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...

By Clara Chooi A renowned Islamic scholar silenced arguments today over the controversial “Malay supremacy” concept, charging that it was un-Islamic and akin to the Jewish’s “ chosen race” claim. Former Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin wrote today that the act of placing the Malay race as more supreme than the others was against the teachings of Islam, which preaches tolerance and the equality of all races. “If someone considers himself more noble simply because of race or ethnicity factors, or considers others lower than himself because they are not of the same race, such belief is wrong and goes against the teachings of Islam. “Should this be the case, it can be likened to the Jewish claim that they are the 'chosen race',” he said. The outspoken scholar added that such “pride” was rejected by Islam. Dr Mohd Asri's view on the contentious concept is a direct blow to Malay rights group Perkasa, whose leaders have been blaring the “Malay supremacy” rhetoric to push fo...

Malaysians are aghast with the latest incident of political violence in our country where Sekinchan state assemblyman Sdr Ng Suee Lim was attacked by UMNO members while he was doing his duty as a people's representative. Malaysia is a country ruled by law, not by brute force. No one and definitely not those from the ruling party UMNO should act in violence especially against political opposition. Sdr Ng was invited as a wakil rakyat to visit some farmers at Tanjong Karang afflicted with problems. The people, especially the oppressed farmers have rights to seek redress from any leaders they want, from any political party they desire. UMNO should not take the laws into their own hands and prevent our wakil rakyat from executing their duties. If UMNO members can be so arrogant and beat up a YB and wakil rakyat, ordinary people will have no security from UMNO's hegemony and abuse of power. We fully support Sdr Ng to continue to serve the people and hope he will not be affected by t...

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 police have given assurances that the safety of places of religious worship in Penang are secure and under control. Penang state government is deeply concerned about press reports that places of religious worship in Penang has been targeted by terrorist militants with links to Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah (JI). As Penang possesses the largest number of temples in Malaysia, it was reported in English papers that some of the prominent ones such as the internationally renowned Kek Lok Si Temple in Ayer Itam has been targeted by militants led by Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. I had spoken to Penang CPO Dato Wira Ayub Yaakob and he said that there have been increased surveillance and patrols by the police in places of religious worship since reports surfaced last week, particularly around Kek Lok Si, Guan Yin Temple. More police personnel had also been sent to Penang, including a helicopter patrolling Penang. The helicopter will be on air until August 14 to ensure heighte...

by Wong Choon Mei Umno and its own ‘special’ brand of IsIam have drawn fire from the Muslim community in the country, which is balking at the uproar it has tried to create by accusing the Penang state government of being anti-Islam and wanting to cancel the birthday march of Prophet Muhammad. “Such processions are only held in this part of the Malay world. With or without the procession, Muslims can remember and celebrate Maulidur Rasul. Do not turn this episode into a racial or religious dispute for political gain,” a reader Syed Imran Syed Ahmad wrote in to a popular news portal. Syed Imran's comment was just one of the hundreds of such feedback that have poured in to news websites and blogs in response to the ruckus kicked up over Penang's alleged intention to do away with the annual procession on February 25. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has already denied the accusations, confirming that the march would carry on as usual. “I would urge Umno to remember the history of Abu Ja...

Pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat Pulau Pinang berhempas pulas menepis tuduhan bahawa kerajaan negeri meminggirkan masyarakat Melayu dengan mencabar Umno berdebat berhubung perkara itu. Cabaran itu dibuat dalam forum 'antifitnah' Pakatan malam tadi di pesta Tapak Expo Seberang Jaya di hadapan lebih 1,000 peserta yang hadir. Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang Lim Guan Eng, dua timbalannya Mansor Othman dan P Ramasamy, Naib Presiden PAS Datuk Mahfuz Omar turut terlibat dalam program itu. Forum tersebut dibuat ekoran dakwaan Dewan Perniagaan Melayu Pulau Pinang yang menuduh kerajaan Pakatan pimpinan DAP cenderung menghukum peniaga kecil Melayu berbanding orang Cina. Selain dewan tersebut, Umno dan Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS) terlibat menganjurkan demonstrasi yang menyaksikan insiden patung Lim dibakar - Agensi .

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...

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 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...

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recommended that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) or the police to investigate former Transport Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy and former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka OC Phang for criminal breach of trust over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project. The committee, which is investigating the scandal-ridden PKFZ, has found both Chan and Phang to have breached Section 14 (1) of the Financial Procedure Act 1957 by issuing three letters of support and three letters of undertaking without the approval of the Finance Ministry. PAC said the Attorney-General revealed that the three letters of support issued by Chan and three undertaking letters issued by Phang had implicitly placed responsibility on the Government to ensure there is allocation for PKA to fulfil its obligation under the development agreement. “Hence, thorough investigation by the MACC or police on these matters were required as the letters were i...

By Viktor Wong From MACC's massive targetting of Selangor state executive councillors, state assemblymen right to the cause of death onto DAP's Teoh Beng Hock, till today, what did MACC get and are there any results? Till now, no one from the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat state government has been proven of any corruption or any wrongdoings as alleged by some Umno leaders. The facts are simply very clear, MACC acted on rumours put up my Umno leaders who were going all out to cover all their original dirty works of their previous administration. That is why we could see and observe how the MACC acted. They were either being blinded or turned their eyes away from the happennings before 8 March 2008. What happenned before 8 March 2008? Well, prior to the general elections then, the district offices in various parts of Selangor had approved billions of Ringgit of funds for Umno state assemblymen to cover the expenditures for the entire year of 2008 in just two months.And these are all cl...

By: Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader and Ipoh Timor MP Are Malaysians seeing the start of the Najib crackdown from events of the past week? These developments include: 16.3.09: DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo suspended for one year in “kangaroo court” proceeding in Parliament without parliamentary pay and privileges for asking the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak whether he was involved in the murder case of Mongolian Altantuya Shariibuu. 17.3.09: DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh charged under the Sedition Act 1948 for stating that a State Ruler can be brought to court in their official and personal capacities under the Constitution. 18.3.09: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) showed utter contempt for the doctrine of separation of powers and continued harassment of the Perak State Assembly Committee of Privileges chaired by Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar for suspending usurper Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadi...

Kerajaan pemberontak Umno negeri dengan bantuan pasukan keselamatan persekutuan telah berjaya merampas bangunan dewan undangan negeri Perak, sekaligus menghalang ahli-ahli dewan undangan negeri daripada melangsungkan persidangan mereka secara adil. Tujuan kerajaan pemberontak Umno negeri merampas bangunan dewan undangan negeri tersebut adalah untuk menghalang persidangan tersebut diadakan bagi membuka peluang kepada pembubaran dewan agar pilihanraya negeri dapat diadakan semula. Tindakan kerajaan pemberontak Umno negeri tersebut adalah tidak berpelembagaan, menghina perlembagaan negeri, menghina amalan demokrasi dan tidak menghormati mandat rakyat. Umno Perak telah menjadi takut akibat kehilangan populariti mereka di kalangan rakyat dan enggan membubarkan dewan bagi mengadakan pilihanraya semula kerana mereka sedar bahawa Umno akan kalah teruk sekiranya ianya dilaksanakan. Oleh itu, kerajaan pemberontak Umno negeri mengambil keputusan untuk terus memerintah secara kuku besi di dalam us...

Kerajaan pemberontak negeri Perak yang diterajui oleh Umno setelah kerajaan negeri Pakan Rakyat yang sah telah digulingkan adalah sebuah pentadbiran yang tidak diiktiraf oleh umum kerana ianya telah dibentuk dengan cara yang tidak berlandaskan peruntukan perlembagaan negeri tersebut. Kerajaan pemberontak negeri Perak yang diterajui oleh Umno ini telah dibentuk hasil daripada "persidangan dewan undangan negeri" yang diadakan di ibupejabat Umno Perak dan dipengerusikan oleh timbalan presiden Umno Datuk Najib Razak selaku ketua badan perhubungan Umno negeri. Hasil daripada "persidangan dewan undangan negeri" yang diadakan di ibupejabat Umno Perak, Datuk Najib yang bertindak sebagai "speaker DUN" telah mengumumkan dalam sidang akhbar bahawa Umno telah mencapai bilangan kerusi yang mencukupi untuk membentuk kerajaan yang baru. Kita mempersoal kesahihan "persidangan dewan undangan negeri" yang diadakan di ibupejabat Umno Perak, dan kenapa Sultan Perak ...

Langkah kerajaan pusat BN mengeluarkan arahan kepada pihak polis untuk melaksanakan larangan ceramah di negeri Perak menunjukkan bahawa Umno telah kehilangan modal dan takut untuk menghadapi sentimen rakyat yang semakin membara ekoran daripada tindakannya melancarkan rampasan kuasa menggulingkan kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat negeri tersebut. Larangan ceramah itu juga telah menunjukkan bahawa Umno tidak lagi relevant di mata rakyat dan tidak lagi yakin yang rakyat akan terus menyokong mereka. Oleh yang demikian, Umno telah mengambil kesempatan tersebut bagi memperkukuhkan jentera kempen pilihanraya parti tersebut bagi menghadapi pilihanraya kecil yang akan datang.

Kami seluruh warga DAP dan pengundi di kawasan parlimen Bagan ingin menyatakan sokongan padu kami kepada kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat negeri Perak, Mentri Besar serta Ahli-ahli Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri di dalam menghadapi krisis perlembagaan yang melanda negeri tersebut baru-baru ini. Kami juga dengan sekeras-kerasnya mengutuk tindakan Umno yang telah melancarkan siri rampasan kuasa mereka menggulingkan kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat yang sah dipilih oleh rakyat. Kami juga dengan sekeras-kerasnya mengutuk tindakan para pemimpin Umno yang telah menyalahgunakan pasukan keselamatan untuk memberikan tekanan terhadap Sultan Perak agar baginda segera mengiktiraf kerajaan pemberontak yang dibentuk oleh Umno Perak dan kami juga ingin tegaskan bahawa perbuatan Umno ini adalah derhaka yang sebenar kerana mereka telah mempergunakan kesultanan negeri untuk kepentingan politik mereka semata-mata. Tindakan Umno ini adalah derhaka bukan sahaja terhadap institusi Raja tetapi seluruh rakyat negeri Perak p...

The police were told to stop politicking and work on their crime prevention efforts effectively. Right now, we noticed that the police force is focusing its entire workforce in helping Umno to curb opposition political activities which are deemed to anger Umno. Even when an NGO called JERIT organised its cycling tour around the nation, the police had send out almost half of its workforce to curb this event. Why do they want to curb JERIT's activities, what crime have they committed so far? Did they carry weapons and harm any passer bys or the public? When manning the road blocks in order to detain the JERIT cyclist, these policemen were holding semi-automatic machineguns and other weapons as well. Looks like the police are terrorising the people and not protecting the people from the increasing crime spree nowadays. They are just too busy entertaining to a lots of Umno's request to curb the influence of the opposition parties.