Shadow Policy Committee

By JOHN R. MALOTT The not guilty verdict handed down last Monday in the sodomy trial of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim made both sides, Prime Minister Najib Razak and the opposition, happy. Mr. Najib gets an immediate political boost by claiming a victory for the rule of law and an independent judiciary, while Mr. Anwar can focus on the election ahead. This good feeling, however, is likely to be short-lived. Serious challenges lie ahead. The first test of the post-verdict era will be whether the government chooses to appeal the acquittal. Defense experts successfully demolished the government's DNA evidence, but the judge said during the trial that Mr. Anwar's accuser was credible and reliable. With parliamentary elections looming, the government might conclude that forcing Mr. Anwar back into the courtroom will distract and pull him away from the campaign trail. On the other hand, an appeal would be polarizing and cost the government the support of centrists an...

The inconsistent claims made by Barisan Nasional (BN) on DAP’s relationship with PAS shows that the ruling coalition’s leaders were misleading, Lim Kit Siang said today. The DAP parliamentary leader said claims by Umno leaders that PAS was “under the thumb” of DAP contradicted MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s charge that DAP was a “stooge” of the Islamist party. “Who has lied? Najib and Muhyiddin or Chua Soi Lek?” Lim asked in a statement. “Umno and MCA leaders cannot all be telling the truth — as the DAP cannot be a stooge of PAS and PAS also a stooge of DAP [at the] same time. “Either Umno or MCA leaders have lied.” But Lim alleged it was more likely that all three — Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his second Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Dr Chua — were being devious. The Ipoh Timur MP said the trio were guilty of “perpetuating lies” to ensure their respective parties stood a chance in the next general election. He added that ordinary Malays stood to gain should Pakat...

According to the home minister and Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein, all these PSM 6 detainees arrested in connection with the Bersih 2.0 rally has had "terrorist" connections and their attempt is to establish a communist state in Malaysia. Until today, we have yet to see any evidence from the home minister, the police and special branch and reliable sources from inside the police force also indicated that these 6 detainees were repeatedly interrogated on the Bersih 2.0 programmes and activities instead of the alleged "communist" and "terrorist" activities that the ministry and police officials had alleged to the press. So, which is which? Saying this and doing another. How could we trust this government when it lied to the people not only once but too many times. If both the home ministry and the police force do not have any solid or even a simple evidence, then release all these 6 detainees at once.

By Viktor Wong In aftermath of the Sarawak state election which saw a severe defeat of one state BN major component party, the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) and the outstanding gain of DAP and PKR the blame game is about to start. SUPP president Dr George Chan, who himself was defeated by a DAP newcomer is not about giving up that so easy. He fired his first salvo today by blaming his BN state government and Putrajaya for not doing much to address issues and concerns raised by SUPP, particularly of those unjust policies on the Chinese community. If the BN is not doing much for the Chinese community and SUPP, why stay on in the coalition in the first place? If you are really sincere about serving the Chinese community and serious about all those concerns and issues highlighted by SUPP, then quit the BN coalition and fight it out alone or join forces with Pakatan Rakyat. It shows that you love your positions and status more than your concern to your people. Like their counterp...

By Melissa Chi Leaders from the Opposition have described the controversy surrounding Malay bibles and the use of “Allah” by Christians as just the tip of the iceberg in the erosion of non-Muslim rights. DAP publicity chief Tony Pua said the government did not seem to be picking specifically on Christians, but other religions other than Islam as well. “I think that the government has the same treatment to all religions, it’s just that the Christians are speaking up today. If you look at the school system, government departments, you can see mild forms of preferences or restrictions of religions increasing over the years. “It is already happening, it’s just that [followers of] other religions are not speaking up about it,” he said. He said for example there was a limit on the number of temples that can be built, and that if it was in a Malay majority area, no other places of worship could be built in the vicinity. The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, S...

By Lim Kit Siang Utusan Malaysia’s daily staple of lies and falsehoods to stoke communal poison and hatred, sowing distrust and national disunity, is the greatest disservice to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan and nation-building. Mingguan Malaysia today is again at its anti-national worst with its daily diet of lies and falsehoods to poison the political system and undermine the nation-building process when it made the completely wild and baseless charge in insinuating in its editorial that DAP is working towards the goal of making Malaysia a republic and the abolition of the system of Malay rulers. In its Sunday editorial “Iktibar kemelut Selangor” by Awang Selamat, Mingguan Malaysia insinuated that the lesson to be learnt from the Selangor crisis is that Malaysia will end up a republic if PKR and DAP’s “rule of Selangor continues”, viz: “Tetapi iktibar daripada kemelut di Selangor itu ialah jika PKR dan DAP memerintah, lagi banyak berlaku kemudaratan. Yang pa...

Utusan Malaysia today raised fears of Selangor joining Singapore as another “country belonging to China outside mainland China” over the ‘state secretary’ tussle between the state and Putrajaya. Assistant editor-in-chief Zaini Hassan’s column called on Malays to “have the same zeal as China, India and Israel” to “defend their sovereignty in governing the country” after seeing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) reject the choice of the federally-controlled Public Services Department (PSD), Datuk Mohamed Khusrin Munawi, as the new state secretary. “Do we Malays (already so few in the world) want to allow another country belonging to China or India outside their own lands? It should be enough with Singapore (a country belonging to China outside mainland China). Do we also want to give away this homeland?” he wrote, referring to Selangor. Zaini cited the Hans in China and the Hindus in India who enjoyed supremacy in their countries as they formed the majority population. “The People’s Republic of China w...

By a Dignified Malay I congratulate the former Mufti of Perlis for his recent statement chiding those who talk about "Malay supremacy". Dr Asri Zainul Abidin is right in making a comparison between this silly battlecry of a section of politicians to Jewish supremacy, which underlines Zionism and all the ugliness that it represents. Of course, this statement by Asri did not make headlines in Utusan Malaysia or the other UMNO-owned media, unlike his previous opinion calling for Anwar Ibrahim's retirement. It is also sad that while UMNO leaders in their ignorance keep harping on this racist and un-Islamic notion, not much effort was done by the leaders of PAS or the Muslim scholars in PKR to argue their opposition to this kind of racism from a religious point of view. Much of the issues have been argued from a political and constitutional point of view, and this has led many to suspect that PAS's stance has more to do with votes than their religious ideology. A cursory g...

By Tunku Abdul Aziz, DAP National Vice Chairman In an article I wrote recently, Rulers for all Malaysians, I had suggested, in a spirit of helpfulness, that their highnesses the rulers should drop the word “Malay” and instead use the more commonly understood title Sultan, for example, of Selangor or Sultan of Kedah as the case may be. Continuing to describe themselves as Malay Rulers at a time when inclusiveness is what is required as part of the process of integrating our disparate community of races seems to be a little perverse. His Highness the Sultan of Selangor, in decrying the suggestion I had made in my article, has, I fear, got the wrong end of the stick. Even a cursory reading of the article will show that the position of their highnesses in the constitutional arrangements of our nation remains inviolate, and Malaysians do not want it any other way. We recognise the crucial importance of stability in the life of a nation. Stability is inherent in the system of constitutional ...

By Clara Chooi DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng accused Umno leaders today of being “blind to history, the Constitution and in their hearts”, claiming that the ruling party promoted racial hatred and intolerance. Citing several racially-charged incidents as examples, the Penang Chief Minister and Bagan MP charged that Umno leaders had “hijacked” the Federal Constitution and used it at their whims and fancies for the purpose of dividing Malaysians. “When Umno talks about the Constitution, they only talk about the special positions of the Malays and not about the legitimate interests of the other communities. “This shows that Umno is blind to history, blind to the Constitution, and blind in their hearts. We must fight them,” he said at his opening address at the Perak DAP 15th Ordinary Convention this morning. Lim (picture) pointed out that Article 153 of the Federal Constitution states, “It shall be the responsibility of the Yang di Pertuan Agong to safeguard the special position of t...

Racial profiling of Malaysians should be blamed for the dismally small number of non-Malays in the armed forces, said a former Sabah chief minister. Yong Teck Lee, who is also Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president, noted that in the early years after independence, the armed forces, police and the civil service were multi-racial. “By way of policy and practice, the federal civil service has changed from Malaysian to Melayu. It is not “lack of patriotism” but a “marginalisation of non-Melayu“ that has turned our armed forces from Malaysian into Melayu,” he said. He was responding to remarks made by the Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in parliament where he cited “lack of patriotism” as one of the reasons for the small number of non-Malays in the armed forces. Ahmad Zahid has since come under heavy criticms from both sides of the political divide. Describing the remark as one of 'poor judgment' and a ‘double insult’ to non-Malays, Yong said after being systemically exclude...

Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has come under fire from both sides of the political divide today for insinuating that non-Malays are not patriotic. His critics wanted the Umno vice-president to apologise and retract the statement made in Dewan Rakyat yesterday. Zahid had listed four reasons why non-Malays were not interested in military service. One of the reasons was that non-Malays were “not patriotic”. His cabinet collegue S Subramaniam led the charge saying that Zahid's statement had disappointed non-Malays. "On the part of non-Malays, I wish to state that we have received many complaints that their application to join the armed forces was unsuccessful for various reasons including failing the physical tests and interviews. Apart from this, lack of promotion for non-Malays in the service is another reason why they are not interested in joining the armed forces. "Taking all these and other factors into account, I feel that connecting patriotism with the participat...

The DAP claimed today of links between MCA’s bid for Tanjong Plc’s gaming business and its previous pro-sports betting licence position. MCA was supportive of tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan’s Ascot Sports’ attempt to get a sports betting licence earlier this year. DAP MP Anthony Loke demanded that MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek clarify the news report carried by The Malaysian Insider this morning. “Did they (MCA) support sports betting in the past because they were planning or hoping to buy into the gaming business? Was that why the MCA supported the government’s intent to legalise sports betting? Come clean on this. “MCA president Chua Soi Lek must confirm this news report. What moral authority does the MCA have left, with taking over a gaming business?” said Loke. The MCA is said to be in the mix to buy Tanjong Plc’s gaming business, valued at about RM2.5 billion, along with the Cheng family, Filipino tycoon Roberto ‘Bobby’ Ongpin Jr and some international private equity firms....

By: Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle Concern is rising that Prime Minister Najib Razak has begun a series of moves including the use of force to retain control of Malaysia. Sparking the speculation is the second-day shutting down of popular political blog Malaysia Today run by the controversial Raja Petra Kamaruddin. RPK had accused Najib’s government of buying small arms – pistols, sub-machine guns, stun-grenades and so forth – from underground sources in the overseas black markets. Until now, the PM has not responded to the allegations nor has he explained why the Youth wing of his Umno party is suddenly embarking on paramilitary training . “This is extremely worrying. There must be impartial investigation to check if the allegations are true. It is very alarming because it has all the footprints of an Umno maneuver. Of late, it has been displaying the characteristics of ultra movements in line with the rise of Nazism and Facism,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chro...

By: Raja Petra Kamarudin (Malaysia Today) - What I am concerned with is the latest revelation of the Malaysian government purchasing millions of rounds of ammunition and tens of thousands of pistols, submachine guns and stun grenades. And this is the Malaysian government's shopping list. 9mm pistols & accessories 9mm submachine guns & accessories 7.62mm sniper ammunition 9mm para subsonic ammunition 9mm para hollow point ammunition (a hit from this bullet in the body = 100% dead) Stun grenades One-Bang Stun grenades 7-Bang Now, there is nothing wrong with governments buying bullets, pistols, submachine guns and stun grenades, even in the millions of rounds and tens of thousands of pieces like what the Malaysian government is doing. All governments do this, even the Malaysian government. But this particular cache is not being procured through normal channels. There is no tender being called for this purchase. It is being negotiated through "underground" sources, th...

By: Salina Abdul Jalil As a Muslim, I am tired of the now-regular statements coming from people like UMNO Youth and Perkasa decrying those they accused of questioning "Malay rights and status of Islam". Pray, since when has preferential treatment of a race ever been linked to Islam? These groups should do Muslims, including those Muslims who are not Malays and who believe in Islamic juctice, a big favour by not mentioning 'Malay rights' and 'Islam' in one breath. For this reason, I applaud the stance by PAS on helping all the poor regardless of their race because this is what Islam stands for. PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang could not make it clearer when he recently said the Bumi discount for property purchase should be extended to all poor. The Prophet Muhammad was not sent to us by Allah for Muslims only, but as Allah says in the Qur'an, he is a "rahmatun lil alamin", mercy to the world. He is sent for the whole mankind, and he lays down laws i...

The Defence Ministry "promised" that it will leave no stone unturned in its probe into the disappearance of a RM50 million F-5E fighter jet engine owned by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). Therefore, we would like to urge the defence minister Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also the Penang Umno liaison chairman to concentrate in his effort to recover the missing fighter jet engine rather than to stepping up his effort to grab the Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman's position from Gerakan's Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon. Datuk Ahmad Zahid, you already lost a jet engine, who knows you will loose our military's surface to air missiles (SAM) or our rocket launchers. In this case, you are not fit to lead nor chair the Penang BN committee, as you had already failed as a defence minister, a ministry that handles national security and military matters.

The Penang Umno liaison committee headed by Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is now demanding the current Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman (who is also the Gerakan president) Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to vacate his BN position to pave way for an Umno leader to take over the said position. The Penang Umno reasoned that the current chair held by the Gerakan president could no longer command the state BN coordination committee effectively as the party had lost all its state assembly and parliamentary seats to PKR and DAP in the last general elections. Besides, the Penang Umno is also urging the BN supreme council to appoint the new chair of Penang BN from amongst Umno leaders as soon as possible to enable it to function effectively. The BN said they are being fair to their component parties all these while, but what we saw recently was Umno again took advantage by flexing their muscle against the already weakened Gerakan in Penang. Come on Gerakan! Are you going to continue staying in the BN f...

DAP leaders today challenged leading Barisan Nasional (BN) parties, Gerakan and MCA, to make their stand known on Umno’s decision to lift the suspension of controversial Penang warlord Datuk Ahmad Ismail. “Are they willing to quit Barisan Nasional?” asked Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran. Yesterday, The Malaysian Insider reported that former Bukit Bendera Umno chief, Ahmad, who was suspended in September last year for uttering a racist remark, has been reinstated into the party last Friday. “I am not shocked at all by the decision,” Kulasegaran told reporters in Parliament here. Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong wondered what message Umno is trying to send when lifting the suspension. “I want to know the view of Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon as the minister in charge of national integration, and what message Umno is sending,” said Liew. While Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said the decision indicates that Umno is not serious in adopting the 1 Malaysia concept. “Is Umno still holding on to its Ketuan...

The Penang state government and Gerakan continued bickering over the decision to turn down a US$3bil (RM10.1bil) investment deal because the state government could not guarantee 1,000 electric and electronic (E&E) engineers required by the company. In a statement yesterday, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s special investment officer Jeffrey Chew lashed out at Gerakan for using hit-and-run tactics and practising a “promise first hope later” attitude. "The Penang state government is not as irresponsible as Gerakan in making empty promises that would jeopardise our credibility,” he said, adding that the state government could incur loses as much as US$3bil to compensate the investors should it be unable to fulfill its own guarantees. Chew said this in response to criticism from Penang Gerakan chief Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan who said the state could not afford to turn away investors. Chew said the Malaysian Employers Federation, among other bodies, had detailed the shortage of E...