Shadow Policy Committee

By Clara Chooi The Najib administration’s latest “Christmas blunder” has religious leaders in a mad scramble to explain to Christians that the church had not bowed to a directive to remove religious symbols during a Christmas party a fortnight ago. The Malaysian Insider understands that over the weekend, Catholic priests were forced to address the issue as it had caused an uproar among parishioners who questioned why the church had adhered to such “overzealous” requests, allegedly made by the prime minister’s aide. But the leaders also agreed that despite their attempts at defusing the situation, the “damage has already been done”, resulting in a rekindling of the same tension that rose during last year’s “Allah” controversy. Father Simon Labrooy, who spoke on the issue during two separate masses, predicted that the Christian community’s anger was not likely to dissipate until the premier publicly clarified his stand. He agreed that the administration, now mulling snap polls, would enc...

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: 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...

Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng has challenged Penang UMNO's latest attack against him, in which it was alleged that several mosques had replaced the Agong's name with Lim's during the invocation at the end of the Friday khutbah (sermon). Lim however told UMNO to lodge a police report and furnish evidences. “If UMNO Pulau Pinang has evidence, please go ahead make a police report against the mosques," said an incensed Lim, adding that the state's Exco in charge of religious matters Malek Kassim had confirmed that the texts of the Friday sermons did not mention Lim. State UMNO chairman cum defence minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had claimed that the use of Lim's name was detected a week ago at Friday sermons at mosques in Tasek Gelugor, Permatang Pauh and Jelutong. “No police report had been made so far but there was sufficient evidence pertaining to the matter,” Zahid claimed. Lim said it was "impossible" that the Imam would do...

Muslim terrorists attempted to set fire to the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church here, causing minor damage to the building, another Klang Valley Christian church attacked over two days. Church authorities said the building in Petaling Jaya Old Town was believed to be firebombed sometime between last night and this morning. “The fire-bomb missed a window and caused minor damage,” said Rev Dr Hermen Shastri, the general-secretary of the Council of Churches, Malaysia. When further reports and complaint were made to the police, the inspector-general of police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said that the police force were unable to provide full protection to the churches reasoning that their manpower were short. Tan Sri Musa's explanation was unreasonable given the fact that they had sufficient personnel in the force nationwide to curb the activities and peaceful protest organised by the Pakatan Rakyat component parties all these while. Are they telling us that politics of securing the positions of U...

A fourth Klang Valley church, this time in Kampung Subang, was reportedly attacked with Molotov cocktail which failed to explode while police have dismissed reports that cars with Christian symbols having their windscreens smashed in the Bangsar suburb today, hours after arson attacks on three churches. Police have sent a team to investigate the latest church attack in Kampung Subang which is linked to the controversial High Court ruling allowing “Allah” to be used by Catholic weekly Herald in its Bahasa Malaysia section that has outraged Muslim groups. Selangor police chief DCP Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said the Molotov cocktail failed to explode. City police have also increased patrols in the middle-class Bangsar suburb after people reported cars with Christian symbols such as crucifixes and rosaries had their windscreens smashed. However, police say no cars have been found smashed. DAP Bagan Parliamentary Liaison Committee would like to the authorities concerned to gear up their presen...