illness which made me spend every month 8-10 days being admitted in hospital until the age of 18.

Any way, my sad whining’s apart, coming back to Ms. Helen Kellar. How could a woman born in the late 18th century almost a hundred years or more before my time could have such a profound impression on the life of a young girl in India? What power did she have within her to keep reaching out to people years into time. What she could do with her life at that time in the past despite her tragic physical challenges  is truly remarkable and fascinating. At age two, she contracted an illness that left her blind, deaf, unable to speak, and was considered backwards of intelligence. She lived in a dark and hopeless world of her own, until age 7, when she was placed in the care of her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Through being taught letters spelt out in her hand, she came to realize the correlation between those words and their meaning. What I learnt from this part of Helen’s life is if you truly want something it comes to you no matter what . In Helen’s case it came in form of her teacher Anne Sullivan.

I had read somewhere ‘When the student is ready the guru appears!’ Miss Keller was always to call “The most important day I can remember in my life,” Anne Mansfield Sullivan came to Tuscumbia to be her teacher. Anne Sullivan, a 20-year-old graduate of the Perkins School for the Blind, who had regained useful sight through a series of operations, had come to the Kellers through the sympathetic interest of Alexander Graham Bell. I can confidently say from my personal experiences in life that no matter what you are never alone. Even if you feel you have no one and that everything is pointless, well you are sadly mistaken for within you is a power to summon to yourself help, guidance and love – as they say just “ask and thou shalt receive!” The universe will always send you what you need as long as you really know deep inside that what is it that you really want. Whether it is in form of a teacher or guidance or friend or just signs, it “will” come to you.

How Miss Sullivan turned the near savage child into a responsible human being and succeeded in awakening her marvelous mind is familiar to millions, most notably through William Gibson’s play and film, The Miracle Worker, Miss Keller’s autobiography of her early years, The Story of My Life, and Joseph Lash’s Helen and Teacher. Imagine doing somthing so powerful that it continues to change, motivate and transform peoples lives through centuries. Work done through the power of love and through soul motivation always outlives our earthly lives. Helen with the help of Anne Sulllivan her teacher and guide, using her dogged persistence, she went on to bring forth her intellectual and emotional abilities, being an avid learner, and despite the social obstacles of her time, became the first deaf/blind person to graduate from college.

As an adult, she travelled the world, campaigned for civil rights, world peace, human dignity and women’s rights, and authored many books and essays. She became a prominent figure in her lifetime, whose accomplishments attracted awe, respect, admiration and inspiration. Born in 1880 ,Helen Keller died on June 1, 1968, at Arcan Ridge, a few weeks short of her 88th birthday. Her ashes were placed next to her beloved companions, Anne Sullivan Macy and Polly Thomson, in the St. Joseph’s Chapel of Washington Cathedral.

If in that time and that era a woman could over come all hurdles in her life and if a woman (Anne sullivan) could be the force who despite all challenges enabled this child to become timeless well so can we. We have so many things to be thankful for. So many things that we take for granted like eyesight or hearing or medicine or electricity n many other wonders of our modern times. Helen Kellar said in her famous words, “No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars,or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit”. She was right, for we can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.

So with this tribute to my dearest Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan I would like to sign off by saying that look within you. You can be your own Helen or you can be Anne Sullivan. In both ways you can make a difference in your life and have a positive influence upon the life of others for eons to come . You can leave your stamp on time or you can choose to diminish with time,well… my friends, the choice is yours. Be the change you want to see. In his eulogy, Senator Lister Hill of Alabama expressed the feelings of the whole world when he said of Helen Keller, “She will live on, one of the few, the immortal names not born to die. Her spirit will endure as long as man can read and stories can be told of the woman who showed the world there are no boundaries to courage and faith.”

˜Shafee Abdullah: sodomologist extraordinaireâ.Razak Baginda saved by his affidavit drafted by Lingamgate linked Shafee Abdullah he is the one who received the sms from Najib

When comes to Anwar everything that government does is wrong, fabricated, false accusation,

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: When the trial first started, I think at least for the first two months or three, there were often times, I thought, where the judge was giving a lot of leeway to the defence.

It is a shame if this guy is the same Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah aka ” MALAYSIAN JAMES BOND” who went silently to France regarding the Scorpena submarine case? If the AG allows this private practitioner to appear for the prosecution it only shows that the AG’s chamber is void of any capable prosecutors. If that is the state of affair in the AG’s Chamber than the tax paying public should ask as to whether there are DEADWOODS in the AG ‘s department for which good tax payers money is wasted.readmore Shafee: Representing against Anwar is a public service

Razak Baginda saved by his affidavit drafted by Lingamgate linked Shafee Abdullah 

Datuk Seri Shahrizat added that the Defendants deliberately sensationalised and spun this matter until it became “the talk of town”. Friends, family members and colleagues said that the allegations against her had even transcended overseas in newspapers and media in countries like Singapore and the United Kingdom.

ABUSE OF POWER BY THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

It’s out in the open now – inMalaysiaToday, Malaysiakini, andMalaysian Insider, this is the content of the email that has been circulating and the string of sms-es inside:

Did Najib Tun Razak interfered in the Altantuya case and tried to help his friend Razak Baginda escape the gallows? Read the article  and sms-es inside and YOU decide.

The following text message correspondence is between YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, and Dato’ Shafee Abdullah, a Malaysian lawyer who initially represented Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda who is on trial for abeting the murder of Mongolian national, Altantuya Shaariibuu.

While it does not answer lingering questions about Najib’s alleged past relations with Altantuya, the text messages show clearly Najib’s active intereference in the case very early on.

The messages highlight Najib’s willingness to speak with both members of the Attorney General’s Chambers and Inspector General of Police about the case, something that suggests an abuse of executive power.

What is particularly revealing and troubling is that the counsel, Shafee, keeps asking Najib for details indicating some political intervention that may have influenced the case.

This observation is strengthened by Najib’s message to Shafee on 16 November 2006: “Pls do not say anything to the press today. i will explain later. RB will have to face a tentative charge but all is not lost.”

This message raises a lot of questions about Najib’s role in this case. Why did he mention “tentative” charge and that “all is not lost” for RB (Razak Baginda)? How would Najib know this before Razak was charged? Is there already a deal in place that will see Razak aquitted? These are important questions which will have ramifications not just on this case but far beyond.

The text messages were transmitted between Najib’s personal mobile phone (+6012 2143177) and Shafee’s mobile phone (+6012 3257052).

Those who seek the truth should challenge Najib and Shafee to deny that this correspondence took place between them. Perhaps a record of the messages still resides in the server of the relevant telecommunications company.

The truth is buried somewhere. Those who know what truly happened hope that the truth has been buried deep with Altantuya. But the funny thing is, the truth always finds its way into the hands of those who fight for justice – sometimes in the most mysterious circumstances.

Inside are the sms-es purportedly sent between the two: Najib and Shafee:

Wednesday 8/11/2006
Shafee  to Najib (S2N)
Date: 8/11/2006 02:59:31

Dato Seri, The Razak Baginda thing is troubling me.Can I help? Salam, Shafee

Najib to Shafee (N2S)
Date: 8/11/2006 03:45:05
I will speak with u later tonight.

S2N
Date: 8/11/2006 03:45:31
Thank you

S2N
Date: 8/11/2006 06:28:56
Met the investigating officer today.Position is serious for RB.The 3 are highly implicated.RB’s case can be fought.There are redeeming features for him.But we need to meet Dato Seri as there are other looming issues at large.But not to worry. Salam > Shafee

N2S
Date: 8/11/2006 21:06:11
I have spoken to IGP. U can represent n meet RB in court.

Thursday 9/11/2006
N2S
Date: 9/11/2006 12:45:30
If RB’s remand is upto Sunday, does it mean that he has to be charged by Fri or be released? i hope it is looking better for him.

S2N
Date: 9/11/2006 13:11:23
3 things can happen.Firstly, they can ask for more time for detention.We will resist.Second,they have to release him by Friday or thirdly charge him by Friday.Police took him to his office for document search.Nothing incriminating found.Now they are recording stmt from him.Later search in house.Under control so far Dato Seri. Salam, shafee

S2N
Date: 9/11/2006 14:09:03
Dato Seri, Re RB need to meet up with you today. shafee

N2S
Date: 9/11/2006 14:17:47
630 pm at my house in PJaya this evening.

S2N
Date: 9/11/2006 14:18:21
Thank you

Friday 10/11/2006
N2S
Date: 10/11/2006 15:14:31
Any news about RB ?

S2N
Date: 10/11/2006 15:19:40
Dato Seri, Negotiating for conditional release.If not police need 2 or 3 more days extention.I suspect its an exercise in public relation as they do not want public to think a VIP was given an easier time.Being a vip under these conditions is a liability.Otherwise we are on track according to plan. Salam, Shafee

N2S
Date: 10/11/2006 15:27:01
Thanks, he is very stressful according to his wife n would be a huge help if he could get a conditional release latest by sun.

N2S
Date: 10/11/2006 21:35:52
Saw the news on tv. RB was sent for DNA. Not sure it was neccessary.

S2N
Date: 10/11/2006 21:40:19
Unnessasary.But I think its on his lung infection.He has just been sent again to HUKM.Will know more later from inside contacts.

Saturday 11/11/2006
S2N
Date: 11/11/2006 03:17:56
Dato Seri, I was at ghkl ccu 4th floor.RB was admitted due to lung infection:mild pneumonia and asthmatic.This was the pain he was suffering in the chest and unexplained coughing for months.He is under an able physician Dato Dr Jeyaindran Sinnadurai(head of Dept of Medicine)Its good he is resting there than in the lockup.Dna was done to eliminate that he was at scene of crime(paternity can be ruled out as well).Need to see Dato Seri on some concerns. Salam. Shafee

N2S
Date: 11/11/2006 08:54:17
ANy chance of a release by sun ?

S2N
Date: 11/11/2006 08:58:14
Police should release him by then except that I think the police is disturbeb by Media and public pressure.Other factors need be coomunicated to Dato Seri in person. Investigation wise we are on track for release.

S2N
Date: 11/11/2006 09:26:52
It is clear that the Police will ask for extention t’row.I will resist strongly in view of the fact that the last few days investigation on RB have completed investigations that require RB’s presence in custody.Secondly, from yesterday the Police has done nothing much with him except to do the dna.Thirdly, I am concerned with the Police carelessness yesterday in allowing the 3 other suspects to be freely mixing and therefore tainting their subsequent stmnts as they could be ‘group coached’.But it also show Police no longer need to isolate the suspects.Even RB was handcuffed to the C/I. Salam . Shafee

N2S
Date: 11/11/2006 11:46:48
I Can see u today at my Taman duta hse at 6 pm.

S2N
Date: 11/11/2006 11:59:08
OK Dato Seri.Insyaallah I will be there.

Sunday 12/11/2006
S2N
Date: 12/11/2006 13:53:41
2 days extention to Tuesday.They must release him by then maybe conditionally.Police asked for full 14days.He has message.

S2N
Date: 12/11/2006 14:06:23
Will give Dato Seri in a while

S2N
Date: 12/11/2006 15:10:17
0320949418

Monday 13/11/2006
S2N
Date: 13/11/2006 15:53:36
Am in his office now.Another search. AG will be unwilling to charge and lose a case yet again.It is agood idea to suggest to AG to hood on and let investigtion proceed with Razak Released on Bond.

N2S
Tel: 60122143177
Date: 13/11/2006 16:23:29
How was the search ?

S2N
Date: 13/11/2006 16:25:56
We provided them everything,including old pda and note books and a couple of bills.Nothing incriminating.

Wednesday 15/11/2006
S2N
Date: 15/11/2006 13:21:32
Things going as expected.2 male officer charged for murder in common intention.Razak’s name not in. Lady officer released but rearrested under Emergency Ordinance to be used as Crown witness(exactly as predicted). I am expecting RB to be released on Bond.4 of my lawyers are watching brief the proceedings in the murder case.Rb matter prob t’row. Pl call. Shafee Ps coming back now from Taipei.

N2S
Date: 15/11/2006 23:31:09
So hopefully he will be released tmrw?

S2N
Date: 15/11/2006 23:34:38
Dato Seri, I am driving up from S’pore ,no more flight to KL tonight.Hope for th best.Any indication? Shafee

N2S
Date: 15/11/2006 23:36:52
Not heard anything untoward yet.

Thursday 16/11/2006
S2N
Date: 16/11/2006 10:52:43
Anything Dato Seri? I am already in Court.

N2S
Date: 16/11/2006 10:53:50
Pls do not say anything to the press today. i will explain later. RB will have to face a tentative charge but all is not lost.

S2N
Date: 16/11/2006 10:54:30
OK, TQ

Friday 17/11/2006
S2N
Date: 17/11/2006 10:50:30
Dato Seri, Its important you speak toYusoff Zainal Abidin as he knows the law a lot better in the Chambers.I am confident he is concerned with the negligible evidence agst Razak.The Raja Mahani and Tengku Ariston cases ought to be the guiding critera for AG.They cannot afford another scandallous loss by the Prosecution as in Norita, Ariston,Dato Balwant etc.

N2S
Date: 17/11/2006 11:39:46
OK will try. Meanwhile try to console the wife. She is hysterical.

S2N
Date: 17/11/2006 11:41:29
I know Dato Seri.I will do everything I can.Salam, Shafee

S2N
Date: 17/11/2006 12:57:49
Dato Seri, Razak has not been sent to Hospital.He is clearly not well.He is refusing to take Prison’s medicine for fear of sabourtage.The chief Physician of GHKL Dato Dr Jaya Sinnadurai is shocked that they have not brought Razak back to GHKL.I have spoken to Haji Darussalam,Sg Buloh’s Prison Director.Can You sound this to Dato Radzi Shek Ahmad?Need to see you of s’thing that I think had happened that led to her death.Utterly shocking if I am right. Shafee

S2N
Date: 17/11/2006 15:45:34
Dato Seri, I am at Sg Buloh Prison.I have organised Razak to be in HUKL,He is on his way there now. The Pengarah Hj Darussallam and deputy Supt Gunasegaran very helpful. Shafee

N2S
Date: 17/11/2006 21:27:02
My regards to him. He Is always in my thought.

S2N
Date: 17/11/2006 21:34:44
Will tell him

Sunday 19/11/2006
S2N
Date: 19/11/2006 16:25:08
Dato Seri, I need Dsp Musa ,your ADc to call me to clarify a point.He is not answering Shafee

Monday 20/11/2006
S2N
Date: 20/11/2006 13:02:33
Any developement Dato Seri? Shafee

N2S
Date: 20/11/2006 14:30:20
Not yet.

S2N
Date: 20/11/2006 14:30:38
Thank you

S2N
Date: 20/11/2006 21:05:17
Dato Seri.Razak is being transfered to Sg. Buloh t’row.Can Dr. Jaya do anything?

N2S
Date: 20/11/2006 23:04:50
When is he being transffered?

S2N
Date: 20/11/2006 23:05:48
T’row

N2S
Date: 20/11/2006 23:07:01
What time?

S2N
Date: 20/11/2006 23:08:01
Probably late morning

Thursday 23/11/2006
N2S
Tel: 60122143177
Date: 23/11/2006 13:46:51
Your message read” Najib released on personal bond!”.

S2N
Date: 23/11/2006 13:50:00
Razak released on Bail of 1 million. On personal bond undertaking. Shafee?I am terribly sorry for that mistake.Whole night tak tidur preparing. My profuse apologies Sir. salam. shafee

N2S
Date: 23/11/2006 14:00:25
ALhamdullillah , at least he is on bail.Big relief for him n family.

S2N
Date: 23/11/2006 14:02:02
Dato, I need to brief you urgently b4 you speak to him.Shafee

N2S
Date: 23/11/2006 14:12:32
OK but not intending to speak to him as yet.

Saturday 2/12/2006
S2N
Date: 2/12/2006 18:59:15
Dato Seri, Got some info that are troubling.Quite serious.Are you in Taman Duta?Can we meet? Salam, Shafee

According to Malaysian Insider:

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Opposition have tried to link Najib and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, with the murder since it happened in October 2006.

Najib has furiously denied any involvement with the case, and has even sworn in a mosque that he did not know the woman. His wife has also sought recourse in the courts to clear her name.

Their nemesis has been Raja Petra. He published many reports and commentaries alleging a cover-up in the investigation of the murder. He was detained under the Internal Security Act for allegedly publishing articles which were blasphemous.

Razak Baginda saved by his affidavit
The Straits Times, 2 November 2008

The acquittal of political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda in the high-profile murder case of his former Mongolian lover made big headlines in Malaysian newspapers yesterday, with many zooming in on how his affidavit had saved him. The sleazy and sensational affair, and Abdul Razak’s close ties to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, had kept the case in the public eye as the trial ran for two years.

His almost-forgotten affidavit filed two years ago was the highlight as it was pivotal to the High Court judge’s decision to acquit him of abetting the murder. The document was filed in court in an attempt by Abdul Razak, 48, to obtain bail before the trial started. He failed to get bail and there was criticism then by legal experts who considered it a wrong move to disclose his case so early in the trial.

But it turned out to be an astute move. High Court judge Mohamed Zaki Mohamed Yasin on Friday ruled that the tell-all affidavit had helped clear him of the charge of asking two policemen to kill Altantuya Shaariibuu.

“In the absence of the rebuttal evidence against them (statements in the affidavit), coupled with the fact that there is no legal onus for him to rebut any statutory presumption, there is clearly no reason for the statements to be ignored and rejected,” the judge said.

The lengthy document detailed how Abdul Razak met Altantuya in 2004, and had an affair with her that lasted until 2005. After they broke up, he alleged that the 28-year-old interpreter harassed him, and that he had sought the help of the police. But he denied telling them to kill her. According to court evidence, Altantuya’s remains were found in a jungle outside Kuala Lumpur, blown up with explosives after she was shot dead.

The judge found that 13 statements in the affidavit were not rebutted by evidence put forward by prosecutors. In a nutshell, they recounted how Abdul Razak had asked Musa Safri, a security aide of the deputy premier, for help because of Altantuya’s harassment. Musa reportedly said he would introduce him to a police officer. The co-accused Azilah Hadri, an officer from an elite unit that guards VVIPs, called Abdul Razak the next day.

Abdul Razak said he called Azilah on Oct 19, 2006, when Altantuya turned up at his house. Altantuya was taken away by three police officers. Abdul Razak said he subsequently asked Musa what had happened to Altantuya but the aide said Azilah did not tell him.

The judge on Friday found these statements were corroborated by witnesses at the trial, and “clearly negated and nullified the act of abetment as alleged”. This detailed legal explanation was, however, described by veteran opposition politician Lim Kit Siang as a technical one, as he demanded further investigation.

The immediate public reaction on the Internet was, as expected, similar. Abdul Razak’s close ties to DPM Najib were hauled out to hint at favoured treatment although there was no evidence of this. Lim wrote in his blog that it was imperative for Najib to face an independent government inquiry on the allegations.

So far, Abdul Razak has not given his side of the story. After his acquittal, he went back to his house in upmarket Damansara Heights before going to the mosque for Friday prayers. He wore broad smiles each time he came out of the house, but declined to speak to reporters. He also said he had been fasting for the 22 months since he was arrested.

His two co-accused, Azilah and Sirul Azhar Umar, who allegedly killed Altantuya, have been ordered to present their defence. The hearing will begin on Nov 10.

Here are excerpts of the affidavit filed by Abdul Razak Baginda:

EVEN though I had appointed (private eye) P. Balasubramaniam, the harassment by Altantuya against my family and me did not stop. Hence, I asked Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri (a security aide to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak) for help.

I also sought help to be introduced to a police officer from the Brickfields police station as my house was under their jurisdiction.

DSP Musa told me that he would introduce me to an officer who would help me.

On Oct 17, 2006, the deceased came to my house and wanted to meet me. I was not at home at that time, and my wife learnt of her visit.

On the night of Oct 17, I was at home and there was a commotion outside the house.

I called Balasubramaniam and Dhiren Norendra (a lawyer) to help me. A police patrol car arrived to settle the matter.

DSP Musa later called me and said a police officer would call me to help me sort out my problem with the deceased.

On the morning of Oct 18, 2006, Azilah Hadri (one of the co-accused) called me and introduced himself as the police officer who was referred by DSP Musa to help me.

I subsequently met with Azilah. I told him that the deceased had caused a commotion at my house, and asked him to conduct patrols around my house.

On Oct 19, 2006, Balasubramaniam called me and told me that there was a commotion outside my house. I was out with my family. So I called Azilah for help.

Balasubramaniam told me that three plainclothes police officers came to my house… to take the deceased away.

On Oct 20, I bumped into DSP Musa. I asked him what happened the night before and DSP Musa told me Azilah did not tell him anything.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It was a few days before that article that I received the phone call from Tamrin Ghafar. Tamrin said someone wants to meet me and it was very urgent and extremely important that I meet this person. It was agreed that we meet for tea at the Havana Club in the One World Hotel in Damansara Utama.

My wife and I arrived there early but did not have to wait too long. Within minutes Tamrin walked in with Datuk Kamal Amir and Datuk Kadar Shah. It was actually Datuk Kadar who wanted to see me although Tamrin did not mention that earlier when he phoned me — and I knew better than to ask over the phone considering the police were monitoring my phone calls.

Datuk Kadar related how he had gone to lawyer Shafee Abdullah’s office a few days earlier to discuss Jamaluddin Jarjis’s bottom pinching case in the Havana Club at KL Sentral. I think Datuk Kadar was involved because he had an interest in the establishment. Anyway, I was told Shafee wanted JJ to pay RM1 million as ‘settlement’ or else his scandal was going to explode.

And this was when Datuk Kadar saw that whiteboard with Anwar Ibrahim’s and my name on it and the police officers who were in the office discussing the Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II case. And a few days later the whole sodomy thing exploded with Saiful’s ‘revelation’ that he had been sodomised, the PUSRAWI doctor’s examination that showed Saiful was still a virgin, and Najib’s denial and later his admission that he had met Saiful prior to the sodomy allegation.

The rest I had already written about in August 2008, which you can read below in case you have not read it yet. I have since been sued and the case is still pending. And Datuk Kadar said he will come forward to testify if need be that he did see what he told me he saw in Shafee’s office that day, and which I wrote about on 6 August 2008. Shafee, of course, denies this and that is why he sued me.

*************************************************
Very troubling reports have been published, which reveal the existence of a medical report of an examination done by a doctor on Mohd Saiful Bukhari bin Azlan a few hours before Saiful lodged a police report that he had been sodomised. The medical report apparently shows that there is no evidence that he had been sodomised by anyone.

Such reports raise some very serious questions that require immediate answers:

(1) Are the police in possession of such a medical report?

(2) Was the doctor concerned interviewed by the police and was he detained for any length of time?

(3) Is the doctor concerned facing any form of intimidation and, if so, by whom?

(4) Is there a medical report by another doctor that either confirms or contradicts the first medical report?

(5) If it is true that the medical report exists showing a lack of prima facie evidence, what then could have been the justification for the vigorous actions taken against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as well as the public call by the authorities for his DNA sample?

The answers to these questions are of paramount importance, as they bring into focus the integrity of our law enforcement system.

These latest disclosures regarding the investigations into the sodomy allegations are not the only ones to raise questions that need answering. There is, for example, also the issue of P. Balasubramaniam’s abrupt “disappearance” that has yet to be satisfactorily explained. No one can deny that the circumstances of his first and second statutory declarations are highly unusual. All these show a pattern of events that cause much disquiet to right-thinking members of the public.

The Malaysian people are deeply troubled. A country that truly believes in the rule of law should not be faced with so many disturbing developments and unanswered questions.

The credibility of the Malaysian justice system as a whole is therefore at stake. The integrity of professionals, be they doctors or lawyers, must never be interfered with. The public must be left in no doubt that the criminal justice system in this country will not be misused or abused. There must be nothing less than an open and thorough investigation into these cases. This calls for the courage and professionalism of all those involved to do the right thing no matter the consequences. And those who have shown such courage and integrity must know that they live in a country where it is safe to do so.

Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan
President
Malaysian Bar

*************************************************
What Ambiga said in her press statement above is certainly true and she has cause for concern. But she would be even more concerned if she knows what we know about this whole matter.

A special police operations centre was set up some time ago to coordinate all activities related to the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy crisis. No, the special police operations centre was not set up AFTER the alleged sodomy act took place on 26 June 2008. It was set up way before 26 June 2008.

Why the need to set up a special police operations centre BEFORE the date of the alleged sodomy act? Are they clairvoyant and did they peep into their crystal ball and ‘see’ the crime happen before it actually happened? Was the special police operations centre set up so that they could solve the crime? Or was the special police operations centre set up BEFORE the date of the ‘crime’ so that they could invent the so-called crime?

Yes, questions and yet more questions. But this is not yet the icing on the cake. The icing on the cake is that this special police operations centre is not located in the police headquarters. It is located in the meeting room of the office of prominent Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah who possesses a notorious reputation for fixing cases such as those involving the people implicated in murdering Altantuya Shaariibuu or those alleged to have pinched the bottoms of cigar girls in the Havana Club in Kuala Lumpur.

Name me any questionable case and you will find the hand of Shafee Abdullah behind that case. And this same person is coordinating the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy allegation from the meeting room of his law office in Kenny Hills.

There are four police officers headed by an officer name Aziz who are based in this special police operations centre in the meeting room of Shafee Abdullah’s law firm. But why are they based in an Umno lawyer’s office instead of in the police headquarters? Is this an official police operation or is this a rogue operation? Yes, we have watched many Hollywood movies about the CIA’s Dirty Tricks Department. Have Shafee Abdullah and the Royal Malaysian Police also seen the same movie? It appears so because the special police operations centre in Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah’s law firm looks like a plot out of these movies.

In this special police operations centre in Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah’s law firm is a whiteboard and on this whiteboard are two names: Anwar Ibrahim and Raja Petra Kamarudin. Below these two names are all sorts of notes, scribblings and etchings. There are also charts and strategies on how both Anwar Ibrahim and Raja Petra Kamarudin can be implicated in various crimes and incarcerated until their teeth fall out of their gums.

Yes, the police report to Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah. And Shafee Abdullah coordinates this special police operation with the IGP and AG. And the purpose of this special police operations centre in the meeting room of Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah’s law firm is to explore how to incarcerate Anwar Ibrahim and Raja Petra Kamarudin. And the special police operations centre has to be in Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah’s office and not in the police headquarters because, officially, the IGP and AG are not involved in the Anwar sodomy case, as announced by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Shafee Abdullah is no ordinary man. In fact, he is not even a man; he is a devil. But he is Malaysia’s first and foremost sodomologist, a specialist in crimes of sodomy. And that is why the Pusrawi doctor’s report was rejected. He is just a normal doctor, a GP, argued the government. The prognosis of a normal doctor can’t be accepted as evidence in a sodomy case, never mind if he has been practicing medicine for two decades or more. They need the prognosis of a sodomy specialist, a sodomologist, and Shafee Abdullah is Malaysia’s first and foremost sodomologist.

That is why Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) II Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof did not meet Saiful in the police station or at the police headquarters. The special police operations centre is not in the police station or at the police headquarters. It is in the meeting room of Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah’s law firm. So it would be dangerous to meet Saiful in this law firm lest someone finds out. That is why Rodwan met Saiful in room 619 of the Concorde Hotel.

Okay, so Rodwan met Saiful one day before the alleged crime took place. But then maybe Rodwan is clairvoyant or he has a crystal ball and he ‘saw’ that a crime of sodomy was going to take place the following day. Some people do have this gift of ‘foresight’. Nevertheless, whether the timeline appears a bit out of sync or not, they still have the ‘evidence’ to work on to ‘prove’ that Anwar did sodomise Saiful the day AFTER Saiful met Rodwan in room 619 of the Concorde Hotel.

One such crucial evidence was supposed to be the doctor from Pusrawi’s medical examination of Saiful at 2.00pm on Saturday, 28 June 2008. But then the doctor said that he had examined Saiful and found no evidence of sodomy. This report has since surfaced and the doctor has gone missing so, now, there is no way they can use this evidence.

The next evidence was supposed to be the second medical examination done at the Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) at 4.00pm on Saturday, 28 June 2008. But then the outpatient department of the HKL was closed at 4.00pm on Saturday, 28 June 2008. So how could a second medical examination have been done? Yes, that’s right. No second medical examination was done and the doctors at the HKL refuse to doctor a medical report to say that the second medical examination had been done, when none had been done, or to say that they did find evidence of sodomy, when they did not.

Since none of the doctors at Pusrawi or HKL are cooperating with the police, the last piece of ‘evidence’ will have to be Saiful’s underwear. Okay, Saiful’s underwear does not really have Anwar’s semen stains on it. But this is a small matter. As long as someone from the Chemistry Department is prepared to testify that they did examine Saiful’s underwear and they did find Anwar’s semen stains on it, then that would be good enough. They will be able to build their case against Anwar and charge him for sodomy based on this ‘evidence’ from the Chemistry Department.

No, the Chemistry Department has NOT come out with their report yet. There is no report from the Chemistry Department that says they found Anwar’s semen stains on Saiful’s underwear. This is because they first of all need Anwar’s specimen so that they can plant it on the underwear and so that the Chemistry Department can then ‘discover’ it.

But Anwar is being bloody silly. He is being extremely pigheaded and stubborn. He refuses to hand over his specimen. How can they plant Anwar’s semen on Saiful’s underwear when Anwar refuses to let them take his specimen? The Chemistry Department can’t prepare its report saying that it found Anwar’s semen on Saiful’s underwear until the police are able to plant it there. But Anwar does not want to voluntarily hand over his specimen so this plan is being upset a bit.

But never mind. As soon as Parliament convenes later this month they will rush through a new law that will make it mandatory for you to hand over your specimen if the police demands that you do so. Refusing to hand over your specimen when the police demand that you do so will soon become a crime and you can be sent to jail. They will try to pass this law before Merdeka Day of 31 August 2008 and they will try to backdate the law and make it retrospective so that any ‘crime’ committed before the passing of this law will also be covered.

Soon they will get Anwar once the DNA Act becomes law and Anwar can no longer refuse to hand over his specimen. Then, once they have obtained Anwar’s specimen, the Chemistry Department will be able to ‘discover’ it on Saiful’s underwear. Then they will be able to arrest and charge Anwar. And, who knows, they might even be able to convict him as well.

Yes, this Shafee Abdullah the sodomologist is good. He has names, charts, notes, scribbling and etchings all over his whiteboard in the meeting room of his law firm. This meeting room has been the special police operations centre for quite a while now. It was set up long before the alleged sodomy crime took place on 26 June 2008. It was set up not to solve the sodomy crime. It was set up to create the crime.

But, thus far, they lack one very crucial piece of evidence. They lack Anwar’s specimen that they need to plant on Saiful’s underwear. But they will get it as soon as the new DNA Act becomes law and they can use this law to force Anwar to hand over his specimen. Then Anwar is finished and they can close down the special police operations centre in the meeting room of Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah’s law firm and once again use this meeting room for fixing legal cases.

*************************************************
Lawyer: Abdul Razak Baginda ‘is completely unimplicated’

Abdul Razak Baginda, a prominent political analyst, knew the murdered Mongolian model. His lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, said he wouldn’t “go so far to say” that Abdul Razak had a relationship with Altantuya Shaariibuu, but would say that “he knows the lady.”

He said he met his client Wednesday morning and heard his side of the story. “I am extremely relieved from my conversation … I am totally convinced of his innocence .. he is completely unimplicated.” [Associated Press via International Herald Tribune]

*************************************************
Anwar verdict puts Malaysia’s justice system on trial
Report by Tim Lester
ABC Online; 14 April 1999

MAXINE MCKEW: Well, to our own region now and the most publicised trial in Malaysia’s history ended today, with Anwar Ibrahim — the man once groomed to lead the nation — jailed for six years, after a judge found him guilty on four counts of corruption.

Asian leaders have joined human rights groups in denouncing the severity of the sentence. In Malaysia, there have been clashes between police and protesters in the wake of the judgment, suggesting widespread scepticism with the verdict. So, did the system succeed in catching a wayward politician, or did it dance to the tune of an opportunistic leader who wants a political enemy behind bars?

TIM LESTER: Conviction day for Anwar Ibrahim.

As his supporters took to the streets around Kuala Lumpur’s High Court, few doubted the outcome of the marathon corruption trial. For seven months now, they’ve watched Anwar battle to keep alive his shot at the country’s top job.

They’ve heard him say repeatedly the system was being used against him. Many Malaysians, perhaps most, believe it. They believe Anwar Ibrahim’s conviction was orchestrated to suit the PM and several of his close colleagues.

BRUCE GALE: There is a feeling among a large number of Malaysians that the trial wasn’t fair.

TIM LESTER: Singapore analyst Bruce Gale sees this perception — whether right or wrong — as a problem for the Mahathir Government.

BRUCE GALE: If you have large sections of the population believing that somehow the judiciary is not fair or impartial, then this is a very serious situation. It’s an undermining of a major national institution.

GURBACHAN SINGH: We could have easily shown by irrefutable evidence the involvement of several top politicians to bring Anwar Ibrahim down politically.

TIM LESTER: Among Anwar’s nine defence lawyers, there is deep frustration that many witnesses, documents, even tapes they had ready didn’t make it to evidence, because the judge wouldn’t allow them.

GURBACHAN SINGH: There was evidence of the involvement of the PM, as well, that he knew this process of political conspiracy was going on — he did nothing to stop it.

MAHATHIR MOHAMAD: I wish he hadn’t done this and he should have succeeded me and everything would be fine.

TIM LESTER: Political conspiracy — it was Anwar’s claim the moment Dr Mahathir dumped him as Deputy PM and his lawyers say it was vital to their defence of the four corruption charges. But Judge Augustine Paul ruled as irrelevant the suggestion that government ministers and officials cooked up the sex claims to ruin Anwar.

GURBACHAN SINGH: Most of the rulings where the judge could exercise discretion, went against us.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: When the trial first started, I think at least for the first two months or three, there were often times, I thought, where the judge was giving a lot of leeway to the defence.

TIM LESTER: Former prosecutor Shafee Abdullah praises Judge Paul for refusing to hear Anwar’s conspiracy argument in relation to the four corruption charges.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: Whether or not he committed those sexual offences have got nothing to do with the present charges.

TIM LESTER: So was Anwar’s trial fair?

Yes, says Shafee Abdullah. But even he admits Malaysians don’t see it that way.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: There are a lot of individuals out there who feel that the whole trial has gone completely bonkers. Many individuals think that Anwar did not receive a fair trial.

TIM LESTER: The damage from the trial goes beyond perceptions about Government influence over the judiciary to the police force.

MUHAMED AZMIN ALI: They hit me physically and they stripped me naked and asked me to dance in the room, with my hand handcuffed.

TIM LESTER: Anwar Ibrahim’s private secretary of 11 years was among hundreds arrested at the height of anti-government protests last year. He’s now making a disturbingly common claim in Kuala Lumpur — that police used brutality and humiliation in the hope of recruiting him as a witness against Anwar.

MUHAMED AZMIN ALI: Oh, yeah, they asked me to admit that I was sodomised by Anwar.

TIM LESTER: Three of five people cited in sex charges pending against Anwar have now withdrawn their claims and turned on police.

GURBACHAN SINGH: And they were picked up and forced — tortured by the police — to make allegations against Anwar, to admit to sodomy, which they repeatedly said never happened. And they’ve gone on affidavits, they’ve gone on statutory declarations to that effect.

TIM LESTER: Add in Anwar’s black eye — Malaysia’s highest-ranking officer at the time hit him while he was blindfolded and handcuffed. In the process of convicting Anwar, Malaysia’s police have earned themselves an image crisis.

Among other claims that didn’t make it to court — the Washington limousine driver who says a Malaysian embassy official asked him to accuse Anwar of sexual misconduct while visiting the US.

JAMAL AMRO: Then he asked me — he said “Relax”. Then he told me, “Anwar — did you ever bring girls for him, or boys or anything like that?”

I said, “No”.

He said “C’mon, if you say ‘Yes’, we can make some money”.

TIM LESTER: Jamal says he was told he could make more than $250,000 by going along with the sex claims against the then Deputy PM. Public anger over Anwar’s treatment has helped his wife, Wan Azizah, win backing for a new political party and an opposition alliance to fight Dr Mahathir at the next election.

MUHAMED AZMIN ALI: The hatred against the present leadership is swelling because they can not believe the manner they handled this issue against Anwar.

TIM LESTER: This trial and the events around it have thrown up challenges the Mahathir Government didn’t anticipate. Now, there’s the possibility of a united opposition at the next national election due within 12 months.

A powerful threat for Dr Mahathir, but it’s still not likely. The groups Anwar’s supporters need to bring together would make unusual partners.

BRUCE GALE: It seems extremely difficult for me to believe that post-election, that this alliance could hold. The policies of these parties are so diametrically opposed to one another. Islamic fundamentalists want an Islamic State. To the Chinese, this is an anathema — something they would never accept.

TIM LESTER: Many Malaysians don’t like the way their government and judicial system dealt with Anwar Ibrahim. Today’s verdict will only fuel their suspicions.

But Dr Mahathir is still in the middle ground of Malaysian politics. His enemies have a giant task — trying to bring together opposition parties into an alliance needed to capitalise on anti-government sentiment.

Ego sometimes persuades a pompous politician to flaunt a bogus ‘Dr’ on his nameplate. This is not a reward for academic brilliance but an upgrade to a peacock feather, the ‘honorary doctorate’, a worthless piece of paper handed out by an institution desperate for attention. However, this does not matter too much, since we do not expect a high level of honesty from our politicians. Only two letters separate use from abuse, so there will always be a quack preening himself in the garb of a doctor. But when a person held in high esteem dilutes the trust reposed in him, it affects the collective reputation of the brotherhood.It is common knowledge that the best wayZaid argue his case is through a suitcase. The capital’s punters can neither control their laughter

Cynicism is never irrational. The irrational, often wrong, sometimes right, are impelled by instinct, heart or even conscience. Cynics are morality-proof. They prefer data to truth.  Standard for cynicism.  It operates on four axioms: public memory is a dwarf; anger is effervescent; media can be massaged at the appropriate moment; any public crisis can be assuaged with crumbs, while the promotion of private interests continues off-screen.  Zaid Obviously there can be no doubt on the correctness of your interpretation of the law, for I presume that is what the apex court does. But if that is what our laws say, it seems to me that Dickens was right.I may not understand the nuances of law.are bound to be severely compromised by this judgment. I do hope the Supreme Court will reconsider this judgment.

One hardly ever questions the quality of our Supreme Court judgments, which in most cases have been progressive and reformative and have tended to push our laws towards greater reforms.  But this time, it does not seem so,  soon to be Your Honour.

This alcoholic given this title by UMNO itself during a By election when he contested under the PKR banner is totally unfit to be classified as a human being. And in the minds of like minded Malaysians he is nothing short of an UNGRATEFUL doggie.Why was the Atantunya’s case not outsource to a competent prosecutor. Zaid can you answer that. Seriously Zaid…you are beginning to sound so Pathetic. Please look up in the dictionary for the meaning of the word “Pristine”…..It is a defendants right to object, it is not anyone else’s right to say if they are wrong or right other than the judge. I object to the whole case! Why is the government going after this one man with such force? Why are not all cases appealed by the government and not only the ones that involve the opposition?

The former law minister Zaid: wonders Anwar’s objection frivolous and pathetic if the opposition leader is rattled by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s appointment or if the objection is a delaying tactic  has welcomed the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ move to appoint Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to lead the prosecution team in the Sodomy II appeal.Why should Anwar be rattled for goodness sake….he has been rather bold and brave to confront, these useless sodomy charges,and was discharged. . Zaid Ibrahim, are you feeling left out and alone….wanna proper job. Sorry stay where you are.You’ve lost your shine because you do not sound credible. PKr fine without your having to pull it.

Zaid Ibrahim, who once owned the country’s biggest legal firm, dismissed Anwar Ibrahim’s objection to the appointment as “frivolous”, “bizarre” and “pathetic. Thats what you say Zaid but bear in mind DSAI is the people’s champ and the people’s leader. Do you understand this or not.? He is but you are not. You are not at all. You are just like one of those cunning, dubious, pretentious, money hungry lawyers in town and there are many like you. So shut up and go to hell. Is this all how you defend your clients. Just collect your ridiculous fees and take them for a ride. That’s all what many lawyer do for a living. So don’t try to be a hypocrite as if we don’t know. Listen, if you call DSAI as pathetic and frivolous then you are also calling his lawyers pathetic and frivolous. Who the hell do you think you are? Are you superior to anwar’s lawyer. You are not, otherwise you would have concentrated in your legal practice. You failed and tried politics which you failed badly

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has slammed the Malaysian government’s appeal against his sodomy acquittal as smacking of political motives, pointing to the shock appointment of Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah as lead prosecutor as proof of his claims.

Anwar also demanded to know why he was being picked on by the Attorney General, whom he said did “not even appeal against the Altantuya case”. The Altantuya Shaariibu case is perhaps Malaysia’s most infamous murder case, where Prime Minister Najib Razak and his associate Razak Baginda have been accused of being involved in.

“Our position is that the conduct of this case from 1998-99 till now has been very unprofessional. I can understand the Attorney-General’s Chambers may be short of talent but there is no excuse to appoint someone so heavily tainted to be involved in allegations against me. He has been casting aspersions using the court and outside the court for whatever dubious reasons,” Anwar told reporters outside the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on Monday.

“The AG has not appealed many major cases . He has not even appealed against the Altantuya case but chose to do this at the behest of the Umno leaders purely to try and frustrate my political activities.”

Shock appointment reeking of political motives

Ramkarpal Singh, who is one of Anwar’s defense team, said they would be filing an objection to Shafee’s appointment, citing the latter’s well-known links with Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Umno party.

The two-day appeal hearing was postponed as lead defense counsel Karpal Singh is ill. The 3-man appellate panel led by Justice Ramli Ally has set August 1 for case management.

Meanwhile, Anwar’s wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Omar, who is also the PKR president, questioned Shafee’s appointment on the grounds that he was a person “clearly against us”.

“I was surprised that the AG has appointed Shafee Abdullah. I remember he was the lawyer who was against us in Permatang Pauh which we won. He is clearly someone against us and we protest against his appointment.

Retribution of the “highest and most menacing order”

Another PKR bigwig who was also in court to support Anwar was vice president Chua Jui Meng.

“Here we go round the mulberry bush, going round and round with one purpose which is to destroy the political career of Anwar Ibrahim. This is not reconciliation, this is retribution of the highest and most menacing order,” Jui Meng told reporters at the court lobby.

“They are a minority government and must learn to be humble and not keep on pursuing and trying to get a conviction. Having faced the ballot box, they lost the majority, so they are pursuing again. This is the NEP all over again, never-ending policy and never-ending prosecution and persecution.”

Jui Meng was referring to Malaysia’s controversial New Economic Policy, which began in 1971 to uplift the economic prospects of the Malay community and is still ongoing.

Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah, who is also the MP for Lembah Pantai, also criticized the Najib administration for raking up the case.

“You know, it’s surprising the AG has decided to pursue the appeal when he has ignored key cases including that of Razak Baginda but this is the reality in Malaysia,” a rather pensive Nurul told reporters at the court lobby.

“We just have to face this the best we can and pray to God for justice to prevail and a better outcome especially now that it’s Ramadan.”

Nothing controversial, I’m not an Umno member – Shafee

Meanwhile, Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah denied there was anything controversial about his appointment, adding that he was confident of overturning the appeal.

“Why should it be controversial? I am not an Umno member. I was appointed by the Attorney general,” he told reporters at the court lobby.

Shafee also referred to other cases where lawyers in private practice had been roped in to help the government, such as in the Tan Beng Hock inquest.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court had on Jan 9 acquitted and discharged Anwar on a charge of sodomising his former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008. Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mat Diah had ruled that the court found the complainant’s testimony uncorroborated.

The judge also said that the court could not be 100 per cent certain that the integrity of the DNA samples was not compromised.

In explaining its decision to appeal, the Attorney-General’s Chambers said it was guided by “evidence” and acting in accordance with the law.

“The decision to file this notice of appeal will enable this department to obtain the full written judgment of the learned judge and the record of the proceedings from the High Court; and accordingly will be able to appreciate the grounds considered by the learned judge in arriving at that decision,” the chambers said in a statement.

The long cut is demeaning to the ego SHAFEE ABDULLAH a SODOMOLOGIST EXTRAORDINAIREÂmeasures his importance by the number of short cuts he has wangled. A favour is a measure of both the benefactor’s value and the beneficiary’s influence. Some people wait till the last minute only to prove that time will wait for them.

The system creates hurdles since it knows that short-cutters will pay to cross them. Bribes feed the system; the system therefore knits a framework for bribes. Read more

Abu Talib if A.G Gani incompetent.why Muhammad Shafee with prejudice ‘rarest of rare case’,

An outgoing Chief Justice often reserves certain judgments, if they be so timed and be of such value, till his last day in office. It is an occasion more sublime than the one when he took oath. While taking oath, he only goes on record for having occupied the highest constitutional chair. By making a landmark judgment, with the last strokes of his mighty pen

Our entire judicial system borders on one big farce is strange that our judicial system sees no irony in Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail considered unfit for carrying out his functions

Abu Talib questioned whether Shafee’s appointment is an admission that  A.G Gani  incompetent”This is what the public will perceive,” said Abu Talib who was AG from 1980 to 1993 This raises disturbing questions, like: Can we depend upon  Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail. to always interpret the “rarest of rare case” or the “collective conscience of the country” correctly We are all aware of the sieve that our judiciary is.  It is so easy for our judiciary to trip over the course of law, given the pathetic condition of our thin, overworked, often corrupt and inefficient police force in whose hands much of the investigation of crimes is vested. It is amazing to see the amount of reaction generated by the appointment of Umno lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah as ad-hoc deputy public prosecutor in the Sodomy II appeal said there was also  conflict of interest in appearing for the public prosecutor.

Sometimes a change is the only dignified option, even if the change does not promise anything better, if the alternative has been entirely hopeless.
Having said that,  Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patailone is tempted to remind , that when you enter appeal  riding on the platform of high moral ground, it is important to remember the three principles of ethics, namely:

•        Not doing what you may have the power to do
•        Not doing what you may have the right to do
•        Not doing what you may want to do

Remembering this definition is the only way, going forward, IAC will ever be able to avoid having to defend as legal, the conduct of some of the members which may be questionable on the strictest standards of probity. Most political parties have violated these simple principles going by the recent exposes.  The truth is, given a moribund legal system which almost never declares the high and mighty guilty no matter how serious their crimes, most political bigwigs in our country routinely try to use the fragile legal fiction that ‘one is innocent until proven guilty’ as the only fig leaf to hide their modesties behind, even if that leaf is all frayed.  Let the IAC never don the same fig leaf.  There are no standards other than the above stated three principles to define ethical conduct.  Whether or not IAC will ever be our political redemption, they may be the only one who could help prevent our morality depreciating the way of the rupee.

Shafee, a leading criminal lawyer, said he would finish arguing the appeal within two to three hours.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: When the trial first started, I think at least for the first two months or three, there were often times, I thought, where the judge was giving a lot of leeway to the defence.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: When the trial first started, I think at least for the first two months or three, there were often times, I thought, where the judge was giving a lot of leeway to the defence.

TIM LESTER: Former prosecutor Shafee Abdullah praises Judge Paul for refusing to hear Anwar’s conspiracy argument in relation to the four corruption charges.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: Whether or not he committed those sexual offences have got nothing to do with the present charges.

TIM LESTER: So was Anwar’s trial fair?

Yes, says Shafee Abdullah. But even he admits Malaysians don’t see it that way.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: There are a lot of individuals out there who feel that the whole trial has gone completely bonkers. Many individuals think that Anwar did not receive a fair trial.

TIM LESTER: The damage from the trial goes beyond perceptions about Government influence over the judiciary to the police force.

The trial judge had acquitted Anwar  with the tinge of the “collective conscience of the society””The trial judge had acquitted Anwar after calling for his defence because Anwar’s expert witnesses had created a doubt in the prosecution’s case.

Case dismissed.

It does not matter whether Rakhi Sawant knows 2G from `haanji’. People outside the telecom industry are equally clueless, including the experts battling it out on national television, night after agonizing night. All we know is that there has been a major gadbad ghotala involving some really zabardast corporate guys and that the country has been looted of lakhs of crores. Naughty, really naughty. These sort of `rascalas’ need superstar Rajni, not Kapil Sibal to rescue them. There are so many versions floating around about these bad guys that even Brahmadev’s personal intervention won’t help us to get our heads around this mega scandal. If Brahmadev is sensible, he’ll stay out of the mess and watch the drama unfold from his lofty perch in swarg. But this indifference from heavenly bodies should not deter the bloodhounds of the legal system from going in for the kill. So far, their efforts have been clumsy, comical and amateurish. It’s like being forced to sit through a black-and-white Bud Abbott and Lou Castello film, with bumbling cops tripping over their own toes as they chase nimble robbers. Look at the modus operandi employed so far — those meaningless `raids’ on Raja’s properties, months and weeks after the guy has cleaned out and cleaned up (someone obviously forgot to tell the sleuths the horse had bolted weeks ago). The craftily timed leaks (what fun — we are in sync with Julian Assange finally). The charges and counter-charges flying around in this absurd `whodunit’ that boasts of a stellar star cast. And grabbing all the headlines (but staying out of serious trouble) is India’s own Mata Hari or Hunterwali – Fearless Radia.

We are told by those-who-know, `You ain’t seen nuthin yet.’ Miles and miles of tapes still remain in those cans, with more names, more revelations coming up. The idea is to release key leaks when attention levels in the scandal start to flag. Sitting on stuff that can potentially destroy careers and reputations in one swift stroke, is a priceless khazana for government agencies to hang on to. Confuse the enemy, advised Confucius, centuries earlier. Let the scamsters sweat, say our babus! Those shivering in their pants, saris and salwar kameezes, waiting for the next bombshell to drop, can make life slightly easier for themselves by hiring interlocutors (love the word!). Any Bollywood style `setting’ needs swift and efficient damage control. This is the time when powerful touts make the real bucks. As we have seen in the Adarsh case, key files can and do disappear (a large window to facilitate easy disappearance is always factored into the deal, even as noises are made about taking action against culprits). Once evidence is destroyed, what remains? Aha! This is where Rakhi Sawant comes in. Anybody who has watched this unstoppable force of nature in action on a show that sees her meting out instant justice to cowering participants, will tell you she is the most admired `judge’ in India. Forget `law-shaw’ and other such formalities, Rakhi single-handedly skewers, grills and punishes those she thinks deserve no mercy. A suicide here and there, doesn’t bother her. The sentence is passed remorselessly. And God help you if you think there has been a total miscarriage of justice – there is no higher court than Rakhi’s in the land. Wonder of wonders, Rakhi has more credibility than some of our real-life judges. People who watch her show, believe in her and agree with most of her `verdicts’.

Which is more than can be said about the way the 2G exposé is being handled. All of India is stupefied and laughing out loud at the absurdity of the ongoing battle royale between mighty industrialists and powerful politicians. Kapil Sibal has the worst job in the cabinet. He has announced a one-man `committee’ (surely more than one person makes up a committee?), to “examine appropriateness of procedures adopted by DoT in the issuance of licenses and allocation of spectrum during the period 2001-2009″. Yada yada yada. We pretty much know the outcome. How different can it possibly be to all the collective outcomes of similar, well -intentioned enquiries of the past? Nobody believes in those pointless show-cause notices. Nobody believes that any of the high-profile rogues floating around will ever see the inside of a jail. And nobody believes the truth (such as it is) will ever come out. So why not spare us the time and expense involved in this mockery of an investigation? Whether it was the BJP or the NDA, whether Rajeev Chandrashekhar is wrong and Ratan Tata, right — as of now, everybody is in the same overstuffed basket filled with ignominious charges. What if Rakhi Sawant were to summon the main players into her `court’ and invite the people of India to judge for themselves, there and then? On the spot verdict! That would be the ultimate reality show with ratings going through the roof. Imagine the visual – Rakhi as judge, clad in her trademark cleavage-revealing outfits, spouting priceless lines as she cross-examines Raja and Co. Her over glossed pout puckering up as she creases that tightly stretched brow, leans forward, tossing masses of hair extensions, and asks provocatively, “Ab tera kya hoga, Raja?” Raja may chortle and say, “Mere paas bungalow hai, gaadi hai, daulat hai.”

That will be Rakhi’s cue to summon her ace witness who will then demolish Raja by thundering, “Mere paas Amma hai.”

Case dismissed.

Move over Amar, Akbar, Anthony. Make way forShafibo, Dumno and Scambo. A new zamana needs a new cult film with a fresh cast of characters. And here they are! Hollywood’s ‘Nightmare Works’ headed by Mr Spillburger is collaborating with Bollywood’s biggest producer, Mr. Blockbusterwalla, to make a mega movie in time for an auspicious release in 2014 (exact date, still to be fixed… could be brought forward to 2013 at short notice, too). Auditions for minor roles are happening in studios across Gujarat, New Delhi and Mumbai. The heroes have been all but finalized. The search is on for three fetching heroines to star opposite these men. As of now, prominent female faces from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are vying to co-star in what promises to be the most awaited film of next year.

However, there is a small hitch in the proceedings. Sylvester Stallone, the original Rambo, is not entirely happy with the casting director’s decision to go with a rather corpulent man from Gujarat for the macho role. Stallone’s spokesperson has voiced his reservations, particularly after a highly publicized but ‘mythical’ rescue operation undertaken by the local Rambo. “Sly prefers to do his own stunts,” said his manager frostily, adding, “Sly’s idea of musclepower is also different.” Ditto for Dumbo, the adorable Flying Elephant, who has expressed disappointment at the choice of the dimpled actor picked to play him. “I use my own flappy ears to fly,” insists Dumbo, who is in semi-retirement these days. Despite Mr Spillburger’s assurances that the desi Dumbo is a darling of the masses, (children and simple folks, particularly) Dumbo the Elephant remains unconvinced, trumpeting his protests thus: “I hear that guy walks when he should fly, flies when he should walk…. that isn’t good Dumbo behavior .” Which leaves the trickiest casting still open — Scambo. Mr Spillburger has issued a press release declaring all auditions closed for now. According to his press secretary, potential Scambos from across India stormed into their offices demanding the role — or else! Apparently, there were so many takers, it was impossible to identify just one who’d fit the part. One of them quoted a current movie dialogue, “Tere pass paisa hai…powerhai…lekin mere pass public hai,” but still didn’t get the coveted role.

That leaves the ladies. Well, since this is a male oriented, action film, the women have little to do apart from three item songs. Mr. Spillburger is looking for heroines who can gyrate effortlessly, swing from one hero to the other, change sides, and switch partners at short notice. Those who have applied include leading ladies from regional cinema. Mr. Blockbusterwaala has issues. Said he in a terse press release, “Our heroines are crucial to the success of the film. Audience appeal is key. They must suit the heroes. We don’t want a size zero heroine. But we can’t have local heavyweights either. They upset the balance in a scene.” A little birdie let on that Rekha is being considered for one of the roles. Not the Rekha audiences know and love, but a brand new firebrand with her own fan following on Twitter.

Trade pundits are predicting a great showing at the box-office, stating,Rambo,Dumbo and Scambo will be the biggest hit of the decade. “Forget breaking into the 100 Crore Club. Our target is a few lakh crores. This film will define the mood of the nation…it will be historic and iconic. It is bound to break all previous records. Never before in the history of India have so many ‘Looteras’ come together for one project…with one objective…to make tons of serious money in the shortest possible time. There is more at stake than just fame.” Naturally, with as powerful a buzz doing the rounds, overseas territories sold out well in advance. All subsidiary rights have been locked in, as well.

Mr Spillburger is not worried about the rivalry between his heroes. “In a market as big as this one there is room for everyone ,” he assured distributors, adding, “Our target is one billion plus people.” The ambitious movie comes at a time when India is tottering, and the rupee is dangerously weak. Mr. Blockbusterwalla remains unfazed — “Initial reports say the opening weekend will be super fantastic! People are looking for change. Those sticking to the purana formula will lose out to the new lot. Our movie will appeal across class and caste barriers. It’s time for fresh thinking.”

Meanwhile, a talent hunt has been launched for an actor to play the role of the chief villain. Mr Spillburger is keen to cast a foreign player. The big question is: should he be in talks with an actor from Pakistan? Or should he be looking at an American? As of now, all nationalities are welcome! Errr…except the Chines

‘The sexual is the political’, a ghoulish mockery of early feminism. National Service (NS) trainees’s sudden metromorphosis is doubly disastrous for its career babes eager to embrace the new global culture; they are targeted by, both, local diehards and the lumpen hordes who have poured in criminally to exploit trainees giving birth at the camps during training.The urban dream on which the country has posited its future needs smart young women in equal measure. They have risen impressively to fulfil it. Should we punish them for it by turning our cities into a sexual nightmare?The urban dream on which the country has posited its future needs smart young women in equal measure. They have risen impressively to fulfil it. Should we punish them for it by turning our cities into a sexual nightmare?

The gender-bender is now more of a corkscrew. Asexuals have been added to the list which comprise the hetero, homo, bi, poly and even pan-sexual. Unlike the rest, who have no problem with sex and differ only in who or what they want to have it with, asexuals simply don’t want it. It’s not that they can’t, it’s just that they won’t. It’s not because they want a hormonal holiday. Or because they want to withhold foreplay as an instrument of power play. Or because they have a headache, real or feigned. It’s just that they can’t seem to arouse any interest in the sexual act. Ever

Maria Eitel started the Nike Foundation and its ‘Girl Effect’ on the singular belief that adolescent girls living in poverty are uniquely positioned to end poverty. At Kuala Lumpur she pointed out that, “It’s a dangerous misconception that this group is included when we plan services of health or economic empowerment.” After age 5, she becomes ‘invisible’, resurfacing on the radar only when she is a teenaged bride — or unwed mother. As Eitel added, “Yet, between 9 and 19, she takes the right or wrong direction. We don’t have the data, so we don’t know how unique her experience is. We focus on problems and challenges, but not on the opportunities. If we don’t obsess about girls, they simply won’t be counted.”

There have been six cases of National Service (NS) trainees giving birth at the camps during training since the programme begun in 2004.

Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakri said they were looking at a recent proposal to conduct pregnancy tests, taking into account the feedback from several agencies and ministries as those chosen to attend NS would have to certify their health, including pregnancies with government medical specialists and their training can be postponed.

“In the health certification form, the date of the last period cycle has to be stated. But, if the trainee is not sure of the date, the female trainees will be referred to a medical specialist to certify their health.

“However, the accuracy of the information in the form fully depends on the honesty of the trainee in filling it up,” he added.

Abdul Rahman was answering a written question by Senator Datuk Lim Nget Yoon at the Dewan Negara today.

Noting the increased number of NS trainees, he added that in 2014, 150,000 youths from around the country will undergo the training compared to 140,000 this year.

Yet, everything that parents, religious leaders — and busy-bodies — do in the name of ‘protection’ actually makes young girls more vulnerable. For example, ‘safeguarding’ them from messages of sexuality and sexual health. It also takes away their freedoms and blocks the way to empowering opportunities. So, savvy advocacy groups use the tested strategy of turning the problem into a part of the solution. When talking to obstructive imams in the Islamic countries of Asia and Africa, they personalise the message, make them realise that “this is good for my wife, my sisters, my daughters and also for my sons”. Similarly, in Catholic countries, they don’t talk of ‘population control’ but of ‘responsible parenthood’, a value the Church is big on.

Among the global best practices outlined by Melinda for this reporter, one was that “If we talk to them in the right way, they send out the message in the right way.” Another is to go where the target group congregates — and is comfortable. Take the message to the hangout places for adolescents; create a backdoor to the clinic because it’s too ‘uncool’ for teens to enter openly. Or provide an ‘app’ which directs them to the right service.

Another impressive online pathway is ‘It Takes Two’, with its scroll-line, “It takes two to talk about sex, to get pregnant, to plan for the future to change the world.” It uses ‘gamification’, and has roped in the likes of Rihanna and Pearl Jam to donate to its ‘Two Tickets’ campaign. You can win them by taking part in online contests such as designing a condom wrapper. As its ebullient founder, Hugh Evans, pointed out, “It could feature your own face — or that of your father.”

Understanding the needs of the young, especially girls, allowing them to be heard, reaching out in their language — if these are used effectively they can upgrade the developing world.

But asexuals haven’t consciously willed themselves into abstinence. They are genetically unwilling. Unlike the yogis who achieve the greatness of abstinence, or unfortunate spouses who have abstinence thrust upon them, this lot is simply born abstaining. You can either pity them or envy them or both at different times, depending on the prevailing state of your bedtime sorties.

Asexuals come closer to Platonic love than to heartless abstainers or misogynists because they reportedly see themselves as ‘hetero-romantic’ or ‘homo-romantic’. They are also presumably consumed by all the other genres of hidden trysts even if consummation isn’t even remotely on the agenda.

Asexuality is not new, its documentation is. Asexuals had organised themselves as a registered community as early as 2001 with the launch of a UK-based website. It gathered 50,000 followers worldwide in less time than it takes to say, “No, thank you”, in 50 languages. But it was only last month that they held their first non-academic conference, at London’s Southbank University. There’s also been a recent book, Understanding Asexuality. Its Canadian author breaks it up into two types, those who have no sex drive at all, and those who, like Master Bates, have it but direct it only at themselves. Our overworked sexperts may want to tweak their advice in the light of this ‘semenal’ research.

The London conference hoped to have asexuality “recognised as a valid sexual orientation rather than a disorder or something people have to hide”. This is the point being made with increasing emphasis by all the differently wired groups who comprise the ‘Guys, Let’s Be Tolerant’, or GLBT, community. But despite their passion and parades, the great unwashed, uninformed and unrepentant masses insist that everyone must be heterosexual, or else face the hate-rosexual.

Sometimes even the fully acculturated can be caught offguard. Like the courageous Teresita ‘Bai’ Bagasao who later became a UNAIDS country director. At a conference, she introduced herself to a delegate, saying, “I’m from the Philippines, and i’m Bai.” To which he responded, “I’m from the US, and i’m Gay.”

You may be alarmed/relieved to know that the number of asexuals is not as insignificant as a one-night stand. Latest estimates put it at a full 1% of the population. These stats are from Britain, where the only stiff anatomical appendage used to be the upper lip. Remember the 1971 comedy, ‘No Sex Please, We’re British’? Or the chapter titled ‘Sex’ in the hilarious book How To Be An Alien by Hungarian immigrant George Mikes? It comprised just one line: ‘Other people have sex, the English have hot-water bottles.’

That country has since achieved libidinous liberation, but will its erstwhile colony hope for reverse engineering for its own crown jewels? Here’s a thought. True asexuality could finally free the Indian male from his congenital sindrome of sex on the mind — and in any place where he can forcibly impose it. You could call it a retrosexual revolution.

Headmaster and PTA chairman defend controversial meals decision

Whether Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan divides the nation or not, he is surely dividing his caste-ridden party!

All the 28 non-Muslim pupils in the school. Perhaps being the minority in this country, they have to accept whatever is given to them. The majority rule but sadly cannot take care the needs of the minority. If the minority protest, the majority would ask the minority to leave and migrate to other country.MCA,MIC,Gerakan,PPP, IPF,MIUP & Hindraf are irrelevant.Should wind up.

The Untouchable caste in Malaysia were considered outcast in their own society Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan  has come out in the open to express his support the decision made by the HM of the school to force non-muslim students eat their meals in the shower room. He will go on to say that the shower room is cleaner and more hygienic than the school canteen. It is pity that we have this kind of Minister.

forced to take the worst jobs available. They were considered to be polluted and therefor all other caste avoided contact with them. They had no opportunities to move up in society. They were stuck being an untouchable for the rest of their life, many living in poverty. They were treated as if they were inferior to those lucky enough to be born into a higher class status.

In traditional India, there is a structured caste system. The members of the lowest caste are called the untouchables. These untouchables live a life of poverty, are discriminated against, and are outsiders in their own home land. In the caste system there is four varnas: the Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and the Shudras. The untouchables were not even included in the varnas which is the different groups of the caste, instead the untouchables were avarna or out castes. A person is born into their caste which means that what ever caste a persons parents are in is the caste that they are in. As Milton Singer and Bernard Cohn explain in their book, Structure and Change in Indian Society, “In India when parents belong to the same caste, children almost invariably bilaterally inherit their caste affiliation (1968:60). They are called the untouchables because if a member of another caste touches one of them they will become polluted. As Santokh Singh Anant explains, “The word �untouchable� refers to the practice of avoidance of contact with them by other caste (1972:22). The untouchables had the lowest status possible and were discriminated against by all other caste. Living at the bottom of the hierarchy, “The �untouchable� in India was not only low in occupational and other privileges, but was considered unclean in the eyes of the intermediate and higher caste…(Anant 1972:22) They could not change their status. They were stuck in a life of poverty.

Purity and impurity was an important concept in India, and the untouchables were considered to be polluted. “In Hindu ideology, ritual purity or impurity constitutes the criterion generally accepted for justifying and explaining a caste�s rank,” the father down the hierarchy one is the more impure they are (Cohn and Singer 1968:55). The Brahmans at the top of the caste were considered pure. However, they could be polluted if they were to come into contact with an untouchable or if they were to accept food or gifts from them. As Christoph Von Furer-Haimendorf explains, “They may not enter any part of a touchable�s house and no person of clean caste will accept any type of cooked food or even water from the hand of an untouchable” (1966:22). The untouchables were not even allowed to eat in the same room as someone of another caste because they would pollute that persons food, “The higher castes consider even the physical contact of an �untouchable� with their food as polluting” (Anant 1972:73). It was as if they were infected with a highly contagious disease. If a member of a high caste does come into contact with a member of the untouchable class they would do everything possible to remove that pollution from them. For example, “Traditionally, if a caste Hindu would come into physical contact with an untouchable, he would consider himself polluted and would take a bath and sometimes even wash his clothes to remove pollution” (Anant 1972: 66) Other castes did their best to stay away from the untouchables.

In some cases the untouchables could face criminal charges if they pollute certain things with their presence. For example, “It was a criminal offense for a member of an excluded caste knowingly to pollute a temple by his presence” (Cohn and Singer 1968: 304). A member of a high caste can also be punished for doing certain things with the untouchables. For example, “Sexual intercourse and interdining with an untouchable are among the gravest offenses which a member of a clean caste can commit and excommunication is the automatic consequence” (Furer-haimendorf 1966:22). So the lower caste did most things amongst themselves. The lower caste could accept gifts from the higher caste because those gifts were considered pure. They could even eat the left overs and scraps of food from a higher caste and this was considered good for them. As Anant has pointed out, “The lower castes would accept food from the higher castes, but it was like a servant accepting food from a master” (1972: 75). In most cases the untouchables and the other caste obeyed these traditions and when they did not they either were punished by law or ostracized by the community.

The occupations that were open to the untouchables were the worst positions available. It was common for them to have jobs that included dealing with human and animal waste and dead carcasses. Since they were already considered polluted they could not become more polluted by dealing with these things. If a higher caste member dealt with these things then they would become polluted. As Martin A. Klein points out, “Scavengers, leather workers, and those who handled the dead were considered extremely polluting, and people who followed these occupations were untouchables” (1993: 113). A leather worker was considered polluting because they had to clean the hide of a dead cow and anything dead was polluting. They were stuck with these jobs, unable to move up, and they were, “… forbidden to do work of higher status or to own land” (Klein 1993:113). The occupations they had were the occupations that their parents had. They were born into these jobs.

There was no mobility offered to the untouchables. They could not change to another caste for they were to remain forever an untouchable. They had no hope for upward movement for, “Mobility was in theory and almost certainly in practice severely limited for the untouchables” (Klein1993: 113). For the most part people married with in their caste so they stayed in their caste and their children would be in the same caste. There were some instances where people would marry outside their caste or have children with some one in another caste. In these instances the people involved were punished by those of their caste and of other castes. In the case of intercaste marriages they were not seen as a marriage at all. In other words they were regarded as, “…men and women of different castes who simply lived together, not as married couples. Indeed, it would have been impossible for these partners to have obtained either priests or guests for a wedding ceremony, and they were not sufficiently sophisticated or motivated to think in terms of a civil marriage” (Cohn and Singer 1968: 60). It was not accepted among society that two people from different caste be married. They could expect to be shunned by society. They could however move down to untouchabilty and legally marry. As Singer and Cohn have pointed out, “If the girl flagrantly lived with an Untouchable she would be boycotted (socially isolated) by members of her own caste but could join the Untouchable caste and legally marry” (Cohn and Singer1968: 62). However, if you are in a higher caste there is not much of a desire to move down but in some cases it does happen. For the most part people only married others from their same caste.

In cases were two people from different castes had children they were also shunned by society and the children were not accepted into their parents caste. There were some options open for a child of an intercaste relationship, “Provided the parents were permitted to remain in the village, the child of a prohibited intercaste alliance in India could (1) emigrate from the area, (2) remain in the region where his ancestry was known but join an Untouchable caste, or (3) remain in the region and become a truely marginal man- an individual without caste affiliation” (Cohn and Singer 1968: 60). The child along with the parents are punished for this act.

In other instances, some people from lower caste tried to pass as people from another caste by moving to a new area where no one knows them. As Klein writes, “…One could not escape from one�s caste except by renouncing the world or by managing to deceive it: for instance, one might migrate and pass oneself off as a member of a higher caste” (1993:114). However, this was risky, and one would have to give up a lot. For example, trying to pass as another caste means, “breaking ties with kin and kith, but it would mean doing so in a society where social support from kinsmen and fellow castemen is customary, and where new intimate social relations with neighbors and associates who are not also fellow castemen are more difficult for adults to form…” (Cohn and Singer 1968: 72). This is a high price to pay because it means that they must give up their close relationships with family and fellow caste members in which they depend upon a great deal. It is more common for an untouchable to try and hide their caste affiliation rather than try and pass for another. As Singer and Cohn point out, “Untouchables who move into the white collar sector of the urban Indian society are more likely to try to hide their caste identity, to attempt to treat the question as if it were irrelevant, than to claim a false caste affiliation” (1968: 71). Though some people of the untouchable caste do sometimes try and pass as a different caste it does not happen often. The risks of being found and losing the close ties with their caste are too high.

The untouchables face a life style of poverty and being discriminated against. They were not allowed to go to many places that other caste could go to, or to dress the same as them. As Anant explains, “Until recently, they were not allowed to draw water from the common well of the village, nor were they entitled to enter the temples” (1972: 22). In some areas of India they were forced to wear certain clothes. For example they were, “…forced to go almost naked, for fear that the others may be touched by the billowing of their clothes. These and scores of other disabilities forced the untouchables into practically inhuman conditions” (Anant 1972: 22). In some cases it was like they were not even considered to be human but more like a dog with rabies. Along with being discriminated against they were also segregated. For example, “They lived in separate hamlets, drank from separate wells, had to dress meanly and behave humbly, and were denied education. These prohibitions were zealously enforces by the upper castes, the community, and the ruler” (Klein 1993: 113). The rest of society was against the Untouchable caste and showed them disrespect. For example, “…a member of an Untouchable caste must be treated by members of all other castes as untouchable simply because of his caste affiliation. Ego, a member of any Shudra or Brahman caste, expects and can demand that any Untouchable show him difference, even though ego is poor, illiterate, and unmarried, and the Untouchable is older, married, educated, and financially successful (Cohn and Singer 1968: 56). It does not matter how successful one might be with in their caste, if someone is of a higher caste they will still look down on that person and treat them as someone beneath them. For the most part the Untouchables accepted their position and lived by the rules that were set before them. As F.G. Baily states, “The untouchable in the traditional system accepts his disabilities” (1960: 191). They lived the life that the other caste forced them too, even though it was an undesirable life of poverty and discrimination.

Several parents claimed that the canteen was out-of-bounds after the operator closed shop for the fasting month. The school authorities tied a red tape around the premises to stop children from using the place.

The case of schoolchildren dining in a shower room during recess would not have seen light if not for a concerned parent who did her own investigations.

The woman, who has a daughter studying there, was skeptical when told about this last Saturday by a school van driver.

The mother, identifying herself only as Guneswari, visited the school on Monday and what she saw shocked her.

“The non-Muslim students were put in the shower room, which is adjacent to the toilet.

“The doors to the shower room were closed, there was no ventilation. The smell from the toilet was so strong,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

Incensed that her daughter was treated in a such a manner, Guneswari demanded an explanation from the school authorities. She met the school’s afternoon supervisor.

But when there was no response forthcoming, Guneswari decided to expose what was going on in the school.

Her posting on Facebook has now gone viral. It has garnered more than 3,000 shares.

The clean empty canteen at SK Seri Pristina. The Malaysian Insider pic by Diyana, July 23, 2013.Guneswari also dismissed reports earlier today that the canteen was allegedly closed for renovations.

“You can see it on my Facebook page. There is nothing going on in the canteen,” she said.

After the Facebook posting became viral, Education Ministry officials showed up at the school this afternoon where they inspected the shower room and canteen. They also spoke to the school administration.

This year the muslim month of Ramadan began on 9 July. During Ramadan, muslims fast. From dawn to dusk they deny themselves food and water. For 28 days x 24 hours/day, they restrain their emotions, give up bad habits and exercise more than usual generosity. They remind themselves what it means to be thirsty and hungry.

Many Muslims also read the Quran and attend prayers at mosques more frequently than they would in the other eleven months of the year.

In Malaysia, as in other countries with large Muslim populations, a carnival atmosphere fills the air. Special foods are prepared, sold and consumed. It’s common for families and social groups to ‘break fast’ together. Hotels and restaurants offer special menus for breaking fast.

The roads are a lot less crowded than usual during the time of breaking fast – sometimes people stop their cars by the roadside and break their fast.

It’s a season for doing good, and for showing restraint while others do not. Some Muslims have even said to me that they “gain merit” by serving refreshments to non-Muslim guests in their homes while not partaking themselves.

So it’s with some horror that I read about what’s been happening in a co-ed primary school located not far from where I live. The story surfaced 2 weeks into Ramadan.

It seems the canteen in the school has been closed for Ramadan and non-Muslim and (therefore non-fasting) students have been asked to eat their meals in the school’s shower rooms. It also seems like there are in-use toilets close to the shower room, and the smell from the toilets fills the air. Both boys and girls eat their meals in the room. It’s not clear whether the shower room is for boys or for girls.

The mother of one of the students was informed about this by a driver who ferries her daughter to the school. [I wonder why the daughter hadn’t said anything to her mother.] The mother couldn’t believe what she was told. So she went to see for herself. Her disbelief turned into horror and rage. She confronted the school’s afternoon supervisor, but didn’t get a satisfactory response. So she took photos and posted them on Facebook.

The photos and her notes went viral. The comments began to spiral. It turned into a racial thing: this is what “they” do to “us.” Then people became incensed with the school authorities. The deputy minister of Education, an Indian, was brought into the fray. Muslims criticized the school’s headmaster and teachers. People began saying this is the state of our nation thanks to the government’s tolerance, nay promotion, of intolerance of non-Malays.

I do not wish to downplay the seriousness of what’s going on. I think it is unconscionable that the school canteen should be closed for business during Ramadan. I think it is unconscionable that students should be barred from the canteen premises during Ramadan. Shouldn’t schools cater to Muslim as well as non-Muslim students? I think it is unconscionable that students should be expected to eat their meals in a shower room, filled with toilet smells.

I do not wish to downplay the seriousness of what’s going on. Why aren’t people asking whether the shower room is still used as a shower room? Why aren’t people asking when the shower room began to be used as a place to eat? [Especially since one news report says the “conversion” of the shower room occurred in March.] Why are people zeroing in on this one incident as if it’s typical of every school in Malaysia? Why aren’t people talking about other schools? Why are we so eager to see the worst in everyone?

I noticed that Sinar Harian, a Malay Daily has expressed outrage over what the students have had to endure. Sinar Harian interviewed and gave voice to 4 non-Muslim parents whose children attend the school. Sinar Harian even noted that the school has 28 non-Muslim students, 74 teachers, and a total of 1,373 students and that reporters from the state news agency, Bernama, couldn’t get access to the Headmaster!

So far, this appears to be a matter concerning one school, with 74 teachers, probably including one or more Islamic religious teachers.  What have they done? What will they do? What do they say is the reason for cordoning off the canteen during Ramadan? How joyful will they be when they break their fasts this Ramadan? What will their (Malay-Muslim) friends say to them in the suraus, mosques and open houses?

The aroma of delicacies fills the air in our bazaars. The aroma of of toilets fills the air in the “makeshift canteen” in Sri Pristina School. What aroma fills the air of our conversations?

So what is new?
Thanks to a rising mismatch between hope and delivery, has returned to an antique formula on the assumption
The skies in which the powerful reside may still be clouded by false illusion, but ground reality has shifted. The people have, with good reason, lost faith in the government’s ability to lead economic change or provide the exhilaration of opportunity. Ever since ideology committed suicide in the early 1990s, those in power have sought to fill the vacuum with ideas. Most ideas were perceptive and prescriptive; some were even brilliant. The flexibility was exhilarating after too many decades of doctrine born in an open mind but killed by a closed one.

Hence, the last people to recognize change are those who should be leading it. The immediate is so overpowering that it fogs perspective.Hence, the last people to recognize change are those who should be leading it. The immediate is so overpowering that it fogs perspective.Muslims have been the most static, although there is evidence emerging that some groups have begun to recognize that their real problem is the politics of fear, with prejudice possibly a parallel but subsidiary fact. Fear drove them repeatedly into the false comfort  UMNO embraces. Deputy minister was delighted; if fear was sufficient to deliver the vote, there was no reason why UMNO should waste jobs on Muslims

Pragmatism became politically correct. But a serious problem was soon evident: it was difficult to make ideas work without a framework. The patterns of democracy encouraged spasmodic birth but hindered growth. Politics eroded the time necessary for nurture. A five-year term in office began with loads of self-congratulation. Then eager eggheads sat down to set policy into language that could buy advocacy from media and support from the legislature. But if the process entered the third, or worse fourth, it was overtaken by uncertainty, spluttered and shuffled before the withdrawal symptoms arrived. Ever since ideology committed suicide in the early 1990s, those in power have sought to fill the vacuum with ideas. Most ideas were perceptive and prescriptive; some were even brilliant. The flexibility was exhilarating after too many decades of doctrine born in an open mind but killed by a closed one.

When logic snaps, rational discourse stumbles. Why is it perfectly acceptable to applaud a Muslim nationalist, but denigrate a Hindu nationalist? Either both terms are right, or both wrong. Muhiddin  gave “Muslim nationalism” gave “Muslim nationalism” institutional credibility was father of an ideology that knit the groundwork of modern Malaysia. His moral compass was set on a firm axis: politics with religion was immoral. said kamalanathan
As a Deputy Edu. Minister how could he also ‘ AGREED ‘ using Shower Rooms as Canteen when the Toilets are just next door to it……How could he said Fiasco is now Settled….???
Is he out of his Mind to OK with what he saw there or is he TRYING to safe face for Muhiddin..Well the Deputy Minister Kamalanathan has solved all the canteen issues of the Sg.Buloh school. Nothing to worry. He is indeed great. Now the children can go back to the wash room during recess. They have been using it since March this year. Why the big fuss? They can still continue eating there. What a shame to the non-Malay students. It has got nothing to do with race or religion. Well you may be right. But how about” sending your children” to that school to eat at an atmosphere like that.Come on minister sir, pls try your level best to take action on the HM. There is no easy way out. The damage has already been done.Well the Deputy Minister Kamalanathan has solved all the canteen issues of the Sg.Buloh school. Nothing to worry. He is indeed great. Now the children can go back to the wash room during recess. They have been using it since March this year. Why the big fuss? They can still continue eating there. What a shame to the non-Malay students. It has got nothing to do with race or religion. Well you may be right. But how about” sending your children” to that school to eat at an atmosphere like that.Come on minister sir, pls try your level best to take action on the HM. would have been puzzled by any suggestion that Hinduism was an obstacle to secularism;There is no easy way out. The damage has already been done. Both used a faith-influenced dialectic almost unconsciously . Muslim-majority Malaysia is not secular because Muhiddin not secular;   Deputy Minister Kamalanathan  is secular because MIC is secular.

Faith does not make us communal, human nature does. A politician has as much right to be a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian as any other citizen. Any doubt about an aspirant to power can be cleared by a simple question: is he committed to sarvadharmasambhava or not? If the answer is unclear, vote for someone else.

Let those Malays who want to bully, do so; let those who want to watch television instead, switch on. Faith is a freedom. Let us celebrate this freedom with a smile, not a snarl.

“Always, but always, smell the head of the fish. If the fish is going bad, the head part will always stink first”.

The education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle of life, which does not bring out strength of character, aspirit of philanthropy and the courage of a lion – is it worth the name? – Swami Vivekananda

Education is in the blood of Chinese. From the day he/she is born, his/her parents have been drumming into the child’s ears the importance of education. Whether the parents are rich or poor, education comes first.  Just to clarify, MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong, meritocracy isn’t about achieving 30 percent representation of Chinese students in local public universities.. The government was indifferent to the threat from political parties, but it could not remain immune to a threat from the voter. Empowerment of Malays is powerful and necessary objective, but the route map should be navigated with care.

In my humble submission, no it is not…regardless of what the rankings tell us, regardless of where we think we’ll end up in life, regardless of our modus operandi relative to ‘getting there’. Individual successes, capitalized individually, amount to little more than personal pride, little less than smug comeuppance.

But, when we change the course of our life by choosing to burnish the life of another, a small, individual act of courage and of faith galvanizes a true revolution – the kind that changes society at large, one life at a time. Were it not true,

Enthusiasm is no substitute for clarity. The flaws in the Varsity intake system ‘more quota than quota’l are not in the laudable intention but in the clogged delivery. The desire to be politically correct has overtaken the imperative to be politically sensible. Method and order, the favourite weapons of Hercule Poirot, might be usefully employed in analysis.Just to clarify, MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong, meritocracy isn’t about achieving 30 percent representation of Chinese students in local public universities.It’s about ensuring that the best students who are deserving of a placement get in, regardless of race, religion or creed.

The true or fake meritocracy and quota system

During the mid-1960s, when Singapore was still part of the Federation, PAP’s Lew Kuan Yew and Umno’s Mahathir Mohamad were once having an intense debate in Parliament.

Mahathir, who was then a fresh MP, voiced out for expanded university quota for Malay students. He said more Malay graduates would be able to groom elite members of the Malay society, hence improving the socio-economic status of the Malays.

Lee stood up to protest, saying that providing more places for Malay students and allowing students not meeting the requirements to get into universities would only bring down the overall academic standards.

He said once the students knew they did not need to meet the basic requirements for university admission, they would slowly develop an attitude of reliance on the government.

He felt it was not that much a problem if no Malay students made it to the medical school of Universiti Malaya for that year. More importantly, if the students knew they had to perform well in examinations to get into the medical faculty, they would step up their effort and compete with students from other ethnic groups.

Perhaps a couple of Malay students could get into the medical faculty the following year, and more and more over the subsequent years.

These Malay students would no longer need to rely on the quota system to get into local universities several years down the road. At the same time, the overall standards of local universities were also maintained.

My friend is well versed in the early history of the country’s nationhood and the above information could be easily retrieved from the parliament files and Lee Kuan Yew’s speech collection.

The Lee-Mahathir debate reflected two polarised views: Umno’s bumiputra-first and protectionism on one end, and the Malaysian Malaysia and meritocracy of PAP on the other end.

Combined, they will make a difference – the difference that the architects of this nation were clamoring for, if only in nascence. The difference between playing for the country and playing for the pawn, the difference between selling one’s soul and reinstating the society’s ;

Everyone does not make a difference –more importantly though, everyone can. They did.The life-blood of our democracy is a covenant, a pact between elector and elected that the quid pro quo for the vote is service to the constituency. The quality of that service is an important (but not the only) factor in an MP’s re-election. This is the one big check that keeps a MP on some sort of practical leash.

 Now that the Chinese electorate has turned away from MCA, it now is making Mewing sounds for a fairer system of Education! Will UMNO listen to it now, now that it is not even representing the Chinese?

Queries surrounding the true or fake meritocracy and quota system have reminded me of what a friend of mine used to tell me.

During the mid-1960s, when Singapore was still part of the Federation, PAP’s Lew Kuan Yew and Umno’s Mahathir Mohamad were once having an intense debate in Parliament.

Mahathir, who was then a fresh MP, voiced out for expanded university quota for Malay students. He said more Malay graduates would be able to groom elite members of the Malay society, hence improving the socio-economic status of the Malays.

Former Higher Education Deputy Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (pic) lost his Temerloh parliamentary candidate due to massive swing from Chinese voters who were persuaded by their children to go for change.

Universiti Malaya Centre of Democracy and Election (UMcedel) director Professor Datuk Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman said the Chinese thought that Pakatan Rakyat would capture Putrajaya.

“The voters were convinced of the Ubah slogan and that is why they voted for the PAS candidate.

“One of them said we have to follow what our children ask us to do,” he told a news conference to reveal the outcome of a UMcedel focus study in that constituency.

He said the seat was relatively safe for Barisan Nasional (BN) as it also consisted of two Felda settlements and an army camp.

“Saifuddin could not have lost because of his stature,” he added.

However, he said, many regretted not voting for Saifuddin after BN was returned to power.

Saifuddin polled 27,197 while PAS candidate Nasaruddin Hassan Tantawi garnered 28,267.

He said young voters, some from outstation, returned to cast their ballots for Nasaruddin, who won with a 1,070-vote majority.

The opposition also won two of the three state seats in the parliamentary constituency.

A total of 850 respondents were interviewed over three days from May 31 for the study.

Redzuan said Temerloh was selected as it was a multi-racial seat with 64 per cent Malays, Chinese (24 %) Indians ( 9 %) and others ( 3%).

Redzuan said interviews also revealed that public acceptance of Saifuddin, an Umno Supreme Council member, was about 60 per cent and many did not know the PAS candidate.

“They also did not support Saifuddin because of his party, Umno,”  Redzuan said.

In an immediate response Saifuddin, who was present at the seminar, said about 7,000 outstation voters returned to cast their ballots and this contributed to his defeat.

“The study is extensive and I accept the finding as it is,”  he told reporters.

He said he also spoke to Chinese local grassroots and civil society leaders to better understand the unprecedented swing.

“I have concluded it is four Cs – corruption, cronysism, crime and cost of living that contributed to my defeat ,” he said.

He said the BN would have to map out strategies to reach out the Chinese and this would be discussed at the coalition’s workshop to be held soon.

“The Chinese are not demanding but they are just asking for good governance. If we get it right, then there is no problem to regain support from the community,” he said.

He felt that there must be a single and strong multi-racial party in the BN and there must be a provision to allow direct membership into the coalition.

Saifuddin said the current political culture from politics of race and religion must also change.

will have no political incentive to serve its constituents. This, given prevailing levels of public morality, is a license to satisfy personal interests for the length of the term to MP and minister. The cynical response is that this hardly matters since MPs have become irrelevant to national development or even to their constituency’s welfare. If that is the level of degeneration, then we should abandon first-past-the-post parliamentary democracy and find another definition of democracy. Perhaps we can adopt a dual system in which two-thirds of MPs are elected on the basis of lists prepared by the party leaders, enabling them to send their chosen favourites to the House in direct proportion to the percentage of votes they have received.

The relationship between MP and voter can, thereby, be officially abandoned. This should make party bosses delirious.

The irony is that such flaws can be easily corrected, with some time and thought. Both have been absent from the process. The pro-reservation lobbies have employed hustle topped off by self-congratulation; those opposed think that explosions constitute an argument.

Why do we say “law and order” rather than “order and law”? Simple. Law comes before order. Law defines the nature of order. Law is the difference between civilization and chaos. Law is evolutionary: the edicts of tribes, chiefs and dynasties lifted human societies from scattered peril to structured coexistence. The laws of democracy have vaulted us to the acme of social cohesion, for they eliminated arbitrary diktat and introduced collective will. The divine right of kings is dead; it has been reborn as the secular right of an elected Parliament.
The burden of independence OF Justice
The unfortunate truth is that there is reason for this cynicism. A lot of the opinions that abound in media, both mainstream and social, are rooted in  pre-fabricated positions that fly under the flag of one label or another. In addition, over the last few years it has become clear that very few of our certitudes about the independence of justice the allegedly independent institutions stand up to scrutiny.

The exception as the rule Good Intentions cannot justify bad delivery
Bill passd in parliamnt are not in the laudable intention but in the clogged delivery. The desire to be politically correct has overtaken the imperative to be politically sensible. Method and order structural flaw could further erode the already ebbing credibility of our parliamentary systemThe irony is that such flaws can be easily corrected, with some time and thought. Both have been absent from the process, the favourite weapons of Hercule Poirot, might be usefully employed in analysis.It is odd that the government should have chosen law and order as its final alibi after some exhausting self-laceration in its search for a credible explanation for the escape ofJustice
When Instuation smuggled  The Predators to safety, the authority of state abandoned the responsibility of state. Excuses, evasions and lies have shifted over years; this central truth has not.the umbilical chord of the colonial, or neo-colonial. Who had dared to arrest a pillar of the American corporate establishment. ‘Bail or no bail’: what was a rotten piece of paper signed in an Indian court worth to a lord of Wall Street? Not even the decency of silence. Anderson was publicly, even proudly, contemptuous of those who did not have the courage to interrupt his freedom for a mere industrial disaster in which a few thousand semi-slave Indians had been gassed to death within hours and thousands more would die over years.Accusation is the easy exit route from Bhopal. Introspection will take us back to the beginning. Betrayal is impossible without trust. We did not trust Carbide to be honest. We trusted our political class, and it continues to search for new and inventive ways to betray us again.

Dear  former chief justice Zaki Azmi. Former CJ Zaki, how can you say your conscience is clear when you don’t have one!!What do you expect, coming from an UMNO judge? A judge should be the guardian of due process and rule of law. Zaki saying EO has its uses shows how deep the cancer of UMNO hegemony, unipolar power culture has seeped into all institutions of governance including the judicial system.Preventive detention has been successful in curbing crime in the past and thus similar provisions should be included in the proposed law to replace the Emergency Ordinance (EO), says former chief justice Zaki Azmi.

Why did Judge Mohd Zaki dismissed  to call Najib and Balasubramaniam despite his written declaration, which implicated Najib  as a witness in the trial.Tun CJ, should have restored the Judiciary’s Integrity and Independence, and you will earn our respect. You are given this opportunity to remove the stigma of a compromised judiciary after the removal of Lord President Tun Salleh Abas in 1988 by an all powerful Prime Minister. So, seize the moment and make a difference. –Din Merican
Everyone can give their opinion on the country’s Judiciary or any judicial decision but not to the extent of insulting the institution.
Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria(picture) said in other countries such as England, for example, the people were free to give their opinion because, indirectly, this could bring an improvement to the judicial system.
“It is good to give such opinions and this can assist us to develop our law. You can also write but not to the extent of committing contempt of court, for example.
“We are open and such criticism is normal, and we often hear that there are court decisions that are illogical and so on. Show proof if the judges’ decisions are unfair, biased or if there are elements of bribery involved. Prove it

‘Law is an ass,’ we are told by Charles Dickens!  “a violation of the rights of citizen  guaranteed under the constitutional guarantee of Malaysia A nation that cannot uphold its law cannot preserve its order. civil society indicating that both had certain common features and suggested that the role and nature of civil society is reflective of the role and condition of the State and that the development of one could not be understood in isolation from the other. In both, there is a prevalence of corruption, weak leadership rooted in a neo-patrimonial political culture, ethnic and class divisions as well as tendencies towards may be linked to the lack of a strong, effective system which could have fostered the creation of a shared national identity. There is evidence to suggest that such a formation did not occur in countries that have been colonized in the past after independence. This may have hampered the genesis of national cohesion and the ability of the State to evolve to nationhood. The exception as the rule Good Intentions cannot justify bad delivery
Bill passd in parliamnt are not in the laudable intention but in the clogged delivery. The desire to be politically correct has overtaken the imperative to be politically sensible. Method and order structural flaw could further erode the already ebbing credibility of our parliamentary systemThe irony is that such flaws can be easily corrected, with some time and thought. Both have been absent from the process, the favourite weapons of Hercule Poirot, might be usefully employed in analysis.It is odd that the government should have chosen law and order as its final alibi after some exhausting self-laceration in its search for a credible explanation for the escape ofJustice
When Instuation smuggled  The Predators to safety, the authority of state abandoned the responsibility of state. Excuses, evasions and lies have shifted over years; this central truth has not.the umbilical chord of the colonial, or neo-colonial. Who had dared to arrest a pillar of the American corporate establishment. ‘Bail or no bail’: what was a rotten piece of paper signed in an Indian court worth to a lord of Wall Street? Not even the decency of silence. Anderson was publicly, even proudly, contemptuous of those who did not have the courage to interrupt his freedom for a mere industrial disaster in which a few thousand semi-slave Indians had been gassed to death within hours and thousands more would die over years.Accusation is the easy exit route from Bhopal. Introspection will take us back to the beginning. Betrayal is impossible without trust. We did not trust Carbide to be honest. We trusted our political class, and it continues to search for new and inventive ways to betray us again.

The highly irregular nature of this case was also marked by frequent and mysterious changes of legal personnel, resulting in a complete changeover of the defense team, the prosecutors and the judge even before the hearings began. These weird phenomena were crowned by the shock appearance of a new team of prosecutors who were appointed only hours before the hearing was supposed to begin, thus necessitating an impromptu postponement of the trial for two weeks. None of these changes of legal personnel has been properly explained, except for the resignation of Abdul Razak’s first lawyer; Zulkifli Noordin, quit, he said, because of “serious interference by third parties”.

Back to an ominous oxymoron EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof Give them this day their daily bribes and forgive them their potholes.

According to the organisation, these elections were the costliest ever, and put people with “modest means” at a further disadvantage. “The expenses incurred by parties and candidates on publicity through the electronic and print media crossed the limits of decency,” the report read.”Can’t buy me love,” sang the Beatles. “Can buy me an election”Finance minister usually produce freebies, subsidies and waivers  before an election. Such attempts to buy votes have alot of impact, but finance minister persist in the hope that it may work this time. has just produced an election big freebies. He aims at fiscal prudence, not a spending spree, to win votes. He aims at accelerating GDP growth and taming inflation, and thinks voters will reward him think it possible to buy an election with freebies,

According to the Malaysiakini photo (above), there is a ‘Saya Pilih BN’ sticker placed prominently on the table where voters signed up for the ‘transport cash’.

 G13 was declared  that not only were the 2013 polls the ‘costliest’ in the country’s history, but also ‘grossly mismanaged’ by the election commission. It put forth a string of recommendations, including a year-to-year review of electoral rolls.

Under section 20 of the Election Offences Act 1954, anything paid “for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of a candidate at any election” is deemed an illegal practice.

So the criterion for determining guilt or innocence is the purpose for which the money is paid out for, and not what the payer expressly says, as wrongly interpreted by EC chief Abdul Aziz.

Hence, we must ask the Kampung Beris Lampu village chief Yaakob Kadir and the financier behind him this question: did you provide the money for the purpose of helping the BN candidate to win this election?

If the answer is yes, then both Yaakob and his financier have committed an illegal act, and is liable to a fine of RM5,000 upon conviction by a sessions court, irrespective of whether he has asked voters to vote the BN candidate.

Let us be honest, does anyone believe the village chief’s claim that the payment was merely to encourage more voters to come back to cast their vote, without the ulterior motive of inducing votes for the BN candidate?

I think the answer is an obvious, no. Which should also be the answer of the sessions court judge if the case goes to the court.The reason why dishing out money was done openly is because we have a nincompoop EC and a nincompoop MACC. If they have any decency at all, I think the first question both EC and MACC must ask is whose money was used to dish out to the voters.

Secondly, even if no condition was attached, I think both the EC and MACC must have pretended not to see there was obligation and gratitude involved. Is this not how corruption and bribery work?

Goodness me, the next time someone bribed a police officer, he may just turn around and argued that it was just a show of appreciation for him having to work under the hot sun. It’s only an offence if Pakatan Rakyat gave out the money. Since Umno did it, why would a diehard member and head of Umno’s in-house elections committee oppose his party and his bosses?

Since when did any rules apply to Umno? The Sedition Act is exclusively only for Pakatan’s representatives, supporters and NGOs that don’t support the illegitimate regime.

If you support the illegitimate regime, you may immediately threaten to burn the holy scriptures of other religions, insult other religions and remain totally unaccountable for your action.

Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the appointment of six new state chiefs for the party, which was decided at the party’s supreme council meeting here Friday.

They are Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (Perlis), Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir (Kedah), Datuk Seri Noh Omar (Selangor), Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (Federal Territories), Datuk Idris Haron (Melaka) and Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin (Johor).

State chiefs retained are Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (Kelantan), Datuk Seri Ahmad Said (Terengganu), Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman (Penang) and Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir (Perak)

Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob (Pahang), Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (Negeri Sembilan) and Datuk Seri Musa Aman (Sabah).

Najib said Umno’s supreme council also agreed that the management of the Sungai Petani and Padang Serai divisions in Kedah be returned to the respective divisions.

This followed the Kedah Umno Liaison Committee request that Sungai Petani division head Ali Yahya and Padang Serai acting division head Halim Hassan be given the responsibility.

The Sungai Petani division became embroiled in problems since 2010 while Padang Serai beginning early last year, which forced their management to be taken over by the state party headquarters.

Najib speaking to reporters afterwards also announced the names of the deputy state chiefs.

They are:
Perlis – Azlan Man
Kedah – Datuk Paduka Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah
Kelantan – Datuk Awang Adek Hussin
Terengganu – Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh
Penang – Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya
Perak – Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah
Pahang – Datuk Mohd Shakar Shamsudin
Selangor – Abdul Shukor Idrus
Federal Territories – Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin
Negeri Sembilan – Datuk Shaziman Mansor
Melaka – Datuk Wira Ahmad Hamzah
Johor – Datuk Seri Dr Latif Ahmad
Sabah – Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak – Bernama

The scion of the grand old family, the favourite of the principal ruling party, and therefore, the likeliest PM candidate to weigh in from that side, recently is engaging professional ad agencies for the forthcoming assembly and national elections. Around Rs 500cr has been earmarked, and companies as Equus, Percept, and the Grey group, are some of the 10-odd companies that are being checked out. Two consecutive terms at the Centre, even without doubting the sincerity of the government generally accumulates enough muck, contrived or inadvertent to be cleared up.

Then, the widely used Indian excuses of “compulsions of a coalition”, and “anti-incumbency” are always there. There are some truthful confessions in this. Literally it means that since we all ganged up to run this land, we have every right to fight for our piece of the underhand deal. Secondly, since we ruled so long, you must accept that power corrupts, and even if the act is not absolute, we are decent enough to accept that we had a nice time running the show, breaking a rule here and there, with a rather archaic Supreme Court coming in the way. So you know how it piles up, and it is quite natural that you the countrymen will have a bias against us. This is a corollary for every government in power facing elections in this great democracy.

The idea of employing professional ad agencies is still to be welcomed. The history of winning elections in any democracy, depending from when it started, generally follows a common trend. The first is overwhelming iconic influence of the overwhelming party. You may include Abraham Lincoln, Nehru, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and more recently the legendary Mandela in such a category. These are historic tides of opinion that have a place reserved for them. I would even put Mrs indira Gandhi in this category once she broke away from the old congress.

The next phase is of a generation that has to negotiate, think of vote-bank politics as a necessity, and still play straight. Consider Golda Meir, Ranatunga, Margaret Thatcher, Olaf Palme in this category, though you have a right to complain that one can’t put everyone in a straightjacket. The third phase is charisma over ruling human infirmities, in the absence of a matching challenge. Consider JFK, Willy Brandt the German chancellor, even a ‘clean’ but inexperienced Rajiv Gandhi here.

The next is the stage of political acumen, with a necessary dirty tricks department. Richard Nixon is one, but some Japanese PMs do figure in this. Boris Yeltsin was another, but perhaps the tricks were dictated from elsewhere. Mr Tony Blair was a bright talented PM of UK who would never have displaced Mr John Major but for the matronly spanks Mr Major got form his so called mentor Mrs Thatcher.

Coming to the deployment of ad agencies in electoral campaigns, the first example who would never have made it without such support is of PM John Major. Major was to be a temporary substitute to Margaret Thatcher’s forced resignation. A man of credentials, idealistic, bit of a dreamer, he was so different and poorly armed to match his predecessor, and his oratorical skills were no match for a more aggressive rival in Niel Kinnock. The job was done by Saatchi and Saatchi. John Major was pulled out of the shadows of being Thatcher’s boy. With a politically declining Conservative government, he was shown in the Conservative mode, but as his own man, approachable, kind, and aggressive at the right moments. The very qualities that are appreciated in an individual are often considered a mark of incompetence in politics. Saattchi and Saatchi worked out just the right recipe.

Projected Major as his own man, and yet showed him apart from the misdoings of his predecessor. John Major still leaves mark on UK politics. Will the ad combination be able to show the right distancing of a young PM aspirant as his own man, teach him to touch the crucial issues for the common man and the corporate world, and portray a right distancing from the floundering of a somewhat defamed UPA II, whatever be the reasons. That grooming, individuality, aggression and distancing from what the country did not appreciate in the present government will be the key factors in the Congress’s survival. Mrs Indira Gandhi did it her own way by throwing out the syndicate, and the country liked it.

There is another recent campaign to be learnt from, before I come back to the Indian scene. It is on record, that the ever charismatic Clinton influenced Ted Kennedy, that president Obama would still do well serving coffee to the Democrats. It was a different obsession for Ted who knew that he had no more than a year to live, that he should be the first Democrat to install a black President. Still, in the absence of the likes of a Saatchi, the Illinois governor did bank on his audacity of hope. I was in the US for a conference, and it was the time for the Texas primaries. Texas is predominantly white, and the women vote counts. An unheralded Obama quietly slipped into the library of the Texas University, scrolling over books and journals. He was casual in meeting any student who would want to shake hands with a Presidential hopeful. It was exemplary humility, or perhaps a compulsory strategy to stay in the race. He was the first one to realize the strengths of the social media. He won the huge young unblemished votes! Besides his oratory is incomparable to what we see in recent times.

We can’t underestimate the accomplished Gujarat strongman. He has risen from the ranks, and the inherent pragmatism of being from his land, he will show absolute comfort in a suit and a tie as in a dhoti. Have no illusions that he already does not have his ad and image advisors from wherever he wants them. His oratorical skills do stand out. Much depends how adeptly he unshackles himself from a party at the moment in hierarchal shambles. It’s a tough game, but he seems to be more corporate savvy. Will that matter? By all estimates that will, with the country on the brink without FIIs. Mr Modi however has to carve out his team, even if that amounts to picking up non-political professionals, even corporate honchos. A young India could not be less pleased.

Manmohanji has been a great statesman over two decades. He will be meeting Mr Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the upcoming annual UN Conference. He may go for a makeover to take a shot at another seat of power if he can start projecting that he is his own man. He has enough exposure, so an ad agency is not required. If he can just change the color of his turban to indigo or purple, he does not have to change anything in his style of functioning. Enough in this country judge just by the attire!

Now, for the mandatory Urdu couplet that a certain generation cherishes so much,
“Hum meheveyas to they, ki na hosh aata,
Magar tere tagaaful ne hoshiyar kiya!”
( I was in a trance, waiting, and would never have come to my senses,
But it was your neglect that brought my senses back back! )an Sri Muhyiddin Yassin blows the lid off Najib  ’s “strong governance” hype… brings out excellently the kind of leadershipUMNO requires to have in today’s fractured political environment. It also explains why Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is talking like the Deputy Prime Minister for all MalaysiansOn Saturday night, Muhyiddin urged Barisan Nasional to address the needs … Read more

How many times must a man turn his head/ And pretend he just doesn’t see?/ The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,/ The answer is blowin’ in the wind. Bob Dylan

Why sensation is replacing news on our TV channels”“TV news channels thrive on the free programming offered by staged events”. 

The level to which TV channels can stoop is fascinating. With every new incident, a lower low is breached. Forget learning from past mistakes, TV channels are hell bent on keeping on repeating them. How else does one explain the extent of coverage of not to talk about it’s quality, to the complete exclusion of all other news? In no other country, would so much time be given to any single story, even one as gruesome as this one. Is there a need for some sort of a control to be exercised on them?

the fact is that TV channels reflect just poor quality of journalism. Where have the the likes of Dr Chandra Muatafa? And what kind of crass underlings have become editors of the TV channels?

Look at how the discussions go. First, the panels are almost entirely made up of people who have the ability to create drama. They are all good speakers, have extreme and inflammatory points of view, are ever-ready to attack the opposition (the most important requirement for TV), have creative minds to conjure up imaginary conspiracies out of anything (very important) and of course, character-assasinate anyone at will (very important). Once the panel is set up, a dog-fight (not the airforce type dog fight; what I really mean is a real fight – like amongst dogs) is started off. we are expected to believe the accounts of two eye witnesses, who apparently were so alert in the middle of all the mayhem that they accurately remember,The TV anchor (he shouldn’t even be called an editor) finds no merit in seeking that clarification. God save a country which has so much negativity in its media. what’s with the fascination that TV has with these a ‘ mentally deficient ‘ racist guys? Politically,  Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali is a small fry, but on TV it carries more weight than UMNO andPAS-PKR put together. Where is the sense of proportion that TV anchors should exercise when they give time to different speakers? Should UMNO members (who are mere politicians now) be given so much air time? Because on TV, In no other country would this happen. It’s only in Malaysia that news is so biased. there is this whole question of what a TV channel’s raison d’etre is. If it’s a news channel, its job should be to put out as much news developing across the country as possible, no? Why then do TV channels focus almost entirely on masala-laden studio debates alone?

The common point he makes in all is that a) TV channels prefer studio debates over field news because its cheaper to do – just put a few people in the studio and make them blabber compared to putting so many men and machines in the field and b) a lot more masala can be added in studios – giving higher TRPs and more advertising dollars. In all of this, the question that pops up repeatedly is: are our TV channels responsible at all?

If debates must happen, why put “involved” parties on the panel? They only defend their well known positions and add no extra value to the viewers’ lives. But I guess politicians are easy to invite; they come readily because of the free publicity. The easiest of them all to invite are no doubt the UMNO  members, closer to Najib since their very survival depends on TV. Next easiest are the Pakatan politicians who are happy to grab any and every chance of attackingt heir parties.Then there are a whole lot of lawyers, and ex-this and ex-that, all of whom come with political biases, none of which are clarified to the viewers. But the worst of all panelists have to be journalists, the ones who come as “neutral” experts, but in reality have solid political preferences. Journalists like Swapan Dasgupta who is nothing but a Modi publicist. Or Kumar Ketkar, a Congress lapdog. My point is not about these people though. My point is about how little TV channels care for intellectual honesty and the truth.The real truth is that our TV channels have become pathetic. They don’t even care for basic decency. That when someone dies, you don’t create a controversy around his death. All that matters to these hounds is their TRPs. Everything else can take a back seat

A man injured by robbers was lying bleeding by the roadside. A priest and a rabbi passed by without offering him help. Eventually along came a Samaritan who bandaged the victim’s wounds and gave him food and shelter at an inn.
Asked by his followers to explain what he meant when he said that we should love our neighbours as ourselves, Christ narrated the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Theosophy. the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in oneincarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.

“So, then, according to this view, owing to previous action men will become murderers, thieves, unchaste, liars, slanderers, covetous, malicious and perverts. Thus, for those who fall back on the former deeds as the essential reason, there is neither the desire to do, nor effort to do, nor necessity to do this deed, or abstain from this deed.”

It was this important text, which states the belief that all physical circumstances and mental attitudes spring solely from past Karma that Buddha contradicted. If the present life is totally conditioned or wholly controlled by our past actions, then certainly Karma is tantamount to fatalism or determinism or predestination. If this were true, free will would be an absurdity. Life would be purely mechanistic, not much different from a machine. Being created by an Almighty God who controls our destinies and predetermines our future, or being produced by an irresistible Karma that completely determines our fate and controls our life’s course, independent of any free action on our part, is essentially the same. The only difference lies in the two words God and Karma. One could easily be substituted for the other, because the ultimate operation of both forces would be identical.

Such a fatalistic doctrine is law of Karma.

Mohd Khaidir Ahmad, who is chief news editor (news and current affairs) at TV  ,you called Fate or Karma

A son of a TV3 senior news editor was killed in a three-vehicle collision at the 143km Jalan Kuala Lumpur-Kuantan stretch near Mentakab on Friday night.

Muhammad Luqman Mohd Khaidir, 26, who was a passenger in a Proton Wira died on the spot.

His father is Mohd Khaidir Ahmad, who is chief news editor (news and current affairs) at TV3.

The deceased’s 21-year-old friend who was driving the car, and a rear passenger, aged 31, sustained serious injuries in the crash which occurred at about 9.30pm.

The other two cars involved in the crash were a Perodua Kancil and a Toyota Corolla whose respective drivers, aged 64 and 26, sustained minor injuries.

Temerloh police deputy chief Supt Zundin Mahmood said, at the time of the accident, Muhammad Luqman and his friends were enroute to Kuala Kumpur to purchase the necessities for Aidilfitri celebrations.

Meanwhile, Mohd Khaidir described his son – the second of six children – as a well-behaved and obedient child.

He said Muhammad Luqman was buried at about 10am this morning at the Kampung Lebak Muslim burial ground near in Temerloh.

My mom told me that she wanted everyone who loved her to laugh and dance at her funeral. And if not possible, at least to promise her there’d be no tears, sobbing and wailing. That when her soul looked down at her loved ones she didn’t want to see them grieving and sad and to know she was the cause of their pain. She wanted us to always remember her as someone who made us happy.  Everyone has to die someday, but what’s important is how they lived and how they made you feel. I see every moment spent with my mom as a warm and wonderful memory. I laugh when I remember her funny antics; if feel grateful for her generosity, feel happy when I remember her 1000 watt smile, I feel strong when I recount her fearless spirit and feel warm when I think of her tight hugs. What she did was create a blanket for me of amazing memories to keep me warm on emotionally cold days. I miss her tremendously, but I don’t grieve in her memory. The only thing you should cry about when you think of someone you love is what was left unfinished, unsaid or undone. The pain of regret is tremendous and unfortunately can never be corrected. So while your loved ones are alive let nothing be unsaid or undone. Take them to that park/restaurant/holiday spot they’ve wanted to visit for months, say “I love you”, and “thank you”, because you want them to hear it and know it, and give them that gift they’ve been hoping for! When they’re gone, you’re going to smile as you cover yourself with the warm blanket of wonderful memories and sleep content knowing that they are smiling from above.

DAP,MCA and MIC preaching secularism but practising the opposite, the appalling state of Muslims is a telling indictment of faux secular governance.The poor and the Muslims –Such “secular” parties don’t care for Muslims. They care for Muslim votes. If they had “real concern” for Muslims – a key quality in a prime minister according to Titiwangsa member of paliament   growth vs. inclusion is meanwhile a red herring. Good governance is the real answer: both economic growth and inclusion are intrinsic to it. The real issue is entitlement vs. empowerment.that economic growth, allied with welfare schemes which build productive capital assets formula of handouts which create dependencies is the not the most efficient development model for Malaysia. the Muslims in particular – have been entrapped into a fear psychosis that warns them: vote for “the other” and you will not be safe.That brings us to the third angle in this infamous triangle: the liberal, secular Chinese and Hindus Where does they stand in all this? He is naturally secular in the truest sense of the word: religion is a private matter,they rightly believes. It has no place in politics.

Muslim leaders have been willing accomplices in this tragedy. Mullahs issue regressive fatwas against Muslim women and edicts against sensible civil laws. Instead of condemning such fatwas, the government maintains a studied silence, tacitly encouraging extremism and keeping ordinary Muslims stuck in a time warp.

The two real enemies of the Muslim – communal politicians masquerading as secular politicians to win votes and Mullahs deliberately misinterpreting the holy book to retain power over their flock – form a natural alliance. Together they have enriched themselves but impoverished India’s Muslims, materially and intellectually, in the name of secularism. These are the Ayatollahs of secularism.But surely it is parties which preach secularism but practise an insidious form of communal separateness which feed a false fear among Muslim voters? Who can best create that model? Certainly not those who advocate a policy of entitlement with its attendant fiscal profligacy that has so severely damaged India’s economy. – Muslims would not be as poor, as deprived, as backward, as alienated and as stigmatised as they are today. “Secularism in the political – as opposed to ecclesiastical – sense requires the separation of the state from any particular religious order. This can be interpreted in at least two different ways. The first view argues that secularism demands that the state be equidistant from all religions – refusing to take sides and having a neutral attitude towards them. The second – more severe – view insists that the state must not have any relation at all with any religion. The equidistance must take the form, then, of being altogether removed from each.“In both interpretations, secularism goes against giving any religion a privileged position in the activities of the state. In the broader interpretation (the first view), however there is no demand that the state must stay clear of any association with any religious matter whatsoever. Rather what is needed is to make sure that in so far as the state has to deal with different religions and members of different religious communities, there must be a basic symmetry of treatment.”  Symmetry of treatment is crucial: What does symmetry imply? Clearly, equality for all, special privileges on the basis of religion to none.

The Chinese know what they want and are willing to put up with obstacles and hindrances in their way to get ahead. Their work ethic is the envy of all Malaysians. They are investing heavily in the education of their young. They continue to modernise their companies for opportunities abroad, since they cannot get contracts in our country on their own merit, and must, therefore, be sub-contractors to favoured UMNO businessmen. At home, they expect a government which is transparent and accountable, not a corrupt one. In the last election, they voted against UMNO-led Barisan Nasional for this reason.possibly to the dismay of those journalists transfixed by hype, is not a contest between Lord Rama and Bhagwan Krishna. In the real world, it is mostly between General Hocus and Admiral Pocus. The voter does not choose between two paragons of virtue. He takes a punt on what is available, warts and all.Does this leave the electorate in serious depression? No.Dr. Mahathir has yet to deal with the ghosts of his past deeds. Here no one can help him but he himself. This is indeed tragic for a once formidable leader of our country who is advancing in years (born in 1925). He just cannot let go and now he has taken upon himself the task of interpreting history. It is not Malay or Chinese Dilemma. It is Dr Mahathir’s. He is unwilling to come to terms with himself.The Indian voter, having abandoned illusion in the mid-1960s, is now beyond disillusion: feet on the ground, eyes open and ears tuned to that fine pitch that distinguishes fact from bombast, he scans politics with a reality-check laser beam. The next general election will not be decided by the froth of school-playground taunt and retort that dampens television screens every evening. It will hinge on a challenge to democracy posed some 2,500 years ago.

IN response to the emergence of a Malay political party,  UMNO and its success in rejecting the British inspired Malayan Union, the Chinese community of the 1940s saw the need for a political party of their own to present their views to the British government.

Thus was the MCA conceived and born, led by Malacca’s Tun Sir Cheng-Lock Tan. Although it was intended to counter the influence of UMNO and protect the interests of the Chinese community, events changed the strategy and role of the MCA.

In 1952 the Kuala Lumpur UMNO leaders and the Kuala Lumpur MCA branch leaders decided that in the Kuala Lumpur municipal elections, they should not contest against each other, but instead should support each other’s candidates in their respective constituencies.

The results startled them as they defeated almost all the non-racial parties. Realising the political advantage of cooperating with each other the Tunku (Abdul Rahman) and Sir Cheng-Lock Tan, and senior leaders of the MCA and UMNO decided to formalise their cooperation by setting up the Alliance, a coalition of MCA and UMNO.

The basis of this coalition was the idea of supporting each other and sharing the power gained. Buoyed by the success of the Alliance party in the 1955 elections, in which the MIC had joined, the Tunku looked more kindly at the proposal of Sir Cheng-Lock that citizenship should be based on jus soli (citizenship by being born in the country) and not jus saguinis (citizenship based on the Malaysian citizenship of the father or mother, i.e. citizenship based on blood relation).

The Tunku did not quite agree but he nevertheless decided to give one million citizenships to unqualified Chinese and Indians. With that the confrontation between the Chinese and the Malays changed into positive cooperation.

It was a classic kongsi that was set up. The essence is an undertaking to share. Sharing involves a give and take arrangement, in which each side has to sacrifice something so that the other can gain something.

As the Malays made up the majority of the citizens they naturally led the Alliance. But the Chinese and Indians were not without adequate power. In any case Malay political power would be mitigated by Chinese and Indians’ voting and economic power.

The Tunku saw immediate benefit from the “kongsi” as he believed Malays only wanted to be government employees and the Chinese wanted to be in business. There would be no conflict or tussle between them.

The Indians would fill up the professional posts. He did not foresee the days when government could not create enough jobs for the greatly increased number of Malays.

The kongsi Alliance worked well. But in 1963 Singapore joined Malaysia. Immediately the PAP tried to gain Chinese support by condemning the Alliance kongsi for being disadvantageous to the Chinese.  Malaysians, said the PAP, were not equal.  There should be a Malaysian Malaysia where all the benefits should be based on merit alone, with the best taking everything, irrespective of race.

Without saying so in so many words the PAP was inferring that the Malays did not deserve their positions. The best people should rule the country. In the eyes of the PAP, Singapore was ruled by the best qualified people. That they happen to be almost all Chinese is incidental.

In the 1964 elections the MCA and Malaysian Chinese generally valued their cooperation with the Malays. They rejected the PAP and its chauvinistic appeal, giving it only one seat.

The Tunku realised what the PAP was up to and decided that Singapore should not be a part of Malaysia. But the PAP was not done. The remnant of the party in Malaysia set up the DAP to carry on the Malaysian Malaysia meritocratic formula for undermining Chinese support for the MCA.

Harping continuously on the so-called Malay privileges and the unfairness to the Chinese, the DAP slowly eroded the idea of kongsi in the multi-racial coalition of the Barisan Nasional.

Despite the fact that the Barisan Nasional supported Chinese education and the use of the Chinese language, the DAP convinced many Chinese that the Chinese, their culture and language are not given proper treatment by the Barisan Nasional coalition.The MCA was attacked for not doing enough for the Chinese.

Socrates asked a simple question: who prevails in a trial between a doctor and a pastry chef before a jury of children? For the Greek philosopher, who placed the virtue of logic far above the merits of popular will, the answer was a no-brainer: a landslide for crooks. But if Socrates had been born in 1947 and observed Tanah Melayu elections with his rigorous intellectual diligence for over five decades, he would surely have seen the flaw in his thesis. Politicians may still offer either prescription or pastry, or indeed cake and more cake, but the jury has grown up. The voter understands the difference between a sweetmeat today and bread tomorrow. Every election after 1957 has been about delivery, not promise. A fire takes longer to extinguish than to start.

Corruption leapt up from margins to central dominance. There were many reasons, but among them was the gradual realisation by politicians that job security was over. They made as much hay as possible during the brief sunshine in their careers.The government of DrMahathir, Adullah badawi and Najib won  because enough voters were convinced that it would, given another five years, win India a place at the high table of the world’s economy by raising growth and ensuring that its benefits seeped down to the impoverished base. Hope is the most dangerous thing you can betray. Growth in welfare was substituted by a cancerous spread in corruption. Nor could blame be transferred to subsidiary players. Among the accused was DAIM,who took the story into the home of the most powerful family in government. People expected PM Dr Najib to be a tough doctor in the Socratic mould. Instead, in his second term, he turned out to be another pastry cook.like Dr Mahathir

The Malay voters could be forgiven for turning cynical. Mahathir has, fortunately, only abandoned emotion — not fully, of course, but in sufficient numbers to create a different pattern. The voter has become an accountant. Minor exceptions apart, every election now delivers a clear mandate. Opinion polls manage to indicate a trend, but are far less successful in estimating the extent of victory, . The message is obvious. No government can take recourse to an alibi for non-performance. Victors swirl in silk at the time of coronation but are left with a thong when accountability kicks in. TheMalay voters has become cool, which is the perfect temperature for democracy. There is no reason yet visible why this pattern should not hold in either the UMNO polls this year

When I contested in the Gelang Patah constituency in the 13th general election, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad accused me of wanting to create a “racial confrontation” between the Malays and Chinese in Johore. This was a pack of lies. In fact, events have shown that it is Mahathir in the past few months who has been trying to create a “racial confrontation”, particularly after the May 5 general election results, in his campaign to pit one race against another.

Mahathir is again up to his mischief in his opinion piece in the New Straits Times yesterday, concocting the dangerous and false myth of “the Chinese dilemma” of the Chinese making a grab to oust the political power of the Malays in Malaysia – and trying to set the agenda for the upcoming UMNO party elections.

Mahathir should know better than anyone that because of the political and demographic realities in Malaysia, the political power of the Malays in Malaysia have never been in danger and there is no attempt by the Chinese or any other community to oust the political power of the Malays.

What is at stake is whether UMNO and UMNO-putras can continue with their politics of race, cronyism, corruption, abuses of power and impunity or whether they have to give way to a new Malaysian politics of multi-racialism, good governance, public integrity, freedom and justice.

The challenge before Malaysians is not whether the Malays would lose political power but whether the 13th general elections has started a new political trend of more and more Malaysians, regardless of race, taking a stand against the politics of race in support of multi-racial politics and the pursuit of the Malaysian Dream where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic differences as the common grounds binding them as one citizenship exceed the differences that divide them because of their ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural divisions.

The future of Malaysia will depend on whether we have increasingly more Malaysians united in pursuit of a common Malaysian Dream, and not for a Malay Dream, Chinese Dream, Kadazan Dream or Iban Dream. Is the top MCA leadership in agreement with Mahathir’s dangerous and desperate racist vituperations and if not, are they prepared to publicly condemn his dangerous and desperate racist lies and concoction of “the Chinese dilemma” of the Chinese making a grab for political power to oust the political power of the Malays?

If Mahathir does not know or understand why MCA has lost all credibility and legitimacy as a political party, the reaction of the MCA top leadership to this poser should give him the proper insight and understanding.

But does Mahathir really believe his own racist allegations, lies and his latest wild “Chinese dilemma” myth? Does Mahathir expect any sane and rational Malaysian, regardless of race, to believe in his racist fulminations of “the Chinese dilemma” that the Chinese are out to oust the political power of the Malays and to dominate Malaysian politics – which are complete figments of his imagination like his earlier wild allegations that I contested in Gelang Patah to create a racial confrontation and to incite Chinese to hate the Malays?

The most dismaying development in Malaysian politics is the reckless racist fulminations of Mahathir and his ilk, but there is no need for Malaysians to despair.

It is said that “every cloud has a silver lining” and the silver lining is that Mahathir is facing a diminishing market for his racist fulminations which will foil his attempt to pit the Malays against the Chinese and destroy the pursuit of the common Malaysian Dream of all patriotic Malaysians.–Lim Kit Siang

“On a cool spring day in 1950 at a California college campus, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a tall, angular man of 22, was in a garrulous mood. He told my father: ‘Ah, Pakistan. See what we will do with my wonderful new country.’ My father, like young Bhutto, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, was unimpressed. ‘A country founded on theocracy,’ he told Bhutto, ‘will never work.’ Bhutto walked away in a huff.” The real truth is that thick skinned and moronic that Pas leaders are in general  they cannot be expected to be tolerant of divergent points of views  Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad only happens to be the last victim of this intolerance. There have been many, including most bloggers who disagree with Pas deology, who have been panned and personally attacked in the past….

“Secularism in the political – as opposed to ecclesiastical – sense requires the separation of the state from any particular religious order. This can be interpreted in at least two different ways. The first view argues that secularism demands that the state be equidistant from all religions – refusing to take sides and having a neutral attitude towards them. The second – more severe – view insists that the state must not have any relation at all with any religion. The equidistance must take the form, then, of being altogether removed from each. “In both interpretations, secularism goes against giving any religion a privileged position in the activities of the state. In the broader interpretation (the first view), however there is no demand that the state must stay clear of any association with any religious matter whatsoever. Rather what is needed is to make sure that in so far as the state has to deal with different religions and members of different religious communities, there must be a basic symmetry of treatment.”  Pas has to understand this. People have different points of view. They can disagree with their ideologies (which are few I believe!). That doesn’t make them enemies. That may make them a political opponent (which in this case isn’t true forthe son-in-law of PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang  is hardly a politician) but  an enemy. The Pas repeatedly forgets this. In fact, its not in its DNA to understand that in a democracy, people can have different points of view.   Datuk Husam Musais not an enemy because he doesn’t agree with  Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang  he is only one who has a different point of view.

Before the 13th general election, Zaharudin Muhammad was not a well-known name, except among those active in PAS.

These days, the son-in-law of PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang (pic) is unflatteringly compared with Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, who was cast as a bad influence to the then prime minister but is now the Youth and Sports Minister.

Zaharudin is also seen as a growing influence in the Islamist party after two years in the PAS’s top decision-making body Syura council and as head of the religious department in Selangor state-owned Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor since 2012.

He is now touted to play a leading role in the party elections later this year, where there is a move to put in more clerics or ulama in the top party leadership and get rid of professionals or “Erdogan”, named after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan.

The professionals, led by deputy president Mohamad Sabu, are at a disadvantage as almost all of them lost in the recent May 5 general elections.

Mohamad lost the Pendang contest, party vice-president Salahuddin Ayub lost in both the Pulai parliamentary seat and Nusajaya state seat while vice-president Datuk Husam Musa lost the Putrajaya contest but claimed victory in Kelantan’s Salor state seat.

But he was not named in the Kelantan executive council under new Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob.

Another “Erdogan”, Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad, lost the Kuala Selangor federal seat. Only Khalid Samad kept the Shah Alam federal seat.

“This creates a big opportunity for Zaharudin and his comrades, who are unhappy with the professionals’ control over the party, to win,” a member of the party’s top leadership told The Malaysian Insider but asked not to be named.

He also pointed out that Zaharudin’s allies, namely PAS Youth leader Nasrudin Hasan and his deputy Nik Mohd Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz, both won in their respective parliamentary seats in Temerloh and Pasir Mas.

Nasrudin was said to be grateful to Zaharudin, for his efforts in lobbying Abdul Hadi into making a “sudden” announcement on his Temerloh candidacy, which was supposed to be contested by PKR’s Ahmad Nizam Hamid, the party source revealed.

The Kota Damansara issue

Zaharudin, better known as Din Ayam, was also blamed when Kota Damansara – which was won by Dr Nasir Hashim of PSM in the 2008 general election – fell to Barisan Nasional (BN), after PAS put up a candidate alongside Nasir, BN and three other independents.

BN’s Halimaton Saadiah polled 16,387 votes for a 1,527 majority, beating the others to clinch the Kota Damansara state seat.

However, if the 14,860 votes obtained by Nasir and PAS’ Rizuan Ismail 7,312 votes were added, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would have easily won with a total  22,172 votes.

A PAS Selangor source told The Malaysian Insider that Zaharudin had used Nasir’s socialist background to influence Abdul Hadi to sign Rizuan’s approval to contest the seat, although party secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali had already agreed that the PSM president would contest Kota Damansara on a PKR ticket.

“When Nasir won on a PKR ticket in 2008, Zaharudin, who was residing in Section 8, Kota Damansara, was not happy.

“He had said that Nasir was not Islam enough, did not always attend mosque, and idolised Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, who were communist leaders,” the source who declined to be named told The Malaysian Insider.

“Mustafa Ali had to come down to Kota Damansara to give political speeches together with Nasir to explain the actual situation to the people, but that programme was boycotted by the local PAS,” he added.

During Election 2013, Abdul Hadi attacked the PKR candidate, whom he alleged had socialist tendencies, although he did not name him openly.

“There are candidates using pictures of Lenin, Stalin, how can PAS support this?

“The PAS people are cooperating with Keadilan… with DAP, not with Lenin or Stalin’s party,” he had said, referring to Russian communist leaders Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Joseph Stalin in a Youtube video clip.

The Abdullah-Khairy comparison

Party insiders also joke about Abdul Hadi and Zaharudin being similar to Abdullah and Khairy during the Umno leader’s term as prime minister between 2003 and 2009.

Khairy was blamed by Umno warlords close to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for BN losing its two-thirds supermajority in the 2008 general election, and also losing Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah, as well as failing to take over Kelantan.

The PAS insiders point out the similarity, noting the Islamist party fared badly in the May 5 polls, winning only 21 federal seats against the 23 won in 2008. DAP and PKR meanwhile managed to get 38 and 30 seats in Election 2013.

Kedah was controlled by PAS in 2008, but fell in 2013 and Abdul Hadi’s refusal to replace Tan Sri Azizan Razak with another candidate as the mentri besar was said to have contributed to the failure to retain the northern state.

Party insiders are now asking if the son-in-law issue will also spell the downfall of the Marang MP?

For now, it does not seem so, given Abdul Hadi’s strong position as an influencial cleric in the conservative party.

Altantuya entered France as Aminah, using Malaysian passport. No? Apparently, this Singh guy has done his home works, but still not enough. What were the 145 Malaysian navy personnel (and their x-number of dependents) doing in France and Spain for SIX long years? Taking an all expenses paid holiday in Europe while learning to keep the Scorpenes from sinking like ships? Jasbir, you sound too good to be true ok. What have Abdul Razak Baginda got to do with SUBMARINES what knowledge about submarines has he got and why pay such exorbitant fees just for maintenance. There are a lot of rubbish in your talk Jasbir J you sound too good to be true ok. What have Abdul Razak Baginda got to do with SUBMARINES what knowledge about submarines has he got and why pay such exorbitant fees just for maintenance. There are a lot of rubbish in your talk Jasbir

Whether Jasbir knew Altantuya will never change the fact that Altantuya and her unborn child was murdered in a cruelsome way by you know who. The 2 unfaced UTK officers will only need to serve their punishment in this world whereas the real murderers will face theirs on judgement day. No religion will bless murderers to be leaders  Previously Najib used Deepak to do his dirty work when Bala spilled the beans about the Altantuya affair. Now it looks like Najib is using Jasbir to try and minimise the damage resulting from the crooked Scorpene affair.Jasbir said payments were made for the cost of managing 145 Royal Malaysian Navy personnel including 49 officers and dependents, which include: 1)Provision of food, accommodation and necessary services to the personnel in Brest, France and Spain for six years 2)Health insurance premiums 3)Per diem of Euro50 per person 4)Return travel fares to Malaysia three times a year.. why nowadays non-Malays were seen to come out to justify things for we-know-who.” Anonymous_5fb’s observation is correct, but appears to be years behind time. For years now, as transgressions by the people-in-power against the man in the street AND against non-Malays grew with impunity, it has been the practice to field non-Malays to “explain things”, and of course to “face the public firing squad”. THEY sit in positions of power, lording over better qualified and much more capable non-Malays who are more deserving of occupying their positions, to do the work for them. THEY commit the sins and crimes, and the non-Malays are made to shield them from questions which they know they are incapable of facing.readmoreDeepak says Rosmah involve in Altantuya’s murder

IS NAJIB AND SHAFIE SMS EXCHANGE ON ALTANTUYA AUTHENTIC?

The Perak Mufti has called for an amendment to be made to the Federal Constitution, which will exclude Islam from provisions that grant mothers equal rights to raise children according to their religious beliefs.

Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria said that Articles 3, 5 and 11 of the Constitution in relation to religion, liberty and freedom must therefore be amended to exclude Muslims.

an implicit gender bias that most of us carry — men as well as women — a bias we may not even be consciously aware of, but which dictates our actions and behaviour. The need to be aware of this bias was stressed, because awareness of a problem is the first step towards resolving it. The column also examined psychological reasons for the cruelty some men perpetuate on women.The gender divide has sprung into sharp focus,the beast that always lay at our feet has suddenly become despicable and unacceptable. What has changed in recent times to sharpen the man-woman divide? Apart from the fact that women have stepped out of homes to challenge men in fields outside the home, increased awareness has led us all to question afresh the longstanding sexist bias.Pas-UMNO ’s fear  is Muslim vote polarization that will work against it in the next general election. But the Muslim vote bogey is just that – a bogey.That’s a lesson political parties which preach secularism but practise communalism will have to learn quickly before 2018 closes in on them.

Events of the last few weeks have once again thrown into sharp relief why numerous commentators across the political divide, ideologies & cultures worry greatly about Islam. Some do not just worry; they fear.

They worry about and fear an ideology they worry about an ideology that considers half of humanity somehow “lesser” than the other half[iii]; that condemns young girls to a lifetime of ignorance and servitude[iv] and that justifies people getting into a paroxysm of rage over perceived or real “insults” to their sacred texts, symbols or figures.

Muslim Malaysia collects substantial tax revenue from gambling (Genting casinos, Toto, Big Sweep, Magnum and Damacai) and also from corporations which manufacture and/or distribute alcoholic beverages and hard liquor (i.e. spirituous liquor) Are the ‘purists’ in the Fatwa Council not aware that revenue thus derived is haram. If so why are they NOT RIGHT on the money? By the way, it has been credibly alleged that a former a IGP to wit Haniff Omar is a director of Genting Highlands Bhd. It has been likewise alleged Jamal Khir took funds from the Tabung Haji for his own use — to defray the expenses for a personal lawsuit. His ‘explanation’ is that he has returned the money. Again, a significant %age of the profits and income of privatized public utilities and GLC’s and the huge spinoffs from negotiated tenders go back to key figures and members of their families of the regime by a variety loopholes: proxies, shell companies, contrived cost overruns and illicit outflows.

How about Fatwa on porn shows sponsored by UMNO and Datuk T? Sexy ladies no, but naked China dolls OK? You guys may not consume alcohol, but you are more drunk than drunkards themselves.Luckily Yasmin Yusuf become a beauty queen in the 70′s. Nowdays, all beautiful muslim ladies can only be a mistress by the “His Holy” Shafei Apdal, Bung Mokhtar & Moron Patail all from Sabah.What do the Muftis and the Imams have to say on all this? The vast majority keep quiet; some call for more “retribution” so the “infidels” can be taught a lesson. How can a religion whose leaders and followers openly call for the death of an alleged “blasphemist” call itself a “religion of peace”[viii]? Or is it “peace” only on our terms – and of our choosing?

Could Jamil Khir Baharom and the National Fatwa council point out to our Indonesian brothers that they are doing something haram in organizing the Ms World pageant in Indonesia this year. If its haram to Muslim in malaysia, does it harm in Indonesia also? Is Islam in malaysia different from the rest of the world?

Where are the Muslim reformists? And why are they silent? Why do even the most progressive Muslims limit themselves to just “condemning” these incidents rather than taking the next step and actually fighting for reforms?

Reforms that would make the faith much more compatible with the values of openness, with the values of a liberal culture? Reforms that would create space for tolerating alternative interpretations & alternative approaches to “Truth” – whatever that may be?

Reforms that would make the faith much more relevant – instead of setting the stage for a clash of civilisations?

Why don’t community leaders and scholars denounce these unacceptable, barbaric acts committed in the name of Islam[ix] and forcefully argue that Islam can co-exist with civilisation? And that the Taliban are murderous perverts who have no place in a civilised society?

Why don’t the Muftis and the Imams take upon themselves the task of convincing Pakistanis and Arabs and Muslims elsewhere that it is quite alright to make fun of “Gods[x]”- and that there are other, alternative and peaceful ways to protest and express grievances or hurt sensibilities?

Or is the problem simply that unlike almost all other major religions, Islam has not yet undergone any reform or catharsis? Is this what holds Islam back?

Witness Saudi Arabia – the figurative heartland of Islam – where women are literally treated as “not equals” – and sometimes worse than second-class citizens[xi]?

Look at Maldives where the Islamic Affairs Ministry recently issued a circular banning “mixed-gender” dance events and where the Adhaalath Party, part of the Government, considers “youth’s addiction to music and songs, something that is ‘haram’ (forbidden)[xii]”

Or Malaysia where government has begun holding seminars aiming to help teachers and parents spot signs of homosexuality in children, in order to curb the “problem” of homosexuality[xiii]

Or Iran where the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament regards law that prohibits girls below the age of 10 from being married off as ‘un-Islamic and illegal[xiv].”

Or closer home in Afghanistan, where a woman was publicly executed recently for the crime of adultery[xv] or Pakistan where more than a dozen girls aged four to sixteen were recently “traded” to resolve a dispute[xvi].

Which makes you wonder just who are these people who are making these rules and laws? And why do sane voices fear speaking up against them[xvii]? Is the problem at the heart of Islam, the silence of sensible Muslims?

Only one thing is clear in this dust storm of fierce argument. We are not interested in truth. A complex reality has been distilled into campaign fodder in election season. Politics is the petrol that can turn such a fire into conflagration.

Welcome to the wild wild west where the law enforcers no longer inspire fear in the hearts of the criminals. For a country with a very restrictive firearms policy, there seems to be a surprising number of guns (legal and illegal) in circulation.

The Iranian man must have links with the underworld because this is the same reason given our greatest and smartest Home Minister when Sri Sanjeevan was shot. Anyway our crime rate is still low compared with Mexico, Colombia and Somalia. This latest shooting is just a figment of the Home Minister, PDRM and Pemandu’s imagination.

Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli,  said Sanjeevan had told him that he was in possession of an internal memo with the “sulit” stamped on it, but he had not seen the list himself.”Sanjeevan insisted there were a number of people on the list and that the offences were serious. These policemen were being probed for their alleged links to drug syndicates,” Rafizi said.

He said it was important not to preclude anything for now, and the probe by police must not just stop at this link, as the links with the underworld could also involve other parts of the home ministry.

“If Sanjeevan was to disclose the internal memo, it could provide a different perspective altogether on this issue of crime, particularly the relationship between underworld, police and possibly the home ministry,” said Rafizi.

Another PKR politician, R. Sivarasa, meanwhile said that looking at the manner of the shooting, it was clear that it was carried out by hired killers.

Sivarasa said Zahid and the IGP must appreciate the fact that former IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan had come out clearly to say there is a connection between Sanjeevan’s shooting and his expose of policemen being linked to the underworld.

To date, only Sanjeevan’s friend who was with him during the shooting has been detained. That too, police had said, was related to a drug offence and not to the attack on Sanjeevan.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to task for quickly dismissing police involvement in the shooting of anti-crime watchdog chief R. Sri Sanjeevan

Judging by the comments made by the minister, it appears that what he lacks in intelligence , he makes up in stupidity.

thought they charged Alvivi in court and immediately investigate them because someone was tied up and beaten because of a so-called isolated hate crime. Even so, the victim has denied that it was because of hate crime.

Our HM denies it has anything to do with the police even before investigation and even Sanjeevan was shot and in critical condition despite the police reports being lodge over the death threats he received and possible connection to rogue policemen. The fact is the victim is in critical condition, shot in a murder attempt, and has even lodge police reports of possible connection to the police, yet HM easily brushes off any connection to the police before investigations.

Also, has crime rate gone down as claimed by PEMANDU?

- BARELY 48 hours after MyWatch chairman R. Sri Sanjeevan was shot, the nation was caught off guard by another shooting incident, this time the victim is Hussain Ahmad Najadi, a renowned banker and founder of the Arab Malaysian Banking Group.

This makes it at least 14 cases since April this year and the victims varied from teachers, to criminals, to Customs Department’s deputy director-general.
As this article was being written, it was reported that a man was shot in his right thigh while driving with a friend in Bukit Mertajam at 8.30pm. Police said the victim, who had a number of criminal records, was rushed to the Kulim Hospital for treatment while his friend was unhurt.

Sanjeevan’s fate, in the meantime, hangs by a thread with his father R. Ramakrishnan saying that his condition has worsened due to internal bleeding. Doctors said the shooting had affected his heart and lungs.

The frequency and brutality of these crimes makes us wonder whether the declining crime statictics in the country are accurate and authentic or merely sugar-coated numbers meant to silence inquiring public and critics.

It was reported that from 2009 to 2012, the national crime rate dropped by 27 per cent while street crime fell by 39.7 per cent.

They added that the crime rate also fell six per cent for the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.

With rampant cases of shooting around the country for the past few months, the authority should realised that the issue is no longer about perception but a genuine concern among Malaysians.

Crime analyst Kamal Afendi Hashim said criminals these days are becoming more brazen and brutal. The long arm of the law meant nothing to them.

He said shooting cases like these are not only shocking but also spreads fear among the public.

“People are hearing a lot of these cases of late. Usually the victims are fellow criminals but recently victims have become more varied and involved people of influence such as businessman, politicians and government official.

“The motive are also differs and may be revenge-related or rivalry between two parties,” he said.

On the latest shooting cases, Kamal said there are many factors that can make a person becoming a target of assassination including the victim’s background, association with bad hats or the wrong crowd, jealousy, business rivalry, miscommunication and others.

“For example, if the victim who have ties with the underworld and wants out, surely the organisation will not be happy. Fearing possible exposure of their secrets, the organisation retaliated by paying hired guns to take carre of the ‘loose ends’.

“In Sanjeevan’s case, it could be related to his tweet prior to the shooting,” he said.

However, Kamal said if such allegations were found to be untrue, the accuser should also be prepared to face the music and take responsibility for his or her action.

He urged police to conduct a thorough investigations into these shooting cases and covered all the angles.

Kamal said another factor was the easily obtainable firearms.

“With experience and connections, there criminals can, one way or another, find their way to a pistol. Due to its small size and weight, smuggling firearms into the country should not be too hard,

“With the current technological know-how and the magic of Internet, criminals can also make their own firearms.

“If the fireams is home-made, police will surely have a hard time identifying it.” he said.

In Sanjeevan’s case, Kamal believed the shooter could be an amateur because he failed to kill his target.

At the same time, the government should engaged international or reputable local accounting company to produce an independent report on the crime statistics to tackle this poor perception among the public and regain their confidence.

Notable cases this year

July 28
A man was shot dead and his two friends seriously injured when two gunmen opened fire from inside a car in front of a restaurant in Kampung Simee, Ipoh. In the 10.15pm incident, Jasrafveenderjeet Singh, 25, died while undergoing treatment at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital.

July 18
A secondary school teacher K. Shanmugan of Taman Biadara, Kulim, was shot nine times at point blank range by unidentified gunmen on motorcycle when he stopped his car at a red light near Simpang Empat Keladi while on his way to school.

July 12
A four-year-old boy was injured in the forehead and left leg when a gunman opened fire at him and his car repossessor father in front of their home in Bkt Jambul, Penang.

July 8
Student affairs senior assistant Hashim Mat Zain, 43, was gunned down in a gangland style killing outside the school at a junction in Tawang, near Bachok, Kelantan at 1.45pm.

July 5
Teacher Mat Zaki Hashim, 35, sustained serious injuries after being shot in the neck in Kg Kubang Panjang, Pasir Mas. His car was believed to have stalled on the road before he was shot by unknown assailants.

June 15
Royal Malaysian Customs Dept deputy director-general Datuk Shaharuddin Ibrahim, 58, was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle at a traffic light junction in Putrajaya.

May 29
A businessman survives despite being shot at seven times by two men on a motorcycle in Bandar Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh.

May 25
A fish wholesaler, Zahari A. Razak, was shot dead while driving his car out from a mosque in Cherang Ruku, Pasir Puteh after performing the Isyak prayer.

May 13
Two people were killed and two others injured when a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire with an automatic pistol as they were leaving a wedding reception in Butterworth, Penang.

May 12
An assistant at a second-hand shop is shot dead at a traffic light junction near Kulim, Kedah.

April 30
A pillion rider fired at a man in the compound of his home in Simpang, Taiping but missed. The men had rode up to the house of the 26-year-old victim and called out his name before firing the shot.

April 25

N. Ragunathan, 39, was shot dead in his car after he had conducted a transaction at the Road Transport Department office along Jalan Seremban-Taiping. He was alone in his Proton Perdana when two men rode up alongside his car outside the RTD office.

Home Minister utterly absurd and ridiculous – to dismiss wrong-doing by parties even before proper investigation and proper findings. Not fit to be a Home Minister, whenever an UMNO politician/govt official is under investigation, the public is advised not to comment on it/arrive at a quick conclusion. Police is right that they should have be left to do their work. But now, home minister himself is setting a bad example by saying its not related to the police. Why such haste to announce this? Is the home minister the lead investigator? Has he completed the investigation ahead of the Bukit Aman team? Does he know more than d investigating officer? Regardless of whatever d investigation will reveal, if leadership is by example, zahid hamidi has failed. Why such hurry to announce this? This is just like d lahad datu incursion where “some” people said its led by old men

There is more to this case than the minister telling us. Why is he in a desperate rush to rule out PDRM >? Very disturbing statement. We may not be told the full truth. This is why an independent investigation need to take place and findings reported back to a cross party committee.! This minister is not fit for purpose  Usually the IGP will advise the public not ho come up with any wild assumptions. This time will he tell his boss to shut up & wait for the results of proper police investigation?

My one encounter, if that is the appropriate word, with a policeman who had washed his hands in cold blood, was in an empty Amritsar hotel at the height of the Punjab insurrection in the late 1980s. It is difficult to imagine now what Punjab was like then. The Golden Temple, wrecked by Operation Bluestar, had become a symbol of the broken Sikh heart. Terrorism, inspired by the dream of secession, acquired a raging justification . Amritsar was sullen by day and silent by night; fear haunted Punjab like a living ghost.

The IPS officer had come for a chat in the evening; only police vehicles moved after sunset. There was a look of almost unnatural calm on his face, and it was only in the middle of a largely onesided conversation that it occurred to me that this was the visage of narcotic serenity. Perhaps his nerves needed solace, or possibly his conscience. But when he spoke he did not quiver. He was on the front lines of a vicious war launched by elements who wanted to partition India again. It was his duty to destroy them first, he said with a thin smile that started on his lips but petered out midway. It would be gratuitous to mention his faith, but those locked in conventional wisdom would be surprised.

Much before Punjab this argument was heard in the North East; then repeated in Kashmir. As terrorism spread its footprint across India through the 1990s and first decade of the new century, reaching a horrific, televised climax in Mumbai when gunmen, armed and trained in Pakistani sanctuaries , a dilemma has ebbed and flowed through the tides of Indian public opinion. Can outlaws be contained through the binding laws of a liberal democracy ? Should right to life, a fundamental tenet of our Constitution, be extended to those who kill innocents , arbitrarily, bomb buildings, hijack aircraft, or target places of worship in order to inject poison into the demographic veins of India? Theory has the good fortune of living in a black-and-white textbook . Reality is grey. Terrorists thrive in shadow wars, protected by a paradox: since they are out of uniform, they can always claim innocence until the moment they pull a trigger. We forget the number of alibis that were floated even after something as self-evident as the 2008 Mumbai attack and some were repeated in Parliament by a Cabinet minister in the UPA government. Our security forces have to hunt in such treacherous fog. Their job is to succeed before the trigger is squeezed, to find Indira Gandhi’s and Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins before they have succeeded, and to stop a thousand attacks on civilians during a festival or any other day. The Army has the umbrella of a special act to limit accountability in case of a mistake. The spirit of democracy argues against such privilege, but the visceral need for security against covert evil pulls in the other direction. The trouble with sanction for murder is that it brutalizes and breeds rogues, particularly in our police, where any moral code has been weakened by corruption and arrogance. Police have jailed and killed innocents, coerced money out of helpless victims, confident that politicians, themselves largely corrupt, will never find the courage to confront them. The worry is that public opinion often condones “Dirty Harry” methods, in which a bullet takes precedence over due process. When, in 1993, it became clear that criminals owing allegiance to Dawood Ibrahim were involved in the horrific Mumbai blasts, the city’s police were offered freedom of the trigger. Citizens approved, as did the Congress, Shiv Sena, BJP and voters. Films glorified ‘encounter specialists’ . The syndrome is no longer as gory, but Chulbul Pandey still shoots first and whistles later. In 2008 Delhi police killed young men at Batla House. This year, on May 18, a young man in custody, Khalid Mujahid, died in “mysterious circumstances” while being taken to Barabanki jail by the UP police; 42 of them, including senior officers , are under investigation. For years in Hyderabad and Malegaon, “suspects” have been jailed for years without proof of complicity in any terrorist act. Congress or Samajwadi Party were in power in these states. And of course BJP ruled Gujarat when 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan was killed by the police. There is no standard response. Let alone outrage, there is hardly any rage about Delhi, UP, Andhra or Maharashtra. Most people have probably chosen their sides over Ishrat Jahan. The CBI’s chargesheet is enough for those who believe she is guiltless. Others stress the IB version that David Headley, convicted of terrorism, mentioned her name; or wonder what she was doing in the company of three men recognized, even by the CBI, as terrorists.

Only one thing is clear in this dust storm of fierce argument. We are not interested in truth. A complex reality has been distilled into campaign fodder in election season. Politics is the petrol that can turn such a fire into conflagration.

If, in 2002, a traffic cop in the fairy-tale town of Swat had booked a car speeding through its bazaar, NATO troops could have left Pakistan by 2003, Iraq might have escaped NATO’s invasion, Barack Obama would probably be an unknown Senator from Chicago and George Bush Junior’s presidential library in Texas would certainly have something to cheer about. But, according to Maryam, her husband Ibrahim al-Kuwaiti “quickly settled the matter”, and the bribed Swat cop never realized he had just let Osama bin Laden escape. Maryam was giving evidence before the Justice Javed Iqbal commission, set up to enquire into the events of 2 May 2011, when US Navy Seals flew three hours into Pak territory, found and killed Osama. Nothing works on our great subcontinent better than instant cash. Al-Kuwati, Osama’s most trust aide, knew that. This is the kind of authentic detail which makes a fabulous story so entirely believable.

Which bit of this enquiry report, spread over 336 pages, garnered from 201 witnesses, is beyond doubt, which is useful, and how many witnesses have spun out little gossamer tales hide truth in a silken web?

Trivia, as indicated, deserves its place in the footnotes of history. Osama, according to a wife, wore a cowboy hat to protect himself from aerial surveillance. Well: where do you buy a 10-gallon Texan hat in Abbottabad? Can’t bring it in the luggage from a Bora Bora battlefield, either. Perhaps she confused it with a baseball cap. We also learn that Osama sometimes shaved his signature beard as part of a disguise. True, this would be perfect deception, but how long would it take to get that beard back to its original majestic length? Presumably no one in that band of brothers and wives had the courage to click a mobile picture of Osama in transition, not even a young consort in a playful mood.

In 2005, after pit stops in five Pakistan cities, the Osama entourage settled into this military garrison town, in a house so visible that no one could see it. The property was bought with a fake ID; perhaps the traffic cop principle was operational again. Four electricity and gas meters were installed in that house; no one asked why. This might have a proper explanation. No one checks electricity meters in Pakistan, so why make an exception in Abbottabad?

The high wall surrounding the house collapsed in the 2005 earthquake, and rubble lay around for months, but no one bothered to enquire, or even see, who lived inside. If you want to raise one eyebrow, reserve your second for the next story. An official survey area listed this home as “be-chiragh” or uninhabited. The Iqbal commission knows the answer: it acknowledges something “more sinister”. In 2005, Pak intelligence “closed the book” on Osama bin Laden; there was “grave complicity (at an) undetermined level”.

That level was obviously former dictator Pervez Musharraf, for this is how decisions are made during army rule. There was no incompetence. There was complicity. Take just one fact: CIA gave ISI certain phone numbers to monitor; it did not. At each turn, Islamabad manufactured and sold a lie to the world. In the beginning came Musharraf’s repeated denials, often accompanied by the hearty laugh reminiscent of retired colonels in the old British army. At the end, when Washington declared Osama dead, a chorus of spokespeople was paraded before media, not least Indian television, to nudge-wink the suggestion that Osama’s capture was a joint US-Pak operation. America had long stopped trusting Pakistan on Osama. Justice Iqbal and his brave colleagues refused to seal a lie with interpretative approval, and deserve our unstinted praise. The episode, they say, indicates not just incompetence or irresponsibility, but something “worse”.

The commission touched one significant nerve when it analyzed the complete failure of Pakistan’s military defences on its western frontier, breached totally by America on that historic night of May 2. The Pakistan air force apparently learnt about Operation Neptune Spear only when it saw media reports. “In the premier intelligence institution,” the report notes, referring to ISI, “religiosity replaced accountability.” The meaning is not complicated. India is the only enemy.

Pakistan’s security regime defines sovereignty in what might be called Indian terms. This is not new; it claims Kashmir but calmly hands over a part under its control to China. America does not respect Pakistani sovereignty over its skies, and uses drones where and when it wants. Protest from Islamabad is token, if not hypocritical. Accommodation with China or America is justified by realpolitik, but any effort at adjustment with India, even along the Cease Fire Line, internationally acknowledged as the acceptable dividing line, is dismissed as “capitulation”.

The people and most politicians of Pakistan have inched away from anti-India obsession, but the military-religious pincer is so strong that even elected governments feel locked in, helpless. Peace between India and Pakistan is blocked not by ground reality, but by ghosts in the mind. In the meantime, worry about the cost of a bribe.

Why did Razak Baginda’s wife created an outburst when her then accused husband was brought to the Court , ‘My husband is innocent. He does not want to be the Prime Minister”. Then Pak Lah was PM and Najib was DPM. Shouldn’t the police investigators followed up with statements from her as to what she meant. The whole Altantuya murder trial was just a sham one to let the main culprit off the hook. why did Razak Baginda’s wife created an outburst when her then accused husband was brought to the Court , ‘My husband is innocent. He does not want to be the Prime Minister”. Then Pak Lah was PM and Najib was DPM. Shouldn’t the police investigators followed up with statements from her as to what she meant. The whole Altantuya murder trial was just a sham one to let the main culprit off the hook.

Resurrecting ‘middleman’ Jasbir Singh Chahl to try to whitewash the Scorpene scandal is hardly a scoop by the New Straits Times (NST) - his churlish account in the interview fails to answer the many questions raised by the scandal and the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Suaram has all along stuck to the facts and this can be checked in our publication: ‘Questioning Arms Spending in Malaysia: From Altantuya to Zikorsky’ which I wrote in 2010. By no means does Jasbir disprove the chronology of events in the book or shed light on revelations by the French enquiry thus far.

But first, let us examine the credentials of this man touted as the “architect” of the Scorpene submarine deal, the most expensive arms purchase by our country to date, costing well over RM7 billion.Can we come to any conclusion based on the biased views of only one man (an interested party). Why not hear from all the parties that were involved? Why is the Government afraid to hold a Royal Commission of Enquiry to set the record straight? We have not heard the last of this.

˜Shafee Abdullah: sodomologist extraordinaireâ.Razak Baginda saved by his affidavit drafted by Lingamgate linked Shafee Abdullah he is the one who received the sms from Najib

Indirectly, zahid are protecting those corrupt who involve this deal. shame on you, zahid! Suaram are revealing the abuse of UMNO-GOV!! Rakyat should protect Suaram

This type of lowlifes makes me boiling mad. Directly asking UMNO supporters to lodge police reports against such a righteous Suaram, and there after, all sorts of laws will be applied and used against Suaram. This is Ketuanan Penipu for you. Don’t know why so many fools believe in UMNO protecting this and that where in actual fact, it is making use of them for their own selfish reasons while they break every law of our land, and persecute those who want an end to all their atrocities. Let our future’s history shames them and their families for all the crimes they have committed. Repent UMNO, don’t let the Mamak lead you all astray till you lose your conscience, identity, and dignity of your race.RELATED ARTICLEEx-CJ Zaki says we can arrest Najib, EO-like law has its uses

Home Minister Zahid Hamidi has said that Suaram leaders were liable for sedition over their allegations about the Scorpene deal.Home Minister Zahid Hamidi has said that Suaram leaders were liable for sedition over their allegations about the Scorpene deal need to treat corruption as sedition All the signs are pointing to the fact that SCUMNO is becoming more and more insecure about its tenuous and illegitimate hold on power. It’ll only get worse as more and more Malaysians reject SCUMNO, until the day SCUMNO is finally rejected from power

Razak Baginda saved by his affidavit drafted by Lingamgate linked Shafee Abdullah 

Datuk Seri Shahrizat added that the Defendants deliberately sensationalised and spun this matter until it became “the talk of town”. Friends, family members and colleagues said that the allegations against her had even transcended overseas in newspapers and media in countries like Singapore and the United Kingdom.

ABUSE OF POWER BY THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

It’s out in the open now – inMalaysiaToday, Malaysiakini, andMalaysian Insider, this is the content of the email that has been circulating and the string of sms-es inside:

Did Najib Tun Razak interfered in the Altantuya case and tried to help his friend Razak Baginda escape the gallows? Read the article  and sms-es inside and YOU decide.

The following text message correspondence is between YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, and Dato’ Shafee Abdullah, a Malaysian lawyer who initially represented Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda who is on trial for abeting the murder of Mongolian national, Altantuya Shaariibuu.

While it does not answer lingering questions about Najib’s alleged past relations with Altantuya, the text messages show clearly Najib’s active intereference in the case very early on.

The messages highlight Najib’s willingness to speak with both members of the Attorney General’s Chambers and Inspector General of Police about the case, something that suggests an abuse of executive power.

What is particularly revealing and troubling is that the counsel, Shafee, keeps asking Najib for details indicating some political intervention that may have influenced the case.

This observation is strengthened by Najib’s message to Shafee on 16 November 2006: “Pls do not say anything to the press today. i will explain later. RB will have to face a tentative charge but all is not lost.”

This message raises a lot of questions about Najib’s role in this case. Why did he mention “tentative” charge and that “all is not lost” for RB (Razak Baginda)? How would Najib know this before Razak was charged? Is there already a deal in place that will see Razak aquitted? These are important questions which will have ramifications not just on this case but far beyond.

The text messages were transmitted between Najib’s personal mobile phone (+6012 2143177) and Shafee’s mobile phone (+6012 3257052).

Those who seek the truth should challenge Najib and Shafee to deny that this correspondence took place between them. Perhaps a record of the messages still resides in the server of the relevant telecommunications company.

The truth is buried somewhere. Those who know what truly happened hope that the truth has been buried deep with Altantuya. But the funny thing is, the truth always finds its way into the hands of those who fight for justice – sometimes in the most mysterious circumstances.

. It’s just a matter of time.Again trying to silence the truth by all means? All the trademarks of Umno tactics. It’s time ALL Malaysians realized this country is being run like a private fiefdom. Malaysia is so full of scandals that it has become a staple of our daily life. No one blinks anymore as if scandals are the norm of our Malaysian life.This type of lowlifes makes me boiling mad. Directly asking UMNO supporters to lodge police reports against such a righteous Suaram, and there after, all sorts of laws will be applied and used against Suaram. This is Ketuanan Penipu for you. Don’t know why so many fools believe in UMNO protecting this and that where in actual fact, it is making use of them for their own selfish reasons while they break every law of our land, and persecute those who want an end to all their atrocities. Let our future’s history shames them and their families for all the crimes they have committed. Repent UMNO, don’t let the Mamak lead you all astray till you lose your conscience, identity, and dignity of your race.

Nira Radia tapes show how many journalists, many businessmen and many politicians conspired to threaten economic stability of India; how they threatened the constitution of India by putting the cabinet berths of Indian government on sale?  But the British laws under which we work do not treat this as sedition.The last time I checked the image of your leader is not Sacrosanct nor Royally Royal so what is so Seditious when Suaram is casting reasonable doubts that he is dragging down the image of our Country! It wouldn’t be far-fetched though it sounds ridiculous to allude that the Govt is being Seditious towards itself by misgovernance; just check your own Ministry and the men in blue for a start as the list is too long for you to shoulder alone.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Opposition have tried to link Najib and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, with the murder since it happened in October 2006.

Najib has furiously denied any involvement with the case, and has even sworn in a mosque that he did not know the woman. His wife has also sought recourse in the courts to clear her name.

Their nemesis has been Raja Petra. He published many reports and commentaries alleging a cover-up in the investigation of the murder. He was detained under the Internal Security Act for allegedly publishing articles which were blasphemous.

Razak Baginda saved by his affidavit
The Straits Times, 2 November 2008

The acquittal of political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda in the high-profile murder case of his former Mongolian lover made big headlines in Malaysian newspapers yesterday, with many zooming in on how his affidavit had saved him. The sleazy and sensational affair, and Abdul Razak’s close ties to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, had kept the case in the public eye as the trial ran for two years.

His almost-forgotten affidavit filed two years ago was the highlight as it was pivotal to the High Court judge’s decision to acquit him of abetting the murder. The document was filed in court in an attempt by Abdul Razak, 48, to obtain bail before the trial started. He failed to get bail and there was criticism then by legal experts who considered it a wrong move to disclose his case so early in the trial.

But it turned out to be an astute move. High Court judge Mohamed Zaki Mohamed Yasin on Friday ruled that the tell-all affidavit had helped clear him of the charge of asking two policemen to kill Altantuya Shaariibuu.

“In the absence of the rebuttal evidence against them (statements in the affidavit), coupled with the fact that there is no legal onus for him to rebut any statutory presumption, there is clearly no reason for the statements to be ignored and rejected,” the judge said.

The lengthy document detailed how Abdul Razak met Altantuya in 2004, and had an affair with her that lasted until 2005. After they broke up, he alleged that the 28-year-old interpreter harassed him, and that he had sought the help of the police. But he denied telling them to kill her. According to court evidence, Altantuya’s remains were found in a jungle outside Kuala Lumpur, blown up with explosives after she was shot dead.

The judge found that 13 statements in the affidavit were not rebutted by evidence put forward by prosecutors. In a nutshell, they recounted how Abdul Razak had asked Musa Safri, a security aide of the deputy premier, for help because of Altantuya’s harassment. Musa reportedly said he would introduce him to a police officer. The co-accused Azilah Hadri, an officer from an elite unit that guards VVIPs, called Abdul Razak the next day.

Abdul Razak said he called Azilah on Oct 19, 2006, when Altantuya turned up at his house. Altantuya was taken away by three police officers. Abdul Razak said he subsequently asked Musa what had happened to Altantuya but the aide said Azilah did not tell him.

The judge on Friday found these statements were corroborated by witnesses at the trial, and “clearly negated and nullified the act of abetment as alleged”. This detailed legal explanation was, however, described by veteran opposition politician Lim Kit Siang as a technical one, as he demanded further investigation.

The immediate public reaction on the Internet was, as expected, similar. Abdul Razak’s close ties to DPM Najib were hauled out to hint at favoured treatment although there was no evidence of this. Lim wrote in his blog that it was imperative for Najib to face an independent government inquiry on the allegations.

So far, Abdul Razak has not given his side of the story. After his acquittal, he went back to his house in upmarket Damansara Heights before going to the mosque for Friday prayers. He wore broad smiles each time he came out of the house, but declined to speak to reporters. He also said he had been fasting for the 22 months since he was arrested.

His two co-accused, Azilah and Sirul Azhar Umar, who allegedly killed Altantuya, have been ordered to present their defence. The hearing will begin on Nov 10.

Here are excerpts of the affidavit filed by Abdul Razak Baginda:

EVEN though I had appointed (private eye) P. Balasubramaniam, the harassment by Altantuya against my family and me did not stop. Hence, I asked Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri (a security aide to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak) for help.

I also sought help to be introduced to a police officer from the Brickfields police station as my house was under their jurisdiction.

DSP Musa told me that he would introduce me to an officer who would help me.

On Oct 17, 2006, the deceased came to my house and wanted to meet me. I was not at home at that time, and my wife learnt of her visit.

On the night of Oct 17, I was at home and there was a commotion outside the house.

I called Balasubramaniam and Dhiren Norendra (a lawyer) to help me. A police patrol car arrived to settle the matter.

DSP Musa later called me and said a police officer would call me to help me sort out my problem with the deceased.

On the morning of Oct 18, 2006, Azilah Hadri (one of the co-accused) called me and introduced himself as the police officer who was referred by DSP Musa to help me.

I subsequently met with Azilah. I told him that the deceased had caused a commotion at my house, and asked him to conduct patrols around my house.

On Oct 19, 2006, Balasubramaniam called me and told me that there was a commotion outside my house. I was out with my family. So I called Azilah for help.

Balasubramaniam told me that three plainclothes police officers came to my house… to take the deceased away.

On Oct 20, I bumped into DSP Musa. I asked him what happened the night before and DSP Musa told me Azilah did not tell him anything.

In the least, all these people are guilty of criminal conspiracy under section 120B read with Prevention of Corruption Act.

Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, fully knew that Raja was looting the nation. It was the constitutional duty of Dr Singh to stop that. Rather he turned a blind eye. Subsequently, the Prime Minister even tried to protect Raja’s misdeeds in various ways. He sat on the request of Dr Subramaniam Swamy for more than eleven months seeking permission to prosecute Raja. Then, the CBI directly working under the Prime Minister did not do any investigation in that case for almost a year after registering FIR despite strong displeasure expressed by Supreme Court on several occasions. CBI got into action only when the Court decided to monitor CBI’s investigations. Isn’t this sedition? However, the British laws under which independent India functions, do not treat such serious charges as sedition.

In the least, Dr Singh is guilty of criminal conspiracy under section 120B read with Prevention of Corruption Act.

Unfortunately, the role of none of the above players would even be honestly investigated because CBI, which is the agency responsible for investigating and prosecuting them, works directly under the command of the accused. Even if they were tried and convicted, they would be guilty of “corruption”, which carries a punishment of six months to a maximum of seven years.

Media has been replete with stories on how Dr Raman Singh, Mr Naveen Patnaik and Mr Yeddyurappa have been selling the minerals of this country at throwaway prices. They are giving licenses for mining, not because these minerals are needed for India, but for exporting most of these minerals. The state gets a royalty of Rs 27 per ton of iron ore mined, cost of mining is roughly Rs 300 per ton and the mining company sells it in international market at Rs 6000 per ton. The economics of the mining of almost all minerals is as absurd. Not just that, mining companies, with full knowledge of government agencies, mine much more illegally than they are permitted. Illegal mining is so rampant that it is feared that some of the mines would be empty within the next few years.

Royalty rates are fixed by central government. Licenses and permissions are given together by both central and state governments. Aren’t all these honorable Chief Ministers, who are openly plundering the national resources, in collusion with various ministries of Central Government, guilty of sedition? The party antagonism vanishes when it comes to plundering the nation. Complete bonhomie is seen between BJP in states and congress at the centre. They are doing precisely what their British predecessors did. Loot this country and take the wealth out of the country. Since we work under the same British laws, their loot is not a serious crime but anyone who dares to “hate” their activities or resist them and incite “contempt” or “disaffection” against such open loot of the country is a crime.

Our laws do not even recognize these crimes, which have the potential to destabilize India, as serious enough to be termed “sedition”.

Sedition, under the present law, is to cause “disaffection” against such corrupt and unjust governments. How can one call himself an Indian and still have “affection” for such practices? We fought against British not because of the color of their skin but also because of the exploitative character of their government. Unfortunately, the character of the present governments has become far more exploitative.

One may have strong “disaffection” for government of India, its policies and its systems. But one may love India. One may love Indians. But under section 124A of IPC, one would be guilty of sedition.

124A. Sedition – Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the government established by law in India, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.

 The expression “disaffection” includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity.

Explanation 2 – Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the government with a view to obtain their alterations by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.

Explanation 3 – Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the government without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.

Therefore, sedition is defined as an act which causes contempt or hatred or disaffection against the “government” and not against the “country” or the “constitution”.

Most of us who regularly use RTI, expose corruption and criticize governments could be easily prosecuted under the above section. Everyday, opposition parties incite hatred against the government in power. Therefore, all opposition leaders could be held guilty of “sedition”. If strictly implemented, this section could muzzle dissent and democracy.

Interestingly, such grave offences, which have the potential of destabilizing Indian economy, are not treated as “sedition”. For instance, A Raja caused a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crores to India. This is almost 30% of annual Gross Tax Receipts of Government of India. Therefore, he almost threatened the economic sovereignty of India. Interestingly, that is not sedition. That is “corruption”, which invites the same punishment as would be awarded to a food inspector who takes Rs 1000 bribe to make a ration card.IPC was written in 1861 by the British. Their aim was to economically plunder India. Anyone who resisted in those efforts was a traitor and his activities were declared as “sedition”. Unfortunately, after independence, we continued with the same system. Under our present legal system, economic plundering of Indian revenues and Indian resources is a petty offence called “corruption”. But anyone who resists that or has “disaffection” towards such practices is guilty of “sedition”.Section 120B of IPC is another section under which Binayak Sen has been convicted. Section 120B talks of criminal conspiracy. If anyone conspires in a crime, he is liable for the same punishment as is the person committing the original crime.

Now suddenly Perkasa, Jati and all the likes will be queuing up to lodge police report and police will solve case even before you can say jack shit…

Whose poverty is it anyway?  episode shows just how intolerant Mahathir is….

If some of you think that this nation is in a mess, then blame the Malays because they are the problem. Malays know that Malaysia is not the land of gold and honey any longer. In these difficult times, they have become more aware of their surroundings; but one other person has noticed this sea-change in the Malays.

He is former Premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He knows that a thinking and independent Malay is detrimental to his legacy and creation- UMNO-Baru – and to the well-being of his family’s fortunes. Today’s self-aware Malay is Mahathir’s downfall.

Malays are in positions of power in government and the civil service. They dictate policies and run the wheels of government; but Malays are also the nation’s worst hypocrites. They are greedy. They are happy with short-term solutions. They do not think of the consequences. They are happy to hide behind the cloak of race and religion if it will bring them some material benefit or status. The day they lose everything is probably the day they will regain their humility, values and self-respect.

With the downturn in the economy, Malays have noticed that jobs are hard to come by, that only the chosen Malays receive government tenders, and that the cost of living is increasing. Scholarships for the poor Malay child are snapped up by children of UMNO Baru politicians and cronies, leaving only a few places for the needy.

Crime is rife and foreigners are a common sight in every community, schools and hospitals. The Malay market-trader has to compete with a foreigner, who is willing to work harder for less money. Children in the rural areas are disillusioned and difficult to motivate. Many drift to the cities looking for jobs, then find that there are no jobs, so they add to the Mat Rempit menace.

The most privileged section of the community also has the highest proportion of drug users. Why are Malays more prone to drug addiction? Are they trying to escape reality? People who volunteer in charitable organisations allege that Malays have the highest incidence of problems, ranging from domestic violence to sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual problems such as rape, incest and illegitimate children.

Corruption is killing the country, but Malays are quite happy with the RM50 or RM500 offered by UMNO Baru. The Muftis  issue  ridiculous fatwas and Friday sermons are politicised, but few Malays voice their objections. If this were Indonesia, the Indonesians would have walked out of the mosques, in protest.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation. If Indonesian women were subjected to acts of humiliation, many Indonesian women and men would have picketed to protest and demand that stern action be taken. Malay women would rather watch the latest TV soap.

Exacting vengeance

Malays are aware that government tenders above a certain value involve bribery but will they lodge complaints? Perhaps, they are aware that nothing will be done. The people who head these anti-graft bodies are Malays.

Malays know that cheating was rife in GE13 and in the by-election in Kuala Besut on July 24. It appears that Malays were more concerned about getting in the queue for their “travel allowance”, than stopping corruption.

The hundreds of millions of ringgit should instead have been pumped into schemes to benefit the community. The scoundrels are the Election Commission (EC) chairperson and his deputy, both Malays. Men who lack principle and dignity are championed by UMNO-Baru.

UMNO-Baru seems to be promoting the Malays, whereas Pakatan Rakyat appears to be inclusive of all Malaysians, but the irony is that the only way for Malays to prosper is to vote against UMNO-Baru and ensure that Pakatan forms the next government.

Mahathir knows which buttons to push. He is good at making you react, he excels at getting your attention and is pleased when you become all worked up – his expertise is that of a master manipulator. Mahathir would have made a better psychiatrist than a general practitioner.

Those who claim that Mahathir’s policies “help” the Malays, are wrong. What he does under the pretext of helping Malays is designed to have the opposite effect. He is exacting his own vengeance on the Malays. Sadly, the Malays are too blind or stupid to notice.

When Mahathir was a child, which traumatic episode in particular made him turn against the Malays? He appears to be torn between pleasing the Malays, so that he is accepted by them, but at the same time is driven by feelings of guilt, to redeem himself for being cast as an outsider.

Was he teased in the school playground and called derogatory names pertaining to his background? Was he ashamed of being registered as an Indian at medical school in Singapore? Despite having a Malay mother, did elite Malays, royalty and the community treat Mahathir as an outsider? Did an incident deprive Mahathir of a deep emotional connection with the Malay community, which fostered a deep seated envy of the Malays?

This week, Mahathir has again tried to pit Malays against Chinese, and vice-versa; he queried whether the Chinese wanted to share, or to seize power, in Malaysia.

The non-Malay colleagues or beneficiaries of Mahathir’s largesse are silent. If they are angry with Mahathir, none would dare voice their objections publicly. Mahathir knows that patronage has its advantages, and its limits.

Poor-quality leaders

Today, we are a nation divided along racial and religious lines and all of us are to blame. From the beginning, Mahathir had a racist agenda. The Malays were mesmerised by Mahathir’s spin but then, the non-Malays are not entirely innocent.

In the WikiLeaks cables released in April 2013, it was revealed that the US Embassyexpressed surprise that Mahathir had been appointed Deputy PM in 1976, but they were probably more amazed by the lack of opposition from the non-Malays despite Mahathir’s “Malay chauvinism”.

Francis T Underhill Jr, the Ambassador at the time noted that “… the small, predominantly Chinese Democratic Action Party (DAP) has expressed some concern over Mahathir’s past record but has not openly opposed his selection. Other Chinese parties or politicians have either not commented or have welcomed Mahathir’s appointment in a pro forma manner”.

Malaysia does not have a Malay or a Chinese dilemma. Our only dilemma is Mahathir. His latest outburst about the Chinese seizing power is merely a side-show. He wants to deflect attention from the greatest show in Malaysia, the UMNO Baru general assembly.

Behind the scenes, the Malays in UMNO-Baru are positioning themselves, like pieces on a chess board. The rakyat’s problem is that we have poor quality Malay UMNO Baru leaders, who only want to maintain their vested interests.

Malays are the problem of this country but they could also be the solution. Right now, any aspiring Malay who wants to be leader must listen to the needs of the lower-income groups and families with aspiration. He must address concerns of the rakyat like illegal immigration, corruption, education and rising cost of living and  crime.

Nothing gives Mahathir a greater sense of schadenfreude than seeing the Malays suffer, despite the Ketuanan Melayu and UMNO Baru.

A growing section of influential global opinion, from international investors to media commentators, is fast losing faith in Malaysia Home Minister Zahid Hamidi  motto has been ‘it is better to be safe than be sorry’ and the operating principle has been ‘do what you want but do not get caught’.

The real political task in a society such as ours is to criticise the workings of institutions that appear to be both neutral and independent, to criticise and attack them in such a manner that the political violence that has always exercised itself obscurely through them will be unmasked, so that one can fight against them.
- Michel Foucault, ” Human Nature: Justice Versus Power “

The New Straits Times has never been the beacon of investigative journalism in Malaysia. Resurrecting Jasbir Singh Chahl to try to whitewash the Scorpene scandal is hardly a scoop – Jasbir’s churlish account fails to answer the many questions raised by the scandal and the murder of Altantuya.

The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will (where he has his role as citizen to play).
- Michel Foucault, “The Concern for Truth”The bureaucracy and successive political parties in power have largely been dictated by a mindset that has traditionally been apathetic to human rights in situations of fighting Islamic terror. This is typical of an ‘end justifies the means’ approach in which decision-makers raise no objections because the intelligence agencies are perceived to be working in the best interests of the country and national security priorities.missions require secrecy and to do their job well intelligence officers, both handling operations and analysis, must be willing to take risks. They must anticipate dangers to national security and take steps to meet those challenges. Action based on “duff intelligence” or planning extrajudicial killings are not means that should shape the response of a security organisation that is more venerated among several others in terms of the credo of professionalism. No matter how powerful an intelligence agency, that power is not licence for it to collude in or facilitate extrajudicial killings.Protecting an intelligence agency, on the ground that in the fight against terror simple intelligence gathering would not suffice and sometimes brutal methods need to be applied to defeat the monster of terrorism, can be counterproductive. The secrecy and the deception that surrounds clandestine dark operations are justified, often by turning a blind eye or a deaf ear, as indispensable to the agency and to national security interests.

freedom of speech, freedom of expression, critical thinking, keeping an eye on authority, education – are issues historically linked to journalism. Thus, just as it is important to ask to what extent we as academics have investigated, questioned and challenged the distribution and use of social, economic and military power in society, so, of course, should we ask the same of the news organisations described as “watchdogs” and “guardians”.The answer is genuine reform. It is easier to reform the bureaucracy. Transforming the intelligence agencies, considered national security holy cows, is more difficult because of a variety of reasons — their unbridled power to act in secrecy, the resistance to change and the status quoist attitude of the political leadership that views the agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation, as handy tools to bully and browbeat the opposition or other political rivals. In a government where candour and leadership are in short supply, there is little commitment to being more open in the manner in which intelligence agencies function and lesser still for the protection of individual human rights.

My point is that the mainstream press in countries such as Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom, have (more often than not) failed to engage in critical investigations into, and analyses of, the accumulation and utilisation of power. And, it is this failure that has created a vacuum filled, at least in part,If we are looking for an obvious example of such a failure of critical analysis, one need only look to the attacks by a number of journalists upon fellow journalist

SUARAM has all along stuck to the facts and this can be checked in our publication: “Questioning Arms Spending in Malaysia: From Altantuya to Zikorsky” by Kua Kia Soong, 2010. By no means does Jasbir disprove the chronology of events noted in the book nor shed any light on the revelations by the French enquiry thus far. But first, let us examine the credentials of this man touted as the “architect” of the Scorpene submarine deal, the most expensive arms purchase by our country to date, costing well over RM7 billion.

Who is Jasbir Singh Chahl?

When the submarine deal was signed in 2002, the Far Eastern Economic Review commented that it “…provides a rare peek into the normally opaque process of Malaysian arms purchases…Finally, it underscores the importance of political connections in winning a defence contract in Malaysia.” (FEER, 15.8.2002)

According to this FEER story, in 2000 then private French company Thomson-CSF (now called Thales) had been working with a middleman by the name of Jasbir Chahl in an attempt to sell a Crotale missile system to the Malaysian government. A middleman like Jasbir must be beaming with pride at being hailed as the “architect” of the Scorpene deal when in fact middlemen in international arms deals normally try to keep a low profile as Jasbir has done for so many years. This is how The Independent describes the work of a middleman in arms deals: “1) He brings together buyers and sellers of weapons and military equipment, rather as estate agents bring together buyers and sellers of property; 2) He arranges the supply of specialised services, for example training and maintenance for complex Western combat jets that are bought by nations without the expertise to keep these planes flying themselves; 3) He obtains weapons for nations, guerrilla groups, mercenaries or others not legally permitted to buy them from Western governments or defence manufacturers; 4) He acts as a financial ‘cut- out’ in the extraordinarily complex flow of funds generated by multi-billion-pound arms deals. That is to say he helps to conceal the payment of bribes.” (Peter Koenig, The Independent, 16 October 1994)

According to the 2002 FEER article, Thales introduced Chahl to French government-owned DCN and the submarine deal was set in motion. Chahl then brought in Ibrahim Mohamed Noor, a businessman close to Daim Zainuddin, then Finance Minister. Ibrahim’s private company, Perimekar, was to become the linchpin between the Malaysian and French governments. Ibrahim then brought in Abdul Razak Baginda, a military analyst who headed the Malaysian Strategic Resources Centre and also adviser to Defence Minister Najib Razak. In August 2001, Ibrahim sold Perimekar to Generasi Mulia, which served to hold the shares temporarily, paving the way for new, well-connected investors to step in. By January 2002, everything had fallen into place. Generasi Mulia sold its 100% stake in Perimekar to Ombak Laut, a private company owned by associates of Abdul Razak Baginda. Ombak Laut then sold 40% to the Armed Forces Superannuation Fund, or LTAT and a sister company.

In that 2002 story, the FEER speculated on the payoff for Malaysian businessmen in the submarine deal: “Defence analysts estimate that for all the effort, and for its continued involvement in the contract, Perimekar will receive, over the next six years, 8% of the total contract value: about RM288 million, and possibly more, as the euro, on which the contract is based, has appreciated 13% against the ringgit since the signing.” (FEER, 15.8.2002)

Perimekar Never More than a Travel Agency

Jasbir tries to justify the exaggerated payments to Perimekar. He tells us nothing new to what the defence ministry has told us. What the documents from the French judicial inquiry show is this view of Perimekar by the French state company DCN: “The amount to be paid to Perimekar is over-evaluated. It is not worth it…They are never more than a travel agency…The price is inflated and their support function is very vague…Yes, that company created unfounded wealth for its shareholders.”

From the French investigations so far, the former finance director of DCN, Gerarde Philippe Maneyas had made a claim for 32 million euros (RM124 million) allegedly used to bribe Malaysian officials for purchase of the Scorpenes. The budget minister had questioned such a large bribe although he did eventually authorize the tax break.

From the French documents, it emerges that the commissions and dividends for the Scorpene deal were funneled through two companies, Terasasi and Perimekar, both owned by Abdul Razak Baginda. His wife, Mazlinda is a director in Perimekar while his father is also a director in Terasasi. Malaysians have been told about Perimekar and its “coordinating service” in the submarines deal. But so far there has been no mention of Terasasi. Neither has Jasbir mentioned Terasasi.

With the new French law and OECD Convention against corruption in place after 2002, the French arms merchants had to find an alternative way to pay commissions to their foreign clients. The method used was to create “service providers” that could “increase invoices” in order to take the place of commissions. Thus, when the French state company DCN terminated its contracts, Thales took over as a private company, not involving the state. Thales International was appointed to coordinate the political connections.

A commercial engineering contract was then signed between DCNI and Thales, referred to as “C5”. It covered 30 million euros in commercial costs abroad. The companies used in the Malaysian case were” Gifen in Malta, Eurolux in Luxemburg and Technomar in Belgium. The travel expences of Baginda and Altantuya were covered by these.

Another “consulting agreement” was signed in 2000 between Thint Asia and Terasasi for 2.5 million euros. From the Paris Papers, we know that at least 32 million euros (RM144 million) were paid by Thales International (Thint) Asia to Terasasi. There is an invoice by Terasasi dated 1.10.2000 for 100,000 euros. There is also an invoice from Terasasi to Thint Asia, dated 28.8.2004 for 359,450 euros (RM1.44 million) with a hand-written note saying: “Razak wants it in a hurry.”

Altantuya’s links to the Scorpene deal

Altantuya was a translator. According to Baginda’s bail affidavit, she met Baginda in 2004 and became his lover, two years after the submarine deal was signed. I don’t think the French officials who negotiated the deal needed a translator in the first place. What has transpired is that Altantuya knew about the deal from her liaison with Baginda and she had come to Kuala Lumpur expecting a cut in the commission.

During the Altantuya murder trial, when Baginda’s counsel read out the events following Altantuya’s fateful night, he skipped the part about Baginda going to the Deputy Prime Minister, Najib’s office, which made Justice Segara interject: “Why did you skip that? There is nothing to worry. He just went there. It is in the affidavit. He should have known better and go straight to the police or IGP and not embarrass the DPM…Facts must surface. You cannot hide. The truth will always prevail.” (The Star Online, 20.1.2007)

Baginda, accused of abetting the murder, was acquitted in November 2008. He was acquitted without his defence being called while the two policemen charged, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Omar, were sentenced to the gallows for killing her. After the verdict was made known, the government announced it would not be appealing against the Razak Baginda acquittal.

Murder accused Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar said he had been made a scapegoat by certain parties in the murder of Altantuya to protect their “evil plan”. The trial was deemed questionable by many observers. Apart from painstaking attempts to keep then Deputy Prime Minister Najib’s name from being mentioned in the trial and probing the motive for the murder, other irregularities included: the sudden removal of the presiding judge just before the trial started without a plausible explanation to the lawyers; the changing of the head of the prosecution team at the last moment; the changing of the defence lawyers for the accused, one alleging interference by “third parties” in his work.

A witness testimony by Altantuya’s cousin alleging that the victim had shown her a photograph of herself, Baginda, Najib and “others” having lunch in a Paris restaurant was stopped by defence lawyers and prosecutors from testifying further. Nor did the court ask the witness to produce the photograph. In the course of the trial, evidence was given that Altantuya’s entry into Malaysia had been erased from the records of the Malaysian Immigration. This could only have been directed by a higher authority.

As we can see, this middleman in the Scorpene deal has hardly illuminated us on all these questions surrounding the murder of Altantuya. What is surprising is the naivete of the high-brow propagandists in the NST in not pursuing the answers to these questions. Any truth seeker would at least be interested to know the motive for the murder of the Mongolian lass.

This recalls Voltaire’s reminder that “…those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

Pascal Najadi has expressed shock over the murder of his father.”I was shocked upon hearing about the killing in Kuala Lumpur, which was carried out in broad daylight,” he toldBernama in a telephone interview from Europe.

Arab-Malaysian Bank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi was gunned down in Kuala Lumpur today, Police said. Kuala Lumpur Deputy CID Chief Khairi Ahrasa told Bernama the couple was attacked from behind by two assailants.

The attack took place in a car park near the Kuan Yin Temple on Lorong Ceylon at 2pm. Hussain was with his wife at the time. Hussain, 75, was shot twice on the torso while his wife, 49, was shot on the arm and leg. He succumbed to his injuries while his seriously injured wife has been warded.

Khairi said preliminary investigations suggested that three men aged between 35 and 40 years were waiting for Hussain outside the temple.

The former banker and financier was said to have met a friend at the temple to discuss business matters. “The suspects escaped in a taxi. The motive is yet to be established but it is believed to be related to business,” Khairi said.

A witness told the national news agency that he heard more than five shots being fired.  Hussain is an Iranian with permanent residency status.

Malaysian authorities to do their utmost to apprehend the culprits involved in the killing of his father and bring them to justice.

Pascal, 45, who is also a banker, said the irony was that his father was murdered in Malaysia, a country for which he had so much affection, having called it home for more than four decades. He said he came to know about the killing, a few hours after it took place and that he was also informed by the MalaysianPolice.

Hussain founded Arab Malaysian Banking Group in 1975 before it changed hands in 1982, to what is known as Arab Malaysian Bank or Ambank.

First a Customs Deputy DG gets hit with a bullet right in the administrative capital. It cost him his precious life.

Then comes the assassination attempt on R. Sri Sanjeevan who is now fighting for his life with a bullet lodged in his rib cage.

And even before we can get a grip of these shocking shootings in a country where arms are illegal, yet another broad daylight murder with a gun has taken place.

We hear that in the open car park right here in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur the Founder of ARAB Malaysian Development Bank, Hussain Ahmad, was pumped with bullets and killed. And at lunch hour rush time, mind you.

Now the top guns of the country are rushing to warn the public not to speculate and are dishing out conclusive statements – never mind if the statements contradict one another. After all there is the escape clause, “the media misquoted”.

What speculation? There is none. The public being patriotic citizens are just plain damn concerned. Can the powers that be not see that?

And why not concerned? It does not need the training and mind of Sherlock Holmes to figure out. Plain common sense demands answers to the question how come a small nation like ours that is very strict about arms possession is now witnessing assassinations and gun-point murders in the country?

The public are saying, “Look it is happening in broad daylight.”

Yes, the gun-toting killers are doing it right in front of public eyes. They are not even bothered about the CCTVs that the police said were meant to deter would be criminals. And these killings are happening at rush hours too.

People are asking, in the first place where did all these guns come from? How come it seems so easy to take lives away especially when the victims are such high-profile figures? And who are these ‘hired killers’ – assuming that they were paid to get the job done?

3 assassinations in 7 months

Just in a time frame of seven months to the year, we have seen three assassinations – Customs Deputy Director General Shaharuddin Ibrahim in April; R. Sri Sanjeevan of MyWatch over the weekend of July; and now at the start of the week it is the Iranian and Founder of a bank.

Now if the public ask “who is next?” is that also speculation?

Look, we have reached a point in our nation where the security of the nation is at risk with the increasing shoot-to-kill crimes while public safety continues to remain threatened.

Public protests and demands for transparency, accountability, fair and free elections and justice are not security threats. Denying those calls for a better nation-administration is what threatens this nation. When will the Najib administration stand up, owe up and empower this nation to transform into a safer country?

Even if the cases in question are established as revenge or wrong identity or whatever, the public have the right to know how come gun-toting killers are so readily available in a country that sends you to the gallows for illegal arms possession.

In any other nation where public accountability and patriotism is high, by now the people would have swung into action and demanded immediate answers or the head of national security and public safety steps down until decisive, convincing action is rolled into place.

We are not talking about gang clashes. We are not talking about underworld verses underworld. We are plain bloody concerned when citizens who are in service to His Majesty the Yang DiPertuan Agung and who have contributed immensely to the financial and economic development of Malaysia and those who are championing a commitment to clean up Malaysia are being removed with the gun.

Can we condone this?

But here, life goes on as usual. Well, after all the police have warned the public to shut up. The Home Minister has threatened to take action at citizens who are out to cause mischief.

Meanwhile at the warongs and corporate corridors, it is your guess as good as mine, “who next?”. Or for some it is a case of “why so busybody lah, MYOB is better these days”.

ems as if we are becoming as dangerous as some South American nations where gun violence seems to be the norm.

On October 31, 1984, her body guards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh shot Indira Gandhi as she was on her way to meet Peter Ustinov, a famous British TV personality.It was more than 20 days after the anti-Sikh riots were quelled that Rajiv Gandhi made reference to the ‘mighty tree’ as a means of explaining the sheer illogic of retribution against the killing of a leader who had famously said “Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic.”

The mightiest heart was however shown by Indira Gandhi who was persistently handed dire warnings to change her Sikh bodyguards.

She had outright refused.

History is full of instances where family members have killed one another for wealth, power or out of sheer envy. But the most common murder among all such cases has been fratricide…

When news reports suggested that the Chadha brothers — Ponty and Hardeep — had perhaps not killed each other, but been the victim of a third party’s bullets, one felt a strange sense of relief. The idea of fratricide disturbs and threatens to disrupt the basic values we build our lives on! For that matter equally disturbing is sororicide (killing a sister), filicide (killing one’s child), patricide (killing one’s father) or matricide (killing one’s mother). All murders are horrendous and unnatural, but these are unbelievable! Even as I write, a 16-year-old in Haryana has killed her mother because she wouldn’t allow her to marry her 23-year-old lover! If your own flesh-and-blood cannot be depended upon, who else would you trust?

And yet of all these cases, however horrific they may be, fratricide has always been the most common. Brother killing a brother, or for that matter, many brothers, was the basis of many an empire in history. Fratricide is reported as the first type of murder in human history by the Bible and the Quran. Of the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain was the first human born and also the first murderer who killed his brother Abel, the first human to die. Mughal emperors routinely killed their brothers in their fight for the throne; King Asoka too killed all his brothers. It was an established practice in the Ottoman Empire to kill all the Sultan’s brothers as soon as he produced a male heir. Rome was founded after Romulus killed his brother Remus.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the story of a young prince demented by his father’s murder by his brother Claudius, who then marries the king’s widow. Money, power or romantic liaisons have been the cause, and jealousy the motivating factor behind cases of fratricide. If in barbarian times, kings killed to get their way, today in ostensibly more civilized times, rich businessmen cut each other out and break off ties with brothers in a more restrained manner, until an incident like Ponty-Hardeep strips the civilized veneer to expose the fundamental emotions that still rage within.

Brother killing brother is a parent’s worst nightmare, and yet it is parents who are responsible for laying the foundation of the relationship siblings share as they grow up. What parents do to promote harmony, and to discourage sibling rivalry, is vital to how sibling relationships will play out later. Parents need to be aware that they have to play an active role to this end, and not just let relationships drift! Feelings of insecurity and jealousy are natural amongst siblings. An insensitive and unthinking response from parents can tilt the balance to a lifetime of rivalry and dislike. Scolding and humiliating one child for hurting or showing down a sibling will only entrench such behaviour. It is better to understand the child’s insecurity and address the issue by giving equal time and importance to both children.

Sometimes in order to inculcate discipline, parents compare one child to another, which is unforgivable! Never praise a child at the expense of another. Children should be taught to respect each other’s differences, strengths and weaknesses and actively taught anger management. Inculcate family values, the importance of togetherness and loving each other. They should be told that friends may come and go, but siblings are forever and a great support system when things go wrong. Children should be taught to stand up for each other and to share in each other’s successes and failures.

Introduce certain family practices such as dinner together at the same table, celebrating festivals together, praying together or a nightly family gossip session. It could be something as simple as a drive for ice cream every Sunday, or sitting around a bonfire on winter weekend nights, or playing scrabble, dumb charades, chess, whatever! Habits die hard and these moments of togetherness are what cement love and relationships in later years. In moments of stress between siblings, an old habit or memory could help bring back the shared warmth and love of childhood.

Especially for privileged families, it is very important to teach children values that too much money and power may lead them to forget in the later years. They have to be taught at an early age that they have special duties and responsibilities because they are privileged. Children must be taught the importance of giving back and sharing. Being made aware of the lesser-privileged classes and the importance of charity work is important to keep them grounded. Parents must be especially careful to drive home to children the importance of love and relationships and the transience of life and material possessions; of the criticality of keeping in touch with one’s own true self, and being true to your loved ones as well!

If the grounding and values are solid and the foundation for a deep affection strong, how can a brother even think of killing a brother for something as transient as wealth or power?