National Express Malaysia

Horror: Deceased battered, ears stapled

2013-05-23T00:33:00.001+08:00

Worst custodial death case since Kugan, says Surendran

2013-05-23T00:16:00.000+08:00

The latest case of custodial death, that of N Dharmendran, is the worst that lawyer and newly-elected lawmaker N Surendran has seen since the death of A Kugan in 2009.

Surendran (left) - who has been appointed as lawyer for the family - said both Dharmendran's ears were stapled, and that there had been severe marks of having been hit by the authorities on his thighs and back.

"I have been allowed to view Dharmendran's body with lawyer Latheefa Koya and the family members of the deceased after the pathologist had allowed us to view it at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) mortuary."

"There were physical evidence of beatings and torture to the front of his thighs, and at the back of his body, there were beating marks on his back (severe to the point that) it had swelled up.

"The ears are stapled and there are staples left intact, which could be (clearly) seen on the ears.

"This is the worst case that I have seen since Kugan,” said Surendran, who is the newly-elected Padang Serai MP.

Surendran noted that the pathologist will be conducting a post-mortem at about 2pm, and that the results or initial findings would be obtained later.

Dharmendran, 31, was picked up by police on May 11 after he lodged a police report at the Pudu police station when he had been involved in a fight. He has been in remand since that day at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters.

His parents and wife had not been told of Dharmendran's (left) arrest and were only informed of the matter on Sunday and managed to see him at the police lock-up on the same day. The victim is also known to have asthma.

The victim was supposed to be released on bail yesterday, and the police had waited in court.

However, his wife received a call from the police, who informed her that her husband had passed away and asked her to identify the body at the HKL.

They went there, but were not allowed to view Dharmendran's body until just now.

Earlier details showed that the post-mortem will be performed by Dr Siew Sheue Feng, a HKL pathologist who had also performed checks on alleged sodomy victim Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Kugan, 23, from Puchong - and who worked part-time as a tow truck operator - died at the Taipan police station after he was arrested over a spate of thefts of alleged luxury cars in the area. The Kugan case is the subject of an ongoing legal suit by the family against the police and the government.

'Suspend police officers involved'
Following this, Surendran has called on the police to suspend those who had interrogated Dharmendran.

He then urged newly-appointed inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar to form an independent investigation team to investigate the death of Dharmendran.

"The investigation should be done by others who are not from the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters to ensure that there is transparency and independence," he stressed.

In addition, Surendran also called on new Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (right) to step in as well to guarentee that action will be taken on those responsible.

"The new home minister, besides the new IGP, should ensure the transparency and independence in the police probe into the matter. The authorities should also review their policies of torturing people like in the Kugan case and in Dharmendran's case, as the physical evidence shows," he said.

Surendran added that he - along with the family members of Dharmendran - will be awaiting for the post-mortem, which is expected to be completed later this evening.

Kit Siang needs to brush up his knowledge

2013-05-23T00:09:00.000+08:00

Wong Mun Chee
I find it fascinating that Lim Kit Siang had come out with a statement claiming that the appointment of the cabinet minsters and their deputies was illegal since the senators had not been sworn in.

Let’s revisit the federal constitution.

Article number: 43

(1) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall appoint a Jemaah Menteri (Cabinet of Ministers) to advise him in the exercise of his functions.

(2) The Cabinet shall be appointed as follows, that is to say -

(a) the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister) to preside over the Cabinet a member of the House of Representative who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House; and

(b) he shall on the advice of the Prime Minister appoint other Menteri (Ministers) from among the members of either House of Parliament but if an appointment is made while parliament is dissolved a person who was a member of the last House of Representatives may be appointed but shall not continue to hold office after the beginning of the next session of Parliament unless, if he has been appointed Prime Minister, he is a member of the new House of Representatives, and in any other case he is a member either of that House or of the Senate.
Article number: 43a

(1) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may on the advice of the Prime Minister appoint Deputy Ministers from among the members of either House of Parliament; but if an appointment is made while Parliament is dissolved a person who was a member of the last House of Representatives may be appointed but shall not hold office after the beginning of the next session of Parliament unless he is a member either of that House or of the Senate.

On both instances above, the key phrase is “but if an appointment is made while Parliament is dissolved... but shall not hold office after the beginning of the next session of Parliament unless he is a member either of that House or of the Senate”

Really, do you need to be a rocket scientist to figure out this? The Parliament is indeed dissolved and neither of the Houses has convened or will until all the appointments have been made, so what is so illegal about the appointments?

With due respect to Lim Kit Siang, I find this a below-the-belt attempt for a lifetime politician with such specious reasoning.

It may not be his fault but he is still ill-advised by his exuberant legal eagles to make such a callous statement without actual substance.

As for our fellow Malaysians, please educate and enrich yourself with a reasonable amount of knowledge and sound common sense before blindly jumping into the bandwagon, whether it is BN/Pakatan.

MACC panel wants all elected reps to declare assets

2013-05-22T03:30:00.002+08:00

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel has proposed that all elected representatives in Parliament and state assemblies should declare their assets to it every three years, "to ensure integrity in government administration".

"This will reinforce their commitment to the fight against corruption. By doing so, doubts about their assets during their term as elected representatives can be overcome," said committee chairperson Johan Jaafar (left) in a statement today.

At present, only members of the cabinet and Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak's administration have declared their assets to the MACC.

BN candidates who contested in the 13th general election have also been subjected to MAC screening for graft.

Opposition candidates did not do so, but all exco members of Pakatan-held Selangor and Penang have declared their assets.

The panel believes that such a move will also protect the interests of the parties involved in the event of allegations about their positions and "wealth" during their tenure with the government.
Additional measures

As further measures to root out and prevent corruption, the panel also proposes:

- That family members of cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, menteris besar, chief ministers and state executive councillors be barred from bidding for government contracts with immediate effect; and

- That a cooling-off period be enforced before retired civil servants are allowed to take on corporate positions, to avoid undue abuse of influence and knowledge of inner government workings.

The measures are necessary, argued the panel, as corruption was one of the key issues raised during the general election campaign.

The panel believes that the Najib administration must take into account all views, criticism and allegations from various quarters and address the public perception that it is a corrupt government.

"Although a section of these views, criticism and allegations did not have a strong basis or were merely perceptions, they were used as grounds to allege that the government is not transparent, clean and does not have integrity."

The panel also lauded the appointment of Paul Low Seng Kuan, the president of Transparency International-Malaysia as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, responsible for anti-corruption matters.

"We are always ready to cooperate with (him) to root out corruption to ensure good governance and integrity."

Pakistan: Calls for attacks on Christians emanate from Mosque loudspeakers

2013-05-22T03:23:00.002+08:00

A Muslim political candidate suspected of murdering a Christian has instigated calls from mosque loudspeakers for attacks on Christians, whom he blames for his May 11 election loss.

Tensions were high in Punjab Province’s Okara district after provincial assembly seat candidate Mehr Abdul Sattar, sought by police in connection with a 2008 murder, on May 13 arranged for mosque calls for violence against Christian villages.

“Burn their homes to the ground … Punish them such that they forget Gojra and Joseph Colony,” blared village mosques in the district, according to Younas Iqbal, chairman of the Anjuman-e-Mazareen Punjab, a peasant movement fighting for land rights.

Iqbal told Morning Star News by phone that that when unofficial election results were announced on May 12, Sattar’s supporters ambushed a convoy of about 100 Christians on their way to congratulate his opponent on his victory.

“They destroyed two motorcycles and threw them in the canal, besides damaging a tractor,” Iqbal said. “We went to the Okara Saddar Police Station to register a case, but the police officials refused to move against Mehr.”

Recent religious furor has been easily stoked in Pakistan. In Lahore on March 9, about 3,000 Muslims attacked Christians in Joseph Colony, destroying 175 homes, after rumors spread of an alleged remark against Islam by a Christian. In Gojra in 2009, eight Christians were burned alive, 100 houses looted and 50 homes set ablaze after a blasphemy accusation.

Sattar has targeted Christians in several villages, designated by number-letter combinations from British colonial times, particularly village 8/4-L, for voting against him, Iqbal said. Christians largely voted for Mian Yawar Zaman, also a Muslim, for a provincial assembly seat in the general election on May 11.

Iqbal said that early on May 13, Sattar’s men prevented the Christian principal of the Government Primary School, Shamoun Masih, men from entering the institution.

“They told Shamoun that since the Christians had voted against Mehr, he wouldn’t be allowed inside,” he said. “They also roughed him up, but there were no serious injuries. In 3/4-L village, Amjad Masih was harassed.”

Iqbal added that Sattar’s supporters had also forcibly occupied land of some Christians.

“The threat of violence in 8/4-L is most serious because of the tiny Christian population there,” Iqbal said of the village of roughly 600 Christians. “Sensing the gravity of the situation, we immediately informed Zaman, the legislator-elect, who pressed the police to deploy personnel in the village.”

Okara Police Chief Rao Jabbar told Morning Star News that officers would take all necessary measures to protect the Christian peasants.

“We have taken notice of the inciting speeches made by Mehr Abdul Sattar, and I have assured the Christians that we will initiate legal action against him,” Jabbar said. “Meantime, I’ve directed all police officers concerned to remain vigilant and ensure that there is no damage to life and property of the Christians.”

Police have been helpless in the face of Sattar, though, Iqbal said.

“Even though the district police chief has promised to protect the area’s Christians, the danger will always remain there,” he said. “Several cases have been registered against Mehr, but no action has been taken against him. In January this year, the police tried to arrest Mehr and his men in a murder case, but his supporters blocked three main highways for several hours, forcing the police to abandon action against him.”

Police sought Sattar in connection with the murder of Javed Masih, a Christian who had opposed Sattar in a 2008 election.

“The late Javed Masih used to tell the peasants to vote according to their conscience and not get intimidated by gangsters like Mehr,” Iqbal said. “His efforts bore fruit, and Mehr lost the general election in 2008. Unfortunately, Masih had to sacrifice his life for the cause, while several others were injured in an armed attack by Mehr’s men.”

In this month’s election, Iqbal likewise told Christians to vote for the person they thought best. Zaman belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which has emerged as the single largest party in national and Punjab assemblies.

“The humiliating defeat further stoked anger in Mehr, and he’s now bent upon punishing us,” he said, adding that Sattar has targeted no Muslims for opposing him.

“Our application against Mehr Abdul Sattar is still pending with the police, but it seems more Christian blood will be shed before he is brought to justice,” Iqbal said. “But this will not deter us from using our right to vote. We refuse to give in to the tyranny of criminals like Mehr.”

Besides village 8/4-L, the threatened Christian areas in provincial constituency PP-191 are village 10/4-L, with an estimated Christian population of 3,000; 11/4-L, where 2,000 Christians live; and 26/4-L, in which around 1,000 Christians are settled.

The peasant land movement that became the issue of contention for Sattar arose more than 10 years ago in response to what Iqbal calls the Pakistan Army’s illegal occupation of 64,000 acres in some 10 districts of Punjab. Catholic Capuchins had relocated Christians to the area of central Punjab Province to provide dairy products to the British Army during World War II, and the British turned the land over to the Pakistan Army when the sub-continent was partitioned, Iqbal said.

“At the time of partition of the sub-continent, the Christians were not given the land rights which were promised to them by the Capuchin fathers,” he said. “Because of this, Christians are at the forefront of the peasants’ movement, which is facing the powerful Pakistan Army for their due right, as the Britons had handed over the lands to the Army after the partition.”

Sattar had initially worked with the peasant cause, he said.

“But then he began creating fissures in the movement, coaxing the Muslim members not to take directions from the Christian leadership,” Iqbal said. “He then left the movement and got involved in criminal activities, subsequently landing in politics. However, Mehr’s political career failed to take off because thousands of Christians of the area don’t vote for him.”

Waytha may change tactics but not cause

2013-05-22T03:20:00.001+08:00

Since my arrival in Malaysia for a short summer assignment, I read many political articles and had many interesting political conversations with voters about Hindraf and P Waythamoorthy.

A fair share of them scorned at Hindraf's collaboration with the BN. Others disagreed with Waythamoorthy's acceptance of his appointment as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

Some depicted him as a traitor or even worse, as someone who deserted his original ideals for position. Such disagreements and criticisms are understandable.

I have great respect for freedom of speech. Such bold opinions are definitely welcome especially with Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih in recent days seeking the right to free speech.

While I admire these individuals for their courage and am sure they speak out of care for the country, I must disagree with sophism.
The failure to understand Waythamoorthy's and the Hindraf's struggle resulted in specious arguments and nothing more than a series of allegations thrown at a noble individual.

Waythamoorthy's ideas are original, far ahead of our time. He is a sort of a maverick, with unconventional and nonconforming ideas.

Therefore it is difficult for some to understand the steps he took and the decisions he made. Some of the accusations against him were strongly influenced by ideology while others were loyalty-based.

Yes, Hindraf was at one time fiercely against the BN. That is the reason the organisation held numerous meetings with Pakatan with one goal, among others, to oust the BN.

The crucial question to answer here is why did Hindraf plot with Pakatan to oust the BN?
Hindraf had a single goal - to install a government that will instantly implement the Hindraf blueprint because BN had failed to do its share for the Indian community for more than 55 years.

Waythamoorthy had that one goal in mind - the improvement of the socio-economic status of ethnic Indians through implementation of the blueprint.

After numerous meetings however, Pakatan refused to sign the blueprint dumping Hindraf into a completely unexpected dilemma.

From the onset of it, Hindraf never promised that it would remain loyal to Pakatan under all circumstances.

Hindraf had always maintained that loyalty is issue-based, one that will be determined by mutual agreement and respect.
As a result of Pakatan's ditching of Hindraf, Hindraf was left with no other choice but to collaborate with those that Hindraf had previously condemned.

Again this is issue-based, the original goal of improving the shattered lives of ethnic Indians.
The BN, unlike Pakatan, was willing to sign the blueprint. Hindraf agreed, and reluctantly threw its support behind the BN. Why didn't Hindraf push for seats with the BN?

Again it is because the organisation adopted a wait-and-see attitude before forging a long-term alliance with the BN. If the issues stipulated in the blueprint are not fulfilled, I believe Hindraf will leave the BN.

I mentioned earlier that many allegations made against Hindraf and Waythamoorthy were influenced by ideology and loyalty.
For these accusers, bond and devotion to a party is sacred. They loved Hindraf when Hindraf was with Pakatan.

As soon as Hindraf made a 180-degree turn, they began to show disdain for Hindraf.

Others failed to appreciate Hindraf's unique ideology-free stand. Both ideology and loyalty are important but there things that are equally significant, such as issues.
Some political issues deal with life and death matters including the survival of a community.

In fact loyalty itself should be to the people we represent not the party. Pakatan promised to implement the blueprint but refused to sign it in writing.
What do you expect Hindraf to tell the hundreds of thousands of struggling ethnic Indians if Pakatan comes to power and not implement a verbal promise?

These people waited patiently since 2008 for PR's help with little delivered in states run by Pakatan.
Don't you see that it will be the greatest disservice to the community if Hindraf relied on a verbal promise for the next five years? Hindraf cannot take that chance.

Sleeping with the enemy therefore naturally became the better option. Try telling a starving person to wait another five years because a strategic error occurred.
Should any responsible organisation end up in such a predicament?

Waythamoorthy devoted the last seven years of his life for the Indian cause. Therefore the cause is supreme, not loyalty to a party or ideology. This man sacrificed his livelihood.

Additionally, he was prepared to sacrifice his life too as evidenced by his hunger strike that lasted three weeks.

The cause took precedence. He is the best available choice for heading the unit within the PM's department to solve ethnic Indian problems in Malaysia.

I cannot think of a more suitable candidate. Waythamoorthy's perseverance, resilience, and altruism earned him the right to spearhead and steer the government's renewed efforts to improve the Indian lot in this country.

For those who hold on to the false dogma that Waythamoorthy accepted the deputy minister post for selfish reasons, I can say one thing - he could have secured that a long time back if he wished.

If you are still unconvinced about the person, at least support what he stands for.

Let us leave bitter feelings behind and move on. There is so much he can do for you as minister rather than as Hindraf chair.

SUGUMAN NARAYANAN PhD is a political science professor at a university near Dallas, Texas, US.

PSM: Four simple tasks for Deputy Minister Waytha

2013-05-22T03:18:00.002+08:00

Firstly, I would like to congratulate Hindraf's chairperson P Waythamoorthy who has been appointed as deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

Let me get straight to business. We have been working with the plantation workers for decades and Hindraf has put the issue of plantation workers as one of their priorities in its blueprint which has been endorsed by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and BN.

I expect Waytha to immediately solve the following four issues in his capacity as the newly-crowned representative to solve the problem of the Indian poor.

1) Please make sure the Bukit Jalil estate workers get their four acres from the remaining 16 acres still around in Bukit Jalil. This should be relatively very easy as the land is currently owned by the government.

2) Please enact a law to protect plantation workers facing eviction so that they will get landed property houses once the estate goes for evictions. Najib's dad Abdul Razak started the plantation house ownership scheme in 1973 but it was hardly implemented by plantations simply because it is not a law.

3) Please convert all plantation schools to fully government-aided schools. Uthayakumar said this can be done by a stroke of pen. So now the onus is with Waytha to accomplish this very simple task.

4) Please implement monthly decent wages for plantation workers rather than the current daily rated and inconsistent wages today which depends on many non-productive methods such as price of commodity in world market, weather and other factors.
Again Sime Darby is the largest plantation in the county and it is owned by the government. So Waytha should not have problems in solving these issues.

These are not all the issues of the plantation workers but they are a good place to start.

S ARUTCHELVAN is Parti Socialis Malaysia secretary-general and founder member of the Plantation Workers Support Group.

NGOs seek justice over political aide’s murder

2013-05-22T03:12:00.000+08:00

K Vasantha Kumar, who contested in Tapah, wants answers over the murder of his aide K Murugan.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of NGOs have urged the police to expedite investigations into the murder of political aide K Murugan’s during the 13th general election.

Led by PKR’s candidate for the Tapah parliament seat, K Vasantha Kumar, the group handed over a memorandum addressed to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.

Murugan, who was Vasantha Kumar’s aide, went missing on May 1. His remains were later discovered on May 5 in a pond in Bemban Industrial Park, Batu Gajah.

“His hands and legs were tied with wires and the post mortem revealed that Murugan had died of blunt force trauma to the head,” Vasantha Kumar told reporters.

“We believe that the murder was politically motivated as he was threatened by the supporters of MIC candidate M Saravanan,” he added.

Vasantha Kumar was accompanied by Murugan’s family lawyer M. Visvanathan and several other NGOs.

The memorandum demanded that the IGP form a special task force to investigate all political parties involved in the election campaign without fear and favour and to investigate the records in Murugan’s mobile phone.

According to Vasantha Kumar, Murugan was very helpful in organizing the election campaign in the rural and interior areas in Tapah.

Murugan had informed Vasantha Kumar that he had been receiving threatening calls from unknown persons, who warned him to stop campaigning or he would be killed.

“On May 1, Murugan arranged a ‘ceramah’ at his residential area in Bidor. After the talk, he was cleaning up the venue with his friends when he received a phone call. He left the venue and never returned.

“Murugan’s sister lodged a report with the Bidor police station when he failed to return home and was not reachable,” Vasantha Kumar explained.

Among the NGOs present this afternoon were Lawyers for Liberty, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Amnesty International Malaysia, MIPAS and many others.

Vasantha Kumar had lodged a total of six police reports throughout the campaign period on threats received by his assistants.

On April 28, a group of PKR campaigners were assaulted by B Kalaivanar, who heads a BN-friendly NGO.

“Kalaivanar and his supporters tried to attack me within the police station’s compound,” claims Vasantha Kumar.

“I was threatened that I would be ‘finished off’ and [the assailants said] ‘we just finished one case, do you want another one?’” he added.

Vasantha Kumar lost the Tapah parliamentary seat to Saravanan by 7,927 votes.

‘Don’t let Pakatan treat you like cows’

2013-05-22T03:08:00.001+08:00

Tunku Aziz advises Malaysians against attending anti-BN rallies

PETALING JAYA: Former DAP leader Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim today urged Malaysians to stay away from protests organised by Pakatan Rakyat.

“We as Malaysians should not participate in this sort of anarchism,” said the former party vice chairman in reference to rallies and demonstrations against alleged vote rigging by Barisan Nasional in the recent general election.

Speaking at a press conference here, he said Malaysians must accept BN’s victory.

“Pakatan could not win at the ballot box and now they want to resort to anarchism to topple the government,” he said. “I think that is unfair.”

“I want Malaysians to think very carefully. If not, we would be led by the nose like cows,” he added.

Tunku Aziz said he agreed with BN critics that it is guilty of corruption, but added that members of the public should not expose themselves to violence in hopes that things would change overnight.

“I am not saying there is no corruption within Umno and BN, but don’t keep blaming them for everything. Every institution has corruption.

“I’m not taking sides. I’ve been a government critic for a long time now but we have to be fair. Pakatan also has to take into account the safety of Malaysians,” he added.

Referring to a recent warning by DAP chairman Karpal Singh, he said he was not afraid of being taken to court. Karpal had threatened to sue him over his attacks against the party.

“Since he is contemplating court action against me, he may wish to kill two birds with one stone by also dragging me to court over my many statements about the fraud involved in the CEC election,” he said in reference to last year’s election of DAP’s policy making body.

He denied rumours that he was going to reveal dark party secrets, saying he was not privy to “secret discussions and decisions made in the innermost sanctum of the party,” he said.

“However, allowing for my ancient Hindu connection, I do not consider DAP a sacred cow. I will expose your party if it poses a threat to national security, peace and public order,” he added.

Malaysia: An Irreconcilable Divide?

2013-05-22T03:01:00.001+08:00

Anwar: We'll get you next time

The outlook isn't that good, an academic says
Never before have Malaysians ventured into such unchartered waters. The outcome of the May 5 general elections has revealed just how split and intensely divided the electorate in the country currently is, and it has set in motion a political and social scenario that is tantamount to having to confront new realities in this nation of some 27 million people.

The fact that the two main political coalitions Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) - spearheaded by Najib Abdul Razak for the former and Anwar Ibrahim for the latter - were tangled in an intense campaign leading up to the elections was emblematic of the fact that Malaysians found themselves divided between two distinctly divergent paths. Recognizing the lack of widespread enthusiasm for the several BN aligned parties, campaign strategists for BN made a distinct choice during the campaign to play up Najib's relatively favorable public rating as a way to galvanize support. By contrast, Anwar's popularity and his dynamic public presence set the stage for the campaign to be one about a popularity contest between Najib and Anwar.

Yet, it was apparent from early on in the buildup to the elections, and since then, that the Malaysian divide is much more than one about two prominent political figures, it is indeed substantive and deep. The fact that Najib had to stem the political bleeding for the ruling coalition that first became most transparent after the 2008 general elections seemed obvious enough. The loss of their two-thirds control of parliament and several key states including Selangor, Penang and Kedah in 2008 was a significant enough blow to BN's seemingly invincible political machinery. Indeed, one of the main goals of BN this time around was not just to reassert their domination in parliament, but also to recapture the aforementioned state governments from the PR coalitions.

Although BN managed to wrest Kedah from PR's control, the much coveted states of Selangor and Penang once again remained out of the former's grasp. Indeed, as is well-known by now, aside from suffering greater losses in these two significant states, Najib's coalition ceded more ground to the opposition since 2008 as its majority in parliament dropped from 140 to 133 seats while it also lost the popular vote (52 to 48 percent). Yet, having garnered enough seats in a gerrymandered, first-past-the post electoral system, BN has managed to continue its historic streak of uninterrupted control of the federal government.

Most of the postmortems of this highly contentious and charged election have revealed some consistent findings. Of all the kernels of facts about the elections, we know that along with rural voters, a higher proportion of females also leaned heavily towards BN. On the other hand, the younger voters (particularly in those in their 20s and early 30s), for a significant number of whom this would have been their first foray into the electoral rolls, and non-rural voters were more enthusiastic and energized about the opposition.

The significance of this mobilization of younger and more agitated voters is being played out in so-called 'Black 505' rallies in various parts of the country in the days since the elections. Notwithstanding the fact that these rallies are far from spontaneous and have come to represent PR's way of keeping the spotlight on their claims that BN's parliamentary wins are attributable to gross electoral fraud, the response of PR's supporters in coming out to these rallies is a telling barometer of the depth and intensity of the political divide.

Thus far, relatively large rallies - in the tens of thousands - not only in PR strongholds such as in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, but also in BN controlled states such as Johor and Negeri Sembilan - suggest that the opposition remains focused and agitated about making sure the issue of electoral fraud does not become a mere footnote.

While these rallies seem unlikely to result in any kind of process that might lead to a reconsideration of the validity of the results in various constituencies as singled out by PR for suspicious voting patterns and tainted ballots, let alone a reversal of the overall outcome as it currently stands, the rallies continue to symbolically undermine the BN government's legitimacy. Just as critically, they reinforce the fact that the line demarcating the political divide between the two sides of the political divide has never been more tangible and profound.

This divide, one that has become progressively crystallized over the past decade, is likely to only get more intense. On one level, a much emboldened and empowered opposition means there is going to be even closer scrutiny of Najib's policies. While the PR-sponsored rallies have thus far been a potent means by which Anwar has kept the heat on Najib and the Barisan, they obviously cannot go on indefinitely. When Anwar and his allies eventually go back to the mundane grind of the more routine political tussles, that will be when we will learn how effective the opposition can be in further extending the credibility gap problem for Najib's government.

Such a charged political climate will also most certainly ensure that Najib's allies from the far-right of his UMNO party will not take too kindly to this scrutiny and political assault from the opposition.

Indeed, some of the more overt political confrontations and forays between the pro-Najib Malay ultra-nationalists such as Perkasa and the opposition since 2008 are likely to serve as precursors to what lies ahead as far as political theater is concerned.

If Najib's past record is any indication, we're unlikely to see him rein in the ultra-nationalist who have been a loyal and dependable base for his party. Yet, it is arguable that Najib would be well-served to systematically move further to the center-left of his party and, by extension, regain some of the soft public support that abandoned his coalition this time around, since the far-right wing really has no alternative but to stick with Najib's UMNO party.

However, don't expect Najib to make any bold and consistent moves toward the center-left until after the next round of UMNO's general assembly, where he will first no doubt need to secure his own standing and credibility within the party. That said, there is nonetheless a compelling case to be made for him to seize the moment, so to speak, and address a number of the fundamental grievances of a large cross-section of the electorate that led them to abandon his coalition.

These issues are quite widely known: addressing the rampant racism and politicization of race, confronting and clamping down on the pervasiveness of corruption not least among those in high place in the government and making a concerted effort to stall and reverse the precipitous decline of public confidence in public institutions, such as law enforcement and the judiciary.

The fact of the matter is the lack of public confidence in the government's willingness and ability to deliver on 'good governance' by instituting bold reforms has reached an ominously critical point and much of this public disappointment has translated into public cynicism, which PR has effectively exploited since 2008. However, if history is any indication, the odds are heavily stacked against UMNO or Najib pursuing fundamental reforms in the aforementioned areas.

As such, the stage seems set for what is likely to be a volatile and deeply divisive political theater for the foreseeable future.

(Sunil Kukreja is a professor of sociology and associate academic dean at the University of Puget Sound.)

Readout of the President's Call with Prime Minister Najib of Malaysia

2013-05-22T03:00:00.002+08:00

President Obama called Prime Minister Najib on the evening of May 13 to congratulate him on his victory in parliamentary elections and to reaffirm the strong bonds of friendship between the United States and Malaysia. The President noted that Malaysians had turned out in record numbers to vote and welcomed the Prime Minister’s efforts to address concerns about election irregularities. The two leaders discussed the importance of continuing to deepen our bilateral cooperation, including on expanding cooperation on trade, regional security, and multilateral cooperation.

The de-racialisation of Barisan Nasional? — Yang Razali Kassim

2013-05-22T02:59:00.002+08:00

MAY 20 — On the 44th anniversary of the May 13, 1969, racial riots that gave birth to it, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) displayed signs of being in existential angst.

Though it won the 13th general election on May 5 by securing the most parliamentary seats, BN lost the popular vote and failed to wrest back its two-thirds parliamentary majority in the face of Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) strong showing.

While BN was relieved to have been returned to power, the results were a body blow that sent it into deep introspection. A significant upshot has been a proposal to transform itself from the current model of a coalition of communal parties into a single, merged multi-racial entity.

Significantly, too, this idea came from no less than the secretary-general of Umno, the party that is the lynchpin of BN and the epitome of Malaysia’s communal politics. Given his key position, Datuk Tengku Adnan Mansor could well be reflecting an internal debate now spilling into the open.

Other Umno leaders who have begun to publicly float such “radical” views in the wake of the 2013 general election (GE13) are Datuk Nazri Aziz and Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, both members of the Umno supreme council and the previous Cabinet. While Tengku Adnan and Nazri successfully defended their parliamentary seats, Saifuddin lost his despite being known for his reformist views.

Nazri started the ball rolling by calling for BN to ubah — the same clarion call for change which the opposition used so effectively during the hustings. He described BN as “outdated” and a political vehicle that does not resonate the younger voters.

His comments evoked a response from Tengku Adnan, who suggested the ruling coalition rebrand by merging its more than a dozen communal-oriented components. “BN could perhaps be made into a single party that is no longer race-based someday,” he was quoted as saying in The Malay Mail.

In fact, the idea of rebranding and renewing BN was first publicly mooted by the reform-minded former MP Saifuddin. On the day after his defeat, he said: “We are lucky to still be in government at the federal level.” To strengthen its position, he added, “we need to rebrand, there needs to be a new BN”.

These views are likely to provoke further debates in the public domain and corridors of power. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in his usual style, will allow the discourse to proceed, to see where the wind blows, and eventually decide on what he should ultimately do. He is likely to frame this within his larger post-election template of national reconciliation.

END OF COMMUNAL POLITICS?

If this shift in thinking within BN holds and becomes new doctrine, it will usher in a substantive change in the country’s dominant political ideology; it will mark a move away from the communal politics that has been the hallmark of Malaysia’s political system.

This will reprise the spirit of the founding father of Umno, Datuk Onn Jaafar, who had advocated an Umno open to all communities, not just Malays. As his thinking proved too unpopular and ahead of its time, Onn Jaafar left Umno in 1951 and since then, the idea of multiracial parties has struggled to take hold. What came close was a power-sharing model embracing the major ethnic communities — the three-party Alliance, which expanded in 1973 to become BN.

Like the Alliance, the idea of BN was anchored in communal politics, but unlike it BN aspired to be a single non-communal party one day. In this sense, Tengku Adnan’s idea of a unified non-communal BN was not really a revelation; even so, it signals that that “one day” may have come. The difference is that such a transformation and its timing are being forced by circumstances, not by BN’s own choice.

A BN-PR ALLIANCE?

There is still much to be sorted out. For instance, will the deracialisation of politics, if it comes about, be just at the BN level, or will it permeate all the 13 communal parties that comprise BN? For instance, will Umno open its doors to all races and not just Malays and Bumiputeras, and thus revive Onn Jaafar’s radical proposal to transform itself from the United Malays National Organisation into the United Malaysians National Organisation? Similarly, will the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress cease to exist as we know them?

Besides these issues that have to be resolved within BN, there is another layer of existential questions surrounding PM Najib’s post-election proposal for national reconciliation. A transformed BN that is no longer a coalition but a single party would, in theory, make it difficult to expand to embrace the PR parties — should this be part of the strategic consideration.

But the early signs point to the PR parties rejecting any idea of joining BN. Let us say a scenario emerges in which BN exists as a single party and PR remains a three-party coalition: Will a new model then emerge in which BN and PR converge as a new and larger two-party alliance, in the name of national reconciliation?

These are obviously tough questions that are not likely to be attempted, much less resolved, in the near term.

But they have to be contemplated if the country’s leaders are serious about change and reconciliation. Malaysia, post-GE13, is clearly at a critical juncture. — Today

* Yang Razali Kassim is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Malaysia Committed To Enhance Quality Of Life Through Education - Muhyiddin

2013-05-22T02:58:00.002+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is committed to significantly enhance the quality of life of its people through various programmes and activities, especially in the education sector, currently undertaken in the country, as well as the region.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the collaboration between various parties, including UNESCO, towards quality education and life-long learning would bring about greater productivity and social mobility in parallel to propel Malaysia into a high income nation.

"The collaborative effort aim is to ensure that all Malaysians will have access to an affordable, relevant and a balanced education system that is also sustainable in the long term.

"We are currently addressing the social determinants of education to ensure it is holistic and in line with the National Education Philosophy, and in cognisant of Malaysia's diverse racial and cultural make-up.

"This will lead to the nurturing of future Malaysians who not only can compete in the local field, but also demonstrate exemplary leadership and competence on the global front," he said during a dinner in conjunction with the official visit by Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova in Kuala Lumpur, Tuesday night.

Muhyiddin, who is also education minister and president of the Malaysian National Commission for UNESCO, said the launch of the Malaysian-UNESCO Cooperation Programme (MUCP) Fund-in-Trust recently, was another proof and testimony that Malaysia would continue supporting UNESCO's programmes and activities.

The deputy prime minister said this effort and collaboration must be continued and go on for the benefit of all people, including the younger generation.

"With this in mind, as with any collaborative effort, there must be a spirit of contribution and compromise, and achieving a win-win situation by both parties.

"This is important to attain a common goal of nurturing the young ones in the best possible manner, who will after all, be our future generation," he noted.

Meanwhile, Bokova described this cooperation as deep and meaningful as it was focussing more on capacity building, science and education.

She said these highlighted Malaysia's experience and therefore, UNESCO was proud to work with the (Malaysian) government in this collaboration.

"Education is powerful. Malaysia has justified goals to become a more developing country.

"This is the strength of Malaysia towards Vision 2020. This vision draws on values embedded in Malaysian society.

"I thank the government for building peace in the minds of the people through education and various programme," she added.

This is Bokova's first official three-day visit to Malaysia, beginning on Tuesday, with numerous meetings and activities lined up.

Uthaya urges Pakatan to push for RCI on stateless Indians

2013-05-22T00:23:00.000+08:00

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) de facto leader P Uthayakumar has urged Pakatan Rakyat to table an emergency motion in Parliament to push for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to probe the issue of stateless Indians.

Uthayakumar, who lost his deposit while contesting as an Independent in the Kota Raja parliamentary seat as well as the Seri Andalas state seat in Selangor, said that he is now willing to assist Pakatan in tabling a motion to push for the RCI.

In a statement directed to Pakatan leaders today, Uthaya commended Pakatan for vowing to resolve the stateless Indians issue within 100 days should they come into power.

“We humbly urge your goodselves to file in the very first emergency motion in the new Parliament session seeking a royal commission of inquiry as your goodselves did for Sabah’s Project IC,” he said in his statement today.

“Lastly, we humbly pray that your goodselves do not brand Hindraf as being extremists for bringing up these chronic Indian poor concerns (to your attention),” Uthayakumar said.

PKR has claimed before that there are around 300,000 stateless Indians in the country, though the figures have been disputed by the federal government.

Uthayakumar’s brother P Waythamoorthy, the Malaysian Hindraf Association chairperson who was appointed as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department recently, said that he, along with the government, would be able to solve the stateless issue within five years of the Hindraf blueprint implementation.

Waytha's appointment as deputy minister reflects govt commitment

2013-05-22T00:18:00.002+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR -- The appointment of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairman P.Waythamoorthy as a deputy minister reflects the commitment and seriousness of the government in continuing its efforts to uplift the Indian community.

For the first time, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has brought a representative from an Indian non-governmental organisation, into his cabinet to help bring positive change to the Indian community's socio-economic position.

Hindraf, which was once anti-government, had on April 18 signed a memorandum of understanding with Barisan Nasional, with six key points, aimed at bringing poor Indians into the country's mainstream development.

HELP University senior lecturer Dr K.Harikrishan said the government was looking seriously into the Indian community's dilemma, and hoped with the appointment of Waythamoorthy, it would ensure that all problems plaguing the community would be solved.

He noted that the community, especially the younger generation, would like to see some permanent changes in stateless issues as well as job and business opportunities, which had been neglected.

"With this appointment, we hope that Waythamoorthy will keep to his word by bringing a new wave of hope to the Indian community. Today, the whole responsibility lies on his shoulder and MIC to ensure all promises are kept," he said.

The appointment though was criticised by several individuals, including Waythamoorthy's own brother, Uthayakumar, who claims to be Hindraf's leader, for accepting the cabinet post and called him a political opportunist.

However, Hindraf advisor N. Ganesan, lambasted the critics, saying that Najib needed individuals or organisations to deliver the transformation needed for the Indian community.

On Saturday, Waythamoorthy, who has been appointed deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said he would focus on displaced estate workers, stateless people, education, and business and job opportunities for the community.

Assoc Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia said Waythamoorthy had a big responsibility now to translate all that were listed in the blueprint into action.

"I believe those who swung back to BN will watch closely his plans and achievements. I think it is a duty of all the Indian elected representatives to focus on issues related to minorities, including the tasks given under the special unit to monitor Indian community-related policies," he said.

The head of the Department of Indian Studies at Universiti Malaya, Prof Dr S. Kumaran hoped the selection of six representatives from the Indian community, would contribute successfully to taking the community to a higher level.

"The appointment of Waythamoorthy was unexpected. So, he should be wise to use this opportunity to show his dedication to develop the Indian community so that they continue to trust him as a pillar of leadership," he said.

Meanwhile, the appointment of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) Penang chairman Datuk Loga Bala Mohan as Deputy Federal Territories Minister is also expected to bring about improvements and positive changes to the lives of the Indian community, especially in the urban areas. -- BERNAMA

Fist and 'flying noodles' greet lone protester at Utusan HQ

2013-05-21T04:44:00.000+08:00

Niqab, Burkas and Islam doesn’t help: Muslim countries lead web searches for ‘sex’, ‘goat sex’, ‘dog sex’, ‘rape’, ‘gay sex’, ‘ass sex’, ‘bird sex’ and ‘sexy child’

2013-05-21T04:42:00.003+08:00

Islam appears to contribute to Muslim men turning into sexually distorted and imbalanced individuals. While the Islamic world believe (imagine) that the western world is obsessed and addicted to sex and cause crime and problems, low birth rates and search terms reveal a completely different picture. Muslim addiction to sex and sexual perversions is enormous and evident not only from the Quran and their prophet Muhammad and his history of rape, sodomy, murders, transgender dressing, bestiality, and incest of boys – but by internet statistics strangely correlating to the high volume of sexual crimes by Muslim men.

While Muslims always blame western society for the staggering rape and sexual assault rate by Muslims in society, this does not explain why these crimes are even more common in their own home countries. Nor does it explain why the search term for all kinds of sodomy and perversions are dominated by users in Muslim countries. Muslim and asian countries top all key search term.

We strongly argue that violent rape and other sexual crimes and sexual harassment that are becoming rampant in Europe, and shown to be dominated by muslim men is highly over-represented by muslims, making muslim immigration extremely dangerous to women and children in western society.
“In our religion [Islam], we can’t handle that stuff.” Really? Statistics indicate that Muslims not only can handle it, they want to handle it and are among the most active searching the web for it.

: 2004-2005: The most commonly used language for the search term sex was again topped by Muslim languages.

2004-2005: Keyword search ‘sex’ according to region was the most sought search term in Muslim countries. Incidentally Muslims commit the most sex crimes and violent rape crimes per capita in the western world, while numbers are more than double of that in their own countries – despise women wearing garbage sacks to cover themselves.

: 2004-2005: The most frequent search term for sex by cities in 2004 and 2005 were highest from Muslim and Indian cities. Search terms correlated with statistics on sex crimes: India has one of the largest sex crime reports in the world with over 76% of those surveyed admitting to being sexually abused as children (RAHI, New Delhi study).

Google, the world’s most popular Internet search engine, has found in a survey that mostly Muslim states seek access to sex-related websites and Pakistan tops the list. Google found that of the top 10 countries – searching for sex-related sites – six were Muslim, with Pakistan on the top.

The other Muslim countries are Egypt at number 2, Iran at 4, Morocco at 5, Saudi Arabia at 7 and Turkey at 8. Non-Muslim states are Vietnam at 3, India at 6, Philippines at 9 and Poland at 10.^[1]

May, 2006

Here are the Muslim countries and how they placed in the top five world ranking of various bestiality-related internet search terms:

Pig Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Egypt (No. 2) Saudi Arabia (No. 3)
Donkey Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Iran (No. 3) Saudi Arabia (No. 4)
Dog Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Saudi Arabia (No. 3)
Cat Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Iran (No. 2) Egypt (No. 3) Saudi Arabia (No. 4)
Horse Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Turkey (No. 3)
Cow Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Iran (No. 2) Saudi Arabia (No. 4)
Goat Sex: Pakistan (No. 1)
Animal Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Morocco (No. 2) Iran (No. 4) Egypt (No. 5)
Snake Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Malaysia (No. 3) Indonesia (No. 4) Egypt (No. 5)
Monkey Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Indonesia (No. 3) Malaysia (No. 4)
Bear Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Saudi Arabia (No. 2)
Elephant Sex: Pakistan (No. 1) Egypt (No. 3) United Arab Emirates (No. 4) Malaysia (No. 5)
Fox Sex: Saudi Arabia (No. 1) Turkey (No. 4)^[2]

May, 2006

About a year go, it appears that Cairo was the #1 city that searched for “sex” on Google. Sabbah provides a few graphs detailing who’s searching for sex on the internet. Here is who searched for sex by region:Arabic is the 2nd most common language that is used to search for “gay sex.” It’s the number one language for search involving “sexy.” As you can see in that same graph, Iran is at 3 and Egypt is at 4, listed under regions where search on “sexy” was most conducted.Arabic is the 2nd most common language that is used to search for “gay man.” The countries that most search for this is currently Malaysia (#1) and Indonesia (#2). For “gay girl,” Arabic is also the 2nd most common language.For “child porn,” Turkey is the 2nd country where this is most searched. Turkish is the #1 language used. Turkey has one of the most searches for the word “porno.” Morocco is at 5. Turkish is #1 language used to conduct the search in. Indonesia is currently #1 country that search for the word “vagina.”
Turkey is not an Arab country, nor are some of the other countries I listed. But they are Muslim, so I thought the findings were fascinating to say the least. All of this information is not in the least bit shocking, but it’s quite ironic.
What do you guys think?
Update:
Egypt is currently #1 for “fat sex.”
Pakistan, Morocco, Turkey and Egypt are at the top of the list when it comes to “animal sex.”
For “children sex,” Pakistan is at #1, Egypt #2 and Iran #3. The most common languages used to conduct the search in are Arabic and Turkish.
For “sexy children,” these results are probably the most disturbing. Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, followed by Turkey at #9.
For “sexy child,” Pakistan is #1, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey. Common languages are Persian, Arabic, and Turkish.
For “homo sex,” Indonesia is #1, Morocco is at 6.
For “rape,” Pakistan is at 1. Malaysia is at 3.
For “bird sex,” Egypt is at 1. (Come ON!)
For “ass sex,” Saudi Arabia comes first, followed directly by Egypt and Morocco. Most common language is Arabic.^[3]

November, 2007

Egypt

At least five pornographic websites are among Egypt’s 100 most frequently visited online destinations this year, according to Alexa, a division of Amazon.com that tracks online traffic patterns globally.
. . .
The five most visited porn sites in Egypt rank at numbers 15, 23, 29, 67, 83, with two X-rated sites appearing in the country’s top 25 most-browsed sites, the Anaween Arabic news website reported. ^[5]

November, 2012

In contrast to Egypt (15) and Tunisia (14), the highest ranking porn site in the US at the time was 42.

XNXX Galleries, a pornographic website with more visitors in Egypt than Twitter or Wikipedia, clocked in at number 15. (Twitter and Wikipedia were 16 and 18, respectively.)
. . .
As for the United States, the top 25 websites were taken by usual G-rated suspects like Pinterest, Amazon and eBay. The first porn site, Pornhub.com, registered at number 42.^[6]

November, 2012

Iran

Authorities say Iranian internet users chalked up more visits to pornographic sites than people from any other country on Ashura Day, a Shiite day of mourning.Mohabat News, the Iranian Christian News Agency, citing a Radio Zamaneh report from the Fars news agency, reports that Ebrahim Bayani, a senior official of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, told a meeting of IRGC commanders and administrators that the Revolutionary Guards Cyber Army has established that among internet users from 182 countries, Iranians made the highest number of visits to “immoral sites” on Ashura Day.Bayani added that these “alarming statistics” and the use of satellites mean “we cannot expect the youth of the country to have any motivation to fast or go to mosque.”^[7]

.

Israel

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict apparently does not disturb and even encourages Arab internet users from consuming kosher Hebrew porn. Operators of a number of porn sites report that between two and 10% of their users arrive from Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority. Some websites even go as far as offering services in Arabic.
. . .
According to site statistics, last month there were over 2,000 hits from Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The average time a Saudi surfer spends on SexV is 17:23 minutes.Data also shows that 10 percent of the visitors to the most popular sex site in Israel, Domina, are Arabic speakers.^[8]

August, 2007

Lebanon

[According to Alexa, a division of Amazon.com that tracks online traffic patterns globally] In Lebanon, the five most visited [porn] sites appear later down the list of 100 [than Egypt and Tunisia], at numbers 33, 34, 45 and 52 and 58.^[5]

November, 2012

Pakistan

Pakistan ranked No. 1 in searches for “child sex,” “animal sex,” “rape sex,” “camel sex,” “dog sex,” “rape video” and more.

The Muslim country, which has banned content on at least 17 websites to block offensive and blasphemous material, is the world’s leader in online searches for pornographic material
. . .
Google ranks Pakistan No. 1 in the world in searches for pornographic terms, outranking every other country in the world in searches per person for certain sex-related content.Pakistan is top dog in searches per-person for “horse sex” since 2004, “donkey sex” since 2007, “rape pictures” between 2004 and 2009, “rape sex” since 2004, “child sex” between 2004 and 2007 and since 2009, “animal sex” since 2004 and “dog sex” since 2005, according to Google Trends and Google Insights, features of Google that generate data based on popular search terms.The country also is tops — or has been No. 1 — in searches for “sex,” “camel sex,” “rape video,” “child sex video” and some other searches that can’t be printed here.^[9]

July, 2010

Pakistan is ranked No. 1 every year (records starting from 2004) for searching the term ‘sex’.

With over 20 million internet users and growing fast, Pakistan has managed to secure the number one slot for searching the term ‘sex’ globally for all years.
. . .
Narrowing the analytics for the search term to just 2011, Pakistan maintained the number one position, followed by India and Vietnam.Islamabad featured in the top 10 cities worldwide to search the word ‘sex’ in September and December 2011.Provincial capital Lahore also featured in the top 10 cities for the months of January, March, April, May, June, July, September, October, November and December 2011.^[10]

December, 2011

A ban on pornographic websites in Pakistan by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in November 2011 has led to a surge in the sale of CDs and DVDs of this particular type of entertainment in Karachi.

. . .
Dealers at the [Rainbow] centre say they have been seeing sales grow since November.

“People no longer come here for Hollywood or Bollywood movies. They want porn,” said Afaq, who refused to share his full name. “If you ask me, almost 90% of our revenue comes from the sale of such content.”

The PTA asked eight Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to restrict access to a thousand of the most frequented porn websites. The last ISP to comply finished blocking websites last month.
The irony is that the Rainbow Centre dealers download content from the internet as well, said another shopkeeper. “It doesn’t matter if a few websites are blocked. We can still access many more.” Torrents, which are used to download movies, software and other electronic data from millions of personal computers around the world, are used for pornographic content, the dealers said.
But not everyone has the time, internet speed or patience to download entire films.
. . .
Memon also claimed that a great deal of pornographic content is downloaded at bank branches, which shut their doors for people at 5 pm.
While Rainbow Centre is enjoying a reversal of fortunes, ISPs are facing unhappy customers. The chief marketing officer at Qubee, Hashim Sheikh, said some large ISPs took time to implement the PTA decision, which could have potentially resulted in customers switching services.
“In recent weeks, many of our normally happy customers have walked into our sales centres and said they do not want the service anymore. Now you can guess what the reason could be.”
. . .

Kashif Azeem, the administrator of the apnabroadband portal, which is frequented by people seeking information on different ISPs, says a post related to ban on pornographic websites has received the most hits.

“So many queries are coming in. People want to know if there is any ISP which has not blocked the websites,” he said. “Everyone seems to be in favour of the ban, even if they are searching ‘how to access porn sites’.”

. . .
While ISPs do not share customer data, a senior official confirmed that over 30% of all traffic from the country at any given time is directed to porn websites.^[11]

January, 2012

Palestinian Authority Area

Hamas has ordered a full ban on internet pornography in the Gaza Strip — the latest restriction on personal freedom imposed by the hardline Islamic political party.
. . .
Hamas, which was elected to lead Gaza in 2007, claims the move is necessary to protect ‘the fabric of Palestinian society’ as more and more Palestinians are seeking adult content online.
. . .
The pro-Hamas newspaper Felesteen wrote that the move was long overdue.’We have learned that pornographic websites… have been receiving many views in Palestinian society over the past two years, surpassing social and news websites, including official ones like the WAFA news agency,’ columnist Issam Shawar wrote.’This is a dangerous indicator which must push us to create an active plan to protect our Palestinian society.’^[12]

September, 2012

Saudi Arabia

Up to 70% of files exchanged between Saudi teenagers’ mobile phones contain pornography, according to a study in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.The study quoted in Arab News focussed on the phones of teenagers detained by religious police for harassing girls.The same researcher also found that 88% of girls say they have been victims of harassment using Bluetooth technology.
. . .

“The flash memory of mobile phones taken from teenagers showed 69.7% of 1,470 files saved in them were pornographic and 8.6% were related to violence,” said report author Professor Abdullah al-Rasheed.^[13]

April, 2007

Tunisia

A Tunisian court has ordered the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) to block all pornographic websites, which became accessible after the lifting of censorship in January.
. . .
According to the Tunisian Internet site Business news, seven pornographic sites have appeared among the 100 most visited sites in the north African country since the end of censorship. Five of them are among the 50 most consulted.^[14]

May, 2011

[According to Alexa, a division of Amazon.com that tracks online traffic patterns globally] there are seven pornographic sites in Tunisia that appear among the top 100 most visited sites, coming in at numbers 14, 16 and 20 and 49 60 and 93 and 97.^[5]

November, 2012

Turkey

According to a presentation on the “conscious use of the Internet and secure Internet service,” made by the Telecommunications Department (TIB) of the Turkish Parliament… 2 million online users watch pornographic films each minute in Turkey.^[15]

July, 2012

Goddess Kali and Bajrangbali deities are desecrated by Muslims. Tension in Medinipur Town, West Bengal.

2013-05-21T04:41:00.001+08:00

Bajrang Dal Activist severely beaten by Police.

Pro-active Muslim Fundamentalists in Medinipur Town are engaged in Iconoclast Jihad. Goddess Kali and Bajrangbali deities are rampaged by Muslims. Tension in Town.

Subarnomoy Pandey for Hindu Existence | Medinipur | 20 May 2013:: It is a Jihad of iconoclasm surfacing here and there in Medinipur town. From the second Sunday of this month the Hindus of Medinipur town are facing a ‘Jihad against Infidels’ fomented by the fundamental Muslims of the town, even from some Islamic felons coming from outside. 200 Muslim miscreants came together in the late night on Sunday (on 12-05-2013) and rampaged in a Kali Temple near Keranitola in Medinipur Town (West Midnapore Dist of West Bengal). Police imposed partial restriction in portion in the town subsequently. The Bajrangdal and some club members blocked the roads and observed bandh in some areas on Monday morning in the protest of Islamic hooliganism in Mediniapur.

The tension between Hindu Muslims started in the post evening on 12th May, when a Hindu Motor Cycle rider collided with a Muslim bicycle rider and the local Muslims ceased the motorcycle and captivated the Hindu man for a ransom of Rs. 25,000/-. Knowing the situation, the Hindu activists of the town reached the place of turmoil to rescue the Hindu Man without any ransom. Losing the captive, angry Muslim perpetrators gathered stealthily to attack the local Kali Temple as a revenge. The deity of Goddess Kali is fully damaged by the attackers with iron rods and lethal weapons. When the Hindus were getting ready for a retaliation, Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) took the control the area to pacify Hindu wrath by force. Three Hindu boys were detained by police initially. Afterwards police arrested another six Hindu persons, but not a single Muslim was arrested for the damage and desecration of the Hindu deities and the Hindu temple. Mamata Banerjee’s police is very much proactive to protect the Muslim Hooligans in Medinipur and Kharagpur Towns. Some the Hindu protesters were severely beaten up by the cops favoring the Muslims. An Administration, Police and Judiciary trio is plying a foul role against victimized Hindus by denying the bail of the falsely accused persons so far. A legal team of RSS and Bajrang Dal are monitoring the crisis so far. BUT THERE WAS NO NEWS FOR THIS IN THE SECULAR MEDIA IN BENGAL.

But, it was reported in a pro-Hindu website that “on 12/05/2013 at around 9:00 PM, some boys from Goyla Para were gossiping by the roadside near Keranitola on their motorcycles, suddenly a large container truck came in high speed, after delivering motorcycles to a nearby shop Palco Motors, and hit one of the boys. That made the boys furious and they stopped the truck and demanded an apology from the driver. The driver allegedly refused to tender any apology and rather started using abusive language against the boys. This made the boys hostile and they broke the headlamp of the truck. Hearing the chaos, a group of people came out from the Dewan Sporting Club – which regularly receives huge fund from the proprietor of Palco Motors, situated just opposite to the incident. The club secretary Shaikh Laltu and Shaikh Tulu came to the spot immediately along with other boys and started beating the boys. They also started pelting stones towards them. Some brickbats thrown by the club members hit the mazar nearby resulting some damage into it. Then they accused the Hindu boys for desecrating the mazar and attacked the Kali Temple beside the road. They kicked at the idol, destroyed it and started playing with broken idol. Hindu boys from Goyla Para could not tolerate it anymore. They called other people from their area and pounced on them. Allegedly they also attacked the mosque and mazar and damaged its properties. Once, they were gaining the control over the situation, the administration called for RAF from Salua and Sec 144 was imposed.

The situation is still very tensed in the area. Hindus, in the area, are fuming for revenge. It is reported
that even RAF personnel are offering them moral support. Local MLA Mrigen Maity and former commissioner Nazim Ahmed have reached the place and appealed for maintaining peace & communal harmony.“
……..
The situation turned grim when some conspirators put some garbage in front a mazar (where Muslims worship a grave as a holy object) near Palbari area in the night of 19th May and as a motivated revenge (after spreading the rumours of desecration of mazar), the Muslim felons broken a Bajrangbali deity of a temple near Gandhi Ghat beside Kansai Bridge (the gateway of Midnapore town) in the early morning of 2oth May.
……..
Apprehending a severe retaliation from the Hindus of the town, Sri Soumen Khan, local Councillor of Medinipur Municipality rushed to the place with police contingent and cleared the broken idols of Bajragbali in order to install a new idol of Bajrangbali within 6-30 am.
……..
The tension between Hindus and Muslims in the town is growing fast. And Administration and Police authorities are playing a very objectionable role under the dictum of pro-Muslim TMC party from the beginning. Four more Hindu activists of Bajrag Dal have been arrested on 20th May and no Muslim is arrested yet.
………
All the 13 Hindus arrested so far are being denied from getting bail under a repression made by the ruling party in West Bengal led by an Islamic mentor named Mamataz Banu Arjee.
……..
For last few years, Medinipur Town has been turned as the dane of Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators. They are mainly concentrated in the areas Pathan Mohalla, Dewan Chak, Sepoy Bazar and Aurobinda Nagar near Medinipur Court. These Muslims are engaged in Love Jihad and women trafficking, desecrating Hindu Temples, land grabbing from Hindus, illegal cow slaughtering even within non-Muslim areas and putting many hurdles to Hindu festivals.
……..
Unfortunately, this town gave birth of the culprit of Direct Action Day (Calcutta, 1946), Hasan Shaheed Suhrawardy, who is still an inspiration of the subversive Muslims of Medinipur.
……..
Hindus of Medinipur must find their own way to their struggle for existence.

Najib’s 100-day programme to woo national, party critics

2013-05-21T04:37:00.001+08:00

Najib is expected to get to work quickly to improve the public delivery system, cut crime and corruption, enhance transparency and strengthen inter-ethnic harmony. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak is expected to roll out a 100-day programme within days to win over doubters and persuade Umno that he is the best to lead the party and the country, say sources.

The Malaysian Insider understands that borrowing some ideas from the Abdullah administration, the Najib government will also work to improve the public delivery system, cut crime and corruption, enhance transparency and strengthen inter-ethnic harmony.

“Najib wants a quick start, he is already meeting advisers on this,” a source told The Malaysian Insider.

In an interview with Singapore's The Straits Times 10 days ago, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin also said Najib’s 100-day programme is to speed up existing programmes to reduce crime and corruption, and cap the cost of living.

“These are the top three issues that weighed heavily in the urban swing,” he had said, adding that Najib will continue to improve the public sector and economy, and expand civil liberties.

The sources said Khairy, now youth and sports minister, and younger ministers such as Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan will be among those playing a leading role in the 100-day programme.

Najib had named his Cabinet last week, a mix of veterans and new faces, to continue his transformation programmes he initiated in his first four years in office.

He co-opted Transparency International Malaysia president Datuk Paul Low and Malayan Banking Berhad chief executive Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar into the Cabinet while keeping his economics team intact.

Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) campaigned on “A Better Nation” platform in the May 5 general election but lost more federal seats, only getting 133 to the 140 won in Election 2008.

Although his Umno won more seats and the coalition took back Kedah, there has been some criticisms about the BN campaign, with long-serving former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad saying he had expected a better performance.

Dr Mahathir’s views are seen as crucial as the veteran leader had criticised his successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s moves to reverse some policies and programmes after winning the coalition’s biggest mandate of 91 per cent in the 2004 elections.

Dr Mahathir’s criticisms led to BN losing its two-thirds majority in Election 2008 and four states, prompting Abdullah to quit office in 2009.

When Abdullah took office in 2003, he launched a high-profile 100-day programme that saw faster passport application processing and high profile anti-graft arrests.

In February 2004, former Perwaja Steel managing director Tan Sri Eric Chia and the then Land and Co-operative Development Minister Tan Sri Kasitah Gaddam were arrested for corruption.

On February 13, 2004, then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim announced that at least another 18 high-profile corruption cases were with various authorities awaiting further action.

But there were no further arrests and both Chia and Kasitah won acquittals in their corruption charges.

Dr Mahathir had also launched a 100-day programme when he took office in 1981 and later expanded it in BN’s “Bersih, Cekap, Amanah” (Clean, Efficient, Trustworthy) manifesto in the 1982 polls.

People’s fiesta to ‘take back democracy’

2013-05-21T04:35:00.001+08:00

The rakyat just want to take back the stolen democracy, says SAMM's Chegubard.
UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: The people’s fiesta is not about toppling the government, rather, it is about taking back democracy, claimed NGO Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) chairman Badrul Hisham Shahrin.

Badrul Hisham, also known as Chegubard, said a coalition made up of nearly 50 NGOs named the People’s Voice 505 (Suara Rakyat 505) will be launching an event on May 25 at Padang Timur, located in front of Amcorp Mall to present evidences of electoral fraud in the 13th general election (GE13).

“We are going to the streets not to topple the government, but to re-claim democracy.

“The rakyat just want to take back the democracy which was stolen in GE13 due to the various electoral fraudulence,” said Chegubard.

Chegubard added that the fiesta will start in the evening with participants encouraged to wear black and said that this will not be the only such fiesta as many others will be launched all over the country with the dates to be announced soon.

“We will be presenting the evidences to the public by bringing witnesses and providing statistics,” he said.

No Malaysian Spring

Chegubard also stressed that there will be no such thing as an “Arab” or “Malaysian Spring”.

“I reiterate that there will not be any form of toppling the government during this event.

“Those harping on ideas of a Malaysian Spring are just scared of the rakyat getting together for a simple cause which is only to reclaim democracy.

“Other than presenting evidences, we will only be giving out flyers and CDs,” assured Chegubard.

He added that the fiesta will be launched based on three demands.

“Firstly, we want a new Election Commission (EC). We urge for the chairman, deputy chairman and other committee members to resign immediately to give way to an EC which is more independent and transparent.

“Since they are now nothing but the government’s tools, the EC should instead be under the powers of the Malaysian Parliament,” he said, adding that EC members must be chosen through public hearings.

Re-claiming stolen democracy

The coalition of NGOs also demanded for re-election at areas where there have been proof of electoral fraudulence.

“Re-elections at these areas must be conducted without taking into account a particular party’s logo.

“Even if the BN provide evidence of electoral fraud, we are prepared to work with them,” he said.

As for the people’s tribunal which was put forth by electoral watchdog Bersih: “We urge all agencies in Malaysia to make the people’s tribunal a priority because it cannot stand on its own without these agencies’ support.

“The people’s tribunal is important in exposing cases of electoral fraud done during GE13.

“I urge for everyone to come this Saturday regardless of race, religion and political party to re-claim our stolen democracy,” he said.

Samy to spearhead changes in MIC?

2013-05-21T04:34:00.001+08:00

The former MIC chief may go for the top post or back a 'vibrant' candidate for the party president's post.
UPDATED

PETALING JAYA: Former MIC president S Samy Vellu is mulling options whether to contest the top post in the party’s presidential election.

Sources close to the former MIC chief revealed that Samy Vellu was contemplating of going for the top post, while his second option was to back a “strong and vibrant” leader in the MIC for the party’s top seat.

“However, he would gauge the views of supporters in the party first. Many division and branch leaders have met him and told him to make a comeback to revive the ailing MIC.

“Some have even pleaded with him to contest the president’s post. They expressed fear that the MIC might disintegrate under the present leadership (of G Palanivel). The former president has told these leaders that he was seriously considering going for the number one post.

“He also told the grassroots leaders that he too was not happy with the way the party was run,” said the source.

Speculation is rife that Samy Vellu, who still commands at least 45% support among delegates in the party, was unhappy with the way Palanivel has been running the MIC over the past four years.

Sources revealed that Palanivel, the Natural Resources and Environment Minister, knows that the former president is unhappy with the current state of affairs in the party.

“He met Samy Vellu end of last week when Samy Vellu returned from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Palanivel told Samy Vellu that he is nominating Vell Paari (Samy Vellu’s son) to the senate. He also told Samy Vellu that the ministry he heads now has many projects and contracts which can be used by Samy Vellu.

“However, Samy Vellu did not buy into this reasoning. We think he has already made up his mind on removing Palanivel,” said the source.

Samy Vellu relinquished his position in the party in 2010, after suffering a loss in the Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency at the 2008 general election. He had been at the helm of the largest Indian based political party in the country for more than three decades before his resignation.

Samy Vellu, who was works minister before his defeat in the 2008, had been president since 1979, when he was appointed acting president after the death of then president V Manikavasagam.

He stepped down in December, 2010 paving the way for Palanivel to become MIC’s acting president. The party was supposed to have held its internal elections last year but this was postponed due to the 13th general election.

It is expected to start holding elections at all levels in the MIC this year.

Palani’s leadership under fire

Various quarters have expressed their disappointment in Palanivel’s leadership. In the just concluded general election, the MIC fared worse that the last general election. Off the nine parliamentary and 18 state seats it contested, MIC only won four parliamentary and five state seats. This was two state seats short of MIC performance in 2008.

Apart from Samy Vellu, deputy president Dr S Subramaniam, who is now Health Minister, is also speculated to be eyeing the MIC top post. Another contender is said to be vice president M Saravanan, who is Youth and Sports deputy minister.

With Samy Vellu in the fray, these two leaders are expected to stay away from the race.

“However, if Samy Vellu decides to back another leader against Palanivel in the presidential race it would be either one of the two. Dr Subramaniam has experience being in the cabinet for two terms. He is more polished and diplomatic.

“Saravanan on the other hand will bring vibrancy to the party. He takes a more direct approach in handling things. Although these two leaders would make a good team, they are unlikely to form a pact in this party election. It all depends on what Samy Vellu decides,” said the source.

No agenda in meeting

Meanwhile in an immediate reaction, Vell Paari, who is also MIC strategy director, confirmed that Samy Vellu and Palanivel met recently.

“But Palanivel met my father because he did not meet my father after winning the Cameron Highlands seat…the meeting did not discuss Palanivel’s ministry or any senator’s position.

“The relationship between them is cordial and amicable,” he told FMT.

“There was no other agenda,” said Paari.

We Indians are a tolerant lot, OK?

2013-05-21T04:30:00.001+08:00

This was a comment posted yesterday in response to the piece on bigotry in Malaysia. It’s a humorous take, with a sting, on the lot of the Indian community.
By S. Narayanan

I am an 4th generation Malaysian Indian, born and bred in this country. My great-grandfather came to Malaysia as a businessman in 1898. We have been in the rubber, tin, oil palm and real estate business. I consider myself a patriotic Malaysian who loves the country. I used to stand up for the National Anthem (even when it sounded on TV!) during my school days. I volunteered to join the army medical corps as an army doctor serving in the jungles of Sabah and Sarawak.
Malays who came from Indonesia and Thailand, relatively recently, have become bumiputeras (sons of the soil) with special privileges. It’s OK.
Malays say they are a superior race with superior religion. It’s OK.
The Malays say “leave the country if you don’t like the government”. It’s OK. I am not leaving.
The Malays say their ancestors defeated the Chola and Paandya Empires and chased them out of the Malay peninsula. It’s OK. I wasn’t born then.
A Malay will serve beef when I go for a gathering (taboo to us Hindus), but I cannot serve pork in the presence of a Malay – it will become a national issue. It’s OK. I respect their religion.
The Chinese have higher rates for goods and lower qualities of products for us Indians compared to their fellow Chinese. It’s OK. There are not many Indian businesses anyway.
My so-called Chinese friends refuse to sell properties to me even if I am willing to pay a higher value because I am Indian. It’s OK. I cannot force them anyway.
When my family enters a swimming pool, most of the Chinese (esp. the less educated) will scramble out of the pool – and I am not bad looking. It’s OK. We can have the pool to ourselves.
When my friends have a problem with school work, the Chinese ‘friends’ will claim they are clueless, but will gladly explain in detail to another Chinese. It’s OK. They have been brought up that way.
When a Malay of Indian makes a mistake the Chinese will ‘jump’ on them, but when a fellow Chinese makes a mistake, it’s Ok. It’s OK.
When an Indian comes up in life the first person to try to bring him down will be an Indian!. It’s OK. We are brought up that way.
We Indians are indeed a very tolerant lot! It’s not OK.

Xavier, Wong may be dropped from S'gor exco lineup

2013-05-21T04:29:00.005+08:00

PKR's Dr Xavier Jayakumar (left) and Elizabeth Wong may not be on the next state exco line-up announced.

PETALING JAYA (May 20): PKR's Dr Xavier Jayakumar and Elizabeth Wong have accepted the possibility that they may not been reappointed to the Selangor state executive council.

This is apparently because the new lineup will feature six Malays and four non-Malays, as requested by the Sultan of Selangor to better reflect the racial composition of the assembly members.

With three or four of the non-Malay exco positions going to DAP, PKR will at the most have only one non-Malay representative in the lineup.

Wong, when contacted today, said she is committed towards working for her Bukit Lanjan state constituency and addressing environmental issues irrespective of whether she gets an exco post.

"Yes there is a possibility (of not being re-appointed) but it won't affect my resolve to represent my constituents and my work on the environment," she said.

"We place our trust in MB (Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim) to make the best decision on this matter (exco line-up)," she added.

Xavier told fz.com that PKR had agreed to include a non-Malay assembly member in its exco list but the decision was not final.

'There are a few names. We will have to wait and see," he said.

In previous discussions, Selangor Pakatan Rakyat leaders had agreed that the 10 exco positions would be equally distributed between Malays and non-Malays, with PAS representatives holding three posts (in addition to the speaker's post), DAP holding four posts and PKR holding three posts (as well as the menteri besar's post).

DAP had already mooted former speaker Datuk Teng Chang Khim and Seri Kembangan assembly member Ean Yong Hian Wah to fill two exco positions.

Teng was known to have thrown his name in the hat for the exco position even before the May 5 polls.

Also, DAP won more seats in Selangor compared to PKR. DAP and PAS each won 15 seats while PKR won 14 seats.

However, in a surprise announcement on Saturday, Abdul Khalid revealed the ratio of positions between DAP and PAS had switched.

According to a PKR source, the reason behind this was due to a proposal from the Sultan of Selangor for Malay elected representatives to assume six exco positions while non-Malay representatives will assume the remaining four exco positions to better reflect the racial composition of the newly elected state assembly.

Out of 56 state assembly members, 37 are Malays and 19 are non-Malays.

The previous exco lineup had five Malays and five non-Malays.

If Pakatan were to accede to the ruler's proposal, and maintained DAP's ratio of four exco positions, then PKR would have to nominate its Malay elected representatives for the exco posts and exclude Wong and Xavier.

The Pakatan leadership is now in discussion to solve the kerfuffle over the exco line-up.

Wong had previously championed environmental policies and worked on the drafting as well as implementation of the Freedom of Information legislation.

She had tabled an amendment to the National Forestry Act 1984 which calls for a public inquiry compulsory before a forest reserve can be de-gazetted. It was passed by the state assembly during its sitting in April 2011.

She also worked closely with orang asli communities, and embarked on a first attempt in the administrative history of the Selangor government to use geo-mapping
technology in order to delineate orang asli villages and native customary land in the state.

Wong also worked on the No Plastic Bag on Saturdays campaign which was successful in the state.

Xavier is known to champion Indian community issues.

He has worked on various matters, including the relocation and construction of Tamil schools, ironing out land matters affecting Tamil schools and improvement of Tamil school education via a committee made up of Selangor Pakatan leaders.

He also administered the relocation of Hindu temples as well as facilitated talks between former plantation workers and landowners for relocation.

Xavier also facilitated administrative matters to solve flooding woes in Taman Sentosa, with the construction of a water retention pond slated to begin soon.

Not everyone is as cowardly as you, Rafizi slams Zahid: Kedah rally is on, Mukhriz or not

2013-05-21T04:27:00.000+08:00

UPDATED VIDEOS INSERTED PETALING JAYA PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli ridiculed his rivals in Umno for cowardice and being out of touch with the people over a spate of rallies that have taken the nation by storm.

"Intimidation and fear tactics don't work anymore. It only worked on Zahid Hamidi in 1998, that's why he turned around within the first 2 weeks after the first demo. If Zahid Hamidi thinks everyone is like him, he is sorely out of touch with the public," mocked Rafizi, who is also the newly-elected MP for Pandan.

"You can see that despite several statements made by the authorities, the people are still coming out because this is a big issue. I would suggest that Zahid does not interfere in the job of the police. Let the police do their work professionally. We don't need another Home Minister who makes the silliest comments."

Zahid's U-turn of the decade!

Rafizi was referring to Umno vice president Zahid Hamidi, who taking over as Home Minister from Hishammddin Hussein last week had promptly warned the Opposition and rally-goers that action would soon be taken against them.

In the 1990s, Zahid was a staunch supporter of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who had then been the Umno deputy president. Zahid had protested against Anwar's jailing on trumped-up sodomy and corruption charges in 1998, but recanted and cut all ties with Anwar after former premier Mahathir Mohamad threw him into jail under the Internal Security Act. Zahid was released in 1999 after he reversed his stance and declared loyalty to the Umno leadership controlled by Mahathir.

It is also worth noting that during the 53th Umno General Assembly in 1997, Zahid had lashed out against Mahathir, calling for an end to cronyism and nepotism in the government. In response, Mahathir publicized the names of those Malay/Bumiputeras who had received shares and high positions in government-linked corporations (GLCs) and these had included Zahid.

Not your father's country either : Stop the polemics and do your job!

Apart from sabre rattling on the Blackout 505 rallies spearheaded by Anwar and his Pakatan Rakyat coalition, Zahid has also attracted public odium for himself and his Umno party for saying that those unhappy with the current political system in Malaysia should migrate.

His brash comments sparked a wave of public condemnation and added impetus to the Blackout 505 movement to protest electoral fraud and to demand re-elections in seats where the Opposition claims it has accumulated evidence of vote-rigging and phantom voters.

Zahid's comments have also sparked a wave of "lu siapa" and "ini bukan negara bapa kau" (who are you to ask us to leave, this is not your father's country) comments against him at the rallies.

“This country is also not (Anwar’s) father's. It is neither my father’s country nor his father’s country,” Zahid said in an outburst to the press earlier this morning.

Although not a week has elapsed since he was picked to replace the controversial Hisham, who was slammed for stirring up hornets' nests and creating racial tensions, it looks like Zahid may "outperform" his predecessor going by the fires he has lit in just the space of a few days.

"If he has time, he should tackle the issue of false I.C.s and phantom voters. That is more in line with his job. He needs to know the boundaries and not interfere with the professional work of the police," said Rafizi.

Would anyone take heed of what Mukhriz says?

The 36-year-old PKR leader also slammed Mukhriz Mahathir for disallowing a Blackout 505 rally scheduled for Tuesday night to be held at a stadium in Alor Setar. Mukhriz, who is Mahathir's youngest son and newly-appointed chief minister of Kedah, had drawn flak for his high-handed action and accused of being "like father like son".

"It doesn't surprise us at all because they have always behaved us this way. It doesn't even register on our mind what he (Mukhriz) says or what kind of warnings he makes because we have stepped forward to a new Malaysia to a much more liberated Malaysia. What he thins belong to the past and I dont think a lot of people will take heed of what he says," said Rafizi

"We are more interested in maintaining professional relations with the police because public safety and public order is of utmost importance and we are sure that any rallies if done properly and with full cooperation with the police will have positive results as has taken place in the past two weeks."

New IGP and Blackout 505 in Kedah to proceed

When asked if the new Inspector General of Police Khalid Bakar who last week took over from the retiring Ismail Omar would affacet Pakatan's relations with the police, Rafizi said he would wait and see.

Khalid has been widely condemned over many cases and he has even been caught red-handed trying to cover up mis-practices and wrong-doings such as in the Kugan Ananthan murder case as well as in trying to insinuate wrong-doing on the part of the Opposition to give Prime Minister Najib Razak's administration a 'boost' in image.

Such partisan conduct by the senior members of the police force has led to a tremendous loss of public confidence in the police, with most Malaysians having the perception that their cops were out to harm them or solicit bribes rather to protect them and maintain law and order.

"We are more than willing to wait and see. I am more than willing to give the benefit of doubt to Khalid Bakar," said Rafizi.

He added that the Blackout 505 rally in Kedah would proceed and a new venue to be announced on the social media network soon.

"I am sure 40 to 50,000 people will still come to Alor Setar or Pokok Sena, even if it has to be held in Mahfuz Omar's house," said Rafizi, referring to the Kedah PAS commissioner, who is helping to organize the event.

Malaysia Chronicle

Umno Baru's hidden agenda

2013-05-21T04:23:00.002+08:00

When Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - the new home minister - told disgruntled opposition supporters that they should migrate if they were unhappy with the results of GE13, he had unwittingly confessed that Umno Baru has a hidden agenda.

This little-known plan is Umno Baru’s mass immigration policy and is a deliberate ploy fuelled by political self-interests. Asking people to emigrate will ensure that Malaysia is populated largely by Umno Baru-putras and selected foreigners.

Zahid reluctantly acknowledged that the rakyat was disappointed with the rigging of the polls, but at the same time, he revealed the fears of Umno Baru leaders. The cheating did not go as smoothly and secretly as they had intended.

Zahid possesses neither charisma nor intellect. His oft repeated line is for people to shape up or ship out. With each new political appointment, he stuns us with his ability to set new standards for boorish behaviour.

In 2008, he was appointed a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with a portfolio which included religious affairs and agencies like the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim). He caused controversy when he warned officers that they had to support the government’s policies, or leave.

When Abdullah resigned and Najib Abdul Razak took over in 2009, Zahid was made the defence minister. He invited criticism when he said that the low percentage of non-Malays in the armed forces showed that they lacked patriotism.

Last week, Zahid could not resist baiting the public, telling the people who opposed the results of GE13 to “migrate elsewhere”.

Now, one out of every seven people in the country is a foreigner. If we were to follow Zahid’s advice, this would increase to one in five. This is based upon a population of 28 million, however, none of the rakyat know the true population of the country. The census figures are another of Umno Baru’s dirty little secrets, which they use to exert control over the rakyat.

Zahid has the ability to make remarks without thinking of the consequences. Perhaps his mouth works faster than his brain. On the other hand, his boss, Najib prefers to keep mum when ministers make provocative statements.

A history with Najib and Anwar
The two men - Zahid and Najib - share a long history which started when Zahid became Najib’s political secretary in 1986, but Zahid has also been closely linked with Anwar.
In 1998, Zahid supported calls for the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to curb cronyism and nepotism. After a brief period of incarceration, Zahid claimed that he had been duped by Anwar to challenge Mahathir.
After a much publicised apology to Mahathir, Zahid returned to Umno Baru, presumably with more than just his reputation bolstered.

Malaysia’s youth are not as easily fooled by Umno Baru’s tactics, social networking sites keep them informed and in GE13, they demanded fairness and change.

Influential people like student activist Adam Adli have been threatened with sedition, Seri Setia assemblyperson Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (left) has been charged with organising a mass rally, and Anwar Ibrahim has predicted that the authorities will be arresting him soon.

Most of us are shaped by our experiences in youth. Friends who grew up with Mahathir claim that the young Mahathir saw a lot of poverty on his rounds as a doctor. He would have known about the economic disparities between the various races, and to be fair, he treated many people without charge.

When he became a politician, Mahathir probably realised that his affirmative action policies could not remain in perpetuity. He knew that as Malays became better educated and more affluent, they would not return to the rural areas.
He understood that as people became increasingly exposed to global changes and opened their minds to different experiences, his affirmative action polices would lose their appeal.

Mahathir (right) knew that if ordinary Malaysians refused to vote for Umno Baru, he would have to bring people in from overseas to address the shortfall.

Our poorer neighbours - Indonesia, the Philippines, Burma, Bangladesh and Pakistan - have several million people who would willingly work for longer hours and less money. By giving them jobs and promising them citizenship, they became indebted to Mahathir.

Only Malays may join Umno Baru, and hence only Malays are likely to vote for Umno Baru, so only Muslims who could become ‘instant Malays’ were imported.

Mahathir used these people, in a most evil fashion, to provide short-term economic benefits at the expense of ordinary Malaysians. His desire to give Umno Baru (and BN) long-term political and electoral advantages was even more pernicious.

The difficulty of introducing a Malaysian minimum working wage is widely known. Why would the authorities and employers approve this policy, when laws exist to import cheap labour to depress wages and control the people, the economy and future votes?

Rural folk made vulnerable

Mahathir abused people in the rural areas, as they were more vulnerable. He continued to neglect the rural communities by not providing job opportunities or by depriving them of infrastructure and services.
Many children of Felda settlers are graduates, but they are hampered by a lack of suitable jobs back in their communities and cannot make a valuable contribution to society.

Friends have complained of large numbers of Felda graduates who are unemployed. Some hold degrees in aeronautical engineering which cannot benefit their community, whilst others have complained that some graduates have skills which are not put to good use in their areas.

In the end, the disheartened youth gravitate to the cities, to be followed shortly by the older generation. Then, the rural areas become depopulated, and to sustain the economy, more foreign workers are smuggled in by the authorities.

With more foreigners, both legal and illegal being imported, the Umno Baru vote bank is endless. The migrants provide Umno Baru with votes, they generate production on the estates and boost the economy.

Umno Baru does not care that the urban areas are bursting with displaced Malaysians from the surrounding countryside.
Recently, parts of some cities are also being populated by foreigners. Malaysians have complained about a decline in services provided by hospitals, schools and community housing. The worst places record high rates of crime.

We know that from the 1980s onwards, Indians were displaced from the estates when plantations took over large tracts of land, perhaps, to satisfy Mahathir.

If the import of foreigners is not properly managed in the near future, the remaining Felda settlers and rural Malays will complete the exodus to the cities.

When that happens, and the Malays finally realise that Umno Baru has duped them, the recriminations will begin in earnest and Umno Baru will face a severe backlash from a cynical Malay community.

Then, politicians like Ahmad Zahid will wish that they had acceded to the relatively mild demands of free and fair elections from genuine Malaysians, rather than tell them to migrate.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.