Shadow Policy Committee

By R Kengadharan The fundamental problem in Malaysia today is racism, and each day it escalates to a more dangerous level. We cannot ignore the ugly truth that racism is the consequence of privilege, institutionalised discrimination and the claim of supremacy by one group. The sad thing is that there is no national effort on a credible scale to destroy the racist mentality. We must destroy racism by openly condemning it and rejecting it in whatever form it takes, including the form of a race-based political party. The result of the 2008 general election did provide a ray of hope for a political system dominated by two multiracial parties, but the euphoria was short-lived. No true political observer can be oblivious of the fact that racial politicking is making a comeback and threatening to push the nation ever backward. While the vast majority of Malaysians see nothing but ugliness in racial politics, there are still many politicians who believe they cannot survive unless they continue...

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 Shannon Teoh The DAP demanded today that Datuk Seri Najib Razak replace the Utusan Malaysia editors and reporters responsible for the “false report” of a plot by the DAP and pastors to install a Christian prime minister to usurp Islam’s position in the constitution. Party Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng said that this was the only way for the prime minister to convince Malaysians that Umno disagrees with the “dangerous lies” printed by the newspaper that his party owns. The Bagan MP said that Najib must “direct Utusan Malaysia to withdraw and apologise for the false report and replace the editors and reporters involved in such dangerous lies that can burn 1 Malaysia.” Utusan Malaysia carried a front-page article on Saturday headlined “Kristian agama rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?), claiming the DAP was conspiring with Christian leaders to take over Putrajaya and abolish Islam as the religion of the federation. The report, based entirely on unsubstantiated blog postings ...

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...

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 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...

Utusan Malaysia’s editorial describing the May 13, 1969 riots as a “blessing in disguise” could set off another wave of racial riots in the country, said Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers today. Labelling the article as “seditious”, several PR MPs are also considering lodging police reports against the Umno-owned daily. The Utusan Malaysia editorial today described the May 13 racial clash as a sacred day for Malaysia and warned DAP to recognise its significance. “Utusan Malaysia, which is a racist mouthpiece for Umno, has put in a framework to put some sort of meaning and interpretation to May 13. I would like to remind Utusan Malaysia that May 13 was paid in blood, and as much as there was Malay blood there was also Chinese and Indian blood being spread over those many days of chaos,” said DAP MP Jeff Ooi. Ooi also questioned the juxtaposition of the Utusan Malaysia piece today with the Malay daily’s assertion of non-Malay dominance in the Malaysian economy currently. “Are they then setti...

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...

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...

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...

PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar (left) entered into the raging debate over Catholic weekly Herald’s use of the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia edition, saying it was an attempt by Umno to divert the people’s attention from other pressing issues. The Pokok Sena MP said the heated discussion on the issue in the newspapers and online forums have distracted Malaysians from focusing on issues such as the stolen RMAF jet engines and the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal. "We can see clearly, the print media which comes under the control of the Home Ministry, led by Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and the electronic media continue to take advantage of the issue,” Mahfuz said in a statement released here today. He also questioned why the Home Affairs Ministry did not appeal immediately against the High Court’s Dec 31 decision allowing the Herald to use the word ‘Allah’ to describe the Christian God. "I believe when the debate gets out of ...

DAP leaders today urged the police to get their priorities right in Teoh Beng Hock's case, who was found dead outside the Selangor Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) office earlier this year. In a statement today, DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) chief Loke Siew Fook said the move to investigate Lim Guan Eng over his remarks at the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) convention last week, showed the police lacked sincerity in solving the case. "By lodging a police report themselves against Guan Eng, the Selangor police have given the impression that they are not so interested in solving the Teoh Beng Hock’s case compared with finding faults with Pakatan Rakyat leaders," said Loke who is also the Rasah MP. What the DAPSY chief had stated is right. The police is merely acting in a political motivated anti Pakatan move ir order to curb the influence of our party leaders. The police wanted to scare PKR, DAP and PAS leaders into giving up their quest for democracy in our country. But our ...

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...