Give syariah law a chance for all Malaysia, says PAS Youth

Syariah law should be given the chance to tackle crime if the existing criminal law system is inadequate, says PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan.Seems like this PAS fella is riding the Chinese Voter support, while I truly believe that Syariah law can work , but I also clearly know that in malaysia we are not mature enough ( muslims AND non muslims) to make it work. We cant even digest a simple case of a muslim woman who loves dogs and makes it public. I doubt it can stop murderers and killers. FYI in sunny Pakistan only in the last week ,tens of people were killed by random bombings by muslims on muslims…. So much for ‘steming’ crime with Syariah.So don’t blame the law when the Home minister and the IGP are fully aware of the criminal activities here in Malaysia. As the saying goes…” when the supply stops, the crime rates plunder”We have very good laws in place but poor enforcement of the law. as simple as a traffic offense, people pay a quick bribe and hope not to get caught again. Summons issued, never get paid and police dont enforce the law instead you get a discount! Civic mindedness and conciousness of the law is only through enforcement.

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.This is especially so in cyber space and in urban centres like Penang, the Klang Valley and Kinta Valley where the Chinese dominate political discussion and harangue anyone who does not toe their line.Some call it an urban wave, others say it is a largely Chinese wave. It is nothing as devastating as the political tsunam2 of 20013 where the Indians and Malays also came along to give  Datuk Johari Abdul Ghan big win but  is giving PAS  a big urban headache.the voters are solidly not behind them and the rhetorical, shrill voices must be stopped. They serve no purpose. The safeguarding of Malaysia must be the top priority, much more important than the interests of our individual parties and ideologies

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.

“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.

Someone from somewhere must come out and take p119 Titiwangsa out of this insensible dark PAS box of despondency and self-flagellation is  giving a false dose of some hope.  Are we are neither cowards nor aggressors?. Then why should we doubt our win?

The present crisis, the Chinese belligerence, fifth tent after the fourth and an inhuman attitude of the PASS and DAPi bubble gum politics shouldn’t surprise us. But what surprises is the consensual mood of the nation not being read by the PAS. It’s time to speak in one voice, yes, we all agree, and  Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.must get the sense of people’s support now, rather than a crowd making noises in a hundred voices. But what that voice should be? into confidence about such grave incidents paving a way for a national consensus?

The Chinese say they like Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and agree that he has been an able and hardworking Prime Minister, The Chinese mood, after 2 week of  campaigning, has   softened forP119 candidate  Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.

 

Sometimes, the formidable morphs into the pathetic. For a long time, the juggernaut Submarine Furor Returns to Malaysia, with its potent combination of powerful interests seemed to carry such sweeping and overwhelming force that it looked to be above any challenge, criticism or scandal. The players, administrators, sponsors, franchisees, the television broadcaster, commentators and the mainstream media at large all appeared to be part of a monolithic structure that acted in unison and found a way of deflecting all criticism. There  middleman, for his controversy it created, seemed to enjoy immunity from any consequences, as one excess piled on top of another and dodginess, financial and otherwise, looked like it was part of the script.

Jasbir Singh Chahl plays many roles, some of them quite well. But he is inimitable when he turns caustic. Sarcasm descended from his heavy eyebrows with the full force of a waterfall when he taunted  middleman for during his advocacy for  for the purchase of submarines from a subsidiary of the French defense contractor DCN has caused a furor in MalaysiaI. Shakespeare was never so bitter about Shylock as  Jasbir Singh was about the “bichauli”.

The main burden that corruption is not merely a case of somebody taking money to grant a licence, pass files or for according permission for a big project or for awarding a contract. using the money to capture the political system. Their writ ran far and wide across the state and Bellary became a virtually independent republic (so to say). For many years nobody could do anything to the mafia even though what they were doing was an open secret. Now the kingpin of the mafia has been packed off to jail but with his trial not yet begun it remains to be seen whether he will be suitably punished. Society also eulogizes men who have a lot of money and extols their virtues irrespective of how they came into money. Naturally young men and women tend to (or seek to) follow in the footsteps of these monied men. I had an uncle who was an honest chairman of a public sector company. Naturally he did not have much money. His only son was always grumbling how “Dad did not make money and was such a fool”. Poor Uncle died penniless recently, but the son is a well-known oncologist with a reputation for fleecing patients. He does not care, because he is making moolah and in tons. His poor dad with a reputation for fair play and efficiency is not his role model. The battle against corruption has to begin in schools because it is these students who will become officers, politicians and businessmen in their adulthood. That way we will have a strong nation ready to face any challenge.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 … Read more

 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 … Read more

key figure says he helped PM’s wife get a witness out of town

A key figure involved in the cover-up of the spectacular 2006 murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu appears to have gone off the reservation, giving interviews to opposition media hinting at the involvement of Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, in the conspiracy.

Deepak Jaikishan (left), a Kuala Lumpur-based carpet dealer who reportedly was Mansor’s business partner in the past, allegedly promised RM5 million to get out of the country to a private detective who charged that Najib had been Altantuya’s former lover, after the detective filed a sworn declaration describing his knowledge of the affair between the two and giving excruciating details of sexual practices, among other specifics.

The detective, Perumal Balasubramaniam, was terrorized after being dragooned into a Kuala Lumpur police station and told his family was in danger. He immediately decamped for Chennai, India after being promised the money to recant his declaration. He has remained outside of Malaysia, issuing periodic statements giving additional details of the affairs as well as alleged attempts by Najib’s forces to cajole him into coming back and blame Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim for the whole thing.

Altantuya, named in French Police documents as a translator, was murdered in October 2006 by two members of an elite police unit operating under Najib’s jurisdiction. The two were later convicted and sentenced to death for the crime. Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Najib’s closest associates and according to French prosecuting magistrates’ documents the alleged conduit for a €114 million bribe to the United Malays National Organization for the purchase of submarines from the French defense contractor DCN and its subsidiaries, was acquitted of the crime.

A central figure in the massive bribery case of Malaysian officials for the purchase of submarines from a subsidiary of the French defense contractor DCN has caused a furor in Malaysia with an exclusive interview with the Kuala Lumpur-based political party broadsheet New Straits Times.

In the interview, Jasbir Singh Chahl told the newspaper, which is owned by the United Malays National Organization, the country’s biggest political party, that the murdered Mongolian party girl and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu had never acted as a translator in the affair. He also said Perimekar Sdn Bhd., then a wholly owned subsidiary of a company owned by one of then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak’s best friends, actually had done legitimate work to earn a €114.96 “commission” that has been characterized as a bribe by French officials.

In the wake of Chahl’s remarks, Home Minister Zahid Hamidi has threatened the leaders of Suaram, the human rights NGO that took allegations of the affair to French authorities, with sedition. The Registrar of Societies has also threatened to take away Suaram’s certification as an NGO.

No one outside of the New Straits Times, the UMNO mouthpiece, has been allowed to interview Jasbir Singh Chahl. If neutral journalists had been allowed, they could have brought up the 135 French documents that question Perimekar’s role in the purchase, and prove that Altantuya had visited Paris in the company of Perimekar’s boss, Abdul Razak Baginda. They could also have brought up a mysterious payment of €36 million from a DCN offshoot to Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd, a mysterious company whose only directors are Razak Baginda and his father.

Najib, Malaysia’s Prime Minister since 2009, has just come through a bruising political campaign in which corruption allegations, including those surrounding the submarine purchase, played a major role. For the first time since Malaysia became a nation, the Barisan Nasional, the ruling national coalition, came out on the short end of the popular vote, winning 47.38 percent of the popular vote against 50.87 percent for the opposition headed by Anwar Ibrahim. The Barisan, however, managed to win 140 of the 222 seats in parliament through gerrymandering.

The documents made available to Asia Sentinel from the French prosecutor’s office in Paris, make it clear both that DCN officials characterized Perimekar as “nothing more than a travel agency” allegedly designed to enrich UMNO officials, and also make it clear that Altantuya had accompanied Abdul Razak Baginda, the beneficial owner at that point of Perimekar, on a visit to DCN offices in 2005, before she was murdered by two of Najib’s bodyguards.

The documents, published in French, remain uploaded on the Asia Sentinel website and can be viewed here (French Prosecutor’s documents).

It has thus long been clear that Chahl is dissembling on both counts. Chahl’s credibility has been damaged further by the fact that he was ousted from Perimekar early on in the negotiations himself. In several memos found during the DCN investigation, Chahl demanded a full fourth of Perimekar’s total €114.96 million as a finder’s fee. He was subpoenaed as a witness in the case, but after first indicating to French lawyers that he would cooperate, he stopped talking. The case with Razak Baginda has been settled out of court, according to Cynthia Gabriel of Suaram.

According to the French prosecutor’s documents, Perimekar was described as “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,” according to one of the documents. In another, the DCN officials said that “In Malaysia, other than individuals, the ruling party [UMNO] is the largest beneficiary [rather than Perimekar, the company to which the commission was directed]. Consultants [agents or companies] are often used as a political network to facilitate such transfers and receive commissions for their principals.”

The payment appears to have been in violation of the OECD Convention on Bribery, which France ratified on June 30, 2000. On Sep. 29, 2000, according to document D00015, DCNI, a DCN subsidiary, “took corrective actions” after France joined the bribery convention.

Contracts concluded after that date were to be routed to Eurolux and Gifen, companies held by Jean-Marie Boivin, DCN’s former finance chief, and headquartered in Luxembourg and Malta respectively. Boivin is being investigated for having played a central role in the “corrective actions,” with what were described as “outlandish commissions” traveling through the welter of companies that he established in tax havens around the world.

“A separate agreement sets other compensation consisting of a fixed amount independent of the actual price of the main contract,” one document reads in reference to the payment to Perimekar. “This has been made to be consistent with [DCN's] internal rules and [its subsidiary] Thales and those of the OECD. The beneficiaries of these funds are not difficult to imagine: the clan and family relations of Mr. Razak Baginda. In addition, these funds will find their way to the dominant political party.” Malaysia’s dominant political party was and is UMNO.

As to Chahl’s assertion that Altantuya had never been a part of the Scorpene equation, it is true that she was not part of the negotiations before Chahl himself was said to have left Perimekar over his demands. But later, when Razak Baginda and Najib visited DCN in 2005, records show she accompanied the Perimekar boss when he and Najib were dealing with matters pertaining to training the Royal Malaysian Navy personnel to operate the submarines.

Despite voluminous attempts by both the pro-government newspapers and pro-government bloggers to assert that Altantuya had never visited Paris or had anything to do with the matter, Razak Baginda himself, when he was under investigation on charges of ordering the two bodyguards to kill the 28-year-old pregnant woman, told investigators he had traveled with her to France in 2005.

Records seized by French investigators from DCN bear that out. According to the records, Abdul Razak Baginda and Altantuya met with Jean Marie Boivin, the alleged French fixer who helped to organize “commissions” for friends in high places to pick DCN’s submarines on that same trip. Boivin arranged to pay for a jaunt by Altantuya and Abdul Razak to Macau. In those documents, Altantuya is described as Razak Baginda’s translator.

Najib has sworn on the Quran that he never met Altantuya, although she was in France at the same time as he was, accompanying Abdul Razak Baginda.

Razak Baginda had been Altantuya’s lover, supposedly after Najib had given her up, according to Balasubramaniam’s sworn declaration. Immediately on being cleared without having to put on a defense, Razak Baginda fled to the UK with his wife, where he has remained ever since.

Attempts to reach Jaikishan by Asia Sentinel have been unsuccessful. He first contacted Harakan Daily, the Malay-language newspaper operated by Parti Islam se-Malaysia, the Islamic opposition leg of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat headed by Anwar, and later gave an interview to Malaysiakini, the Kuala Lumpur-based independent online news website, describing additional details. Additional interviews have also been carried by the Malaysia Chronicle, another opposition website.

In the interviews, Jaikishan acknowledged that Najib and Rosmah had asked for his help in dealing with Balasubramaniam. In a translated interview, he told Harakan Daily that “Maybe my mistake was helping in the case of Bala, getting involved in Bala’s case to help the family of the Prime Minister. That was when I became famous. I don’t like it. I’d like to be low profile.”

In the Harakan interview, Jaikishan compared his involvement in Balasubramaniam’s case to rescuing a drowning friend. “So I jumped into the pool to help a friend,” he said. I felt at that time, I was the only one (they) sought for help.” He quickly responded: “Najib’s family” when asked whom he meant by ‘theirs.’

Jaikisan’s motives are unclear, sources in Kuala Lumpur told Asia Sentinel. One of the articles made a veiled reference to a belief that he hadn’t been given proper thanks for his efforts. One well-wired businessman in Kuala Lumpur said Jaikishan was known to have become close to Muhyiddin Yassin, the Deputy Prime Minister and a putative rival for the premiership should Najib stumble.

“It’s an UMNO play”, the source said. “Deepak claims he is now very close to Muhyiddin. The timing of his solicited interviews – he called the news portals and offered himself – on the eve of the UMNO assembly suggests he wanted to embarrass Najib and Rosmah.”

Muppadhu kodi mugamudayal
Enil maipuram ondrudayal
Ival Seppumozhi padhinetudayal
Enil Sindhanai ondrudayal

(This Bharatmata has 30 crore faces
But her body is one
She speaks 18 languages
But her thought is one)

– Tamil poet Subramania Bharathi

Dear caretakers of Indian Muslims (includes secular parties, once-communal parties, confused allies, maulvis, Muslim welfare organizations and generally anybody these days),

You are probably wondering who I am. After all, I don’t have a name like Ahmed or Saeed or Mirza, anything that will clearly establish me as a Muslim. You forget, this writer also writes fiction. So perhaps I, or what I say here, is nothing but a fabrication. However, maybe there’s something useful in there for all you well-wishers.

Everyone seems to care for Muslims, but no one actually wants to listen to us, particularly the youth. I keep hearing political leaders promising to uplift us. I don’t know how they plan to uplift us and only us, without uplifting the nation. But then, I am a nobody, what do I know?

I see them wear Muslim caps, perhaps to show us that they really do mean to improve our lives. However, a cap on your head doesn’t change anybody’s life. Using what’s inside your head might. You haven’t. For why else do we continue to be one of the most backward communities in India?

It is not like India has a shortage of Muslim achievers. There are Muslim stars in almost every field. These people achieved what they did without any cap-wearing politician helping them. They had a modern outlook and a desire to come up in life. We need a leader who understands this, and inspires us to do better. We need jobs. We need good schools and colleges. We need a good, clean home with power and water. We need a decent standard of living. We don’t need it as a handout. We are willing to work hard for it. Just, if you can, create the opportunities to do so.

What makes you think all a leader has to do is wear a cap, dole out some freebies, speak empty words and expect us all to vote in a pack? What are we, a herd of sheep? Does the God we pray to make us all part of one flock when it comes to politics? Is that India? Last I heard we are not a religious republic. We are a democratic republic. So treat us like democratic citizens.

You know what hurts? We do not have a strong modern Indian Muslim voice. If I am an Indian Muslim, who believes in ambition, scientific way of thinking, entrepreneurship, empowerment, progress and personal freedoms, where do I go? Which party is backing that? Can someone give me a leader who represents my aspirations?

I cannot tell you the frustration we feel. It is bad enough we find it difficult to rent an apartment, the police frisks us with greater attentiveness and we have to bear the occasional jibes. But what is truly sick is this: you guys claim to care for us but are only reinforcing that we are backward and doomed to remain so. Because of you, people feel that we vote in a herd and are keeping India backward. You, our caretakers, have led people to think we care only about religion and not about corruption and development. It isn’t true. Corruption is stealing, and stealing is sin. No true Muslim or progressive Indian can support it. Don’t hide your sins behind your fake caring for us. We know you neither care for India, nor for Islam.

Maybe I am being too harsh, and some of you are indeed well intentioned. But realize the consequences every time you slot us by our religion. There is more to us than that.

If you truly want to help, there is one area where you could. We have a wonderful religion. However, like any religion, the interpretation of it can be orthodox or liberal. In many parts of the world, there’s an extremely strict interpretation of Islam in daily life. India is more liberal, and many Muslims would prefer to keep it this way. Can you support us in that? Don’t let our religious heads, extreme voices and fundamentalists control our lives, for that isn’t the essence of India. If you can do that, we will back you. You will truly be our representatives if you promote real progress – through empowerment and modernization of our community. The Indian Muslim has evolved. It is time you do too.

have been destroyed because of internal divisions among the people;
Hence a republic should always strive to achieve unity and good relations among the people

(Therefore the wise authorities should crush the separatist forces trying to assert their strength)

– Mahabharat, Shanti Parva, 108:26

Political leaders, film stars, cricketers, etc. are all falling over one another to pay tribute to the late Bal Thackeray. Amidst this plethora of accolades and plaudits pouring in from the high and mighty, I humbly wish to register my vote of dissent.

I know of the maxim De mortuis nil nisi bonum (of the dead speak only good), but I regret I cannot, since I regard the interest of my country above observance of civil proprieties.

What is Bal Thackeray’s legacy?

It is the anti-national ‘sons of the soil’ (bhumiputra) theory.

Article 1(1) of the Indian Constitution states: “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”

Thus, India is not a confederation but a union.

Article 19 (1) (e) states: “All citizens shall have the right — to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India.”

Thus, it is a fundamental right of a Gujarati, south Indian, Bihari, U.P.ite, or person from any other part of India to migrate to Maharashtra and settle down there, just as it is of Maharashtrians to settle down in any part of India (though there are some restrictions in J&K, and some North-East States, due to historical reasons).

The bhumiputra theory states that Maharashtra essentially belongs to Marathi people, while Gujaratis, south Indians, north Indians, etc. are outsiders. This is in the teeth of Articles 1(1) and 19(1)(e) of the Constitution. India is one nation, and hence non-Maharashtrians cannot be treated as outsiders in Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena created by Thackeray attacked south Indians in the 1960s and 70s, and vandalised their restaurants and homes. In 2008, Biharis and U.P.ites living in Mumbai (the bhaiyyas who eke out a livelihood as milk and newspaper vendors, taxi drivers etc.) were described as infiltrators and attacked, their taxis smashed, and several beaten up. Muslims were also vilified

This, of course, created a vote bank for Thackeray based on hatred (as had Hitler, of whom Thackeray was an admirer), and how does it matter if the country breaks up and is Balkanised?

Apart from the objection to the ‘sons of the soil’ theory for being anti-national and unconstitutional, there is an even more basic objection, which may rebound on Thackeray’s own people.

India is broadly a country of immigrants (like North America) and 92-93 per cent of the people living in India today are not the original inhabitants but descendants of immigrants who came mainly from the north-west seeking a comfortable life in the sub-continent (see the article ‘What is India?’ on my blog justicekatju.blogspot.in and the video on the website kgfindia.com ).

The original inhabitants (the real bhumiputra) of India are the pre-Dravidian tribals, known as Adivasis (the Bhils, Gonds, Santhals, Todas, etc.) who are only 7-8 per cent of our population today.

Hence if the bhumiputra theory is seriously implemented, 92-93 per cent of Maharashtrians (including, perhaps, the Thackeray family) may have to be regarded as outsiders and treated accordingly. The only real bhumiputra in Maharashtra are the Bhils and other tribals, who are only 7-8 per cent of the population of Maharashtra.

Several separatist and fissiparous forces are at work in India today (including the bhumiputra theory). All patriotic people must combat these forces.

Why must we remain united? We must remain united because only a massive modern industry can generate the huge wealth we require for the welfare of our people — agriculture alone cannot do this — and modern industry requires a huge market. Only a united India can provide the huge market for the modern industry we must create to abolish poverty, unemployment and other social evils, and to provide for the huge health care and modern education systems we must set up if we wish to come to the front ranks of the most advanced countries.

Hence I regret I cannot pay any tribute to Mr Bal Thackeray.

Malaysia’s most famous council of religious groups can thank the heavens they now have a lawyer in charge.

Why so? Well, if the tapestry of interfaith unity in Malaysia is a delicate wsickeave, then the finger that is pulling at the thread is attached to the long arm of the law these days.

Case in point, it was the government lawyers that came up with a Bill for Parliament to allow just one parent to decide which religion the child should have, even if the other parent objects.And that is where Jagir Singh (pic) comes in. This is familiar territory to him and it helped when the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism lobbied hard against the Bill. The Bill was finally withdrawn in the face of withering dissent even from the ruling coalition partners.

Until last week, Jagir was the deputy president of the influential council, also known as MCCBCHST. Now he is the president.

The council has found itself at odds with lawmakers in recent years. It has stood firm against a seemingly rising tide of legal challenges to the old Malaysian way of live and let live.

Given the direction ahead, it is probably very useful that the new chief of the council was a former prosecutor with the Anti-Corruption Agency and an officer there for nine years before he opted out of government service in 1992 to set up his law practice.

He even wrote a book about Malaysian law, taking two years to do it. So… he pretty much knows the law.

And this must come in handy when one of the large challenges ahead for the council is to push back against a tide of opinion that one religion presides above all, even in the law of the land.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider yesterday, Jagir said, “I first need to say that non-Muslims have never questioned the Federation and its religion. But some people think that Article 3 can be interpreted to mean that Syariah Law can override this.”

He was talking about a common misconception on Islam’s position in Malaysia, arising from an interpretation of Article 3 of the Federal Constitution. It states that “Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.”

Pointing out that the Constitution clearly says it is the supreme law of the Federation, Jagir adds, “This itself shows that Islamic law is not applicable here and cannot override the supremacy of the Constitution. But when we say this, they accuse us of questioning. But we are not doing that, these are facts.”

He added that as the council stands for the five main non-Muslim religions in Malaysia, it is always praying for the wellbeing of Malaysia as well as championing the principles of the Rukun Negara.

“What the council, which represents 40 percent of the population, has been doing was to make statements in order to move the conscience of those in power, appealing to them to recognise the rights of all,” he said.

But why not have Muslim leaders in the council to complete the circle? Jagir said, “The Muslims say they are superior in terms of religion, so they cannot sit at the same level with non-Muslims.

“And their religious heads won’t want to sit with the non-Muslims. Furthermore, they have their own religious departments, muftis and ulama groups, but for non-Muslims there is only one.”

Jagir said that when the council did discuss issues with Muslims, it was only through Muslim NGOs and not the leaders of the religion.

What about the Cabinet-commissioned interfaith committee that was set up two years ago to promote understanding and harmony among the religious?

Jagir, who is a member of that interfaith committee, said that discussions were not to be revealed in the open, but added that there was no consensus yet on the core issues of religious conversion of children and use of the word “Allah”.

So it is not an easy road ahead and there is an urgent need for strong leadership.

On this, Jagir added that non-Muslims want a colour-blind leadership and not those who go into the battle themselves and accuse others.

Commenting on the remarks by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that non-Muslims insulted Islam, Jagir added: “I am deeply concerned that the simple rural folk will believe his comments, and might think that non-Muslims are in fact insulting the religion.

“This will only create tension among the races, when in actual fact, the non-Muslims have been known to react peacefully when their rights are being trampled on, which seems to be happening on an almost daily basis of late.”

He also took to task community leaders from Sabah and Sarawak for hardly showing any concern on important religious issues.

“They hardly say anything, perhaps they do not want to risk their positions, so the burden of being vigilant has fallen on NGOs like us,” he complained.

In contrast, he commended Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who was the only minister who spoke out against the proposed Bill to allow for one parent to convert the religion of a minor to Islam.

“This shows that within Umno, there are people with conscience,” he said.

Speaking of high profile activists, he said,  “However people like Mariam Mokhtar and Marina Mahathir, whom we consider as the voices of conscience, are branded as being too liberal when in fact, these are the people showing the true version of Islam which promotes justice and fair play, and treats all as equals.”

The father of four boys sought to put his council’s work in perspective as it celebrates its 30th year next month. Jagir pointed out that it had always shown restraint and championed issues based on the Federal Constitution, using proper channels.

“We are just a get-together of religious bodies without any legal or executive power,” the new president said.

But a group, he could have added, with a firm hand over the past 30 years in helping weave the precious fabric of interfaith unity for the good of all Malaysians.

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.

India is one of the poverty havens of the world. We have all heard of India’s teeming millions, probably since childhood. While one could blame the British for all our mistakes pre-1947, it has been almost 67 years since they left. We are still one of the poorest nations on earth. Many countries in Asia, which started with similar poverty levels in the 1940s, have progressed faster — some of them dramatically. We, however, remain poor.

The continuance of poverty is particularly surprising because there are so many smart and powerful people who claim to be representing the poor. Politicians, 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 — the food security Bill.

It is a tough Bill to write against. The fashionably left, almost communist, intellectual mafia will almost kill you. The subject is sensitive. You may argue that the numbers just don’t add up — that we will ruin our already fragile economy further if we do this. The retort will be ‘at least a poor mother will see her child sleep peace-fully at night on a full stomach’.

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 an Indian 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 the un-opposable Bill is this: Bring on the food security Bill. In fact, i propose a better Bill. Why just two-thirds of India, let’s extend free grains to the entire country. Moreover, why not some vegetables and fruit too? And don’t poor kids deserve fresh milk? We should provide that too. If the debate is going to be won by the guy with the noblest intention, then i am going to make sure i am the one.

Every Indian family must get grain, fruit, vegetables, milk and whatever else it takes to have a healthy balanced diet. It should be free. There, am i not the good guy now?

When irritating questions pop up in my head on who will pay for it, or how will so many commodities be secured, or how will the already debt-ridden government finances look after this, i will tell my mind to shut up. I’ll avoid looking at the astronomical bill (lakhs of crores over just the next few years). If i feel this money could be used to transform rural education, irrigation or road networks, which would make our poor empowered, employable and richer, i will scold myself for thinking with my brain.

It 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.

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. So, bring on my Food, Fruits, Vegetables and Milk Security Bill. Did i miss something in that? Oh yes, nuts. We do need nuts. Some nuts for all Indians, please. You know the kind of nuts i am talking about, right?

So-called “religious sensitivity” is a thing of the mind. It is not something external like the heat from a fire that one can feel, but purely a state of mind. It is what one chooses to make of something. A thing done or said by someone to another of a different race or religion is seen one way by a broadminded person and another way by a narrow minded person. It is seen one way by a wise person and the opposite way by a fool. A rational person interprets it differently from an irrational person.  In interpreting one should take into account the manner, tone, context, occasion, etc. in which it is said.

It is akin to a normal person seeing a rope for what it is, and a psychiatric patient seeing the same rope as a dangerous snake and trying to kill it before it attacks him. Remember, the mind is not only capable of playing games under different conditions and circumstances; it can also be conditioned into such a state by external hypnotic pressure. Such pressure can even make a normal person who is unable to resist such pressure, see the rope as a snake.

People’s minds can be manipulated by those who have power over them by the constant harping on something. Teachers, including BTN teachers, therefore have the great power of making or breaking a nation by what they teach their charges. Politicians, as leaders, also have such power. Knowing this, our medical doctor Prime Minister had chosen the way of running his administration on the premise that telling a lie and repeating it would finally have the people believe it is the truth. But repeating lies is like blowing and blowing into a balloon. Some day it will burst.

One question of “religious sensitivity” is that of eating and drinking by non-Muslims in the month of Ramadan. It is now being bandied about that for non-Muslims to eat or drink when in the company or presence of Muslims is to hurt the sensitivities of the Muslims. This was never an issue in the good old days. Muslim scholars have said that Islam does not forbid non-Muslims eating in the presence or company of Muslims in the month of Ramadan. So who started this nonsense and why?

In my school days, school canteens used to sell both halal and non-halal food in stalls side-by-side.  No Muslim children ever bought from the non-halal stall, but non-Muslims did buy food like nasi lemak from the Muslim stall. Then they sat at the same table to eat. There was no question of hurting the sensitivities of anyone. The Indians did not say that by eating beef next to them the Malays children were being insensitive to their religious beliefs (it is pantang for Indians to eat beef). Similarly the Malay children did not complain that the Chinese students, by eating pork dishes next to them, were not being sensitive to Islam as pork is harm to the Muslims.

So how and why did the question of non-Muslims being insensitive to Muslims by eating in their presence or company become an issue?

Last week I was at the BNM Penang branch for a discussion on a banking matter. Two officers attended to me, a Malay lady and a Chinese lady. As we sat down, the Malay lady put a plastic glass of mineral water before me and said “this is for you”. I felt so touched by this gesture and respect shown to me as a non-fasting person who would need to quench my dry throat. Did she, as someone who was fasting, do something wrong by giving me the water?

Yesterday I was at another meeting in KL at an office manned by a dozen staff. It ended at 2.00pm and a non-Malay staff and I went for lunch nearby. The staff said she was so hungry as she had not taken any drink or snack the whole morning as she was afraid doing so in the office (it has a coffee corner) during puasa month would be insensitive to the Muslim staff. I was taken aback to hear this. How the words and actions happening around us today have put the fear of offending Muslims if one were to eat in their presence.

Why should it be insensitive to my Muslim friends if I have to eat or drink in their presence? As a non-fasting person, my mealtimes are morning, afternoon and evening. When mealtimes come, I feel the pangs of hunger. A fasting Muslim, as told to me by fasting Muslim friends, does not feel the pangs of hunger during the daytime. This is because the body has received the normal amount of food, with the difference that meal-times are changed from daylight hours to night-time hours. Within 2 or 3 days of the start of fasting, the body adapts to the new schedule of mealtimes.

So could Muslim scholars please put this issue in its proper perspective?

Do I have to hide myself from my Muslim friends when I am eating during fasting hours in the fasting month? Why should they feel I am being insensitive to them if I eat in their presence?

How Najib becomes an object of ridicule among the educated, indeed a lot of his voters too. He is, however, saddled with not just an overbearing wife but also two cronies and his powerful home  minister, who together virtually control the strings and he is kept as a titular head. But that can’t be an excuse for Malaysia to be run the way it is.‘In a nutshell, Finance Minister has been pumping up the economy through unbridled spending which came from borrowings.’

All know thrives under the protection of the two powerful political classes in the state, which, depending on who is in power, gains ascendance. The mafia has grown so brazen now that it can easily thumb its noses at anyone, including the nation’s apex court.

the fact that he was different played a role in a number of young voters plumping for him in the elections. He has to realise that and display some spine, exert himself.The brazenness, indeed shamelessness, with which the polity has been dealing with anything that is not in line with their nefarious thinking is scary. The disdain is palpable. And I am talking about the nation here and not just UMNO.Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) was today questioned on what he knew, and his role, in the controversial “Project IC”  during an interview session with the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) probing the issuance of dubious ICs in Sabah.

The interview session, which is said to be his preliminary evidence to the panel, was conducted behind closed doors at the PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

Among others, Anwar was questioned on who else was involved in “Project IC” and what was the policy on the issue at that time.

The session was conducted for more than an hour by RCI investigating officer Superintendent Zainuddin Ismail.

Anwar left without speaking to reporters after the interview session but PKR Legal Bureau and Human Rights chief Latheefa Koya told reporters that the Opposition Leader will appear before the five-man RCI panel in Kota Kinabalu next month to repeat what he told the investigation officer today.

She explained that Anwar was the deputy prime minister during “Project IC”.

Latheefah said Anwar will not only be asked if he was involved, but also on what he knew about “Project IC”.

Latheefa was with Anwar when his interview was recorded. She said he explained his role and was also asked some questions which required documentation.

“This is not a preliminary meeting, but an investigation and Anwar answered every question posed to him.”

She explained that in the past, Anwar had denied his involvement in “Project IC”, but had named three individuals whom he alleged were involved.

Last month, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman informed the five-man RCI panel, through his lawyer, that he was not involved in “Project IC”.

This came about after a witness, former senator and state assemblyman Dr Chong Eng Leong, told the RCI that Musa chaired the “Project IC” taskforce in 1991 which was designed to register foreigners as Umno members after giving them citizenship.

Yesterday, Anwar said he was prepared to give full cooperation to the RCI panel in the interest of all parties, adding that his evidence revolves around only on what he knew during his tenure as deputy prime minister and finance minister.

The RCI, which began in January, is investigating claims that citizenship was given to illegal immigrants in Sabah during former prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration.

What does it take for Najib as Finance Minister to realise that he has mismanaged our Treasury. The problem is that our Finance Minister was born with a silver spoon and cannot connect with ordinary Malaysia who will suffer the most when the country is in financial crisis. Maybe he will wake up when a serious fiscal crisis hits our country. Even then I am not sure since he does not know hardship as everything was handed to down to him on a platter. there are enough around who are not purchasable or won’t bend over backwards to please their political masters, or their seniors who are in the grip of their corrupt political benefactors.but not Rafiz.i A senior UMNO  secretary was put in a piquant situation by his seniors who gave orders verbally. Any attempt to seek more clarity was met with something like: Let us not waste time. It is important for the nation’s prestige

Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s immediate response to Fitch Ratings revision of Malaysia’s outlook to negative does not give confidence that the Government views the matter seriously. there are enough around who are not purchasable or won’t bend over backwards to please their political masters, or their seniors who are in the grip of their corrupt political benefactors.The Prime Minister tried to make light of the negative revision by pointing out that Fitch still “affirmed our rating”. He said negative element “is just the revision of our outlook but that depends on the move the government would make”.

If Umno Cheras division chief Syed Ali Alhabshee thinks he’s reaching out to the Chinese by asking them to tell Umno why they did not support the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) at the 13^th general election (GE13) and what they are unhappy about, he’s still missing the point. The rejection of BN at GE13 is not about the Chinese. It’s about governance.

Good governance and an end to corruption are among the things every caring and intelligent Malaysian wants. Why does he single out the Chinese?

True, many Chinese care about the country and therefore want it to do well, and they don’t think that under BN rule, it will, so they voted for a change of government. But then so did a few million others comprising Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans who also care about the country and want a better government.

If Syed Ali can grasp this basic idea, he should instead be telling his own party’s leaders that they need to do much, much better to deserve being in government – in fact, to change. And change drastically. He should be telling them to stop playing the same old politics they are still playing, like exploiting the issues of race and religion to divide the people.

He should tell Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to take back what he said on July 31 and even apologise for it: “Muslims do not insult the religion of non-Muslims such as Christianity and Hinduism. But non-Muslims are insulting our religion.” That’s the kind of inflammatory remark we can expect from an extremist, not from a deputy prime minister.

Yes, bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee did upset Muslims with their Ramadhan greeting over a bowl of Bak Kut Teh, but how could Muhyiddin discount Perkasa Vice-President Zulkifli Noordin’s belittling of Hinduism when he expressed scorn at Hindu gods, or Johor school principal Siti Inshah Mansor’s alleged remark in 2010 that the Indians looked like “dogs” when they wore their prayer strings?

It is distorted statements like Muhyiddin’s that polarise the people even more. And as the nation’s number two leader, Muhyiddin should have known better to keep his mouth shut instead of creating further tension on the issue. After all, what purpose does his statement serve? It only serves to revive anti-non-Muslim sentiments at a time when conciliatory measures are greatly needed.

But then we have seen many times before that this is how Umno leaders operate. It is also part and parcel of their desire to assert their supremacy over the populace, especially over those who don’t bend to them. Now, because Umno has won nine parliamentary seats more at GE13 compared to GE12, it is asserting itself even more. It is pandering to right-wing Malay-Muslim sentiments to consolidate the support from its ‘safe deposits’.

This is precisely the sort of thing that those who reject Umno-BN don’t want any more of. So whatever Syed Ali may say about Umno-BN wanting “the Chinese to be with us”, it is mere wishful thinking. If Umno-BN remains as it is and continues to behave the way it does, the Chinese and the others who voted against it will never trust it.

Syed Ali also says Prime Minister Najib Razak has done a lot for the Chinese and he therefore cannot understand why the community didn’t support Najib at GE13. But that’s not the point either.

It’s not about providing for a community – ANY community – but about providing what’s good and right for the country. It’s not about protecting the interests of Muslims or non-Muslims but about maintaining the rule of law and upholding fairness.

The prime minister must see to the needs of all citizens, regardless of race. So it is his duty to cater for the Chinese as much as he caters for the Malays, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, etc.

The point is, has Najib done much, if anything, to bring about inclusiveness? Is the Government no longer discriminating against non-Malays in the civil service, the police, the armed forces, the universities, etc?

Has he been serious in addressing corruption? (Let’s not mention the “window dressing” he performed in co-opting former Transparency International Malaysia president Paul Low into his Cabinet.) What is the latest on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigations into the alleged corruption of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud?

Has Najib stopped the practice of cronyism? Are big projects still being handed out through negotiated contracts rather than open tenders? Will he institute reform as of now or will everything have to wait till after the Umno party elections in October so he can try to safeguard his position as Umno president and prime minister?

Syed Ali says Najib is a good prime minister. Does a good prime minister do things by halves? If we look at Najib’s four-year track record, we can see he has characteristically taken only half-measures to address needs and issues. He has not shown the courage to go all the way.

He repealed the Internal Security Act (ISA) – which, incidentally, Syed Ali disagrees with – but then he replaced it with the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act.

He announced last year that he would repeal the Sedition Act, but he also said he would replace it with the National Harmony Act. But now, a year later, no whiff of a draft has appeared. Lately, some of his Umno colleagues have been making noise about retaining the Sedition Act and Najib has been prompted to say that the replacement will retain the spirit and three main principles of the former act. This sounds like any change is going to be an illusion.

As for the other restrictive laws, Najib has not repealed the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) to free the mass media, or the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) to liberate academia. He has only made a few amendments to them and therefore offered only half-appeasement.

He promised to reform Section 27 of the Police Act, which required police permits for public gatherings, but he brought in the Peaceful Assembly Act which still requires organisers of gatherings to notify the police 10 days ahead. That’s still like asking for a permit. What’s more, he sneaked in prohibitive measures like forbidding street protests and also forbidding gatherings from taking place near a long list of designated places, making the new law even more restrictive than the old one.

After GE13, when the people called for the Election Commission (EC) chairman and his deputy to be sacked and the body to be reconstituted to make it truly independent because it had shown bias towards the ruling party at the elections, he again met them only halfway. He announced that a special committee comprising members of Parliament from BN and the Opposition would be set up to oversee the EC to allay concerns about its partiality.

In view of all these things, if Syed Ali still says Najib is a good prime minister, then he is only a half-good one. And that is not good enough for the Chinese, Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans who voted against his party and coalition.

This message should be quite clear now, and one hopes Syed Ali gets the point. If he still doesn’t and continues to ask the same dumb question, it will only confirm the belief that only a change of government will do. Anything other than that will only be a half-measure.

While Dato’ Seri Najib Razak, who is also the Finance Minister, did highlight that “it is a concern that we share as a government and we would seek to address those concerns”, the lack of gravity of the response does not give Malaysians and investors any comfort that real concrete actions will be undertaken.

It should be emphasized that this isn’t the first “warning” by Fitch Ratings although it is the most serious action taken by the global ratings agency to date. In August 2012, Fitch has already warned that Malaysia’s “fiscal trends may eventually lead to some form of negative rating action”.

In November 2012, Fitch further reported that “Malaysia’s public finances are a weakness relative to rating peers and offer limited scope for counter-cyclical fiscal stimulus at the current rating level… While this has not hindered the public sector’s capacity to contribute to GDP, which grew 5.2% yoy in the third quarter according to Bank Negara Malaysia Friday, the growing is concerning.”

Of biggest concern to Fitch then was “the increasing reliance on off-balance sheet funding could potentially call into question the meaningfulness of the 55% of GDP federal debt ceiling.” The “off-balance-sheet funding refers to Malaysia’s penchance to provide of guarantees to government-linked borrowers which does not officially count as Federal Government debt. In reality, if both official government debt and government guaranteed debt are put together, our debt to GDP ratio will be a much higher and worrying 68.9%, as opposed to the official 53.7%.

Hence despite the warnings given a year earlier, the Najib administration hasn’t taken the necessary steps to correct the fiscal shortcomings in the federal government finances. Instead the reverse happened and As a result, Malaysia’s issuance of off-balance sheet debt accelerated to 15.2% of GDP by end-2012 from 9% at end-2008. This is a drastic increase to nearly RM150 billion in 2012 from RM96.9 billion in 2010.

Failure

The above actually points to the failure of Najib’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), where “Public Finance Reform” was one of the key “Strategic Reform Initiatives” launch in 2010. Among the key policies to be put in place are “Expenditure Control” and “Transparent Procurement”. The latter includes “eliminating incompetent suppliers/ service providers” and “value management”. The ultimate objective was to reduce the Government’s budget deficit to 3% in 2015.

The outcome of the above initiatives however was for the Government to channel development expenditure to off-budget measures, to paint a false perception of financial prudence. This is because the off balance sheet financing or contingent liabilities are not reflected as government debt and hence isn’t included in the budget deficit calculations.

As an example, despite the RM50 billion MRT project being financed entirely by the Government via debt instruments, not a single sen of the borrowings raised are considered official Federal Government debt despite the guarantees provided. Since such borrowings are excluded from deficit calculations, the official budget deficit figures give a false healthy picture of our public finances.

If the Prime Minister is really believes that the Fitch warning “is a concern that we share as a government and [the Government] would seek to address those concerns”, then the most important measure that he must agree to is to recognise all off-balance sheet loans and contingent liabilities as Federal Government debt in the upcoming Budget.

Only then Malaysians can see the true picture if the Najib administration has the political will to cut down our real budget deficit, instead of just providing a feel-good statistic that does not incorporate hidden debts. If Dato’ Seri Najib does not reform the budgetary process, then we fear the ultimate consequence of not just a “negative outlook” but an actual downgrade of our sovereign ratings.

Our civil servants, especially those in the Ministry of Finance, will only react when the government is unable to pay their salaries and other perks. Otherwise, they wont care. Truth be told. We cannot continue to spend and spend to the nth power as if there is no tomorrow. Payback time is not far and we will have the bear the burden of lax financial management soon enough.At the tip of the tentacle – 3,000 civil servants bankrupted in just 1 year

Najib is the worst Finance Minister since Independence. He has no clue about being prudent and responsible with our money. Under his watch over the Ministry of Finance, the Malaysian ringgit has hit a 15-year low against the Singapore dollar and weakened noticeably against the greenback. When Tun Tan Siew Sin was Minister of Finance and Tun Ismail Mohamed Ali was Bank Negara Governor, the two currencies were at par with each other.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has been accused of pretending that his administration had maintained a “healthy debt-GDP ratio” in view of the latest Fitch Rating’s downgrade of Malaysia’s economic outlook from “stable” to “negative”.

Over a period, a large percentage of officers whose job is to keep order, turn pliable and the rot gets deeper and messier. A large portion of politicos’ effort is into turning an officer pliable. They have ways and means of doing it. May not admit, but they control their postings. More importantly, they are given inducement of easy money, a lure several find hard to resist, especially when they find themselves surrounded by those whose materialistic lifestyle they want to ape. Of course, that it is all due to ill-gotten wealth does not matter to them. ‘Why should I alone be honest and lose out’ is the mantra they all learn to chant very quickly. Shame and propriety, and ultimately service to the nation is a casualty, and the trend is growing.

In a press release today, PKR de facto leader and Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said that facts show that the Federal government’s guaranteed debt under the Najib-administration had rose to nearly RM150 billion in 2012 from RM96.9 billion in 2010, which would definitely hurt the economy.

“How much longer does Najib want to be the proverbial ostrich in the sand by pretending that his administration’s mismanagement of public finances has no significant impact on the economic outlook?

“No amount of creative accounting practices can change our financial red to black,”said Anwar.  Fitch Ratings had noted that federal government debt had rose to 53.3 percent of GDP by end-2012, up from 51.6 percent a year before and 39.8 percent by end-2008.

A 19 percent rise in spending on civil servant wages due to the general election had also contributed to the widening budget deficit, it noted.

Hidden debt

Anwar said Pakatan Rakyat had consistently maintained that the federal government does not practice financial prudence, accountability and transparency, to which the Najib Administration responded by calling critics traitors.

“Instead of taking cognisance of the legitimate concerns and rectifying the situation, Najib has plunged the country into greater fiscal deficit, eating into our current account surplus and ignoring the clear signs of structural weaknesses,” he said.

Instead, he said the Najib administration had been sweeping “financial dirt” under the “off-balance sheet carpet”. Unless urgent remedial action is taken, Anwar warned that the culture of reckless spending, opaque government procurement and privatisation processes will remains the hallmark of Najib Abdul Razak’s “transformation” government.

“Let the government be warned that this cannot be allowed to continue. As the management of the nation’s public finances is not a game of one-upmanship. We urge Najib to stop grandstanding and immediately step up to the plate to put the nation’s and the people’s interest above self and partisan interests,” he said.

The only son of banker Hussain Ahmad Najadi murder has thrown a new twist into his father’s shock murder.

According to the 45-year-old Pascal, Hussain’s murder was premeditated and related to an attempt by a group to demand money from a Goddess of Mercy temple in Lorong Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur.

“My father was a mediator between the two parties. There was no property deal turned sour in my father’s murder as our company do not involve in such business,” Bernama reported Pascal as saying in a telephone interview from Moscow, where he is currently based.

All eyes on what Chong will reveal

Pascal’s revelation throws a question mark on the initial findings by the police that Hussain’s murder was linked to a property deal that had gone awry.

It also swivels attention to Hussain’s second wife Chong Mei Kuen, who was with him at the time of the killing but was shot in the left wrist and right thigh.

A member of the temple committee, Chong is still recovering in hospital although she had been allowed to attend her husband funeral. Chong has yet to make public her suspicions on her husband’s slaying.

The 75-year-old Hussain was gunned down in cold blood on Monday, while his wife sustained injuries after they were both shot from close range at a parking lot after leaving the Kuan Yin Temple.

Refused to allow temple money to be used

Pascal, also a banker, holds dual Swiss and British citizenship. He said during the negotiation at the temple on that fateful Monday his father was adamant not to allow any party to take from the temple’s trust fund as it was the temple’s money.

Pascal said the temple committee had informed him the suspect had been waiting for his father even before the meeting took place.

Hussain had wanted to champion the temple as Chong was one of the committee members.

“I will not come to Malaysia until the suspect of my father’s murder is arrested,” said Pascal.

Police had a day ago released photographs of the suspect, whom they said was called Seri Ngan Zai (four-eyed boy) or Ah Chian. Police believe the suspect is still in hiding in the Klang Valley.

They have also detained a 44-year-old taxi driver who had ferried the suspect away from the scene of the murder.

Many Malaysians are looking to bullet-proofing their cars or hiring bodyguards amidst the rise in shooting cases in the country which has sparked fear for their safety.

According to Singapore daily, The Straits Times, manufacturers of bullet- proof glass for cars and homes reported getting more inquiries and business than usual, while agencies providing bodyguards and security consulting services were beefing up staff strength in anticipation of increased demand.

A director of a bulletproof-shield manufacturer, James Ooi, said the company used to get about four local clients a month before the spate of shootings.

“In the past few days, we have received 15 calls daily from clients asking us to provide bullet-proof shields for their cars,” he told the Singapore Straits Times yesterday.

Ooi said it costs between RM30,000 and RM50,000 to bullet-proof a car, depending on the size of the doors and windows.

In one of the recent shooting incidents, the victims were shot while they were in their cars.

Anti-crime body MyWatch chief R. Sri Sanjeevan was shot as his car stopped at a traffic light in his hometown in Bahau, Negri Sembilan last Saturday. He remains in Serdang hospital where doctors are waiting for his condition to stabilise before removing a bullet lodged in his abdomen.

The Singapore daily also reported that the public’s concern was growing at a time when Malaysians are already grappling with the higher incidence of other crimes, including robbery and snatch theft.

Bodyguard agencies are also expecting demand for their service to rise.

Jack Yin, who runs a bodyguard agency, said he was recruiting more personnel as he expects demand to go up in the next few weeks.

“Demand for bodyguards usually goes up about 20% in the one or two weeks after a spike in crime,” he said, adding that on a monthly average, he gets three to four clients.

Yin said hiring an armed bodyguard for 12 hours a day for 28 days would cost about RM9,000.

Ebrand Chettri, who also owns a bodyguard agency, said he was planning to equip his 20 bodyguards with bullet-proof vests.

“It is a one-off cost for me but I would rather pay than take chances with my staff’s safety. Prevention is better than cure,” he said.

Najib You can run but you can’t hide..

Why Najib scared of strong Rosmah?

this chief editor is asking the home minister to sue him to the facts that he had put here don’t go on cheating the Malaysians

A new kind of freedom

And so insecure people all pull down each other, but when it comes to men and women, the situation takes a dramatic turn because at stake here is not just a promotion or hike, but the entire power play between the sexes. Traditionally, a man’s superiority and masculine image has come from the protector-provider role he has played towards women. The role a woman plays in evolution and the cycle of life is enough to make men feel inadequate in any case, and psychiatrists also talk about a man’s deep-seated fear of being rendered unnecessary and redundant. And so a strong woman who can step out and take him on at office as well, makes an insecure man feel emasculated and inadequate. In order to validate his own worth, a man may prefer women to lead lives of dependence and incompetence.Suara Keadilan Malaysia blogged Who Cares? Yet another Najibs ‘foot in the mouth’ minister and Attorney-General Gani.

Back in the good, old days, it was easy to run and hide. You could say something or even do something and pretend it never happened. Records used to vanish without a trace, even official records; sometimes they caught fire.

So the Pandara BoX was finally open by looser in  Permatang Pauh  All the foreign embassies should take note and advise their citizen of the risk involved in Malaysia as the judges and prosecutors can be brought. Thanks to Umno’s Mazlan Ismail, TV3, Ularsan M’sia and New Straits Times This devil Mazlan is out to mess up Najib with some help from Mahathir

Those were the days. It was easy to run and hide. Then came the “internet” and the odd acronyms of funny, unpronounceable things (what’s a cache anyways?). Suddenly you could not hide. Not anymore. Because some tech-savvy whiz-kid was sure to find a record of every word of wisdom you ever put out on the “net” – including things you thought you had deleted long back (“..you mean they can still get to stuff even after emptying my Recycle Bin? #^%*!”).Sometimes, the formidable morphs into the pathetic. For a long time, the juggernaut Submarine Furor Returns to Malaysia, with its potent combination of powerful interests seemed to carry such sweeping and overwhelming force that it looked to be above any challenge, criticism or scandal. The players, administrators, sponsors, franchisees, the television broadcaster, commentators and the mainstream … Read more

And so it happened that a report that may have been picked up from another publication went live on a particular website apparently by mistake, with these damning words in the main body: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 … Read more

Najib, there are so many UMNO members from the other camp wanting to hit at you. Clearly, the rule of law has COMPLETELY broken down in a country where the Attorney-General, Inspector-General of Police, even the Chief Justice are compromised by their political bias. To end the impasse, Malaysians now have no choice except learn to act in unison to pull out the rotten, stinking tooth called Umno.

Mazlan Ismail, who stood and lost against the former in Permatang Pauh during the last general election.People become radicals or choose to go outside the system to vent their anger and frustration when they lose hope in the ability of that system to provide fairness and justice. the court system, the Attorney-General and ultimately, they believe that the rules are stacked up against any hope of meaningful change.The people feel the leadership’s moral compass is warped, that there is no sense of what is right or wrong. Look around the world, all the examples of people going to the streets to force change happened in repressive regimes where even the middle class stopped believing in change through legal means.

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 … Read more

Najib campaign. It was a communication disaster for a leader who is being projected as the prime ministerial candidate in a country where any brand of exclusivist politics is bound to fail in garnering Malay appeal. Najib’s political space and culture is inherently centrist in nature and it can brook only a marginal deviation on either side of the spectrum. Appealing to any exclusivist or identity-based agenda limits the political space. Perhaps that’s the reason The battle of 2013 looks different only in the sense that this time the Najib government suffers from a big ‘credibility gap’ after a string of scams. UMNO tally may be down considerably, but the party still may not be out of the reckoning and could well prop up PM to enjoy power without responsibility.  and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin his men need to think differently.

Come elections and PAS existential dilemma gets more pronounced. The party, founded on the Taliban ideology, has failed to come to terms with the changing political narrative in recent years. Even veteran leaders like  and were not spared when they tried to do what was seen as course correction.  The run-up to 2013 UMNO elections looks no different. Since Najib ascendency after an intense succession battle,,  Mahathir seems to be finding it difficult to choose between  Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and  Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.When logic snaps, rational discourse stumbles. Why is it perfectly acceptable to applaud Muhyiddin  a Muslim Malay nationalist, but denigrate Dap Chinese nationalist? Either both terms are right, or both wrong.

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 Indians who want to pray, 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.

The difference between “Hindu nationalism” and “Hindu nation” is equally uncomplicated. If anyone wants to be a Hindu nationalist, offer a warm welcome ; if the call is for a Hindu nation, point out that religion is ineffective as a basis for nationhood. Pakistan is a good example. Indeed, if religion worked as a glue, why on earth would there be 22 Arab nations? Hindu extremism existed in Gandhi’s time, but it never got much traction beyond the fringe; and it could not, ipso facto, seek secession.

Gandhi would have been puzzled by any suggestion that Hinduism was an obstacle to secularism; his Hinduism was an inexhaustible well of brotherhood , just as his colleague Maulana Azad offered Islam as a superb rationale for inter-faith harmony. Both used a faith-influenced dialectic almost unconsciously . Hindu-majority India is not secular because Gandhi was secular; Gandhi was secular because India is secular.

Gandhi was proud to be a Hindu. He promised Ram Rajya, not some variation of a fashionable western dictum, whether Marxist or Fabian. Ram Rajya was a metaphor for prosperity and equality, not subjugation. Gandhi did not shy away from caste. His tongue only partly in cheek, he told the Shafi faction of the Muslim League on 22 February 1931: “Brethren, I am a bania, and there is no limit to my greed. It had always been my dream and my heart’s desire to speak not only for 21 crores but for 30 crores of Indians.” He was answering the charge that he spoke only for Hindus.

Nor did Gandhi’s disciple and heir, Jawaharlal Nehru, think that the prefix ‘Pandit’ would stain his status as a secular icon. Privately, Nehru was more agnostic than believer, but learnt from Gandhi that he could not sneer at, let alone abandon, his Brahmin identity. India is a land of the faithful. Those who today feel ‘Pandit’ might be an embarrassment have not seen Durga Puja in secular Calcutta.

Strangely, those Muslim League stalwarts who were determined to parade every mark of their religious identity as a fundamental right, spread the canard that Gandhi’s Ram Rajya would enslave Muslims . We see variations all the time, among far lesser beings, as vocal networks control debate, and stoke a fear psychosis that suits those who think the Muslim vote is better sought through fear than development.

The insidious power of hysteria sent Indian Muslims en masse towards the separatist Muslim League in the 1946 elections. Gandhi was reviled and taunted along the way. An important caveat is necessary, however . The 1946 franchise was restricted; only about 11% had the right to vote: landowners, rate-payers , graduates; the elite. How would elections have gone if Gandhi’s masses, the poor — who often have better political judgement than those better off — had voted?

Umno’s Saifuddin Abdullah has urged the government to refrain from “being too hasty” in using the Sedition Act 1948 when charging an accused person.

The former Temerloh MP was responding to the recent controversial video of dog trainer Maznah Mohd Yusof, better known as Chetz, bathing her dogs and wishing viewers Selamat Hari Raya.

Last week, police arrested Maznah under Section 298A of the Penal Code as well as the Sedition Act after her video resurfaced online on Wednesday.

“In Malaysia, we are always rushing to use certain laws. To me, you should take a closer look. Is this deviant behaviour or is this really seditious material,” Saifuddin told FMT in an exclusive interview.

“Why always so hasty to use certain laws?” he asked.

Saifuddin admitted that he was not an “expert” and therefore could not comment if Maznah’s actions are considered deviant or seditious.

“We are always rushing to use (certain) laws. I don’t think developed nations think that way,” he said.

“Just because something happens and went viral through social media doesn’t mean you have to charge a person for it.”

On Thursday, Maznah was remanded by the Segamat police after a police report was lodged there against her for allegedly uploading a video that insults Islam.

The video, which was made in 2010, shows Maznah wishing the viewers Selamat Hari Raya with her dogs by her side.

The video resurfaced recently after Internet user called ‘acaiseven fiska’ uploaded the video on his Youtube page and deemed it to be insulting Islam.

If charged under the under the section of the Penal Code, Maznah could be imprisoned between two and five years.

She also had her statement recorded by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

She has since been released on court bond.

There is no letting up in the calls to prosecute dog trainer Maznah Mohd Yusof, with Perkasa joining in the fray urging that Syariah laws be used against her.

The Malay rights group said Maznah’s refusal to apologise for her actions in the controversial video “1 Hari di Hari Raya”, where she is seen bathing her dogs in a manner similar to the Muslims performing ablution, is bound to be a bad example to young Muslims.

“She has to be checked for her flawed view of  Islam,” said Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali (pic).

“She has held on to the belief that she did not commit a crime for washing her dogs and intentionally touching the wet dogs,” said Syed Hassan.

Maznah, otherwise known as Chetz, was remanded for two days at the Segamat police station last week to facilitate investigations for causing disharmony among religions through her video. She was later released on bond.

Perkasa said they would not accept an apology from Maznah nor would they forgive her even if she did apologise.

“Jakim needs to clarify the issue of Muslims touching, cuddling and bathing dogs,” Syed Hassan said in reference to the Department of Islamic Development.

“Perkasa is worried that if this is not explained, more young Muslims would go about taking their dogs for a walk in the park, cuddling and kissing these pet dogs,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

What the FUCK!!!

If you truly want to help, there is one area where you could. We have a wonderful religion. However, like any religion, the interpretation of it can be orthodox or liberal. In many parts of the world, there’s an extremely strict interpretation of Islam in daily life. India is more liberal, and many Muslims would prefer to keep it this way. Can you support us in that? Don’t let our religious heads, extreme voices and fundamentalists control our lives, for that isn’t the essence of India. If you can do that, we will back you. You will truly be our representatives if you promote real progress – through empowerment and modernization of our community. The Indian Muslim has evolved. It is time you do too.

Deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy said parts of the new Bill could act as a tool of manipulation with regards to maintenance, custody of children as well as unilateral declaration on the religious status of disputed deceased partners in controversial conversions cases. “In reality in passing this bill, the Syariah court will abrogate the jurisdiction of the civil court in regards to ancillary reliefs for the non-Muslims,” he said in a statement today. He also pointed out that the Bill appeared to be in direct confrontation with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on Elimination of All Form of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Both these conventions had been ratified by the Malaysian government. He urged the AG Chambers to engage with other stakeholders such the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, religious leaders, Bar Council and the Syariah legal fraternity before tabling the bill. Calling the tabling of the Bill as provocative, Waythamoorthy said “any government Bills tabled should not antagonize the government’s transformation plans”. -

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today acknowledged there were “issues” in the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 tabled in Parliament last Wednesday. But he defended the move by stressing that the Cabinet had used “several guidelines” in assessing and ultimately approving the Bill, which allows unilateral conversion of minors to Islam, to be tabled in Parliament. “The cabinet has discussed this in detail and we understand there must be a fairer decision but we also understand that in the current situation, there have been several guidelines that we used,” said Muhyiddin in a press conference today. “One of them is the court’s decision on a previous case and the second is the Malaysian constitution. So that is the jurisdiction of power we have today.” The Bill has drawn flak from multiple corners, including Barisan Nasional component parties MIC and MCA, as the word “parent” instead of “parents” in the amendment makes it legal for a sole guardian to convert children below the age of 18 to Islam. MCA vice president Gan Ping Siew had slammed the “stealthy” tabling of the amendment in the Federal Territories Islamic law, according to news portal Borneo Insider. “I am shocked to learn that the government is tabling the Bill as it contains controversial provisions that affect the constitutional and religious rights of the non Muslim,” he was quoted as saying. “This will seriously and irredeemably affect the religious harmony and national unity of our country.” Muhyiddin said today: “We take heed of the criticism, we understand that there are a few matters that have become the focus of the public’s attention “We will take into consideration the views of certain quarters, including BN component parties MCA, MIC and others who have voiced out the same issue. We will act based on the policies made. But when a reporter pointed out that the amendments to the Bill contradicted a 2009 Cabinet decision to ban unilateral conversions of minors to Islam, Muhiddin said: “yes, but this is the latest [developments]. “We will examine this carefully and [Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic Affairs] Jamil Khir Baharom will make an announcement when the time comes,” he said.

On June 22, as Narendra Modi held a meeting in Dehradun’s Hotel Madhuban with top BJP leaders and bureaucrats from Gujarat regarding the crisis in Uttarakhand, a party worker, clearly impressed by the relief-and-rescue systems the chief minister had put in place, wanted to talk about it with me. He wasn’t even offering me a story. He was perhaps only hoping that I would be interested enough to write about it.

“Boss, what I have seen here is exceptional,” the man, Uttarakhand’s BJP spokesman Anil Biluni, told me. He was working so closely with Modi perhaps for the first time and was overwhelmed. It was a crowded room in the hotel where the conversation took place – leaders from the state, bureaucrats, security officers were milling around. Everyone had something to say. Modi was next door, still huddled with his people, brainstorming. It was about 8.30pm.

“Ok,” I said, finally. “Tell me about it.” Biluni spoke of the crack rescue team Modi had got together to get Gujaratis out of Uttarakhand. In the group were five IAS, one IPS, one IFS and two GAS (Gujarat Administrative Service) officers. Two DSPs and five police inspectors had also come along. They were all personally coordinating efforts and reporting directly to Modi. The Gujarat team had already para-dropped a couple of medical teams in some of the worst-affected places and set up camps across flood-hit Uttarakhand. Prominent BJP workers at the village and panchayat levels were dealing unhindered with members of the rescue committee, telling them where food, shelter and medicines were needed.

“See,” Biluni excitedly went on, “around 80 Toyota Innovas and 25 buses have been requisitioned to ferry Gujaratis to safer places in Dehradun. There are four Boeings on standby. I think in the past four days we have helped send home 15,000 Gujaratis.’’

The number struck me. “Did you say 15,000?” Biluni answered in the affirmative and said that’s the number those on the field had given him. It is entirely possible that we have helped extend support in terms of reaching food, transport, first aid, even some money, to 15,000 of them, he said, quite earnest. “There were more than 1 lakh pilgrims from Gujarat when the tragedy happened starting June 15.”

Close to 70,000 stranded people had been evacuated by the armed forces by then; many, held up at less dangerous places, had found their way back on their own. It seemed feasible that 15,000 had been given succour by Modi’s team.

The next day, when TOI carried a story on its front page that `Rambo’ Modi had rescued 15,000 Gujaratis (the headline, given by a well-meaning but enthusiastic desk hand, brought sharper attention to the piece), it created a flutter that almost swamped everything else that was being written from Uttarakhand. In the rush of things – I filed the story at around 10.30pm, late by our deadline standards – we made one crucial mistake. We failed to put the figure of 15,000 in single quotes. And because Biluni was quoted in the story, we took it for granted that the number would obviously be attributed to him.

In any case, the point of the story was to talk about Modi’s by now familiar micro-management of things and, two, to hint at the fact that here was the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate looking out for fellow Gujaratis, still trapped by his parochialism.

All hell broke loose and the heavens shook. There were frenzied debates on TV, online participation and a slew of agonized editorials. The BJP, happy till two days after the story appeared, suddenly froze. What was it doing talking about the rescue of Gujaratis as the country was headed for general polls and its man from Gujarat nurtured hopes of becoming the PM? Party president Rajnath Singh suddenly waded into the debate and said he didn’t know where the contentious figure had come from.

I knew about the storm the story had unleashed but was still writing from Uttarakhand. That was when Prashant Jha from The Hindu called me to talk about the article. In another front page write-up, he mentioned the fact, quoting me, that unlike what Rajnath announced, the story had indeed come from the BJP. That set off another round of requests for interviews from papers and magazines regarding the Modi story.

In hindsight, it would have served the BJP better had it owned up to the story. From all accounts, Modi was indeed doing a good job in Uttarakhand. All that the party’s spokespersons needed to say as rejoinder was that with such confusion all around the numbers – 15,000 – could have gone awry a bit on the higher side. That would have taken nothing away from the story. As a senior party leader later said, “It is a fact that thousands have been helped by the Gujarat government. And nowhere are we saying that Modi flew the choppers himself. We are just saying he extended all help that he could to thousands of people.”

Madhu Kishwar a few days later wrote a lead edit piece in The Economic Times, headlined ‘In Defence of Rambo’, and said that the Gujarat CM’s rescue efforts in Uttarakhand was really not aimed at publicity, nor was it a gimmick. She said: “Gujarat today has a fighting-fit bureaucracy because it was enabled to develop expertise, team spirit and deliver results under the most adverse circumstances. The Gujarat Disaster Management Authority (GDMA) has become a thoroughly professional institution capable of responding to natural or man-made disasters. It has a 24×7 monitoring system and well-publicised helpline numbers well known to Gujaratis — both in the country and abroad… That is why the first response of Gujaratis anywhere in the world is to contact the chief minister’s office if they are caught in a calamity.”

She went on to say: “Also, consider this. Modi arrived in Delhi late 17th night for a meeting with the Planning Commission on 18th when news of cloudburst and landslides was telecast on TV. He held an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation since he knew that thousands of Gujaratis are likely to be among the Chardham pilgrims. Right away, a camp office was opened at Gujarat Bhavan and the Resident Commissioner’s team in Delhi was made responsible for coordinating with Gujarati pilgrims. On the 18th morning, Modi called Dr Pranav Pandya of the All World Gayatri Parivar to provide space and infrastructure in his Shanti Kunj campus for the relief centre proposed to be set up by the Gujarat government. He chose this campus because of his close knowledge of, and rapport with, this Gandhian institution that can house and feed thousands of people at a short notice. On the 18th evening itself, a set of computers with internet connections, telephone lines, television sets and all other paraphernalia required for Gujarat government’s relief operation were set up. Therefore, when a team of Gujarat government IAS, IPS and IFS officers came, they could get going within minutes of reaching Shanti Kunj… Team Gujarat had two officers from Uttarakhand — Assistant Director General of Police Bisht and Forest Service officer SC Pant — who had close knowledge of the terrain to guide both the stranded pilgrims as well as rescue teams on the safest possible routes to take…When Modi landed in Dehradun, Team Gujarat was already in control. Far from attacking the state government, he offered all possible help…officers were provided phone numbers of BJP functionaries of all 190 blocks in Uttarakhand and vice versa… The Congress party is understandably upset because its chief minister has proved a disaster, its party machinery is in disarray, Congress Sewa Dal workers are nowhere in sight, Rahul Gandhi’s Youth Brigade is clueless even in routine situations, leave alone know how to face a crisis like the Uttarakhand deluge. That is the reality of the Uttarakhand relief operation led by Narendra Modi.”

There was also a preposterous insinuation that the Modi story was “fed” by his “public relations agency, an American outfit called Apco Worldwide. In 2007, Apco was hired, ostensibly to boost the Vibrant Gujarat summits, but to actually burnish Modi’s image, for $25,000 a month”. The fact is that it happened at a more organic level, the way it happens when reporters are on the ground and begin speaking to the people they trust. Sitting in Delhi, away from the spot and burdened by ideology, columnists quite often lose objectivity or don’t care too much for it. A reporter, provided his integrity is intact, can spot a ‘plant’ a mile away in the first year of his career.

So that’s that about the Modi story. That it came from one of the BJP’s leaders; that, to be fair to Biluni, he did not try to hardsell it; that in the mad, late night scramble to write the story we missed directly attributing it to the source or putting the said number in quotes; that the party made things worse by pretending they had no idea where all this was coming from; that instead of doing its bit to make Modi look like a hero they unwittingly turned him into the butt of jokes; that in such a charged political atmosphere, what with Modi’s increasing focus on New Delhi, the story acquired wings and dimensions of its own – like the Innovas with helicopter rotors.

BJP President Rajnath Singh recently made an appeal to Indian Muslims, asking them to forget [or ignore] the 2002 post-Godhra riots. I have a few things to say on this issue. You can read the ten points below. But first: it’s not an issue for Indian Muslims alone. Innumerable non-Muslims are fighting to get justice for the victims. The question of forgetting and forgiving is really strange. We all know that Time is a great healer. Many among Muslims also may wish to forget and forgive at some point of time. Others may not. Naturally, those who suffered [either Hindus or Muslims] can’t forget easily. The criminal cases are in courts. However, for electoral gains, it is expected that Muslims must shed their anger against BJP. If you remember, in the decade of 90s, sections of Muslims were getting fed up of Congress and were seeing BJP as an alternative just when 2002 riots took place. They voted en bloc against BJP in next Lok Sabha elections. People ask about the difference between Gujarat riots and all other riots or massacres in the past. I haven’t forgotten the role of administration in Maharashtra when Sudhakar Rao Naik was the Chief Minister and Mumbai saw the worst communal conflagration in 1992-93 under Congress rule. I haven’t forgotten Moradabad riots of 1983 or the 1969 Ahmedabad riots about which we heard from early age. Neilly, Hashimpura-Maliana, Jamshedpur and Surat are all recalled still by victims or those who witnessed them. Muslims don’t have any pathological hate for BJP. Elsewhere, in other states, they have voted for BJP candidates. In MP and Chhattisgarh, Muslim majority areas have seen voting for the BJP candidates, in different elections. Who would want to be eternally facing the might of the state in any region! It’s quite easy to say that we forgot, then join them and make them happy in order to enjoy ‘fruits of development’. After all, how many idealists or fighters are there in our society? Don’t we all make compromises in our lives all the time. But still, people are not forgetting, not ready to just say that “we have moved on”. The wounds are too deep, too painful. Why? Gujarat 2002 changed everything. Not other riots but 2002. You know why? It was the first televised riot unlike Neilly or Hashimpura. In those incidents, it took months for people elsewhere to realise extent of the killings. Here, the hate was seen, felt and state’s absence was visible. Raj Dharma was not followed. It was clear, deliberate. TEN REASONS WHY IT IS NOT EASY TO FORGET 2002  1. Even if everything that happened during riots is forgotten and it is accepted that it was an aberration or sudden failure of administration in anticipating and containing the outburst of anger, did we see any effort to reach out to victims after the riots? We hear a lot of need for reconciliation. But for years, even after 2002, we saw just plain hatred. No sorrow, all Shaurya. We remember Chief Minister’s statement about Muslim women, four years after the riots. The entire election campaign after riots rode over ‘Ham Panch-Hamare Pachchees’ slogan. 2. There have been major riots in India in the past. But the politicians, at least, appeared solemn, saddened and sympathetic. They visited the riot-affected areas or at least did the lip service. What else we expect from our politicians? Not much, at least, a few kind words. Here there was none. The administration didn’t come to the succour of the victims. 3. Today we get lectured about inclusive development and are told how State government in Gujarat is concerned about the progress and protection of all its citizens. But where was the concern after riots? Do you remember any BJP leader visiting the relief camps? Who provided or offered any help whatsoever to survivors! 4. Perhaps, a lot might have been forgotten had Narendra Modi just placed his hand on the head of an orphan of the Ahmedabad riots. Had he just embraced a child, shown a little affection or concern and wiped his tear, perhaps, we could have believed a lot about administrative failure and BJP’s intent. 5. Of all the mosques and religious structures that were demolished, there was also the tomb of the legendary Urdu poet Wali [Wali Gujarati] also known as Wali Dakani–the Urdu poet who loved Gujarat and sang paeans of it. Was there even a word about restoring or reconstructing the mazaar? 6. People have grievances against their leaders and governments. They may or may not act on our demands but at least they should listen. Here, there was nothing. Just cold silence. No empathy, no healing touch was visible for the next 7-8 years. Isn’t the anti-Sikh rmassacre in Delhi still an issue, more than a quarter century later? Aren’t the politicians named by victims finding it tough even today? 7. Now that pan-Indian acceptability is needed and the BJP wants to form a government at the centre and needs allies in other states, Muslims are asked to forget 2002. It’s not a Muslim-only issue. Muslims even didn’t know how to fight this battle to secure justice. It is the large number of Hindus who are putting their lives to discomfort, fighting this battle and most of them will continue to do so. Are they ready to forgive? I have already written about this great untold story of secular India, on this blog. It is this reason that India remains India. 8. If there is injustice you should accept it or take measures to correct that. Even today, we don’t hear any remorse for what happened over a decade ago. Congress said Sorry for Sikh riots,BJP can’t do the same. By the way, there is no reason to ask someone to say it, if they don’t really mean it. 9. Frankly, I don’t think the issue is as simple as it is made out. Its not Muslim Vs BJP or Muslim Vs Modi. Its about Justice Vs Injustice, Hate Vs Harmony and Atrocities Vs Penance. People who urge riot victims to forget, conveniently ignore that they recall 1526 AD and 1000 AD, at the drop of hat. If not they, their followers do it regularly. Even today, running businesses or earning livelihood is not easy for Muslims in the state.There are a host of other issues on the ground. Please try to do something and then ask to move on. 10. Ours is a democracy. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has a strong constituency, a large number of supporters, and he may lead the party to a massive win. He has definitely managed to create an image for himself. I don’t discount the possibility, even if remote, of him even becoming Prime Minister. No one can stop that if the electorate in this country would really want him at the helm. There is no need to talk about forgetting or forgiving, but the BJP leaders haven’t come out to be large-hearted. Also, they haven’t shown the ability to be inclusive which is required from great leadership that really intends to move on or wish the citizen to do so. TEMERLOH NASRUDIN HASSAN. THANK THE CHINESE VOTER NOW THE CHINESE MUST GIVE SYARIAH LAW A CHANCE, Give syariah law a chance for all Malaysia, says PAS Youth Syariah law should be given the chance to tackle crime if the existing criminal law system is inadequate, says PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan.Seems like this PAS fella is riding the Chinese Voter support, while I truly believe that Syariah law can work , but … Read more

One scam follows the other, taking the heat off the earlier scam. Of course, the hyper-active media moves on even as the earlier ‘huge scandal’ is consigned to the backburner, till it resurfaces.

This arrangement works beautifully for the perpetrators of scams. Gives them the breathing space and with the number of scams being exposed going up significantly, the person who has already been exposed knows once a new scam is unearthed, the focus would now be on others for quite a while and he/she can roam about as if nothing happened.

Just take a look at some of the scams unearthed in recent years.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 … Read more

Even a cursory glance would bear out what I said. Different scams, different times and different key dramatis personae. It almost seems that one was done to extricate the earlier one from a spot of bother.  I may be over reacting or be at my pessimistic best, but such is the sorry state of affairs that even the current threat of

But these politicians have taken people for a ride far too long. As I have often said in the past, our politicians seem to live in dark ages. They do not realise that the world has moved on and the way they fool the gullible Indians since ages is no longer effective. The media may move on chasing in a newer case, but the huge social media, with its constantly growing base that is fast reaching a critical mass that few can ignore, is not that fickle.

Almost every scam is documented and available on open sources for anyone who wants to look into it. And that is not all. Just when one feels a particular scam is now destined for oblivion, someone points it out and it again becomes a talking point. Thank goodness for that. It is due to that alone that most of these scams may escape the prying media but not the vigilant citizen journalist. They serve as a constant reminder to all crooks that people are now more aware than ever and will not only not forget their misdeeds, but have the platform/s available to propagate their wrongdoings more than ever before. So all those who thought milking my nation and getting away with it was a breeze, THINK AGAIN!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 … Read more

Najib  is rewriting the rules of politics. His moves have rattled all those who have thus far thrived on setting their own rules that ensure that cozy relationships are formed and ‘respected’. Rules that ensure that you target an opponent’s wrongdoing, but stop short of calling a spade a spade. Everyone has been snug in belief that come what may, the real dirty secrets would not be played out in the open. The politicians, the bureaucrats and the industry too willy-nilly follow this unwritten rule.

The intention clearly was to have Tengku Adnan    with his rapidly rising stock on their side and gain political mileage out of it. But after the initial greetings asked pointed and direct questions about why  Najib remained quiet on certain issues when they had all the information, adding in good measure that the party was playing politics and waited till UMNO elections, clearly disregarding interests of Malays and suffering consumers who suffered all along..And it is this that is giving jitters to all those with the membership of the exclusive cozy club. The ability to break the mould. The ability to do what, in this cozy relationships game, would be considered unimaginable. And as he metamorphoses into his political avatar, one should expect more of the unexpected.

It is easy to see why Assange is disliked, indeed hated, by governments he exposes. Diplomacy and international relations are always two-faced. One is for public consumption and other is what goes behind the scenes. WikiLeaks has been exposing these behind-the-scenes happenings, embarrassing the nations involved. But questions are increasingly being raised on whether WikiLeaks will survive. Although there is a team of people, mostly volunteers, working to ensure everything goes on, Assange himself being confined to a single room in the Ecuador embassy in London, where he has been provided asylum, hurts. Even more worrisome from his point of view is the way the US government has blocked almost all sources of funding for the organisation. Not many may realise it, but keeping all the information that WikiLeaks receives safe on servers that can’t be hacked into needs significant investments. This would start impacting the ability to both receive and disseminate information.The more we talk about it, the worse it gets. The cozy clubs that exist in this country, whose membership is strictly restricted, seem to be getting cozier with almost no respect for the rule of law,This standing up for those who cheat the public and even play ball with the nation’s enemies is not new.It is revolting to see the ‘club members’ smile at events organised by those the courts have held guilty. Even now, when common crooks are caught, they hide their faces, for they are ashamed to be known in the society as wrongdoers.

So, can WikiLeaks come out with more leaks? Perhaps it can, but that will be increasingly difficult. Apart from some fatigue, there is realisation that world powers can be brutal if their hegemony is threatened. Sure enough, several celebrities who had committed unstinted support have started deserting him, now that his future is uncertain. I remember querying him on the point when we met, but he seemed unperturbed. Truth is, not many support something dying. He perhaps is reconciled to it, hence remains calm. But is that enough to keep his organisation alive?

When not so clever people come to power they often make a simple mistake. They think the rest of us are fools. Former deputy solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden has urged those accusing prosecutors in the Sodomy II trial of taking bribes to examine his conduct during the proceedings, as well as his track record The public school of politics has only one subject in its tutorials: Events. The big boys of UMNO have been playing truant, lulled by an imposter’s note the first substantive suggestion , as distinct from political verbiage , that Najib government made in order to “punish”

Malaysian democracy is in danger of subversion by a self-confident,aggressive, articulate, patriotic and well-meaning force, the oligarchy of the successful. It might be a mild exaggeration to suggest that its principal characteristics are aftershave and English.Many of them possibly disdain aftershave or perfume, and would not be crass enough to be preceded by five yards of Axe effect, to name the most advertised aftershave of the moment. But they are loyal to the English language, the proven mantra to worldly success. This new class of thirty-somethings (terribly reluctant to turn 40) is a product of consistent high growth since economic liberalization began in 1991. They bring with them a fresh mindset, a happy sense of purpose, a professional approach to governance and a welcome lack of social baggage.So why should they be considered a potential hidden danger? Their  assets dominate contemporary business, media and politics;  their liabilities are buried in a general reluctance to see beyond their celebrity status. Politicians have always been celebrated, and rightly so; if you are in public life, you will be under public scrutiny. But they have not been celebrities. The difference is being squeezed by a squeal culture that is another dominant trait of a substantial and growing elite. has been changing all that. Little wonder that politicians of all hues and sizes, irrespective of their affiliations, are jittery. The interloper has set the cat among the pigeons.am reminded of the former Chief Justice of India, S H Kapadia’s advice to judges, not too long ago. He had said the Judges should refrain from socialising much, for they get familiar with individuals they may have to sit on judgment sometime and this intimacy has the potential of influencing the verdict. The venerable judge clearly knows how the system works and was honest enough to spell it out to the discomfiture of some of his clan. But this is a time-tested strategy used by almost all. Why just judges, us scribes would fall under the same category. It is no secret that journalists, several of them, strut around with a swagger, as the high and mighty wine and dine them, molly coddle them, give them the preferential treatment. All this often results in them getting a misplaced sense of importance and that the world revolves around them and that they have the power to change the world. The truth however, is different. Those who fawn on them are doing so because of their own vested interests. And the interests are exactly what Justice Kapadia hinted at.

“Malaysia is more dangerous than South Africa,” were the parting words of a retired couple who returned to Johannesburg after a failed attempt to live in Malaysia under the ‘Malaysia My Second Home’ (MM2H) programme. Friends of the couple said they had feared for their own and their family’s safety.

Unlike this South African couple, ordinary Malaysians are trapped in a vicious cycle of emboldened criminals, an inept police force and a government in denial. Few have access to guns like the Tan Sri who recently shot dead a thief at a clinic in Kuala Lumpur.

Owning a gun is not what Malaysians desire. We want a police force which is committed to tackling crime and not being the lapdog of Umno Baru. Cabinet ministers deny that a state of lawlessness exists. They issue statements and are then trapped by their own spin.

http://mk-cdn.mkini.net/654/c9161f62eab78c5cc8eb4e67151e4ab5.jpg Former home minister Hishammuddin Hussein, more noted for his incompetence than his achievements in office, had complete disregard for the concerns of the public. He ridiculed the rakyat after they complained about rising crime levels and told them that increased crime was only a “perception”.

In October 2012, the government’s efficiency-monitoring unit Pemandu released data which appeared contradictory. This prompted the DAP’s Tony Pua to request from the home minister, a detailed breakdown of statistics, according to categories of crime.

Hishammuddin said the statistics were not available: “…the ministry is of the view that it is not plausible to present the detailed statistics for each crime category according to the various districts in Selangor and all states…”

He knows that BN’s fabricated crime figures would be exposed if the statistics were released.

What would Hishammuddin and his family know about crime when they have 24-hour security and well-guarded properties? Many Umno-Baru politicians enjoy the trappings of high office which closely resemble an aristocratic life of pomp, pageantry and pampering.

In 2010, PKR’s Tian Chua revealed that the police had lost 36 semi-automatic pistols, 51 revolvers and two sub-machine guns since 2001. The loss also included 49 motorcycles, three cars, one van and one 4WD.

Were these items lost through carelessness or were they stolen? What steps have been taken to ensure that the mistakes are not repeated?

http://mk-cdn.mkini.net/660/680b6388a0cb529ac384a12c5a1b4229.jpg Three years ago, the MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek allegedly called Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng a liar, when a Bernama report alleged that Lim had said that kidnappings were common in Johor.

Chua said: “If he really said that, then Lim Guan Eng is a liar….As I come from Johor itself, I say the statement is very unfair. The crime rate has gone down and Johor is almost all the time the country’s top investor destination.”

Today, Chua is trapped by his own words.

‘Political meddling’

The country has seen an unprecedented rise in gun crime, with six shootings recorded last week. Why did it take the murder of the Arab-Malaysian Development Bank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi, to wake Umno Baru president Najib Abdul Razak from his hibernation?

http://mk-cdn.mkini.net/643/b715130d4abe5fc5c030f79349d4f9f1.jpg Did Najib address the nation because the high-profile murder of a foreigner would dent his image overseas? Was he afraid that his silence could be used against him in the Umno general assembly?

Najib said he was prepared to consider giving the police “whatever they required” to fight crime, provided these requests were reasonable and affordable.

Why the hypocrisy? His spirit is not willing and his flesh is even weaker. The police will never be given the independence they need to operate effectively. Umno-Baru finds the police useful for hounding opposition politicians, activists and dog trainers.

If Najib were sincere, he would push for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar fears that, with the IPCMC, police personnel would end up being treated worse than criminals. Only an Umno Baru politician would be capable of making stupid remarks like that.

When the former police chief Musa Hassan exposed corruption in the police force, we were angry with him for waiting until he had left office before making the revelations.

http://mk-cdn.mkini.net/555/31c13a73b47dce05a2fef675fa3c88a7.jpg Musa (left) had also complained about political interference. So, has Najib stopped this political meddling? Has Najib even begun to investigate any of the points raised by Musa? Have any conclusions been drawn, or is Najib afraid of revealing a can of worms?

Musa’s allegations of the police being linked to criminal syndicates are not new. We heard about them over 20 years ago, but what has been done?

Last week, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar fumed over the Singaporean newspaper The New Paper’s headline, ‘Welcome to Malaysia where… death is cheap and staying alive costly’.

There is some truth in the claims of the article, although it omitted to mention that inflation has increased the cost of arranging contract killings. In the nineties, an Ipoh man claimed that hacking off a limb would cost RM200 and that taking someone’s life would cost RM 400.

Why two reports?

Today, Ipohites who are victims of crime, are angry when told to make two police reports; the first brief report must be made at the police station which covers their area of residence or where the theft occurred, whilst the second detailed report is to be made with ‘Team A’ at the police headquarters, opposite the Ipoh railway station.

Why two reports? Have the police so much time on their hands, that they feel it necessary to waste the rakyat’s time and taxpayer’s money, too?

http://mk-cdn.mkini.net/498/9ecd90310b94a8131eb2d8d510530bcf.jpg Victims of crime are already traumatised. Must they go through more agony, this time at the hands of the police? Not everyone can spare money for travel, or time off from work or their hospital bed, to make several reports.

There are many stories of police incompetence or delay in reaching the scene of the crime. Some victims claim that the police are either too lazy or incapable of taking any forensic evidence.

In one case, the victim whose car was a write-off after a drunk driver drove into him, was told by the police not to mention the drunkenness in his report. Why? Others allege that the police brow-beat the victims into making very brief police reports. Is this to save police time or reduce their work load?

Khalid accused the Singaporeans of being busybodies, whilst Utusan Malaysia went further and claimed that jealousy was a contributory factor in the controversial headline.

Instead of quibbling about newspaper headlines, Khalid should act to reduce the crime rate of Malaysia. He faces a difficult task because he will be trapped in a mire of corruption created by rogue policemen, a corrupt judiciary and corrupt Umno Baru politicians.

I am taking the liberty, sir, of writing to you at a critical juncture in Malay politics.  Needed: A playmaker, not centre-forwards in VP posts in Umno  Will the battle for 2013  be won or lost on a single ideological argument: entitlement vs. empowerment? One of the fundamental mistakes students of  Malaysian politics make is to assert that the UMNOI “did well in 2013”.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is pushing for his son, Mukhriz Mahathir, to be among the new Umno vice-presidents in the party polls, and this may force out Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein.”It’s quite clear that Mahathir wants Mukhriz to contest as a vice-president, Going against Hisham is of course his rather horrendous track record of bungling at many critical moments and overall under-performance, especially during his term as Home Minister. Critics had crucified him mercilessly, forcing Najib to switch him to the Defense ministry and Hishammuddin Hussein, who is Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s cousin and also the son of third prime minister Hussein Onn.various permutations and combinations were analysed. As the UMNO election draws nearer, what role will patriarch Mahathir play? And will the impending break in  the chances of  52-year-old Hisham  alter the poll mathematics?

Mukhriz Mahathir said how Najib’s misguided policies had and were still ruining Malaysia More than any other time in its democratic history, Malaysia is now ready for a dose of centre-right economics.A young, lower-middle-income population wants jobs, not(BRIM  1&2.0) ; big government is now seen as a corrupt hindrance, not an angelic provider; business is no longer a dirty word, it is a buzzword A genuine centre-right alternative to the mish-mash above is necessary. But the Najib has some outdated ideas on economic policy. A genuinely right-of-centre political party would support policies to build on the economic reforms not dilute them. Will the Najib reinvent itself as a modern, centre-right party, shorn of ideology, focusing on good governance and rapid economic development?The 2013 UMNO election will clear much of the intellectual fog that clouds political debate in UMNO. It won’t be a moment too soon. 
.

Awakening and Badawi’s expose’s on Mahathir timed specially for the Umno poll?
Crimping Dr M’s influence on delegates?
One can only hazard a guess. What is for sure is that battle lines are being drawn on the Umno chessboard, and knights, queens, kings, bishops, castles and pawns are already up and being shuffled by war-weary generals hiding in the background.

It’s a sign of our times that these steps, which political leaders considered normal in the first two decades after Independence, appear almost outlandish today. That is the extent of damage the tyranny of the elected has done to Malaysia’s political morality.
With or without the Umno poll looming, it is good to take Mahathir down a peg or two. Really his ‘achievements’ are more than offset by his enormous mistakes. Malaysia is still paying the price for his reckless spending policies and separatist social engineering.
Perhaps with Badawi officially and openly kicking down the Superman myth that Mahathir has always taken care to build around himself, easily influenced Umno members might finally be able to see Dr M as he really is. A mere mortal with more than his fair share of warts and all and a ruthless leader who rose to great heights on the back on a lethal cocktail of racial and religious bigotry.
For sure, the 2013 Umno poll looks set to be a historic tussle and whether Mahathir’s influence over it can be crimped and to what extent by the 2 telling books against him remains to be seen.

Najib’s first mistake is to lose confidence in Umno as a brand name. That is why Najib uses his own name Najib as a brand hoping that his personality and aura will compensate the shortcomings of Umno. Next he uses 1Malaysia as a brand name. Umno? Umno is treated like a dirty 4-letter word. That is blasphemous and the prophet of Umno will have none of that.

Dr Mahathir says he will continue to speak about the primacy of Malay interests. Why does he need to say this? Mainly because he isn’t confident that Najib knows how to be Malay first before he becomes a Malaysian leader.

Najib, insists Mahathir, must be a Malay leader first and a Malaysian leader second. In this sense, Mahathir supports Muhyidin’s stand. Najib is diluting the primacy of Malay interests as how Mahathir defines it.

We know that Mahathir berates and runs down Najib in many private meet- -the-Umno little Napoleons and Stalin sessions. Mahathir’s holds many closed door meetings. In these meetings, Mahathir bashes Najib. The rot, says Mahathir started during Pak lah’s time; to Mahathir Pak lah is a bungling fool. Najib continues the inanity. Najib is a dawdler. That is worse than a person who decides quickly not to make any decisions.

Mahathir has information that Najib isn’t that strong even in his parliamentary seat. A relatively unknown, hailing from Terengganu managed to get 15,000 votes against Najib in his own backyard.  We are all surprised to know that Pekan has 80,260 voters. Of course I can understand that those who are not from Pekan will never understand this. That number will leave no walking space in the small town of Pekan.

From 2004 to 2008, the number of eligible voters increased by 5,534 people. The number grew from 52, 683 in 2004 to 58,217 in 2008. That increase looked reasonable because during that time, Pekan has additional voters in the form of tentera wataniah and college teachers.

But from 2008 to 2023, the number of voters increased by a whopping 22,043. Now where do these people come from?  The sudden increase is unnatural.

We know, and Mahathir is also reliably informed, that during this period, Najib’s officers were busy with their own project IC and making address changes for people to vote in Pekan. There were at least 18,000 aliens given overnight ICs or people having their addressed changed to Pekan to enable them to vote for “Kim Il” Najib.

BR1M is essentially the boldest and explicit form of money politics. It’s now an established policy instrument by the government to corrupt people and induce them to keep the ruling elite in power. What the government has done is to install giving out bribes as a legitimate governing instrument. While this is going on, interested parties who are supposed to defend the administration’s integrity and professionalism keep quiet. I am talking specifically about the civil service and heads of independent commissions.

While we can understand the chief secretary of the Cabinet functioning as nothing else but a pleading lapdog, what about heads of independent commissions? For example, on what and whose authority, the head and deputy head of SPR make political speeches? On what authority did the deputy head of SPR announce that promises of projects and handing out of cash do not amount to bribery and corruption? He is not a politician but an officer of a commission answerable and responsible to the Agong, and who is supposed to be above partisan politics.

Money politics is nothing more than the buying of votes so that the buyer remains in power. Once in power, he has to recover the amount of money he has spent out plus a tidy sum of profit to prepare for the next round of vote buying. Hence, the practice will self-perpetuate and become ingrained as a political culture. Meanwhile, the voting public gets sucked into the black hole of money politics at each successive round until they see money politics as part and parcel of the ruling government’s benevolence.

His minders were busy facilitating ICs to be given to Myanmarese and Cambodians. So that if we deduct 18,000 from Najib’s 35,000-majority, which would leave Najib with a majority of around 17,000 only. According to Pekan people, the increase in aliens in Pekan became most pronounced between 2008-2013.

In GE11, Najib got a majority of 22,922 in 2004. In GE12, his majority was 26,464. His real majority in GE13 after deducting the 18,000 or so aliens with overnight ICs and changed addressees was only 17,000 or so. Najib’s 35,000-majority in 2013 was contributed by the influx of new voters who appeared from nowhere. Mahathir was well informed about these things because there are many secret service people who are loyal to Mahathir.

For the man justifiably credited with spawning money politics, BR1M is shocking even to him. During Mahathir’s time, money politics was restricted to buying off convention delegates and paying off rival politicians. Under Najib, the practice of vote buying has gone en masse.

When Mahathir shoot first and whistle later 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.

Reports that Malay bloggers in support of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had conspired to topple his successor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, were never denied, Abdullah has said in his latest book.

Abdullah, popularly known as Pak Lah, said in Awakening that many of the bloggers were “richly” rewarded with titles and money and that “a lot of money was spent” in the campaign against him.

“Some reports on Wikileaks have come out to suggest that the Malay bloggers, pro-Mahathir bloggers had a meeting in Tengku Razaleigh’s house to plan how to oust me,” said Abdullah in the book edited by political analysts Bridget Welsh and James Chin, which will be out later this month.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a veteran Umno lawmaker, has tried several times to be prime minister, but to no avail.

“These reports have not been denied….one person from Kelantan claims he was given RM4 million by PAS to write articles to topple my administration,” said Abdullah.

The country’s fifth prime minister said that the opposition attacks against him may have been because he was “the biggest vote-getter for Barisan Nasional (BN) in 2004.”

“So part of their game plan was to inflict as much damage on personally. Unfortunately, detractors from my party, who were resistant to the reforms, also used the same medium to attack me personally,” he added.

In Awakening, Abdullah blamed Dr Mahathir for “unwarranted attacks” that had led to his eventual ouster after serving for just one term.

Although handpicked by Dr Mahathir to be his successor, Abdullah later came under relentless attack from the nation’s longest-serving prime minister and ultimately was forced to relinquish his presidency of Umno and position as prime minister to Datuk Seri Najib Razak in April 2009, after BN lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority in Election 2008.

“Mahathir cannot deny that he contributed to the erosion of BN’s support in the 2008 general election through his open and unwarranted criticism and attacks,” said Abdullah..

“Calling my administration, which included a majority of people from his own Cabinet, as a ‘half-past-six government’ and accusing us of corruption and all kind of things,” he added.

BN won a resounding mandate in the 2004 general election after Abdullah, known as “Mr Clean”, pledged to eradicate endemic corruption and institute political reforms.

But Abdullah’s reforms, such as passing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Judicial Appointments Commission and Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) Acts, came after Election 2008, only just months before he later stepped down in 2009.

A brief clarification, if I may be permitted, concerning Terence Netto’s column “Pah Lah’s book to reignite embers of feud with Dr M” (7 August).

Not uniquely – indeed, it seems already to be a very widely held view – Terence Netto seems to be under the impression that this is a book by Pak Lah, and that the former prime minister has now suddenly chosen to break his “elegant” silence.

That is not the case.

‘Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years in Malaysia’ is a collection of commentaries and essays by some 35 writers and observers.

It is of the same overall conception and character as the volume entitled ‘Reflections’ that was produced as a composite retrospective view of the long Mahathir premiership shortly after Dr Mahathir’s official retirement.

This book has been “in the works” for some considerable time.

It is not a book by Pak Lah, although it apparently includes a very significant interview with him by the book’s editors.

Long in production, the book might well have been ready for release earlier this year.

But, as I have been given to understand the matter, it was the explicit preference of Pak Lah himself that the book should not be published during the “run-up” period leading to the recent national elections.

It was his fastidious and dignified preference that the book and its contents should not play any role, or become implicated in any way, in the campaign process.

So, its release has been a little delayed.

Its appearance has been held back until after the elections and until after the fasting month, when life will again return to “normal” – whatever that term may mean these days in troubled and torn Malaysia.

Former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has claimed that his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin did not have “undue influence” on him while serving as a member of his administration.Abdullah Badawi and all his cohorts in UMNO are cut from the same cloth. They are invariably inveterate liars, trying to spin away their egregious mistakes, to protect their own vested interests. For Abdullah Badawi, I must admit the man himself has a warped sense of humour, so aptly naming his book “Awakening..”. For once, the rakyat admires his candour in owning up to this sleepy years in office but are not taken in by his spin that his son-in-law did not have an undue influence on him. The impending UMNO elections must have forced him to speak up in his SIL’s defence to help the latter’s election chances.

You owe us an explanation now that you’ve asserted that if we knew about your family, we wouldn’t question the suspension. Are they far Right? Like you are far out? Or is it something worse? Like maybe,  brought up  little Khairy Jamaluddin  to become an “omigosh”  with the balls to take on a bunch of thieves and we know what illustrious families these thieves come from..Again, the frenzy and the din that would have normally accompanied such headlines was missing. All we had was the deafening silence of complicity. Sometime over the next few hours, the report disappeared. It is no longer available on the website of the newspaper. But someone had forgotten the whiz-kids – and the power of web-caches. Within a few hours, the whole episode was neatly documented. Again, the frenzy and the din that would have normally accompanied such headlines was missing. All we had was the deafening silence of complicity. Sometime over the next few hours, the report disappeared. It is no longer available on the website of the newspaper. But someone had forgotten the whiz-kids – and the power of web-caches. Within a few hours, the whole episode was neatly documented.

An incompetent leader cannot do as much damage to a country as a leader who is greedy, cunning, corrupt and self-centred. An incompetent leader may not bring much progress to the country but the other kind can do severe damage to the country, its finances, race relations and international image with the effect lasting generations. We Malaysians ought to know this, since we have had both types.a confirmation from Abdullah himself. Long time coming, but welcome all the same. But there is a method in Mahathir’s madness: he will continue to pull the strings to get the present leadership to do things his way, quite simply because they are all indebted to him. But what goes around comes around. Mahathir will live to see his ‘madness’ get at himself and his offspring.a confirmation from Abdullah himself. Long time coming, but welcome all the same. But there is a method in Mahathir’s madness: he will continue to pull the strings to get the present leadership to do things his way, quite simply because they are all indebted to him. But what goes around comes around. Mahathir will live to see his ‘madness’ get at himself and his offspring.Unfortunately, our country has no firm-footed leader who dares to stand against the 85-year-old man. Much of my growing years were under Mahathir’s leadership and I sincerely want to keep those good memories untainted. I hope very much Mahathir steps away with what ever dignity he still has. It is indeed very sad.

Pak Lah  advice to Najib seem more relevant given the current PM’s indecisiveness after the polls.faced with pushback from special interest groups within Umno and the civil service, Abdullah chose the path of least resistance and after the initial flurry of policy statements about fighting corruption and improving governance, he reverted to speaking and acting as the president of Umno, instead of as the prime minister of Malaysia. Pak Lah and the Umno he led then had neither the scrotum nor courage to put Mahathir in his place. Which is why Mahathir understands the Malays better than Pak Lah. “Mahathir cannot deny that he contributed to the erosion of BN’s support in the 2008 general election through his open and unwarranted criticism and attacks.” But BN performed even worse with Mahathir back in BN and actively campaigning for BN in the 2013 general election. Abdullah confirms what we all already know, that Mahathir is a megalomaniac who refuses to accept that there are people who are cleverer than him. Abdullah’s book is going to eat the old man up, for certain. Mahathir has done much damage by manipulating his deputies. Now, he is manipulating the PMs. As far as Mahathir is concerned, success is because of his strategy, failure is to blame the PMs. Always a win-win for Mahathir by pulling the strings from the back.

Abdullah sets out clearly his regret at not using more forcefully the mandate he won in 2004 to bring about reforms expected by Malaysians, a decision which led to Barisan Nasional’s poor performance in 2008 and his forced departure from Putrajaya.‘Mahathir is the Pied Piper of Malaysia and he will lead Umno and the nation to the grave if we do not wake up from his tune. He is playing his song of personal gain and for his family. Malaysians have to wake up from this hold, otherwise the public of all races will suffer but not him, his family and cronies. and he will lead Umno and the nation to the grave if we do not wake up from his tune.’ the cause of the downfall of Pak Lah is Mahathir and the downfall of the country is Mahathir. It is clear that Mahathir thinks he knows everything and he is the best.

Like Najib, Abdullah said he had to deal with a Malaysian public which expected reforms and those within his party and the establishment who were resistant to anything new Pak Lah  advice to Najib seem more relevant given the current PM’s indecisiveness after the polls.Umno needs to reform, said its former president and former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad

With corruption so deeply entrenched in the party coupled with weak mandates at the past 2 general elections, religious and racial baiting is the only way to maintain status quo. The only way for UMNO to reform is to lose a general election and then implode. Thereafter we will see the emergence of a reformed party, hungry to serve the rakyat again.

Ketuanan Melayu is nothing but a nice term for the malay elites/supremacists to rape and blunder the country blind and as a tool for them to maintain political power amongst themselves over the country. It is also cleverly used to champion the rights and special privileges of the malays. I wonder how many years more can the special privileges be maintained and sustained given the ever growing size of the malay/bumiputera population in the face of dwindling petroleum resources and the shrinking numbers of non malay population who are contributing the major portion of the taxes to the national coffers. Can 15% of the population support the other 85% with the special privileges a decade down the road? Even now our national income is 5 times less than that of Singapore because of corruption, a culture of mediocrity and a entitlement mentality. It would be a earth shaking decision to do away with mediocrity, entitlement mentality and fight entrenched corruption in the system to stop the rot Malay supremacy has the same parallel with Hitler version of Aryan supremacist race and the South Africa race theory of apartheid on separate development. Most non Bumi accept the special privileges of Malay as a political fait accompli. We think all citizens must be treated respectfully, decently and equally. To perpetuate this myth of supremacist worldview is obnoxious, odious and offensive. I am surprised that Pak Lah doesn’t see the difference.Najib has not used his office as prime minister to lower the temperature. Although he gave a press conference in London, he didn’t mention the attempts to oust the Vatican ambassador, growing questions over promised repeal of the country’s sedition act, which hasn’t taken place, or the racial tension fanned on both sides but mainly … Read more

Jasbir Singh Chahl,  in a statement issued to Bernama, stressed the contract between the Malaysian Government and Perimekar Sdn Bhd for a value equivalent of 115 million Euro was for defined scope of works, and provision of such services was within commercial norms.d Perimekar was subsequently nominated as the local vehicle to spearhead the submarine project while Terasasi Sdn Bhd (TSB) was incorporated to serve as an external service provider to advise and assist Thales.

“The assertion that Perimekar was a travel agency which had been given such tasks is outrageous and completely without basis,” said Jasbir, adding that it was a deliberate distortion of the facts by certain quarters for reasons of their own.

He contended that while some of the questions raised since the publication of his interview with a local daily on the Scorpene issue recently were sincere attempts to arrive at clarity, “many others in my opinion do not warrant a response for their sheer banality and the intransigence of the self-opinionated”.

He further said that obligations of TSB under the service provider agreement included:

- employment of qualified personnel and/or sub-contractors to render required services;

- provision of regular reports detailing project-related activities and information; and,

- ensuring that all employees and sub-contractors were in strict compliance with local and international laws, and that they were all cognizant of prevailing provisions of the OECD.

Jasbir said: “Between mid-2000 and December 2000, we had analysed, evaluated, conceptualised, strategised and led the development of the submarine project.

Najib Razak Baginda wants to be paid quickly?

Investigations by French prosecutors found a document indicating that the then defence minister, Najib Tun Razak, sought a US$1 billion (RM3 billion) “condition” for a meeting between French company DCNI and him in 2001, alleged rights group Suaram.

The sum was said to be for Perimekar Sdn Bhd’s “stay in France.”

At a press conference today, Suaram – which is the complainant in an ongoing French judicial probe into the controversial Scorpene submarines deal – revealed contents from investigation papers which were made available to the NGO.

“We were really shocked to find that one of the documents contained Najib’s name and (he) had placed a condition in writing in France that DCNS (the shipbuilding company that sold the submarines to Malaysia) would need to pay a maximum sum of US$1 billion to Perimekar for their stay in France,” claimed Suaram secretariat member Cynthia Gabriel.

This was revealed in a note faxed from a representative from Thales International Asia (which brokered the deal on behalf of arms manufacturer DCNS – the parent company of DCNI – with Perimekar and the Malaysian government), Francois Dupont, to his bosses.

In the note, entitled “Malaysia/Submarine Project”, Dupont indicated that a meeting with Najib on July 14, 2001 would take place with the abovementioned “condition” but it was not known if the meeting transpired.

Perimekar is directly linked to Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Najib, who was acquitted of abetting in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. The murder case was allegedly connected to the submarines deal.

The note in question was obtained by prosecutors on May 28, 2010. It details Dupont’s visits to Malaysia during which he attended negotiation meetings with the Defence Ministry and the management of Perimekar.

“Basically, we’re finding out more about the mechanics of Perimekar, the company that was the recipient of the 114.96 million euros (RM574.8 million) in commissions and kickbacks, and we’re getting more questions than answers,” she said.

‘Great Malaysian robbery’

Gabriel said Suaram currently had “privileged full access” to the French investigators’ 153 investigation papers, which were translated for Suaram by interpreters and lawyers.

However, copies of the investigation papers were not released to the media.

So far, claimed Gabriel, the French investigations led to “unprecedented levels” of discoveries in the case, including the revelation of a “whole slew” of other companies that benefited from “new commissions” or “sweeteners” from the entire procurement process.

Suaram had now termed the whole Scorpene scandal as “the great Malaysian robbery”.

“It is no longer just the 114.96 million euros in commissions to Perimekar… it has magnified into a web of lies involving a slew of companies formed to complicate the concealment of the blatant robbery of Malaysian and French taxperyers’ money,” she said.

Gabriel alleged that more “retro-commissions” had surfaced, allowing for the misuse of bodies such as the pilgrimage funds (Lembaga Tabung Haji) and the military pension funds (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera).

“The Malaysian and French people have been clearly misled, cheated and robbed of their monies through blatant corruption and mismanagement of funds in the name of national secret and security,” she said.

‘Evolved into criminal investigation’

Meanwhile, Suaram secretariat member and lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri said the French judicial probe had now “evolved into a criminal investigation.”

“It would result in criminal prosecution of those involved in this corruption scandal, our French lawyers William Bourdon and Joseph Breham, have said. The parties involved in the scandal would soon be charged in the French criminal court. It’s going to be bigger than it already is now,” she said.

Fadiah said that the judge, Roger Le Loire, had accepted Suaram’s proposed list of seven witnesses, including Najib, Abdul Razak, and current defence minister Abdul Zahid Hamidi.

Other potential witnesses include: private investgator S Balasubramaniam, Altantuya’s father Setev Shariibuu, Razak Baginda’s wife Mazlinda Makhzan, Lodin Wok Kamarudin (both directors of Perimekar) and Jasbir Chahl, as one of the potential middlemen of the deal.

Subpoenas, said Fadiah, would be issued by the judge soon and the witnesses would be called to testify.

Fadiah said that according to French law, the court could take several actions to compel Malaysian witnesses to assist in the inquiry:

1. Judge would issue a subpoena.

2. Once the subpoena is issued, the witness is obliged to appear before the court.

3. If the witness refuses, the court could issue a notice of “mandate d ‘amener” to compell the witness to attend court.

4. If the witness fails to oblige, a warrant of arrest might be issued. This warrant is applicable within French boundaries, and might be internationalised if the judge deems it necessary.

5. A red alert could be sent to Interpol, if the situation warrants, based on the discretionary powers of the judge.

Suaram, said Fadiah, hoped that Malaysian officials would cooperate and assist in the probe as it was simply the “truth” that was being sought by the NGO.

The RM7.3 billion deal to purchase two Scorpene submarines with DCNS and Spainish Navantia was inked in 2002, when Najib was defence minister.

In December 2009, Suaram filed a complaint with the French courts asking for access to information regarding government contracts signed with Perimekar and other information classified as official secrets in Malaysia.

In April 2010, the French courts accepted the request to investigate the claim of corruption for a payment amounting to 114 million euros from DCNS to Perimekar.

Under the French justice system, an investigative judge has the power to perform both as a judge and investigating prosecutor.

“This work, role, participation and contributions culminated in the successful award of the submarine project in June 2002, on a G-to-G basis. Perimekar was also at the same time awarded the support services contract.

Jasbir pointed out that several people had come forth over the years to make claims to having been in the know of the project negotiations, or that they had some “explosive revelations” to make, in relation to the submarines project.

“They base these claims on having had either first-hand knowledge or that they had been given such information by others, inclusive of (Mongolian national) Altantuya (Shariibuu),” he said, adding that Altantuya had no role in the negotiations.

“Thus far, I have yet to hear anything substantive from any of them. How Altantuya could have provided anyone with any meaningful information when she herself was not involved, escapes me.

“Vested interests are trying their utmost to create a linkage where none exists. There appears to be little interest in the truth, only at keeping the issue alive for self interests,” he noted.

Jasbir said the French courts had themselves stated that they were not looking at Altantuya’s demise.

“Their focus is on business practices within French companies, inclusive of DCN and Thales, in relation to defence-related contracts in Taiwan, Malaysia and Pakistan,” he added.

Jasbir said he had been asked by the French authorities to travel to France to assist them in their investigations.

“However, due to my recuperation process and being in remission, I had informed them that I was unable to travel such distances.

“They had then advised me that I could file a notarised deposition, pending an interview in due course.

“This, I did, at the French Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on March 28, this year,” he added.Suara Keadilan Malaysia blogged Umno members perform prayers seeking God’s protection from Altantuya Shaariibuu the ghost

Every once and again, the enormity of the realisation that amongst the billions of planets in this infinite universe, we are the only known planet to have life, and that too so many varieties simply boggles my mind.

I cannot believe that we were put on this amazing planet to be ordinary. How can it be possible that we were given bodies, emotions, opportunity, senses, intelligence, both IQ and EQ, colour, talent, humour, mediums of expression… and all of this just to lead ordinary lives, have ordinary thoughts, or to amble through life with ordinary relationships???

Every day I read your questions, some of them which have such obvious answers and solutions and I feel terrible that amidst all the amazement of being on this planet, of the entire six billion plus people on the planet you found yourself with someone who compromises your daily existence and that you wake up and sleep unhappy. There is just one underlying message in all my columns: Relationships should empower you, not cause you to be bogged down, to be subservient, to suffer, and not realise your potential. You are an utterly special person. This planet is blessed to be one in billions with life, and you are blessed to be one in over six billion on this planet with your own life. Value yourself. Value everything about your life and what you are today. We are not robots, we are humans. We have feelings and it’s simply not okay to compromise every emotion and to spend your life with someone that does not love, value and respect you for you. Love yourself, love your life and love your choices. If you don’t, then it’s time to embark on making a life you will love.

As Umno president Najib Abdul Razak attempts to reform the party away from its conservative ideologies, his biggest stumbling block could well be one of the party’s most influential figures – former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

How often have we come across a leader who is competent but has some “fatal flaws” that derail him or her from achieving greatness? The Greeks call them hamartia. These flaws are the leader’s strengths that have been over used. For example, we all admire leaders who are confident. But when the leader’s confidence crosses a certain limit, it becomes arrogance. That derailer is a performance risk that interferes with a person’s ability to build relationships with others and create good cohesive teams.

Malaysian prime ministers display fascinating quirks and characteristics; Dr Mahathir Mohamad assumes the role of the Pied Piper of Hamelin who leads the children (Malays) to a catastrophic end; Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is like Rip van Winkle who slept when he should have been working to improve the nation; and Najib Abdul Razak appears to act like Nero who fiddled while Rome burned.

We all have a few derailers. These derailers will show up when a person is not actively managing his public image. The common occasions when a derailer shows up could be in situations of high stress or change, multi-tasking, when a person is overworked or any time when the person lets down his guard and relaxes.  Think of the times when someone cracks a joke that is completely inappropriate even though he is among friends. That is because a derailer will show up whenever we are not actively managing our public image.

Naib places more emphasis on sound-bites and slogans, than on sound policies. Najib is English educated, and a well travelled man. Some consider him a roué but he comes from a family with an impeccable political pedigree. The reason he failed as PM is simple.

All of us need to manage a few of these eleven derailers. In case of people in leadership roles, these can deeply impact their chances of success.

Pretend the Cabinet ministers are smart.

Do otherwise and you will end up with ulcers the size of the holes in the field of the Bukit Jalil stadium. Not a day goes by without a minister offering a gem.

1. Approval Dependent – Leaders need to carry the organization along when they take decisions. This strength becomes a derailer when they seek and need constant praise or reassurance from others, particularly from people higher in the organization.

2. Argumentative – Being able to argue and check the flaws in the argument is a strength which when overused can be a flaw. It makes the leader suspicious, deeply focused on protecting his own interests, and likely to resist coaching and feedback.

3. Arrogant- Being overly self-assured or confident, resulting in poor listening and/or dismissal of feedback from others.

4. Attention Seeking- A leader could be gregarious, charming, and persuasive. When a person becomes excessively so, it can result in becoming melodramatic and self-promoting.

5. Avoidant- The leaders need to be pleasant and cooperative. When this strength is overused a person tends to be preoccupied with his own agendas, and may prefer to address issues covertly (avoiding more direct solutions), thus being perceived as a procrastinator, manipulative, or stubborn.

6. Eccentric- Being creative and thinking of solutions that are out of the box is strength. When overused it makes the person different from others, perhaps to the point of being unorthodox or even odd.

7. Imperceptive- When a leader is excessively focused they may miss other’s cues. Such imperceptive people are not naturally inclined to read others´ behavior, intent, and motivations.

8. Impulsive- Risk taking when tan to an extreme makes a person impulsive. Such leaders are impatient, unpredictable, and inclined to act before considering the consequences of actions.

9. Perfectionistic - Having an eye for details is strength. Taken to an extreme it is a derailer. It makes a leader become a micro-manager.

10. Risk Averse – There is a lot at stake based on a leader’s decision. They need to be cautious. In an extreme scenario it makes a person indecisive, too deliberate, or reluctant to take unusual or unconventional actions due to overemphasis on the prospect of failure.

11. Volatile – Being passionate when taken to an extreme is a derailer. Volatile leaders have difficulty controlling their emotions, and are perhaps moody and quick to erupt in anger

What practical and useful advice could Najib give the people of a nation which had been independent for barely two decades? Two years before he became an MP, rural villagers were starving, because of falling rubber prices. How would he advise these communities when he was a greenhorn himself?

In the book, ‘Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years in Malaysia’, Abdullah talked about reform. Despite being in agreement with him on the need for change, Najib’s inaction is probably caused by fear.

He is also hampered by his father’s reputation. It is alleged that in previous by-elections, posters of Abdul Razak were displayed, to remind the electorate that Najib is his son. Only an insecure person would trade on his father’s image to prop up his own.

What was GE13 all about, if not change? Before GE13, Najib claimed that he would accomplish all manner of things. Post-GE13, he and some of his cabinet members gave excuses that it would take another five years to tackle these same issues. If Najib felt that he was not up to the task, then he should have left the job of change to Pakatan Rakyat.

Today, Najib may have agreed with Abdullah about change, but claimed that it would take a long time. He hasn’t even started the process of change.

Steps toward change

This writer disagrees with Najib about change taking a few generations. In a previous article, I wrote that ‘Najib could be our Super Hero’, and said that the change which Najib dreams about could be almost instant.

The first 11 steps might be those listed below. I am sure you can think of many more.

First. Detain Mahathir for treason. Remove him and put him in solitary confinement before he faces trial. Najib may be surprised to see how the nation would be solidly behind him.

Second. The chairperson and deputy chairperson of the Election Commission (EC) should also be arrested for treason. It was the collusion of the EC which allowed cheating and bribery at elections.

Third. The attorney-general, the inspector-general of police and the head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) are to be held for crimes against the state.

Not everyone in the civil service is corrupt. Many civil servants confide that they are disgusted by the orders they have to follow. Najib should promote senior staff members who are persons of principle and known to be free of corruption.

The police, the army, the judiciary or other institutions cannot simply be disbanded as this will lead to a state of anarchy, like after the invasion of Iraq. Good people with potential to lead will soon assume control. We have enough laws. They just need to be consistently enforced.

Fourth. Make the police, judiciary and media independent. With a free press, the people may learn the truth. An independent police and the formation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission will improve the performance of the police. True justice might finally be dispensed.

Fifth. Detain the warlords in Umno-Baru (most are involved in money politics anyway) and immediately remove their sources of income, such as the taxi-permits which are allegedly awarded in bulk, to companies belonging to politicians and their cronies.

Without money, these people will have less opportunity to plot and scheme. Umno-Baru politicians will learn the hard way, the truth of the saying, “No money, no talk”.

Sixth: Work with Bersih and the relevant NGOs which have compiled a dossier of corrupt politicians and BN cronies. They have slogged hard for the evidence. All Najib need do is to investigate, confirm and enforce.

Seventh: Provide a period of amnesty, so illegal immigrants can save themselves from being deported, but return home voluntarily. Most GLCs are run by cronies. The money trail should lead to their agencies which benefit from cheap labour on plantations, and deprive locals of jobs.

Eighth: Reduce the Prime Minister’s Department from 45,000 people to 450. This might focus people’s minds and make them concentrate on their jobs. A special unit should be set up to recover the money, lost because of corruption and illicit outflows. This money can be returned to the treasury.

Ninth: Abolish the NEP and ensure that needy people, regardless of race, religion and ethnicity are helped. Abolish quotas for university places and award scholarships to the best Malaysian students. Why should other nations profit from our brain-drain, whilst we collect the dregs of other countries?

Tenth: Provide a grace period for politicians and their cronies to ‘sing’ about their colleagues’ crimes. The first 20 people could be given immunity from prosecution, unless murder has been committed. Perhaps a reduced sentence in the most severe of criminal acts could be considered.

Eleventh: Replace the mullahs who serve only Mahathir and Umno-Baru, with learned clerics who will foster good community relations and help the nation.

Malaysia is in a perilous state because one man, Mahathir, stands in the way of the prime minister. Mahathir wants to preserve his legacy. He claims ownership of Malaysia. He has succeeded because not even one prime minister has been courageous enough to stand up to him.

Mahathir triumphs because many Umno-Baru politicians are unwilling to admit the severity of the Mahathir problem and are afraid of the dirt that he could reveal about them.

Once Najib has initiated the few steps necessary for change, he should call for fresh elections in a year’s time.

If he knows he has been a good leader, then the electorate will vote for him.

Who knows, the rakyat might be thrilled to be liberated from Mahathir, and be willing to close one eye to his wrongdoings? Perhaps, the new independent judiciary could be lenient with him, if he is found guilty of criminal activities.

Malaysian history would take a different course if Najib were to start the process of change. Elections should not be bought by doling-out wads of cash or giving freebies. Elections should be won when voters respect a party and its convictions.

, Joseph Kurup, the minister in charge of National Unity, stood before a body which represents non-Muslims – about 40% of the population – and declared that the government has zero tolerance for racial bigotry.

He scores an A for daring to attend the anniversary dinner of the Malaysian Consultative Council Of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism And Taoism and an F for insulting his audience with some nice words that had no connection to reality.

The pick of his gems: the government has zero tolerance for racial bigotry. Sure, sure.

Step 2: Do not think logically.

Listen to Home Minister Zahid Hamidi go on about the 2,600 detainees (the number keeps increasing) released from preventive detention, and you might be mistaken into thinking he was talking about the Expendables, Untouchables, Sopranos and the Band Of Brothers all rolled into one warring machine. They seem to be responsible for all serious crime in the country in the past few months.

Now the minister says that below these gangsters are their soldiers, 260,000 of them. Which begs a few questions… Just what have the police been doing all this while, if the underworld was allowed to grow to a size bigger than the army and police put together?

Another question: was rehabilitation part of the Emergency Ordinance (EO) regime or did the police just throw hardened criminals together for a few years with the hope that they would turn into kittens? Because going by the police’s own arguments, it seems the gangsters released when the EO was abolished are as ferocious as ever. Just asking?

Step 3: Just enjoy days like yesterday.

Think about it. The man who once governed this country and a few million illegal immigrants had to justify answering questions in a book on his time in office. Worse yet, he had to field a call from Putrajaya on this book. The good news is that Abdullah Badawi has not been charged with sedition or any other offence, yet.

Apparently, some quarters in Umno are in knots over his involvement in the book titled Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years In Malaysia and would like to believe that the former prime minister has crossed over to the dark side.

In his statement, Abdullah said that he gave an interview to the editors of the book a couple of years ago but did not commission the book.

Abdullah made no apologies for giving the interview or taking part in this academic effort, even after knowing that some of the essays would paint an unflattering picture of his administration.

“Like it or not, agree or not, I hold to the principle of openness that is the pivot of a mature democracy. It is this principle of openness that I practised when I was approached by the writers for an interview,” he said.

Abdullah also assured his supporters that despite his candid views on the need for Umno to reform, he would never abandon the party.

“I have never left Umno,” he said. This was in contrast to his nemesis, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who quit the party in protest against Abdullah’s leadership of the party and country.

The tone of Abdullah’s statement suggests that he is going to defend his right to speak up about his years in office and put the record straight on several loose ends

 Rohani Abdul Karim, the new minister for women, family and community development, has a greater and more urgent task than simply to “revisit” in middle Baram “soon”.Rich is seductive… and is equally eager to be seduced. Women are drawn to rich men; the interest of a worthy man gives a woman an increased feeling of self-worthA serial womaniser, each time he got bored with his wife, he sought out a new attachment while still married. Hadley was eight years older to him and was credited with grounding and encouraging the young Hemingway till he found his feet in the wetlands of literary Paris. The mental torture and his unending compulsion to be liked and applauded created the myth of an invincible Papa Hemingway

The gang-rape of the Indonesian woman by Malaysian policemen is a new low in Malaysian society, but why are the pro-Umno and extremist NGOs, as well as the Muslim ulamas, silent in the condemnation of this crime?

In most civilised countries, groups of people would be showing solidarity with the victim and peaceful protests would be organised.

 

TAN SRI ABDUL RAHIM TAMBY CHIK STRESSED THAT HE HAD RAPED A 15-YEAR-OLD SCHOOLGIRL “NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY” IN THE SEX ACT

BACK IN 1994, THE THEN CHIEF MINISTER OF MALACCA, ABDUL RAHIM THAMBY CHIK, WAS REPORTED TO HAVE RAPED A 15-YEAR-OLD SCHOOLGIRL (UNDER MALAYSIAN LAW, SEX WITH A MINOR CONSTITUTES STATUTORY RAPE). LIM GUAN ENG, CURRENTLY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG AND THE THEN MP FOR KOTA MELAKA, SPOKE OUT AGAINST THE RAPE OF A MINOR AFTER THE GIRL’S GRANDMOTHER-CUM-GUARDIAN, WHO WAS ALSO LIM’S CONSTITUENT, TURNED TO HIM FOR HELP.

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HOWEVER, FAR FROM DESERVING JUSTICE, BOTH LIM AND THE SCHOOLGIRL RECEIVED THEIR “DUES”. LIM WAS JAILED FOR THREE YEARS FOR SPEAKING UP AGAINST THE RAPE WHILE THE GIRL WAS GIVEN THREE YEARS “PROTECTIVE CUSTODY”. AS FOR RAHIM, BECAUSE OF THE RAPE AND PENDING CORRUPTION CHARGES, HE WAS FORCED TO RESIGN, AFTER A 12-YEAR STINT AS MALACCA’S CHIEF MINISTER.

BUT THE JUDICIARY SAW RAHIM ESCAPE PUNISHMENT FOR A CRIME COMMITTED; THIS CAME ABOUT AFTER THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR WITHDREW THE CHARGE CITING LACK OF EVIDENCE. THE CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAINST RAHIM WERE ALSO DROPPED

readmore Every day, women are getting gang-raped in Malaysia something so shameful happened in our country?”

 

Angry Indonesians have demonstrated outside the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, but few Malaysians have signalled their abhorrence of the crime or lack of confidence in the authorities.

Our cabinet places great importance on image and it would shock them if both Malaysians and Indonesians should march through Kuala Lumpur, assemble in front of Bukit Aman or the home minister’s office and demand the resignations of both the inspector-general of police (IGP) and the home minister.

The impact of such protests, if these were also organised outside Malaysian high commissions or embassies in cities around the world, would strike fear in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Pathetic response

Are these NGOs silent because the rape involves a migrant worker? Are they in shock because bumiputeras were responsible and so, shattered the myth of Ketuanan Melayu?

The response of Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to the allegations has been a pathetic “What else can we do….?”

Adressing the house after Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien gave her a second chance to speak, Bachchan asked if the government had made any public apology to the victim’s family.

Just when we thought that the nation could not sink any lower, the police gang-rape proves otherwise. How incompetent do Malaysian ministers and departmental heads have to be before they can be fired? Despite the many scandals involving politicians, top civil servants, VVIPs and Umno cronies, these people appear to be indestructible.

The horrendous rape of Penan communities  has galvanized the nation like nothing else has. Candlelight vigils, demonstrations, court hearings and calls for the rolling of heads – a natural corollary whenever something dastardly happens. But dismissing keys functionaries in the government is a knee-jerk reaction. Instead, one needs to look deeper into what causes repeated rapes and assaults on women.It all boils down to lack of respect. And it starts at home first. Where the birth of a daughter is often cause for worry and that of a son, to celebrate. Where the male child is worshipped and every whim and fancy of his is fulfilled. Where the female child is piled with more chores than her brother, where she’s expected to put in her share of housework, study and do sundry other duties.That has to change. Parents should treat their sons and daughters equally. It’s time, for example, for boys to be taught to cook and wash the dishes too. Not only would it help them in future, it would help them understand their wives who too would be working. Any man who then expects her to be at his beck and call, will be in for a rude shock. So might as well gird him up to take more responsibilities.readmoreSuara Keadilan Malaysia blogged ALTANTUYA’S story Malaysia is not the country for young women the most brutal murder

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim has denied claiming that “most” of the recommendations by her ministry’s taskforce on Penan women have been implemented, of recommendations of the ministry’s 2008 task force that had confirmed Penan girls had been sexually violated by loggers

The minister appears clueless regarding the systemic failure to address the socio-economic plight of rural women from the Penan and other ethnic groups in Baram. Premier Najib Abdul Razak should live up to his position as acting women, family and community development minister by addressing the long overdue issue of rape against Penan women, Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR-Ampang) told Parliament this evening.

AMPANG: Pelakon Zahida Mohamed Rafik, 37, kerugian RM200,000 dilarikan pemandu peribadinya selepas diarah memasukkan wang berkenaan ke dalam akaun banknya.

Zahida yang popular menerusi filem komedi Anak Mami The Movie menyerahkan wang tunai berkenaan kepada lelaki berusia 37 tahun itu pada kira-kira jam 11 pagi Rabu lalu dan sejak itu suspek gagal dihubungi serta dipercayai sudah melarikan diri.

Pelakon kacukan Melayu-Pakistan itu yang menjalankan perniagaan milik keluarganya di sini turut ke rumah suspek untuk mencarinya, tetapi tidak berhasil apabila dimaklumkan lelaki berkenaan tidak pulang ke rumah dan gagal dihubungi.

Zahida kemudian membuat laporan di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Ampang Jaya, di sini, pada petang hari sama.

Ketua Polis Daerah Ampang Jaya, Asisten Komisioner Amiruddin Jamaluddin mengesahkan menerima laporan berkenaan dan kes itu disiasat mengikut Seksyen 406 Kanun Keseksaan kerana pecah amanah.

Sementara itu, Zahida ketika dihubungi semalam berkata, apa yang berlaku mungkin kesilapannya sendiri kerana terlalu percaya terhadap pemandunya itu.

“Saya percayakannya sebab dia sudah bekerja dengan saya hampir lima tahun dan sebelum ini tidak pernah melakukan apa-apa kesalahan,” katanya.

Zahida berkata wang RM200,000 itu sepatutnya digunakan untuk membuat pembayaran kepada rakan perniagaannya di China

The aftermath of Nirbhaya’s torture and death has left the nation deeply hurt and baying for blood. But what will these feelings of revenge do to our collective psyche?

I used to be grateful for not being born in barbaric times when eye for eye, tooth for tooth was the norm. When routinely, as punishment, people were stoned to death or flayed alive, disemboweled, impaled on stakes fixed in the ground, or horror of horrors, sawed into two while hanging upside down! One can understand a few terribly troubled minds executing such horrors upon another human being, but the mind boggles at the idea of such ancient, savage practices being the result of a cool and calculated decision. Thank God for civilization. Or, so one thought, till the Delhi gang rape shook us all out of this stupor to realise that the barbaric mind lives on beneath the thin veneer of civilization. Not just in the perpetrators of the crime, but shockingly, somewhere in all of us as well.

Look at us baying for blood, willing to take the law in our hands, hell-bent upon actively avenging what the poor girl was made to suffer! The talk is as much about how the criminals must not be ‘just’ killed, but tortured and made to suffer prolonged pain, as it is about how to prevent such further crimes. I am also guilty of such thoughts and have said that capital punishment would be too easy on the criminals.

A few weeks ago, I could not have imagined polite and mild drawing room conversations being replaced by discussions of creatively cruel methods of torture for criminals. But the other night, sitting cozily around a log fire at a friend’s house for dinner, we all agreed that the criminals should be handed over to the public for revenge, and then got busy devising the cruelest punishments for them. Each of us was limited only by our imagination, no holds barred.

“Do to them what they did to the poor girl!” insisted one lady, while another got carried away enough to describe in vivid detail what tortures she would like to inflict on the rapists. It was agreed that capital punishment would not be enough, and they should feel the pain through their lives. To castrate or not to castrate became the big question, with some ladies going for it vociferously, while others wondered how that would deter the criminals from the ‘other’ nameless terrors they inflicted on the hapless girl! “In fact,” said one sane voice, “such a punishment may be the tipping point that turns these sick animals into total psychopaths and serial killers!”

At this point someone started recounting some of the most barbaric punishments meted out in human history, suggesting we choose between slow slicing, sawing, burning, impalement, disembowelment, crucifixion or boiling for the rapists! Looking at these emotional reactions, including mine, objectively, I was dismayed at what this horrific incident has done to all of us collectively! Thoughts of revenge inflict far more pain and suffering on us than on the perpetrators of the crime. They leave us embittered, frustrated and vengeful. But that is exactly the mood of the nation right after Nirbhaya’s death! And one can blame our lack of confidence in the law of the land for this. If we were assured that the law and the greater law of nature or God will justly take care of the evildoers, we need not ravage our own conscience with thoughts of cruelty. The fact that we are doing so shows a lack of faith in law as well as in God.

However, the saving grace is that though we all were talking big and imagining all kinds of revenge for the criminals, not many of us would actually be able to act out our dark fantasies. When I asked the others if individually any one of them could do to the criminals what they did to Nirbhaya, not a single person spoke up. And, thank God for that!

For how would that leave us any different from those beasts?

The task is to decipher the moral basis of the Malay political community into actionable language . People in the end obey the law because they think it is fair and just, that it applies equally to all, and because they get morally habituated to it. It thus becomes a form of self-restraint . Hence, the demand for governance reform must emerge out of an Indian moral core. Our schools must inspire the young with these ideals as a part of a broad citizenship project. Social media and technology are powerful tools in the hands of the young and they are capable of making these ideals dharmic habits of an Indian heart. Only thus will we recover constitutional morality. The hundreds of upright and hardworking civil servants , who are arbitrarily punished for doing their jobs, are our moral mirror. They teach us that there is no point complaining. The answer is for decent men and women to jump into politics and gradually transform the moral core of our public life. Otherwise, criminals will take over our completely . Remember, the sole life that a human being can lose is the one he is living.

Cultivation of an ethical self rather than external rituals, and applies equally to all  Malays and Islam ideas resonated with the Malays. Since then no politician has bothered.

The insistent question is how could a “nation created good leaders have come to this pass? “Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realize that our people are yet to learn it. Democracy in UMNO is only a top dressing on a Malay soul, which is essentially undemocratic .’ Since Mahathir spoke, UMNO’s democracy has turned from a “constitutional” to a “populist” to a “criminal” one.

Before you try to force others to live before your rules try to live by them yourself first. Don’t be a bitch ass hypocrite by forcing others by law too accept things you can’t even get your son to accept.

Najib should resign as Prime Minister and devote himself full time to party work. This is the only way that UMNO party –which is going downhill – can rejuvenate itself Personally the Prime minister is known to be a man of  no integrity and therefore  scams that have surfaced in the last one year – and continue to surface even now -has dented the image of the UMNO badly. It will also be in fitness of things: because if the Congress party is losing out because of the “corruption” in the ranks of the government, the right course of action would be for the squeaky clean Prime Minister to get off his chair and toil in the field for the good of the party. scams that have surfaced in the last one year – and continue to surface even now -has dented the image of  UMNO is badly. It will also be in fitness of things: because if UMNO is losing out because of the “corruption” in the ranks ofNajib’s cronies , the right course of action would be for the squeaky clean Prime Minister to get off his chair and toil in the field for the good of the party.UMNO  has long not benefited from the bankruptcy of ideas  from Mahathir Mohamad Maybe this is indeed the real picture of the state of affairs within the UMNO. Maybe the party genuinely doesn’t know what it stands for. Crimping Dr M’s influence on delegates? One can only hazard a guess. What is for sure is that battle lines are being drawn … Read more

Why is it that no one was surprised by the arbitrary appointment of Nazri’s son now special officer in dad’s ministry

Najib Abdul Razak, who completed 100 days on Tuesday as prime minister after the 13th general election (GE13), is becoming more popular and continues to be the people’s number one choice in the face of a challenging political battle, according to notable Sabah politician Salleh Said Keruak.Muhammad, Nedim Nazri, who was previously in the spotlight over an assault incident involving a security guard, seems to be courting controversy again, this time at his father’s ministry.

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.There is no need to criticise Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism or any other religions here, please. Let’s maintain a sense of perspective. Umno that is the root of all evils. It’s Umno that are the real religious deviants. It’s Umno that are playing dangerous race and religion games with the population.

Najib has been too awfully quiet even when we can see the economy and racial harmony spiralling downwards at breakneck speed.’I hope Najib will not allow his people to ridicule him as a deaf and dumb PM later on. As captain of the ‘submarine’ called 1Malaysia, Najib must show leadership. Keeping silent is not an option.Let those  who want to pray, 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.Can the prime minister of 1Malaysia, Najib Abdul Razak, say something? People used to ridicule former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, or Pak Lah, as the sleeping prime minister without understanding

Interfaith relationships can only be built if people of different faiths are allowed to “come into contact and appreciate” one another’s religions, said a senior clergyman.

Council of Churches Malaysia secretary general Reverend Dr Hermen Shastri said events in the last few weeks showed that religious intolerance is eating at the country’s peace and unity.

“All through the years in my experience here and overseas, one of the most meaningful things has been when people of one faith have offered their sacred space for people of another faith,” he said in statement today.

“And by doing that they did not feel that their place was desecrated. In fact it was a testimony of the spiritual generosity of their faith,” the Council of Churches Malaysia general-secretary noted.

Dr Shastri was commenting on the recent incident in Johor where a surau was allegedly used by a group of Buddhists from Singapore.

The Johor religious authorities may demolish the surau as it was used by non-Muslims for religious activities.

Dr Shastri shared an example of religious tolerance which he experienced recently in Indonesia while attending an international interfaith conference.

“For one of the sessions, we were taken to the main mosque in Jakarta and invited to the main prayer hall to help us observe Muslim prayers. After that we were taken to a room within the mosque compound where each could engage in their own prayers and for further sessions.

Years ago, when Kanti Lakra converted from Hinduism to Christianity and adopted the surname Kerketta, little must her family have realized that the consequences would follow her to the grave.

Kanti’s body lay at her home in Kesura village in Hazaribag for more than 36 hours as first a Hindu crematorium and then four churches refused her husband to perform the last rites. The 60-year old had died of kidney failure on August 12 at the Hazaribag sadar hospital.

DSP Ratneshwar Thakur said Kanti’s husband, Shiv Prakash Ram, first decided to bury the body as per Christian tradition at the village burning ghat because there was no cemetery there. However, the villagers stopped him from digging a grave. The DSP said they told Ram that they could only allow a Hindu funeral at the ghat and advised him to cremate his wife as he was the only Christian in the village.

“We can’t allow burial of a body in the burning ghat although Ram could have carried out the last rites as per Hindu norms,” said Balram Mahato, the village head.

Ram then decided to bury her body in his own orchard, but this, too, was opposed by Hindus. “The villagers refused to let Ram use his residential plot as a graveyard because the house has an old Shiva temple,” a police source said.

Ram finally approached the cops and met officer Arvind Kumar Singh and a police team visited the village to help him find a suitable space for the grave. But the team failed to convince the villagers and the police had to approach higher authorities in the district for a solution.

Finally, DSP Thakur and a magistrate were sent to the village as the body required to be disposed at the earliest. They asked four churches, Church of North India, Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church, Society Of God and All God Church, in Hazaribag and adjoining areas for space in any of their cemeteries, but all four disallowed burial of a person who had converted to Christianity.

“The family adopted Christianity under CNI and we cannot allow him to use our graveyard for burial of his wife,” said Mukund Barla, pastor of GEL Church. When Ram approached CNI, authorities there refused as well saying she belonged to a different village.

After 36 hours, the administration found a plot on a government land far from the Kesura burning ghat. Thakur said the body was buried by Christian tradition on Wednesday amid strong police presence.

A mere handful of professions are honoured with an honorific that survives beyond the office. Priests, judges, armed services officers, professors and doctors, of both the medical and academic disciplines: that’s about it. Journalists, even editors, and politicians, even cabinet ministers, would invite ridicule if they handed out visiting cards marked ‘Editor X’ or ‘Cabinet Minister Y’. Indians are, at best, ambivalent about media and politics. They respect our guardians of law, knowledge and security. There is a new tendency among former envoys to add ‘Ambassador’ before their name, a practice borrowed from America, but this is a title snatched from vanity rather than bestowed by popular acclaim.

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.Justice M S Liberhan did not need 17 years and a thousand pages to tell us what has been public knowledge since December 6, 1992. The Babri mosque was not torn down in the dark of night. It was brought down slowly, stone by stone, in Sunday sunlight, before hundreds of journalists, to the cheers of countless thousands of kar sewaks in and around Ayodhya. The mosque was not dynamited in a minute; it was demolished by crowbar and shovel.

The PM was either unavailable or, worse, asleep. It was a lie. Rao’s inaction and Chavan’s collaboration were deliberate.

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.

Mahatma Gandhi gave “Muslim nationalism” institutional credibility when, in the fractured decade after the Khilafat movement, Muslims who believed in him formed the All-India Nationalist Muslim Party on 27 and 28 July 1929, with M A Ansari at the helm. Our present vice president, Hamid Ansari, belongs to this family.

Gandhi was father of an ideology that knit the groundwork of modern India. His moral compass was set on a firm axis: politics without religion was immoral. Among the first to be impressed by this proposition were the maulvis who later banded under Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Hind ; their alliance would flower during the non-cooperation struggle. Hindu and Muslim are birth identities; they do not change, unless one becomes an atheist. But nationalism, a political concept, can vary. Gandhi did not. He believed that India must be a land where all faiths co-existed as equals, guided by sarvadharmasambhava. Gandhi’s nationalism was the antithesis of communalism. He was distressed to the point of agony by the slow drift within the Muslim elite towards separatism. This culminated in partition when Jinnah reduced “Muslim nationalism” to “Muslim nation” . It was a visible reduction, philosophically, intellectually, and finally, geographically. Gandhi promised Muslims honour and equality in a nation from Khyber to Chittagong ; Jinnah’s prescription eventually reduced Pakistan to a sliver of land on either side of the Indus, wracked by fundamentalism and riven by insecurity.

The difference between “Hindu nationalism” and “Hindu nation” is equally uncomplicated. If anyone wants to be a Hindu nationalist, offer a warm welcome ; if the call is for a Hindu nation, point out that religion is ineffective as a basis for nationhood. Pakistan is a good example. Indeed, if religion worked as a glue, why on earth would there be 22 Arab nations? Hindu extremism existed in Gandhi’s time, but it never got much traction beyond the fringe; and it could not, ipso facto, seek secession.

Gandhi would have been puzzled by any suggestion that Hinduism was an obstacle to secularism; his Hinduism was an inexhaustible well of brotherhood , just as his colleague Maulana Azad offered Islam as a superb rationale for inter-faith harmony. Both used a faith-influenced dialectic almost unconsciously . Hindu-majority India is not secular because Gandhi was secular; Gandhi was secular because India is secular.

Gandhi was proud to be a Hindu. He promised Ram Rajya, not some variation of a fashionable western dictum, whether Marxist or Fabian. Ram Rajya was a metaphor for prosperity and equality, not subjugation. Gandhi did not shy away from caste. His tongue only partly in cheek, he told the Shafi faction of the Muslim League on 22 February 1931: “Brethren, I am a bania, and there is no limit to my greed. It had always been my dream and my heart’s desire to speak not only for 21 crores but for 30 crores of Indians.” He was answering the charge that he spoke only for Hindus.

Nor did Gandhi’s disciple and heir, Jawaharlal Nehru, think that the prefix ‘Pandit’ would stain his status as a secular icon. Privately, Nehru was more agnostic than believer, but learnt from Gandhi that he could not sneer at, let alone abandon, his Brahmin identity. India is a land of the faithful. Those who today feel ‘Pandit’ might be an embarrassment have not seen Durga Puja in secular Calcutta.

Strangely, those Muslim League stalwarts who were determined to parade every mark of their religious identity as a fundamental right, spread the canard that Gandhi’s Ram Rajya would enslave Muslims . We see variations all the time, among far lesser beings, as vocal networks control debate, and stoke a fear psychosis that suits those who think the Muslim vote is better sought through fear than development.

The words of this column will make no difference. A government can reduce the past to rubble as easily as an Opposition party can erase a centuries-old mosque. My apologies for a rare detour into the personal, but this is a rare moment. I was a minor part of the Rao government and resigned on the night of December 6 since the stone wall constructed around the prime minister’s house had become impervious to anything except sycophancy. Words demand a different kind of loyalty, and one was relieved to return to the world of words.

Sharad Pawar, then defence minister, showed a filmed record of December 6 to an invited group at the home of a party MP a few days later. The Liberhan Commission could have completed half its report by taking a look at that film. The media was equally comprehensive in its coverage of the brutal riots that followed: The Sri Krishna report has done far greater justice to the truth in its findings on the Maharashtra riots, so much so that there is all-party collusion on its non-implementation. There was only one question trapped in doubt: What was prime minister P V Narasimha Rao doing while Babri was destroyed on the longest day of the last two decades? Why was home minister S B Chavan, father of the present Maharashtra chief minister, immobile, inscrutable and stolid?

Liberhan protects Rao with an equally conscious fudge, shuffling the blame on to unspecified intelligence agencies. Everyone knew what was going on, IB officers better than most. Rao called a Cabinet meeting only in the evening, when there was nothing left to be saved — not even reputation. By this time, fires of hatred were lighting up the dusk of Mumbai and dozens of cities across the nation. An elaborate programme of blame, reward and punishment was put into place. Those (including bureaucrats and journalists) who acquiesced in Rao’s charade were rewarded; Congress Muslims got a bonus for silence. Rao remained in power till 1996, but he neither ruled nor lived in peace.Shock raced through Delhi when word filtered through that an assault had begun in Ayodhya. Phone calls began to pour into the prime minister’s residence in the hope that he would use the authority of the state to uphold the rule of law and fulfil a political and moral obligation. There was a monstrous response from the prime minister’s personal secretary. The PM was either unavailable or, worse, asleep. It was a lie. Rao’s inaction and Chavan’s collaboration were deliberate.Sharad Pawar, then defence minister, showed a filmed record of December 6 to an invited group at the home of a party MP a few days later. The Liberhan Commission could have completed half its report by taking a look at that film. The media was equally comprehensive in its coverage of the brutal riots that followed: The Sri Krishna report has done far greater justice to the truth in its findings on the Maharashtra riots, so much so that there is all-party collusion on its non-implementation. There was only one question trapped in doubt: What was prime minister P V Narasimha Rao doing while Babri was destroyed on the longest day of the last two decades? Why was home minister S B Chavan, father of the present Maharashtra chief minister, immobile, inscrutable and stolid?

That the embattled Najib is fighting for every inch is clear from the way he was forced to delay the Umno election by a good two weeks to October 19 from October 5 as scheduled. Najib was caught napping by his own propaganda. All this talk about no-contests for the top 2 posts started from his own camp and ended up misleading him. He thought he was ahead of the curve and his men in place. But the ground in Umno is shaking and suddenly he realizes that Mahathir may let him stay on as Umno president. But that’s it, Najib would have very little power. He would be a lame-duck Umno president and because of that he would also be a lame-duck prime minister.”

There is a Malay proverb saying, Kalau kail panjang sejengkal, lautan dalam jangan diduga (if your line is just the span of your palm, do not even think of fishing in the deep ocean).

Perhaps, Muhyiddin’s biggest issue is his purported lack of grassroots support. This may be the core basis for his indecision. Yet ask anyone in Johor including the non-Malays, and they will acknowledge that Muhyiddin can still “get things done even though he may be naughty. The worst is if he is naughty and cannot get things done, he would have been finished a long time ago.”

With 7 weeks or so to go, Muhyiddin is certainly not giving up at all. He is watching and monitoring. One good indication for him is that support seems to be rising. There seems to be an air of expectation that he will take on Najib as can be seen in the much-larger-than-expected turnout at his Hari Raya open house in Pagoh, where more than 30,000 people came to wish him well.More crucially, the nominations for the topmost posts was deferred by 3 weeks to September 28 from september 7, ostensibly because there was insufficient time due to an impending visit from President Barack Obama.

Not only is Najib surrounded by candidates friendly to Mahathir, it seems he has already shown his cards and that was a bit “too early” according to Umno watchers. He is now in a “vulnerable” position.

Many believe that without striking a deal with Anwar, Najib is at the mercy of Mahathir and his cronies. But whether he is willing to embrace a “real” unity government that includes other Pakatan members – DAP and PAS – remains to be seen.

“What Najib is trying very hard to prevent is a dilution of his powers in Umno. He may retain the presidency but so what? His men are not assured of winning and he won’t be able to push through his agenda even if he is still president,”

Whichever way the chips fall, the permutations are certainly mind-boggling.

With UMNO’s direct access to the all-powerful prime minister’s post, it is not surprising at all there is so much infighting and horse-trading going on.

And unless, kingpin Mahathir is fully satisfied and appeased – which means a suitable spot such as a VP post is vacated for Mukhriz – rest assured the race for the UMNO presidency will remain wide open and difficult to close.

So for Malaysians who are non-UMNO members, they should not be surprised if after October 5 they find themselves saddled with a brand ‘new’ prime minister they had not prepared for at all.

Mahathir might not have the confidence that Muhyiddin would garner enough support from within Umno to win the president’s post, and that is why the Mahathir himself had supported the no-contest motion.”Najib doesn’t have a clear idea of what he wants to do. He is not leading, he is responding. But responding alone does not make you a leader,”

In several areas, UMNO rules and regulations make honest business impossible. The only choice is illegal business or no business.A former cabinet minister recently declared UMNO are now funded mainly by the MCA chinese mafia, not by big business. This again is part of the untold UMNO election

Prime Najib Razak had offered the deputy premier’s post to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in a bid to unite the disenchanted country, especially the fragmented Malay community.

Anwar himself has not offered any direct response to the barrage of questions from the local media and overseas commentators.

However, in a most telling remark, Anwar warned that Umno was in serious turmoil and close to implosion due to decades of refusing to reform its scandal and corruption-tainted way of governance.

“The postponement of the Umno election election is due to the internal problems in Umno. It is now in turmoil and the situation is heating up they are trying to delay not the infighting but rather the implosion,”

Anwar had hinted broadly to Umno members, urging them to embrace a “questioning” culture – which would be a watershed departure for the feudalistic party.

Anwar was responding to the shock criticism leveled by Najib’s predecessor Abdullah Badawi against another former premier Mahathir Mohamad, in a book titled Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years.

Badawi was accused of throwing his support behind Najib and being receptive to the idea of a unity government with the Opposition. News that Anwar’s daughter, Nurul izzah had been invited to the book’s launching in Singapore stirred up an unprecedented and disproportionate fury with the Mahathir camp.

To Umno watchers, the over-reaction was akin to a long-awaited wake-up and foretold of “something big” to come. 

“In any healthy and vibrant party, they should engage in policy issues and I think this is the failure of Umno because of the lack of capacity to understand serious debate on policy issues. Hopefully with the initiative taken by Tun Dollah, with his assessment would encourage more vibrant debate and questioning of the relevance of a party with obsolete ideas, racism and religious bigotry.

Umno members seem to be split down the line but it is plain to see that the majority are relieved to welcome back to their fold one of their most loved sons.

The phenomenally popular Anwar was ‘chopped’ down cruelly at the height of his power when he was the Umno deputy president and heir-apparent to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

It is not surprising that the Mahathir camp has launched an all-assault against Najib to stop him from forming any type of “unity government” with Anwar.

“The offer was passed indirectly through talks which is the usual way for Najib to negotiate. He does not want to be caught wrong-footed when the Umno party election is so close by

Umno worships and that might explain why the issue Scorpene remains Najib’s Achilles’ heel won’t die a quiet death – not until Dr M obliges.That Najib is preparing himself for challenge to his party position is further evidenced from the postponement of the party polls to accommodate the visits of the United States and Chinese presidents, since such visits shortly before the polls are expected to add shine to his image and status.

Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir ’s chance to take a shot at the top slot,” says Liew Chin Tong, the DAP MP of Kluang, is known to have this burning ambition to crown his long innings in politics as Prime Minister of Malaysia. “But politics, like cricket, is a game of glorious uncertainties,”http://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com  points out.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is trying to push for his son Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir to be among the new vice-presidents in Umno.He said that Dr Mahathir is trying to do this when Umno holds its party polls later this year and if that is done, it could cause one of the incumbents to be ‘forced out’. The likely victim of this exercise could be Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi because Dr Mahathir was never a big fan of the newly minted Home Minister.readmore Decoding; Najib will be biggest loser under no contest backed by …

The first sign that Mahathir could upstage Najib was discernible  fell silent when Mahathir spoke. Over the years there was increased divergence between the two in terms of popularity. Najib’s men made special efforts for him.  ”By then the balance of power between the two had tilted in favor of Najib but Mahathir had been hopeful because he averred that a large section of the  would be averse to Najib being the face of UMNO elections,” “This may be true but the cadre of the party believes – rightly or wrongly – that it is only with  Muhyiddin at the helm that UMNO  has a chance of coming to power in 2018.”

The Scorpene scam was a dim-witted scheme right from the start and the bad decision goes beyond Najib as defence minister and also implicates former Umno leaders Daim Zainuddin and Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Murder most foul, lies at the highest office, media cover-ups, judiciary complicity, threats on life for telling the truth, political assassinations, billions stolen, a public paralysed by fear.

Like a piece of old gum that’s stubbornly and annoyingly stuck to the heel of his shoe, PM Najib Razak is trying once again to peel himself away from the sticky business involving the Scorpene billions, his best friend Abdul Razak Baginda and the late Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered by his bodyguards. Billion dollar deals are done in a shady manner, and totally opaque. And then the persons concerned will say they are innocent and clean
Evidently, he now believes that no one believes his swearing on the Holy Quran disavowing all knowledge of the woman, hence this renewed attempt to distance himself from the bloody affair.

Unfortunately, he is once again relying on highly suspicious characters to vouch for his innocence – wheeler dealers like that other carpet seller whose self-published ‘book’ did not exactly make it to the bestsellers list.

What is interesting is that in both cases the shady fellows happen to be Indians on whom he evidently has lots of ‘nambikei’. Now whether Jasbir Singh Chahl cuts any ice with Umno delegates weaned on scandals is a question we’ll soon know the answer.There is no doubt that the Scorpene-Altantuya scandal is Najib’s weakest spot which is prone to be fatally exploited by his rival in the coming Umno party polls.

And the attempt to de-sanitise it at this sensitive time indicates that the potential threat to Najib’s position is real enough for him to risk opening the Pandora’s box.

And the attempt to de-sanitise it at this sensitive time indicates that the potential threat to Najib’s position is real enough for him.’

the “last chance” for Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to become the party president and subsequently the prime minister.”If he doesn’t challenge (Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak) now, then he is on his way out,” he said.

He said that senior vice-presidents such as Zahid, who is the home minister, and also Hishammuddin, currently the defence minister, would be looking to further their political careers by aiming for the deputy prime minister’s post, thus threatening Muhyiddin’s post if he does not challenge for the top post in the party.

Jasbir Singh Chahl’s second statement issued to Bernama claims that the Scorpene contract award was made on a transparent basis to “the technically most qualified party on a commercially competitive negotiated price.”

He stressed that the contract between the Malaysian government and Perimekar Sdn Bhd for a value equivalent of 115 million Euros was for defined scope of works, and provision of such services was within commercial norms. Jasbir said Perimekar was subsequently nominated as the local vehicle to spearhead the submarine project while Terasasi Sdn Bhd (TSB) was incorporated to serve as an external service provider to advise and assist Thales.

“The assertion that Perimekar was a travel agency which had been given such tasks is outrageous and completely without basis,” said Jasbir, adding that it was a deliberate distortion of the facts by certain quarters for reasons of their own.

He repeats the red herring that Altantuya Shariibuu was not in the picture when the deal was being negotiated and finally signed in 2002 and she could not possibly have anything to do with the scandal.

There are two incontrovertible facts about the Scorpene scandal that seem to escape Jasbir:

1. This is a French-initiated judicial inquiry

First and foremost, this judicial inquiry into whether or not commissions were proffered in the sale of the Scorpene submarines has been initiated by the French judiciary. Suaram is merely the Malaysian complainant.

The French prosecutors have been busy for more than two years now trying to get to the bottom of this scandal. The facts that have emerged recently about the scandal are the result of the investigations by the French police, not unfounded allegations by Malaysian opposition parties or NGOs.

Malaysian taxpayers should really be thankful that we have been afforded a rare attempt to see beyond the integuments of the most expensive arms procurement in Malaysian history.

The last time there was such a detailed external inquiry into a Malaysian project was the British National Audit Office report on the scandal involving the RM5 billion arms deal Dr Mahathir Mohamad signed with Margaret Thatcher which was linked to the loan for the Pergau dam in the early nineties. It is only through these two inquiries that Malaysians get to see how the deals are done and the intricacies of the money trails.

Coming back to the Scorpene scandal, the hundred over documents from the French prosecutor’s office in Paris are the fruits of more than two years’ investigation by the French police into the workings of the French state arms company, DCN. From among these documents is a reference by DCN officials who characterised Perimekar as: “…nothing 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… A separate agreement sets other compensation consisting of a fixed amount independent of the actual price of the main contract. The beneficiaries of these funds are not difficult to imagine: the clan and family relations of Mr Razak Baginda. In addition, these funds will find their way to the dominant political party.”

Thus, this was the impression Perimekar gave DCN officials and totally disingenuous for Jasbir to make it look as if this description of Perimekar was “… a deliberate distortion of the facts by certain quarters for reasons of their own.”

Malaysians should be aware that the French state-owned arms company, DCN have an interest in selling arms, including the Scorpene submarines and would do everything within their capability to ensure that they clinch the deal.

This invariably includes using middlemen and commissions to facilitate the process. Thus, they would not want to jeopardise their interests by badmouthing their customers. These documents have actually been forced out of DCN officials by French prosecutors investigating the scandal and would not have emerged otherwise.

Despite his rather suspicious belated “clarification” more than 10 years later, Jasbir has not illuminated us on his role in the negotiations: If everything was as hunky dory as he has made out, why did he sue and demand a share of Perimekar’s cut? Memos from the DCN investigation reveal that Jasbir had demanded a sizeable portion of Perimekar’s cut although he had been ousted from Perimekar early on in the negotiations.

His suit against Razak Baginda was later settled out of court.

2. Motive for Altantuya’s murder has not yet been established

The motive for the grisly murder of Altantuya has still not been ascertained, yet Jasbir keeps asserting that Altantuya never participated in the Scorpene negotiations in a vain attempt to section her off from the scandal.

Undoubtedly, she was not present during the negotiations since the deal was signed in 2002 and she only met Baginda in 2004. Nevertheless, Razak Baginda himself, when he was under investigation on charges of ordering the two bodyguards to kill the 28-year-old pregnant woman, told investigators he had travelled with her to France in 2005. After the signing of the contract, there were other aspects of the deal that had still to be ironed out.

Records seized by French investigators from DCN bear that out. According to the records, Abdul Razak Baginda and Altantuya met with one Jean Marie Boivin. Boivin arranged to pay for a trip by Altantuya and Abdul Razak to Macau. In those documents, Altantuya is described as Razak Baginda’s translator.

On the Malaysian side, Corporal Sirul Azhar Omar was interrogated by police shortly after the murder was discovered. In his cautioned statement, he told authorities he and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri had been offered RM100,000 to kill the woman and her two companions, who were causing embarrassment for Abdul Razak Baginda.

The gov’t must reveal all about payments to Terasasi

We must, however, thank Jasbir for finally letting the Terasasi cat out of the bag when he stated categorically that this company had a role in the Scorpene submarine deal: “Perimekar was subsequently nominated as the local vehicle to spearhead the submarine project while Terasasi Sdn Bhd (TSB) was incorporated to serve as an external service provider to advise and assist Thales.”

All this time, the Malaysian government has not told parliament or the public about the existence of Terasasi (Abdul Razak Baginda’s other company) and that it had a share of the spoils from the purchase of the submarines. It has only tried to justify the payments to Perimekar. The existence of Terasasi and payments it received only emerged when the French prosecutors’ documents came to light.

After Jasbir’s gallant but vain attempt to whitewash the submarines scandal, it is time for the Malaysian government to reveal all about the role of Terasasi in the Scorpene deal.

The solution is to revamp how we fund politics, to mandate transparency and accountability in political expenditure and source of funds, to reform the justice system, so that all cases are settled beyond final appeal in a matter of months, rather than decades as of today. This would rejuvenate the authority and legitimacy of the political executive and check the tendency for the judiciary to trespass into policymaking and mess up economic activity. A judicial accountability law would reinforce such restraint.

Hostility towards Datuk Seri Najib Razak is set to grow within Umno in the coming weeks after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim acknowledged that the opposition was in secret talks with the prime minister to form a unity government.

The Edge Review digital magazine reported today that Najib’s dual track strategy of rewarding political warlords and key supporters with coveted posts and secret negotiations with Anwar through trusted aides and Indonesian politicians has not worked out well for the country’s sixth prime minister.It is understood the secret talks were handled by Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and PKR’s secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail – both of whom are close friends from their Umno Youth days.”His move to shore up his political standing within Umno has alienated key constituencies within the party and drawn the ire of powerful figures, including former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin (pic), who are privately advocating a leadership change,” the digital magazine said in its latest weekly edition.

“Anwar, who was kicked out of Umno by Dr Mahathir in 1998, is seen as a reviled opponent by Umno’s elite, and analysts say that Najib’s move to open talks with the Opposition Leader is surely being seen as a betrayal of the party,” it added in the headline report titled “Malaysia’s political tensions set to escalate”.

The magazine said the latest developments could “lead to a bruising leadership battle when Umno holds its own party elections in mid-October”.

Close aides of the prime minister admit that the next three months will be crucial, the magazine said.

that the proposal made to Anwar was unsanctioned, noting that no aide would dare to move without getting the go ahead from the boss. They also point out to the flurry of trips by Kalla related to the talks.

Talk of a unity government has set off roiling speculation and created some unease among Umno politicians close to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has made it clear that Anwar must not have a role in any BN government.

http://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com reported meeting between Najib and Anwar in Jakarta in June but it was denied by both parties although they were in the Indonesian capital city that same weekend.

Anwar recently admitted there were peace overtures from Najib after Election 2013 which Najib’s BN won with a lesser haul of 133 federal seats, seven less than in 2008.

The magazine noted that Malaysia had been trapped in a deep political funk since 2008, when the Umno-led Barisan National (BN) coalition government lost its long-held two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Umno had blamed the poor showing on then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and forced him to hand over power to Najib in April 2009. Najib’s problem was that he has fared worse with voters than Abdullah, said The Edge Review.

The Najib-led ruling coalition not only failed to improve its numbers in Parliament, it also lost the popular vote, securing only 47% compared to the opposition’s 51%. It ranked as the worst showing by the BN since independence in 1957, the magazine said.

“The PM’s main problem is that he hasn’t recovered from the results of the general election. He is coming across as a weak leader, not only to his party, but the whole country,” a prominent Malaysian businessman, who enjoyed cordial relations with Najib and his family, told the magazine.

The Edge Review noted that Najib had maintained a very low profile since the general election, appearing infrequently in public and staying silent on a number of challenges facing the nation like the sagging economy, soaring crime rate and racial polarisation.

He had yet to weigh in on growing religious tensions, particularly among right-wing Islamist groups who are showing little tolerance in multi-religious and multi-ethnic Malaysia, the magazine said.

His government had also failed to come up with a clear plan on how to deal with the worsening security situation in the country, where the number of drive-by shootings and gangland killings has jumped in recent months, it added.

The magazine said another major challenge was the country’s troubled economy, particularly rising public sector debt, which early this month prompted Fitch Ratings to lower the country’s credit-rating outlook to “negative” from “stable.”

“The rebuke by Fitch has pushed the local currency to a three-year low against the US dollar, and unless Najib moves decisively to deal with the country’s public finances in the coming budget, economists say that more foreign funds are likely to pull out.

“Against this backdrop of a leadership vacuum, policy paralysis and deepening social strains, the prospect of a unity government for Malaysia is very appealing, several economists say,” the magazine said.

The magazine said it broke news of the possible peace deal between Najib and Anwar in April, but it had largely been ignored by the country’s compliant mainstream media.

“Umno politicians and close aides of Anwar say that the talks, which are being brokered by Indonesia’s former vice-president Jusuf Kalla, have gained fresh momentum in recent months, with the two Malaysian political leaders each appointing representatives to hammer out details that would shape the reconciliation process,” it added.

The Edge Review reported that politicians said Najib’s representative, Zahid, who was also Home Minister, had held several private discussions with Saifuddin.

“The most recent meeting between the two representatives was in mid-July, after Indonesia’s Kalla held separate talks with Najib and Anwar, sources close to the discussions say.

“At that session, Zahid conveyed a request from Najib that Anwar publicly acknowledge that he was open to reconciliation talks with the ruling party,” The Edge Review said in the report.

Another confidence-building measure suggested by Najib was a request that Anwar publicly recognise the May election result, politicians close to the talks between Zahid and Saifuddin told the magazine.

Anwar broke his silence on the talks this week, when he was quoted by the Asia Sentinel news portal that Najib had reached out to him to explore the possibility of a unity government.

The fear of missing out on your dreams is very different from the fear of missing out on the fun others are having. One enhances life, the other stymies it

the fear of missing out on all you want to do in order to live life to its full potential, is very different from the fear of missing out on the fun, the good times and opportunities that are being enjoyed by others. I see the former as a positive sign, which if handled properly, can only enhance one’s living experience, however, the latter brings in huge amounts of dissatisfaction. Because, while the former fear is inward-looking, the latter fear looks at what others are doing and achieving, and makes you feel inadequate comparatively. No amount of rescheduling or re-prioritising can ever help you take care of a discontent that stems from the achievements or enjoyment of others.

Experts have a term for this fear. FOMO (fear of missing out) is described as a social disorder that causes anxiety at not being able to decide which of multiple equally fun-sounding events to be a part of. So people are glued to their smartphones, obsessively checking mails, WhatsApping, BBMing, texting, or posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or individual blogs. These people are always attuned to the outside world and fear that others are having better experiences.

This is indeed one disorder that we can blame on fast-advancing technology. As people post their minute-by-minute activities, thoughts, spotlight moments and achievements on social networking sites, it causes envy and restless inadequacy amongst others. Says a student I spoke to for an understanding, “Often I go to bed in deep distress after a session on Facebook. The fact that I’m sitting up in bed on social networking sites makes me feel like such a loser compared to friends tweeting photos from holidays or from happening bars or parties where they are rubbing shoulders with the best.” Another says, “I feel restless on evenings I am not meeting friends. I keep getting the feeling that maybe I am missing out on the fun they are having.”

Then of course there are those who make it a profession of hanging out at parties. A lady, when asked what she does for a living, replied, “Oh nothing, I look after home and family” and then brightened up to add, “and then, of course, I’m a socialite, that takes up a lot of my time!” Well…

FOMO victims are always stressed about what they are missing rather than enjoying what they have in hand. They will flit from party to party to ensure they haven’t missed anything. If given some work, they envy colleagues who are free, and if ignored for a project, they start stressing about what they are missing. Everyone wants to be “someone,” someone influential who is looked upon by many “followers” and “friends” , and this is another source of FOMO stress. People will constantly check how many times their words have been retweeted, how many “likes” their status has received or how many times their photos are shared.

So much dependency on the fun others are having is bound to have a negative impact on youngsters, leaving them with no scope to explore their own feelings, talents and potential. And we all know that people exaggerate on social networking sites because everyone wants to project their best side to the world. In that sense, what people with FOMO hanker for isn’t even real.

Instead let’s turn the fear of missing out within and figure out what we would most like to do for our own selves, independent of others. What is it that enhances life for you? What gives you a feeling of completion and satisfaction? Let us focus on our own bucket list, rather than on fake ones created by others!

This is useful if you want to buy time, but not effective if you want to run a government.

Najib is burdened by a further paradox. He is presiding over not one but two coalitions. Mahathir himself is the second coalition, a storehouse of multiple interests that requires dexterous management even during times of serenity. Personal feuds are only a part of the alternative story; there are genuine and strongly held differences over policy. This is healthy, up to a point; when that point comes, the leader must demand obedience to a government decision. An astute veteran like Anwar would not have berated as a misguided intellectual snob whose single idea was to shoot his way through lead the Malaysproblem, without tacit support from UMNO. The Prime Minister has imprisoned himself in the rather dubious proverb, that silence is golden. Silence is too aloof an option for democracy.

A fundamental equation has been quietly reversed The casualty is credibility: it began to creep away but the pace has gradually built up to a crawl. If Najib whose own reputation remains more positive than that of his government, does not act soon, the pace will quicken to a trot and develop into an irreversible gallop.Weakness is contagious. It tends to debilitate even those limbs of the body politic that are functioning normally. Congress ministers have always known that they owe their jobs to party president Call it the Najib paradox: the strength of his power largely upon on how weak he is as Prime Minister. The glue holds because he has no power over his ministers. One minister is caught with his pants down till and shrugs off accusation with impunity; a second has no time for Cabinet meetings; a third dismisses a portfolio as people-centric  Najib okay with ministers hiring kin All the Prime Minister can do is smile and carry on. The smile is wearing thin. ‘Of course, Najib will allow it. It’s leadership by example. After all, his own wife has set a precedent already.’no one expects Najib to lead UMNO in the next general elections. Najib admitted as much at his only press conference held, ironically, to project an image of control. Instead, he will passed the baton when he said, in his typically honest manner, that he would make way for Muhaiyuddin the momentMahathir was asked to do so. Power is never stagnant. It either consolidates around the leader, or ebbs. Those with longer plans for the future than the Prime Minister are establishing individual markers at the cost of collective cohesion.A helpless Prime Minister induces a hapless government. Drift, as the term indicates, is never in a hurry. A government can float a long way before someone realizes that it has lost direction. Drift does not threaten a government’s survival, but it saps the people’s patience.

The  paradox may seem puzzling but is easily comprehensible. It is always much more difficult to run a weak government than a strong one. The latter has a command structure, purpose and enough discipline to induce confidence in the ever-watchful voter. A weak government is great news for a newspaper, and even better fodder for television; but that is where its limited entertainment utility ceases. During his first five years, Najib was an anchor that was powerful enough to keep the ship steady through heavy turbulence in the final 12 months of its journey. Victory in 2013 could have made him master of a cruise liner. If, however, he continues to do nothing, he could become captain of a paper boat.

Where did Tengku Adnan obtain his education? what kind of a pariah minister does Najib Tun Razak have in his present cabinet? Despite being placed at the helm of the Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister ,when majority of the constituencies have voted for Pakatan, Tengku Adnan has no qualms to say that the Federal Government has no obligation towards the fire victims who come from a constituency that is under the Opposition.The sin lies not in the act, but in being caught in LINGAMGATE INDSCRIBEThis is not a very well known story–that of a wife building a monument in memory of her husband. The mausoleum stands amid ruins in the historic Najibabad town in Bijnore district in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India. Unlike the story of Taj … Read more

Steps toward change

disagrees with Najib about change taking a few generations.‘Najib could be our Super Hero’, and said that the change which Najib dreams about could be almost instant.

The first 11 steps might be those listed below. I am sure you can think of many more.First. Detain Mahathir for treason. Remove him and put him in solitary confinement before he faces trial. Najib may be surprised to see how the nation would be solidly behind him.

The Attorney-General, the Inspector-General of Police and the head honcho of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) are to be held for crimes against the state.

Not everyone in the civil service is corrupt. Many civil servants confide that they are disgusted by the orders they have to follow. Najib should promote senior staff members who are persons of principle and known to be free of corruption.

The Police, the Army, the judiciary or other institutions cannot simply be disbanded as this will lead to a state of anarchy, like after the invasion of Iraq. Good people with potential to lead will soon assume control. We have enough laws. They just need to be consistently enforced.Always watch out for ‘The Big Obsessive Scam’ the media goes after. It often covers up a great deal more than it reveals. It also draws away our immediate attention from issues where we were about to get close to a dangerous truth or two. Poirot famously described it as a red herring, a cunning device to draw people’s attention away from real issues to focus on a non sequitur MacGuffin.Like the MacGuffin, which Hitchcock made cult, The Big Obsessive Scam vanishes or becomes irrelevant once its purpose is over.A wonderful school which opened every morning with a chapel service. One of the most quoted lines there was from Corinthians. It spoke of three great virtues: faith, hope and charity, of which the greatest was charity. Years later, Mother Teresa told me it was her favourite verse.Police not the only ones corrupt, DBKL just as bad, says FT ministerThis is what  scam could be: Too much outrage chasing what matters so little to most of us. The evidence in hand is flimsy, so flimsy that it’s unlikely to get past the smallest court but the noise around it is so much one would think World War III has broken out.When the tail seeks to wag the dog  snaky Minister Tengku Adnan  can  be trusted to trade diatribes on which one has effectively addressed issues of urgent concern to voters: development, inflation, corruption and governance. Each one will also have to spell out what differentiates it from the other. Two battle-lines are in sight. One will pit … Read more

The Incumbent Insecure Minister of Home Affairs

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who has only one move in his playbook: use the sledgehammer to pummel and bully his way to hero status in UMNO. Justice, fairness, moderation are words that have no place in Zahid’s small world, crowded out by grandstanding.

The question was also in response to a growing sense that the country is in a tailspin, buffeted from every side by worsening race relations, intolerance, a crime epidemic and in serious need of a firm but fair hand.

UMNO politicians have the slogans but few of them understand that fairness and justice are critical building blocks of nationhood.Citizens in mature democracies must also appreciate that no system can be perfect and please all its constituencies.  The idea is to ensure freedom of speech as far as possible, if the spirit of democracy is to be enjoyed to its maximum, and ensure that the country works within a law and order framework, if … Read more

The end result: a lack of respect among the public for the moral standing or competence of government leaders. And a growing sense of desperation for that one leader who can halt the country from sliding further into the abyss of despair with that combination of firmness, fairness and moderation.

There is no problem with a minister or a member of the government administration recruiting a family member as his aide if it does not involve any payment of salary or allowance to the aide by the government, says Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The son of Nazri Aziz, Mohamad Nedim, once praised by his father as a successful businessman, is listed as a special officer at the ministry.

After the 13th general election, Nazri replaced Ng Yen Yen as Tourism minister.

Nedim was thrust to media limelight last year over an involvement in an assault case, which later brought into the open his lavish lifestyle including his friendship with Michael Chia, the shady businessman caught with some RM40 million in hard cash by Hong Kong authorities.

None other than prominent whistleblower and Pandan member of parliament Rafizi Ramli had in November last year revealed the outcome of his own investigation on Nedim, and uploaded seven video clips on YouTube to show how the minister’s son was enjoying the benefits of his friendship with Chia in the form of a luxury SUV Hummer.

When asked for his reaction following the expose, Nazri said he was not answerable to his son’s activities.

“I’m a rich man, I’m powerful, good looking. Wealthy. So what can I do?”I have a film star punya status here you know? Celebrity. Not local film star, but Hollywood,” said Nazri.When quizzed by The Malaysian Insider about his son’s latest role, however, Nazri said his son’s status was that of an office boy.

“I can call him errand boy or office boy, if that would please people. I am paying him, not the government,” he told the news site.The task is to decipher the moral basis of the Malay political community into actionable language . People in the end obey the law because they think it is fair and just, that it applies equally to all, and because they get morally habituated to it. It thus becomes a form of self-restraint . Hence, … Read more

It is difficult not to look at the ground when you are in a room full of women who have been subjected to unspeakable sexual abuse. It is awkward when you meet those who up until that moment have been faceless, lost somewhere between FIRs and newspaper reports, just “a 24-year-old who was dragged away at night…” Reduced to a statistic: “This was the fourth such case here in just the past one month…”

Femen, a Ukrainian group famous for its topless protests, is in news again after a Tunisia court ordered the release of activist Amina Sboui. The Tunisian activist was arrested in mid May after she wrote the word Femen on a cemetery wall in Kairouan, central of Tunisia. She was put on trial for carrying an ‘incendiary object’ (a pepper spray). Conservative groups had accused her of insulting the city of Kairouan, a religious centre.

A mention on the external forces that influence the increasing take-up of English is pertinent here. Globalisation of English, characterised by, inter alia, the dominance of English in global media networks and international communities, entails challenges and opportunities for contemporary Malaysia. But far from ideologically neutral, globalised English comes pre-packaged with forms of political and cultural baggage. Moreover, the globalisation of the English language is more a reflection of hegemonising economic drives than the geographic spread of speakers across the globe.Since the 1990s, there has been a gradual ‘intellectualisation’ of women’s movements in Malaysia, particularly in Muslim women’s groups. Female academics, lawyers, writers, artists, and journalists became members of feminist NGOs during this period, particularly in Muslim feminist groups. However, the over-representation of urban middle-class women and men in feminist activism in Malaysia marginalises the concerns and voices of working class women whose issues are seldom expressed in fluent English.

AIRASIA Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes has responded to criticism that the uniform of its female cabin crew is too revealing. “If you really want us to go global, and every politician says so, then support us and look beyond our shores and our cultural sensitivities,” he said on Tuesday.

Mr Fernandes said that crew members themselves designed the outfit, and that it was chosen because of its “universal features”, reported liberal news portal Malaysiakini.

“Being a big brand attracts detractors, not everyone will love us,” he said during the Global Malaysia Series forum in Kuala Lumpur. Critics of the uniform come from both sides of the political divide.

One of them is Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who, in a written parliamentary reply, said that airlines can choose their own designs, but that the government would ask AirAsia to reassess its uniform.

Sell?

Meanwhile, during the same forum, the former boss of Malaysian Airlines (MAS) Idris Jala said the government should consider selling the national carrier, but not at a loss.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said MAS was trading at RM6 (S$2.30) when he was in charge, but the share price of the company has dropped to 30 sen now, Malaysian Insider reported.

The government’s state asset manager Khazanah Nasional is the majority owner of the airline, which has posted losses for its last six quarters, the report added.

Recently, French President Francois Hollande had unveiled a new stamp emblazoned with the face of Marianne, France’s revolutionary symbol which is inspired by these feminists known for topless protests. My conversation with Alexandra ‘Sasha’ Shevchenko, co-founder of Femen, and Inna Shevchenko, leader of Femen France, about the group’s ideology.

t was an AC 2-tier compartment of a Delhi-bound Rajdhani from Assam. The passengers were just getting ready for lunch and some had even armed themselves with a fork and spoon. Fork on the left, spoon on the right. Just as it should be, the way it is taught at convents and boarding schools perched on mountain tops.

As the train’s attendants came with a fresh supply of bottled mineral water, the conversation turned to the Guwahati molestation case of July 9 this year when 15 men were caught on TV pouncing on a teenaged girl outside a bar as one of the goons whipped out his camera to record it for titillation and posterity.

Feminism and the women’s movement in Malaysia are products of specific historical and political contexts. Following this logic, the language used in feminist activism can also be seen as a product of similar contexts. The focus of this article is the current state of the feminist movement in Malaysia and its linguistic framework as the effects of changes in language policy. This article argues that the predominance of English poses challenges to the inclusion of working-class class feminist agendas but offers opportunities in strengthening transnational feminist linkages. Language thus becomes an underlying issue which may explain the successful inroads and setbacks faced by feminist organisations in Malaysia.

The language of feminism is relatively alien to the public discourse in Malaysia where terms such as ‘gender’, ‘sexuality’, and even ‘feminism’ exist as loanwords. When ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality’ and their different linguistic incarnations reflective of the country’s multilingual fabric appear at all, they are sporadic and usually enmeshed in the discourse of academia, activism, and human rights in the English language. Although there is a recognition of feminist activism in Malaysia, it is subsumed under the banner of women’s struggles against discrimination and injustice. In other words, women’s struggles are not always recognised as being feminist ones.

There is considerable literature on the development of the women’s and feminist movement in Malaysia. However, language use in Malaysian feminist discourse has been given little attention by scholars. This lacunae requires attention due to the highly political nature of language policy in Malaysia where language use is linked with ethnicity, class, and at times religion.

English was hardly the language used in the organised calls for feminist emancipation which emerged during the turn of the twentieth century.  Inspired by Muslim reformers during their studies in Cairo, Syed Syeikh Al-Hadi and Zainal Abidin Ahmad, better known as Za’ba, were Malay male intellectuals whose writings on women’s liberation began the stirrings of emancipation of Malay people not only on gendered terms, but against colonialism. Their writings appeared in Malay journals such as al-Ikhwan (1926-1931) and Saudara (1928-1941), publications that were heavily influenced by Egyptian modernist magazines.

“But what was the girl doing so late in the night?” asked the Air Force officer in the traveling group. From Ghaziabad but working in Guwahati, he went on, “Apparently she was drunk and was flirting with some men in the pub. Shouldn’t she be probed for loose character?” Some heads had already begun to nod in agreement when another passenger, by now red with rage, said, “Next time someone grabs your sister’s bottom, the police should first investigate whether she’s morally sound.” No one spoke to each other the rest of the journey as the sullen group waited impatiently to disembark at New Delhi.

And we’re talking here of men who head large teams at fancy offices in Gurgaon and Nariman Point – people who wear suits to office and always stir their coffee clockwise. Now imagine the conversation in the general compartment of a local train filled with those too poor for a good education or exposure, those who have grown up thinking a woman should be behind the veil, in the kitchen and forever pregnant.

Strange theories are floated to explain the depravity of Indian men – from greater access to pornography (that would have made Holland very unsafe for women) to a growing inclination towards noodles (think Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong) – but the truth is that at the root of it all lies a culture built around hierarchies, of gender, faith, colour, caste, region.

We are, quite simply, not used to people being equal – dark versus fair, Mongoloid versus Aryan, ‘chinky’ versus large-eyed are demarcations and rankings that have almost been internalized; in many cases institutionalized. Of course, female versus male continues to be the greatest division of all – and one that cuts across all other borders of the mind.
We at The Times of India in our edition today laid out a 6-point action plan to make India safer for women – harsher punishment, sensitization of the police force, setting up of fast-track courts, better patrolling, cleverer use of technology like GPS and CCTVs and a data base of public transport personnel – but what all these measures will not address is the mindset. A mindset that since the time of that deviant philosopher called Manu has refused to see “the weaker sex” as anything but property and the receptacle of male sperms.

Though many of my north Indian friends react in agonized protest when I say this, but in the end it is also a cultural and civilisational thing. In those societies that do — or have learnt to — respect women, and consider them as equal, incidence of rape, sexual harassment, molestation is very low, if not absent altogether. In Darjeeling, for instance, police stations across the district will tell you that in the last decade they have come across only a couple of cases. That, too, in one an outsider was involved. A cop I spoke to for this article remembered just a single case of “eve teasing” – in 1981.

The Khasis of Meghalaya also score very high on gender parity. So do the Nagas, Mizos, Sikkimese and generally the people of the North-East. Another indication of this equality is the absence of dowry in these communities. And this is because there really is no price on the head – or body – of a woman. This translates itself in many heartwarming ways (though it doesn’t mean much, Aamir Khan mentioned these facts about the North-East in one of his Satyameva Jayate episodes). You will, for instance, never see a woman in any of the Darjeeling buses standing for want of space while men are sitting down. It is quite remarkable actually, now that I have lived, worked and traveled outside the North-East for over a decade. The word, I guess, is ‘un-relatable’.

If what happens to women on the roads of Delhi and Mumbai – other cities, too – is to stop, the change will have to come first at home, from the family. Boys, as they grow up, will have to be taught that their sisters are not there to get the leftovers – the one piece of chocolate that couldn’t be eaten, the tricycle with a broken wheel that couldn’t be driven, the school with expensive fees that couldn’t be afforded. I met a bright 12-year-old girl recently – she sometimes tags along with the woman in my colony who presses clothes – who told me she had to discontinue her education because he father could only afford to send two children to class. So her bhaiyyas got a chance to go ahead in life while she was left to accompany her mother on small errands that usually get rewarded with a 10-rupee note.

A lot of how India will be in the future, how one half of the population will treat the other half, will depend on the lessons from parents and teachers. GPS and CCTVs, after all, cannot track what goes inside homes and the minds of men; they can only make our streets a bit safer. The violence to women within families is many times deadlier. And often it is this violence, the mentality and justification of it, that spirals away and gets carried out in cinema halls, moving auto-rickshaws and crowded malls. It is this that makes well-dressed men in sharp suits and shiny shoes traveling in planes and expensive trains say a woman is responsible for everything bad that happens to her.

Why do you use the bared breast as a symbol of protest?

Inna: We started in 2008 as a union of young women who were discussing the problems faced by our sisters and mothers in Ukraine. Back then we followed the classical modes of protests to catch the attention of the government. But nobody was interested in what we had to say. Through our observation and dialogues we realized that the only function which the world assigns to women is sex. You can see it in advertisements which sexualize the female body and the booming sex-trade. This is when we decided that we must subvert the sexual use of the female body and transform our bodies to launch a campaign against patriarchy — we began to bare our breasts and then people noticed us.

Femen has coined a word – sextremism. What does it mean?

Inna: This is a tactic that we use in our fight against male domination. Sextremism means the transformation of the woman’s body into a canvas for protests. We see ourselves as a new brand of feminists. Feminists before us have protested against the domination of men in the society but, at the same time, they stuck to the values of patriarchy which sees a woman’s body as a source of some false sense of honour. They covered themselves up. We have ripped away our clothes and thrown in it the face of patriarchy and given our own meaning to the female body.

Have any of your supporters been picked up by the government, police or special forces?

Inna: Almost every time we protest we are picked up by the authorities. The most harrowing detention took place in 2011 at Minsk, in Belarus, when we were picked up by the KGB. They took three of us deep into the forest and ordered us to strip completely; then they dragged us around by our hair and used various torture techniques upon us. They told us repeatedly that they would kill us. This went on for almost 24 hours, but in the end they left us in the forest. The authorities in France are much gentler and treat us like human beings.

Femen has announced that it is going to send its protest squad to the 2014 football world cup. What is the purpose?

Sasha: A football world cup means that many, many men will get together to watch a game and all they want to do is watch football, drink beer and have sex. I have seen it with my own eyes in Ukraine during the previous world cup. Many of my friends were forced to join the sex trade during the event. Trafficking of women in Eastern Europe is a huge problem. We want countries to criminalise prostitution or follow the Swedish model.

One of the arguments against Femen is that it is intruding into cultures, especially the Islamic one, and projecting its ideals onto a world where they have no place.

Sasha: We don’t discriminate on the basis of sex, colour, religion, race, or any other basis. Torture is not culture. If we go back 40 years into Iran’s history, women had more freedom and didn’t wear the hijab. Using various tropes of religion like hijab is a good way to propagate patriarchal values. Many women in Iran, and the Arab world, are beaten and abused if they don’t cover their faces. Femen is standing up for those countless women who don’t have a voice, and want to rid themselves of the clothes of patriarchy.The real stories of rape victims almost never come out, tightly sealed as they are in shame, taboo and a sense of futility. What is the point in talking about it, they will tell you, encouraged by their families not to heap further indignities upon themselves, having already “lost their honour” in the community. But when they do come out, the stories, they stagger you with the unbearable weight of each personal tragedy.

Do you support the ban on hijab in countries like France?

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The real stories of rape victims almost never come out, tightly sealed as they are in shame, taboo and a sense of futility. What is the point in talking about it, they will tell you, encouraged by their families not to heap further indignities upon themselves, having already “lost their honour” in the community. But when they do come out, the stories, they stagger you with the unbearable weight of each personal tragedy.

At Samadhan in Dehradun, a care intervention and rehabilitation centre for victims of sexual crimes, there is a young woman who the other inmates call ‘DGP’. Renu D Singh, 50, a rights activist who runs the 30-year-old privately-funded institution, said this is one of the “worst of the worst” cases that have come to her.

The girl is not in a position yet to talk about her history, but information pieced together by Samadhan activists hint at her surviving the violence of child marriage in rural Uttar Pradesh and running away from home. No one knows how she came to Haridwar three years ago where she had been raped so many times that she started smearing her body with her own excreta to ward off predators. She was being molested when some passersby heard her cries and alerted a local Samadhan representative. “She was on the brink of losing her sanity when we brought her here on September 13, 2011,” Singh said.

The victim’s case summary says that when she landed in Haridwar, hungry, unhinged and as vulnerable as a little baby, some “opportunistic criminals in the garb of sadhus” turned her into a sex slave for months. They let go of her when an untreated wound on her right leg developed a severe infection. “There were maggots crawling all over her and gangrene had also set in,” said Singh.

Then Singh says something that knocks the wind out of you. “Even in that condition, when we took her to a government hospital a doctor was caught trying to molest her. We created a hue and cry and went to the cops, but they asked us to first put in a complaint with the CMO and the DM. They later told us that they found the doctor innocent and that there was no basis for the FIR. The report about the doctor’s misdeeds was published in the local papers but nothing came of it. We were just glad we somehow managed to save her from yet another rape.”

When I met DGP sometime in June this year at Samadhan, she looked closer to 30 although she is barely 22, dragging her bad leg as she walked. “Do you know why she is called DGP?” Singh said, allowing herself a little smile. “It is because she occasionally pretends to be a cop. That gives her a sense of power. Once in a while she will carry a small stick, too, like officers do. The other girls humour her.”

On the top floor of Samadhan’s three-storied building in the heart of Dehradun, there is a small kitchen that the inmates run, making rice, dal and sabzi; occasionally they prepare dosa and noodles too. Standing behind the food counter is a frail girl. Let’s call her Amrita. “Namaskar,” she says, cheerily. “I am a victim-survivor, too, but am now studying law. I want to fight for women like me, help them in whatever way I can. The courts can be a jungle. It’s easy to get misguided and be exploited.”

Displaced by the Tehri dam and unable to cope up with delayed rehabilitation by the government, Amrita’s family had quickly disintegrated. Later, her father had only been too happy to give her off to someone who promised marriage. The man turned out to be a trafficker.

It was when she was fighting against her own trafficking and rape by some powerful men in her village that the brutal reprisal came in the form of her sister’s gang-rape. Amrita’s younger sibling was only 15 then. After a long battle an FIR was lodged in the Matli thana (Uttarkashi) in October 2010, but the police slapped a reverse case against the girl under section 182 of the IPC for “filing a false report of crime.” Today both the sisters are with Samadhan. Their father died of TB two years ago and their mother lives alone in their Uttarkashi village, barely able to fend for herself.

It’s an issue Amrita says she will take up once she is armed with a lawyer’s degree. “Across police stations in India, it is simply impossible to report a rape. The police do everything in their power to thwart you. In nine out of 10 cases the victim gives up,” she said. “A much longer and tougher battle awaits us in court. Few can go through such humiliation and pressure, that too over months and years.” Rehabilitation is another problem. “Even if you win the case, compensation from the government either takes ages to come or doesn’t come at all. The system doesn’t support you. Jobs are tough to get, often your family deserts you and men think we are easy meat,” she said.

Listening to Amrita talk is a quiet woman in well-tailored salwar-kameez and sandals. Speaking in English, with a hint of make-up, she does well to hide her scars – emotional and physical. But at Samadhan, she must be the only one who is still scared of harm from her tormentor – the man she married. A helper at the centre said, “Her husband, a police inspector who recently took voluntary retirement, still wields a lot of power. For the longest time the cops wouldn’t even listen to her. Some of them would tip off her husband about the case.”

Nalini (her name changed) says that after several months of visiting the police station in Dehradun was she able to file an FIR in September 2011. She alleges her husband, a man with psychopathic tendencies, would at the slightest provocation gag and sodomise her. Once when she complained, he flung her to the ground, sat on her and poured a bottle of floor cleaner down her throat. One day he tattooed his name on her arm with a needle in front of her five-year-old son. “I was so smashed up, inside and outside, that when I came to Samadhan I could barely talk,” said Nalini. “I was terrified that my husband, who had once beaten me up in front of some colleagues and chopped off my hair, would find and kill me.”

Thirty-five years old now and divorced, Nalini has done her Masters in Child Education and Development and now wants to do a PhD. “Maybe I will work as an educationist some day. I like to be with children,” she said. Her son is still with her husband because she has been to doctors and psychiatrists so often that it is difficult to prove in court that she is normal enough to fulfill her role of a mother.

Amrita, meanwhile, is studying hard to crack her law exams, while her sister, who completed class X recently with 74% from a school in Roorkee, has written 108 poems in both Garhwali and Hindi and is waiting for someone to publish them. Even DGP reads and writes a bit, and has started to paint, drawing babies and flowers.

Survivors like Nalini, Amrita and DGP, across India, at home and in rehabilitation centres, are attempting to put the past behind and build their lives anew. But Singh knows it will be tough. “The fact is that there is little sympathy for victims of sexual and domestic violence in our country,” she said. “We need to talk about rape in our society more than we do – in our midst, in the media, policy circles. In India, nobody really does.”

Least of all, it seems, the government. Despite a steep spurt in the sexual crimes graph – while the US Justice Department says the rate of such violence against women and girls aged 12 or older fell 64% in a decade there (1995-2005), India has witnessed a 74% increase over the past 15 years, according to a study based on stats released by the National Crime Records Bureau – and the MHA’s urgent advisory to state governments on it in 2009, few, if any, have set up rape crisis centres and specialised treatment units.

Sasha: Yes. We in Femen are anti-religion, and that includes Christian symbols like the church and the cross.

Do you think being naked is empowering for women?

Sasha: We in Femen are naked because we want to take charge of our body. We don’t want our nakedness to be pleasing or erotic. In places like Ukraine another patriarchal version of women is visible — women in short clothes, high heels. This is to look sexy and attract men in order to get married. I realized that my parents wanted me to do a Master’s not because they wanted me to be independent but because that would help me get a ‘better’ husband. I was a doll. Women in Arab countries cover their hands and faces because that is the tradition. A chaste, virgin who covers her face will attract a better match. Different countries have different ways of enforcing patriarchal values.

Femen staged the first naked protest in the Arab world in Tunisia. What did you seek to achieve?

Sasha: Three Femen members, two French and one German, had gone to protest the arrest of our Tunisian member, Amina Tyler. The Salafists and other conservative forces in Tunisia are suffocating women in the name of religion, much like the rest of the Arab world. Earlier, Amina was punished for posting online her topless photos with the slogan “my body is my own” written on her torso.

What do you have to say to women who are against Femen?

Sasha: The most hopeless situation is when people who are slaves can’t see their shackles. Women in the Arab world don’t see their chains just like I didn’t when I was dressing up like a doll. We are protesting for those who don’t see their chains.

“Members are bribed with money, overseas trips and to perform umrah. With that, all Umno members are involved in bribery by selling their votes for money,” he said.

However, the former Umno president said the party still has much to offer to Malays compared to opposition parties.

Dr Mahathir argued that Umno has had a good track record in improving the lives of the Malays by providing basic necessities and opportunities to thrive in society.

“We can look at the states that are not under Umno where the Malays are living in poorer conditions. Any benefits to them are from the federal government, headed by Umno.

Abdullah’s  Ahmad Zahid checkmates DATUK MUKHRIZ MAHATHIR should not vie for VP postsIn any other political system, a man who could not answer how he amassed so much wealth when challenged by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1998 would have become a footnote. But this happened in Umno, where having a couple of question marks next to your name is a badge of honour.

CHECKMATE Wily Zahid says DATUK MUKHRIZ MAHATHIR should not vie for VP posts

Mahathir, no respecter of cultural norms, wasted little time in going public with his quickly acquired distaste for Abdullah. The latter was not so much the obvious choice of Mahathir to succeed him as a selection that was deemed to be the most acceptable at the time it was made in January 1999.

Incumbent President Mahathir was inclined to wait for UMNO’s triennial elections in 1999 to decide who should be the party’s No. 2 after he had sacked Anwar Ibrahim, the Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy President of UMNO, from both party and government in late August-early September of 1998.

The sacking caused a major upheaval in Malaysia politics with consequences that reverberate to this day.After Anwar’s (right) sacking, humiliation and arraignment on corruption and sodomy charges, the No 2 post in UMNO and in government was left vacant from early September 1998 to the third week of January 1999.

This vacancy had senior members of the party’s Supreme Council worried that if anything should happen to Mahathir, who was 73-years-old then, a mad scramble for the No. 2 post would occur.

Given the political tremors occasioned by the removal of Anwar, the seniors pressed a reluctant Mahathir to choose a No. 2 to forestall a repeat of the instability that followed Anwar’s extirpation from party and government.

Mahathir’s procrastination had the effect of stirring speculation that perhaps he did not think that there was anyone in the upper echelons of the Supreme Council especially fitted to succeed him. It must be remembered than in sacking Anwar, Mahathir had run through three deputies; all three wound up as discards.

Must be ‘fate’

Senior UMNO Supreme Council members were perturbed at speculation that perhaps Mahathir was looking beyond the confines of the council, having wearied of finding a suitable successor from within.

The ever-aspiring Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah just then decided to host a breaking of the fast (it was Ramadan in January 1999) function at his house in a plush district of Kuala Lumpur. Mahathir (left) and anyone who was someone in the Supreme Council were invited.

When there was a no-show by more than half of those invited, it was taken as a clear sign that most of the Supreme Council wanted Mahathir to choose a No 2 from within their set rather than outside of it.

Mahathir kept putting the choice off until an attack of pleurisy he suffered in January made the implorations of the senior UMNO Supreme Council members that a No 2 be announced irresistible.

At the end of a Supreme Council meeting in the third week of January, Mahathir announced quietly – almost anti-climatically – that Abdullah was the choice as Acting Deputy President of the party and Deputy Prime Minister.

“Takdir” (fate), sighed the modest Abdullah when he received the news.But it was a fate that turned out to have its own crown of thorns.

Abdullah who brought Ahmad Zahid back from political oblivion in 2004, appointing him a deputy minister.

Zahid had become a peripheral figure in the party after the sacking of his political godfather, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. But Abdullah felt that Zahid had been rehabilitated and could provide some warlord cover if things became a bit tough during his term as prime minister. Following the 2008 polls, Ahmad Zahid was made Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

Abdullah and Ahmad Zahid still remain close and the minister was a guest at the former prime minister’s Hari Raya open house yesterday. But Abdullah’s selection of Ahmad Zahid as a minister is a constant reminder of his greatest failing as a PM – the blind spot for Umno.

Since the launch of a book titled Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years In Malaysia, there has been some nostalgia for the Abdullah years with some of his more staunch supporters suggesting that he could perhaps play a role of a statesman in our fractured country.

He can’t play that role. He cannot because he is an Umno man, through and through. He put Umno before anything else, even Malaysia – every time. Ahmad Zahid did not become a pompous, obtuse man just yesterday. He has been like this forever but he was rewarded by Abdullah and Najib.

Najib appointed him as Defence Minister in 2009. A year later, Ahmad Zahid was alleged to have beat up his daughter’s boyfriend so badly that the man had to be hospitalised.

The police took no action but the victim filed a civil suit and the matter is pending.

That case did not have any bearing on Najib. He appointed Zahid to the powerful Home Ministry, overseeing the police, immigration and several other important government agencies.

Why? Loyalty.

Just like Abdullah in 2004, Najib also needs someone to protect his flank. He needs a fighter, a shouter, an orator. So what if his man insults large segments of Malaysians everytime he opens his mouth? So what if he makes a mockery of Malaysia’s claim to be a moderate and tolerant country?

Fact is Abdullah Badawi and Najib Razak couldn’t give a toss what Malaysians want or deserve. Their only consideration was and remains protecting their flanks from attacks and what Umno wants.

That is why Ahmad Zahid is holding court on all sorts of issues. Who could blame him, though? He is an opportunist.

Blame Abdullah and Najib for foisting their bodyguard on Malaysia

Mahathir might not have the confidence that Muhyiddin would garner enough support from within Umno to win the president’s post, and that is why the Mahathir himself had supported the no-contest motion.”Najib doesn’t have a clear idea of what he wants to do. He is not leading, he is responding. But responding alone does not make you a leader,”

Prime Minister Najib Razak described as “imagination” and “naughty” the recent news reports that he had used intermediaries to propose forming a ‘unity government’ with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

But despite the denial, it is clear he has missed a great opportunity to seal his legacy as an outstanding Malay leader and go down in history as the man who finally managed to unite an Umno torn apart and never fully recovered from Anwar’s shock ouster in 1998.

Bringing Anwar back to the Umno-BN fold

For Anwar and PKR, that may be so. But for Najib, it is likely to be just the beginning.

Umno leaders and grassroots have been unsettled by news of the unity government.

Many of those in Umno who had hoped for Anwar to return to the fold would have been thrilled if it really came true.

Anwar was one of the most popular Umno leaders, holding the post of deputy president and deputy prime minister before he was sacked and jailed in 1998 by the then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Although Mahathir had slapped on manifestly trumped-up sodomy and corruption charges against Anwar, it was clear the older leader was very wary of his deputy’s phenomenal popularity.

Umno watchers now expect Najib to claim full bragging rights over the latest episode, taking credit – especially with the grassroots – for trying to bring Anwar back to their party or at least to the BN fold.

Defining moment In Najib’s first term as president, he had succeeded in getting Mahathir to re-join Umno. Mahathir had resigned in anger at what he alleged was the incompetence of the then president, Abdullah Badawi.

Najib may have hoped that by hooking Anwar, it would help him to win a second term as the Umno president. For sure, it would have. In fact, it would have been much more than than that.

Getting Anwar to return would have been a defining moment for Najib. And a pretty watershed one for Umno as a party.

“The report that quoted Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar as confirming there was an effort by Datuk Seri Mohd Najib to form a unity government is a political statement that is meant to be naughty,” Najib said in a statement issued by his office.

Najib may retain presidency but faces a HUGE DILUTION in power

Menteris besar and chief ministers should not offer to contest for Umno Supreme Council posts because they still have the opportunity to be appointed to such posts by the party president.

Wily veteran plots and schemes

The Umno watcher was referring to former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who is still very influential in the party.

However, there has also been red-hot talk that Mahathir might back Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to challenge Najib for the Umno presidency.

And lately, supporters of the wily veteran have also leaked rumors that he might let Najib stay on as prime minister but put someone else he trusted more to head Umno. Who that person could be remains an object of much speculation but names tossed out include Mahathir himself and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin.

If true, and if Mahathir’s latest gambit works, then it would be the first time in Malaysia’s history where the Umno president is not also the prime minister of the country.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak claimed UMNO was a credible political party that played by the rules and was ready to walk the talk. If so then why was UMNO ordered to be deregistered by the High Court in 1989 after an application by UMNO members for malpractices and not playing by the rules during the 1987 party elections?

Najib is repeating the lies of Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times and a vicious fictitious account by one Father Augustus Chen who does not even exist, that DAP had allegedly failed to notify 753 members of its Central Executive Committee (CEC) election last year.

Even the ROS knows that this is a lie when the ROS refused to state this as the reason or any other reasons for that matter, in ordering DAP to hold re-elections. By only saying that it is dissatisfied without giving any reasons, it is clear that the ROS is unable to do so because it has no valid reasons whatsoever to give.

Fact is Abdullah Badawi and Najib Razak couldn’t give a toss what Malaysians want or deserve. Their only consideration was and remains protecting their flanks from attacks and what Umno wants.

That is why Ahmad Zahid is holding court on all sorts of issues. Who could blame him, though? He is an opportunist.

Blame Abdullah and Najib for foisting their bodyguard on Malaysia. -

Isu kerajaan perpaduan antara BN dengan PKR yang telah timbul sejak hampir seminggu lalu sehingga menyebabkan ada yang deman sejuk, demam panas, migrain dan sebagainya, akhirnya mendapat jawapan daripada Pejabat Perdana Menteri yang menafikan wujud sebarang usaha ke arah itu.

Dalam kenyataan yang dikeluarkan hari ini, Pejabat Perdana Menteri menyatakan, usaha ke arah pembentukan kerajaan perpaduan ini tidak mungkin dilakukan ketika ini kerana Anwar dan Pakatan Rakyat masih menolak keputusan pilihanraya umum yang lalu.

Kenyataan itu juga menyebut, andaian bahawa wujudanya usaha ke arah mewujudkan kerajaan perpaduan itu hanyalah rekaan dan imaginasi penulis beberapa portal berita tertentu sahaja.

Sebelum ini, Najib dilaporkan sedang mengusahakan pembentukan kerajaan perpaduan dengan PKR dengan menawarkan kepada Anwar jawatan Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan lima jawatan menteri kabinet.

Dilaporkan bahawa bekas Naib Presiden Indonesia, Jusof Kalla menjadi orang tengah kepada usaha itu.

Kemudiannya, Anwar mengesahkannya kepada Asia Sentinel bahawa beliau dihubungi oleh Najib melalui perantara untuk pembentukan kerajaan perpaduan itu tetapi telah menolaknya sebelum sempat ia menjadi kenyataan atas alasan isu-isu perkauman yang berterusan dimainkan oleh Umno menjadi antara penghalangnya.

Terbaru The Edge Review pula mendetailkan lagi mengenai usaha pembentukan itu dengan menyebut nama Naib Presiden Umno, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi dan Setiausaha Agung PKR, Saifuddin Nasution sebagai orang kanan daripada Umno dan PKR yang sedangkan merundingkan beberapa aspek teknikal bagi memungkinkan idea kerajaan perpaduan itu menjadi kenyataan.

Najib dikatakan memilih PKR untuk berbaik-baik dan menguatkan lagi kerajaannya bukan saja kerana PKR sebuah parti berbilang kaum yang boleh menampung kelompongan wakil Cina dan India dalam kerajaan tetapi juga dikatakan sebagai langkah membuka gelanggang baru untuk keluar dari pengaruh dan bayang-bayang Mahathir yang sehingga kini masih mahu menunjukkan pengaruhnya dalam Umno dan kerajaan.

Bagaimanapun isu kerajaan perpaduan ini menimbulkan rasa kurang senang di kedua-dua belah pihak.

Di dalam PKR sendiri ramai yang tidak setuju atas alasan penentangan terhadap Umno selama ini ialah berkaitan isu pokok seperti rasuah, penyelewengan, pembaziran dan sebagainya yang tidak boleh dikompromi sama-sekali.

Dalam masa yang sama, Anwar juga mula dikecam secara diam-diam kerana bersetuju berunding dengan Umno mengenai kerajaan perpaduan itu kerana ia dianggap mengkhianati PAS dan DAP yang selama ini begitu setia dengan Anwar sejak beliau dipecat daripada Umno dan kerajaan.

Di dalam Umno pula, ramai yang turut tidak setuju dengan kerajaan perpaduan ini kerana merasakan Anwar bukanlah musuh politik yang boleh ditukar menjadi kawan.

Ramai yang kecewa dan sakit hati jika Anwar yang dimusuhi dan diserang selama bertahun-tahun ini tiba-tiba bertukar menjadi rakan kepada Najib serta sebahagian daripada anggota kerajaan.

Secara diam-diam, sudah ada kedengaran suara-suara yang mengecam dan memaki-hamun Najib jika benar beliau mahu berbaik-baik dengan Anwar.

Malah, ada yang mencadangkan agar Najib ditentang bagi jawatan Presiden Umno pada pemilihan 19 Oktober depan bagi menghalang usaha ke arah mewujudkan kerajaan perpaduan itu daripada menjadi kenyataan.

Walaupun Pejabat Perdana Menteri mengeluarkan kenyataan menafikan perkara itu hari ini, persoalan yang masih bermain-main di fikiran ramai orang ialah kenapa penafian ini begitu lewat dikeluarkan?

Kenapa setelah hampir seminggu berita megenainya berlegar-legar di ruang atmosfera politik negara, baru ia mahu dinafikan oleh Najib?

Dalam dunia langit terbuka dan semuanya serba pantas sekarang serta mengetahui berita tidak perlu lagi menunggu terbitnya akhbar pada keesokan harinya, tindakan Pejabat Perdana Menteri yang terlalu lewat menafikan perkara ini tetap menyundang persoalan yang sukar dirungkaikan.

Sepatutnya jika benar usaha mewujudkan kerajaan perpaduan ini tidak benar dan laporan Asia Sentinel serta The Edge Review adalah palsu, tidak perlulah Pejabat Najib menunggu sehingga hampir seminggu untuk menjelaskan duduk perkara sebenarnya.

Lagi pula, Najib juga mempunyai laman Facebook dan Twitter, yang kononnya antara paling aktif di kalangan pemimpin dunia, bukankah bila-bila masa beliau boleh menaip sendiri melalui telefon pintar yang dimilikinya?

Atau mungkinkah usaha mewujudkan kerajaan perpaduan ini sebenarnya memang wujud dan ia hanya terhalang kerana respon ahli dan pemimpin Umno yang tidak begitu memberangsangkan terhadap idea itu?

Apakah Najib sebenarnya ingin meninjau-ninjau sambutan ahli dan pemimpin Umno terlebih dahulu, jika sambutannya okey, ia bolehlah diteruskan tetapi jika tidak, barulah dikeluarkan penafian dan menolaknya.

Timbul juga persoalan bila penjelasan Najib menyebut rundingan ke arah kerajaan perpaduan tidak mungkin berlaku sehingga Anwar dan PR menerima keputusan pilihanraya lalu serta tidak lagi mempertikaikannya.

Adakah ini bermakna, ia hanya tidak mungkin berlaku sekarang tetapi boleh berlaku selepas ini jika Anwar sudah akur dengan keputusan pilihanraya lalu?

Hakikatnya, penjelasan Najib turut menimbulkan beberapa persoalan dan keresahan yang berterusan.

Oleh kerana Anwar yang mula-mula membangkitkan mengenai kerajaan perpaduan ini dan Najib pula hanya menafikannya setelah hampir seminggu ia muncul, adalah penting untuk Anwar sekali lagi menjelaskan kedudukan sebenarnya.

Beliau perlu menyatakan sama ada ia pernah dibincangkan atau tidak, secara langsung atau melalui wakil atau turut menafikan sebagaimana yang dilakukan oleh Pejabat Perdana Menteri itu.

Zahid Hamidi dan Saifuddin Nasution yang disebut sebagai dua pemimpin kanan Umno dan PKR yang sedang menjayakan usaha itu juga perlu tampil menjelaskannya kepada umum.

Hanya setelah semua itu diterangkan dengan seterang-terangnya, barulah kita tahu siapa yang berbohong dan siapa yang bercakap benar dalam isu ini.