| MEDIA Rakyat MALAYSIA Posted: 27 Aug 2013 03:09 AM PDT |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 26 Aug 2013 07:15 PM PDT
| People Of Bangladesh Will Never Tolerate If Bangladesh Awami League Conspires To Regain Power Through Controversial Election Under Ruling Party Posted: 26 Aug 2013 03:44 AM PDT People of Bangladesh will never tolerate if Bangladesh Awami League Conspires to regain power through Controversial Election under Ruling Party – Rafiqul Islam Khan Acting Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan strongly condemned and protested the initiative taken by the ruling party Bangladesh Awami League to do the General Election under ruling party after ignoring the demand of mass people which is "Doing the General Election under Caretaker Government". If the Government takes this initiative then this will bring friction, clash and anarchy into the country. Ninety percent people of this country are on behalf of the Caretaker Government system. They will never tolerate if the Government conspires to regain power through a Controversial Election under the Ruling Party. He said, from 1983 to 1990 and 1993 to 1996 the people of Bangladesh did movement and struggle demanding for doing the General Election under Caretaker Government. In this movement many people sacrificed their life, blood and went to prison. Finally, the movement was succeeded and this Caretaker Government system was included in the Constitution of Bangladesh. By forgetting and betraying their sacrifices and bloods, the Government conspires to come back to the power through a one-sided voter-less pre-planned Election under the ruling party. The people of this country will make their conspiracy unsuccessful "In Shaa Allah". By making the non-issue as an issue, the government divided the nation in the name of so called trial of "Crime Against Humanity" and lost their popularity after failing to keep all the promises of the people before the Election. That’s why the Government is planning to illegally come to the power again. Mass people doesn’t want to see them in the power any more since they created anarchy and failed to run the Country. The Government is getting afraid for a free and fair Election after their candidate lost very terribly in all the recent five City Corporation Elections. At present, the Government is conspiring to establish One-Party Dictatorship by arresting all Jamaat and other Opposition Leaders, creating anarchy, clash and friction and destroying Democracy and Rule of Laws. He called all the people of Bangladesh to stand against this Conspiracy. He demanded to release all Jamaat Leaders and shut down the illegal Tribunal. Lastly, he humbly called the Government to resign and reinstate the Caretaker Government system in the Constitution. | |
| Anak Muda Kampung Nak Senang Posted: 26 Aug 2013 11:11 AM PDT
| Risalah galak orang Melayu tenung nasib dan berjudi Posted: 25 Aug 2013 11:30 PM PDT
26 Ogos 2013 Seremban - Beberapa kawasan perumahan yang majoriti penduduknya orang Melayu kini dihujani dengan pelbagai risalah yang menggalakkan orang Melayu yang beragama Islam untuk berjudi melalui kaedah tenung nasib atau tilikan.
Risalah ini memaparkan gambar gadis Melayu yang bernama SITI NORIZAH yang ditutup matanya.
Turut diletakkan dalam risalah ini ialah gambar tiket nombor ekor yang memenangi hadiah pertama.
Antara ayat yang digunakan untuk menarik orang Melayu berjudi ialah : - Adakah anda dapat mengetahui apa yang akan berlaku pada hari keesokan? - Adakah anda boleh mengawal nasib anda? - Kenapa sama ibu sama bangsa tetapi taraf tidak sama? - Kenapa orang ramai sama tarikh lahir tetapi nasib tidak sama?
Kemudian tertera dua nombor telefon untuk dihubungi.
Kebelakangan ini begitu banyak risalah seperti ini diedarkan dari rumah ke rumah orang Melayu.
Semoga pihak berkuasa dapat mengambil tindakan segera tanpa perlu menunggu laporan rasmi, kerana yang mendapat risalah ini juga ramai penghuni rumahnya di kalangan pihak berkuasa termasuk polis, wartawan dan pegawai Jabatan Agama Islam. | |
| www.telokkemang.blogspot.com/ Posted: 26 Aug 2013 07:28 AM PDT
| 답장 HOW ARE YOU Posted: 26 Aug 2013 12:32 AM PDT Greetings to you,
I believe you are a highly placed person considering the fact that I got your email from a human resource database of your country. I request you treat what I am about telling you with seriousness and confidentiality. Well, I am Miss. Thitima from Thailand, a banker. I was the account officer to a late customer who was an exporter of rice from Thailand. On the 21st of July 2008, he died in his sleep as a result of heart related illness. Before his death, I helped him deposit the sum of 12.3 million US Dollars as fixed deposit with our bank. The said deposit has long matured and no one has not shown up for the claim. All efforts made to reach any of his relatives have proved unsuccessful and the money deposited will soon be lost to the government if the claim is not made immediately.
All I require now is your honest cooperation to enable me present you as the beneficiary of his deposit in order to claim the money with our bank. It does not matter if you knew him or not or whethera he is related to you or not, you can successfully make the claim as long as you are not here in Thailand. Everything will be made easy by me once you are ready to co-operate with me. The fund shall be shared into two equal parts between the both of us when the claim is made. I guarantee that this will be done under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law both here and in your country. If you can help, write back for me to give you more details.
Thank you.
Miss. Thitima PLEASE SEND YOUR REPLY TO MY PRIVATE EMAIL: thitimakbank@yahoo.com.hk | |
| R Sivarasa - Ahli Parlimen Subang Posted: 25 Aug 2013 11:34 PM PDT
| we need a Royal Commission immediately Posted: 25 Aug 2013 02:55 AM PDT Malaysian criminal justice system in complete disrepute ; we need a Royal Commission immediately The shocking outcome of the Altantuya murder appeal in the Court of Appeal has the effect of bringing further and total disrepute to the Malaysian criminal justice system. Keadilan has consistently maintained that the Altantuya High Court trial of Razak Baginda, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar had always been a manipulated process and done according to a prescribed script. When the script was not followed at certain points in the initial stages, we saw the fallout. The most senior prosecutors in the Prosecution Division of the AG’s Chambers such as Dato Sallehudin and Dato Yusuf Zainal Abiden were removed from the team when apparently they refused to play ball with a script that would result in the certain acquittal of Razak Baginda. Sallehudin then resigned to go into private practice. We also saw the trial moved to be heard before YA Zaki Yassin after YA N Segara refused bail to Razak on the basis of facts stated in Razak’s own affidavit. The movement was of course disguised in a reshuffle of cases in the Shah Alam High Court. There were still occasional out of script moments during the trial when a witness Burma Oyunchimeg @ Amy tried to tell the Court about the photograph shown to her by Altantuya showing Razak, Najib and her in a restaurant in Paris and was stopped by objections from the defence, prosecution and the court. The rest of the trial mostly played out according to the written script including the acquittal of Razak Baginda.
Keadilan had consistently maintained earlier that key witnesses such as DSP Musa Safiri, Nasir Safar, Prime Minister Najib, his wife Rosmah and his brother Nazim Razak should all have been called as relevant witnesses – not so much to establish the guilt of Sirul and Azilah but to establish who had directed Sirul and Azilah to kill Altantuya. After the revelations of Deepak Tethwani and Americk Singh Sidhu, it was obvious that they and Cecil Abraham were also relevant witnesses. Private investigator Balasubramaniam had in his public statements detailed Musa’s involvement in the episode and the link between Musa and Razak Baginda. The key question to be answered was always -who was directing Musa as Razak clearly had no authority to direct key police personnel. Musa at that time was Najib’s ADC.
Nasir Safar, Prime Minister Najib’s private secretary of 20 years standing at the material time ( no longer now ) was identified by Balasubramaniam as present on the night of the murder on 19th October 2006 in front of Razak Baginda’s house in Bukit Damansara driving around slowly surveying the scene before Sirul, Azilah and woman policeman L/Corp Rohaniza Roslan arrived later to take away Altantuya who was in front of the house with Bala. Najib, Rosmah and Nazim have all been implicated by public statements by Balasubramaniam, Deepak and Americk Singh Sidhu in the making of Bala’s 2nd SD which was done to obliterate all references to the alleged relationship between Najib and Altantuya in Bala’s 1st SD. When the High Court judge YA Zaki said he had a problem establishing motive, it would be obvious to all and sundry that witnesses such as Musa, Nasir Safar, Najib, Rosmah, Nazim, Deepak, Cecil Abraham amongst others would be highly relevant to motive. But of course none were called to give evidence during the trial. The acquittal of Razak Baginda without his defence being called was highly questionable. Also questionable was the decision of the AG to not appeal. The AG’s Chambers routinely appeals verdicts against them in criminal trials; they had also made repeated and consistent public statements that they had a good case against Razak – why then did they not appeal? It is our view that there was sufficient evidence during the trial to convict Azilah and Sirul on the evidence of Bala, Lance Corporal Rohaniza, the phone records showing constant communication between Azilah and Razak from 18 October before and after the murder, the fact that Altantuya’s jewellery was found in Sirul’s house, CCTV footage in Hotel Malaya ( where Altantuya was staying ) on 18 October showing Sirul and Azilah’s presence there, Altantuya’s blood stains on slippers in Sirul’s car, the use of C4 explosives and other evidence presented. There could be no doubt that Sirul and Azilah were the last to be seen with Altantuya. It is our view that even if the Court of Appeal found defects in the manner the High Court judge analyzed the evidence and in the conduct of the prosecution in presenting the case, the proper order to make in this case was to order a retrial and NOT grant an acquittal, particularly when the defect was that a key witnesses such as Musa Safiri was not called. There is ample power under the law in section 60 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to order a retrial which is regularly done in appeals. However the judgment of the Court of Appeal again highlights aspects of the shoddy prosecution highlighting in particular the omission to call Musa Safiri. However the omission is not just to call Musa but also the many others stated above, Musa, Nasir Safar, Najib, Rosmah, Nazim, Deepak, Cecil Abraham amongst others. The question raised by the Court of Appeal about the failure of the prosecution to call a key witness Musa Safiri is only one of many questions to be asked about this failed prosecution. Any independent investigator would be asking why persons linked closely to Najib such as Musa Safiri and Nasir Safar are linked to the murder? Najib’s direct involvement in the making of Bala’s 2nd SD raises questions about his motives here. We therefore call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the failed prosecution. We had already earlier called it a failed prosecution because of the acquittal of Razak Baginda and the gross failure to identify and prosecute those who directed the killing of Altantuya. However the failed prosecution has taken a ludicrous twist with the acquittal of Sirul and Azilah as now the Malaysian criminal justice system sinks into complete disrepute in the eyes of the world. A Royal Commission is necessary to start the process of rescuing its credibility. Will the Cabinet sit ( without the presence of Prime Minister Najib ) and make a decision? Sivarasa Rasiah, Member of Parliament for Subang
24th August 2013
| |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 25 Aug 2013 07:08 PM PDT
| The Failed Promise to Cambodia Posted: 25 Aug 2013 05:05 AM PDT The National Interest The deeply flawed July 28 general election in Cambodia attracted scant international attention. This is in sharp contrast to 1993, when the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), with a $1.5 billion budget, administered the first election carried out by a UN agency following the 1948 UN-supervised Constitutional Assembly election in South Korea. UNTAC was established by the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements. It was created as part of the "survivors’ guilt" over the failure of the international community to intervene to prevent the genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge. The "killing fields" period, in which up to two million Cambodians perished, stood as a stark reminder of the failure of the UN and other international organizations to prevent mass murder even after the Holocaust. UNTAC was established to restore the credibility of the international community by transforming a Cambodia emerging from civil war, genocide and foreign invasion into a model for democracy and human rights—and to allow a graceful UN exit from the country. Two decades later, as witnessed on July 28th, the world appears to little remember or even care about the pledge to restore and revitalize Cambodia. One of the great historic ironies is that, despite these international efforts, a former Khmer Rouge cadre, Hun Sen, now sits at the center of power in Phnom Penh. A member of the group of henchmen responsible for the greatest genocide in post-World War II history continues to unilaterally call the shots on the political future of Cambodia. This is a country which, with its demographics of an extremely young population and its location at the heart of the dynamic Asian "economic miracle," could have the potential for fulfilling all the promise of UNTAC’s previous efforts. Instead, a dark shadow again extends over Cambodia. International press reported on August 9 the movement of armored vehicles and troops into the vicinity of the capital of Phnom Penh, due to reports of planned opposition protests over the election results. The domestic crisis deepened on August 17 when the country's National Election Committee (NEC) rejected the opposition complaints regarding voting irregularities, stating that “many of them didn’t warrant further investigation.” The results, reporting that Hun Sen's ruling party, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), had taken 48.79% of the vote in the July 28 poll and had won 68 out of 123 parliamentary seats, enough for a parliamentary majority, still stand. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) claims that, without the irregularities, it would have won at least 63 seats, enough for its own parliamentary majority. In frustration, its representatives walked out of their last meeting with the NEC. The final recourse lies with the Constitutional Council, which held a meeting on August 20th to consider nineteen separate allegations of election irregularities. The Council reportedly has seventy-two hours to complete its investigation. Only time will tell whether a last-minute agreement, reached by the ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly, to jointly investigate allegations of voting irregularities will have any bearing on the Constitutional Council’s final ruling on the matter. Win or lose, the strong opposition showing in the elections was a slap in the face to strongman Hun Sen. He is used to having his way during twenty-eight years of continual rule and does not hesitate to use strong-arm tactics when necessary. The ruling party decision to join the opposition in an investigation, therefore, could prove little more than a gambit by the Hun Sen faction to buy time to allow popular furor over the discredited election results to die down. The opposition remains ready to take to the streets if the current impasse is not resolved in what is popularly perceived as an equitable manner. The American Embassy in Phnom Penh responded to the ongoing impasse by publicly stating that “we still say that an investigation into irregularities needs to happen. The outcome of these electoral disputes needs to be something that Cambodian people as a whole will be happy with.” Reports of voting irregularities on July 28 include the removal of eligible voters from the voting lists, the inclusion of multiple names on some voting lists, and indications that some pro-Cambodian People’s Party (the ruling party) voters were allowed to cast their ballots multiple times. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki had commented on these reports on July 29, noting that “we call for a transparent and full investigation of all credible reports of irregularities. We urge all parties and their supporters to continue to act in an orderly and peaceful manner in the post-election period.” Sam Rainsy, head of the opposition CNRP, has called for a return of a United Nations role to address election issues as UNTAC once did. Rainsy returned to Cambodia just prior to the July elections after receiving a royal pardon from the king for his conviction on previous trumped-up charges. His name did not, however, appear on the voter rolls and he was not eligible for candidacy in the elections. Rainsy, in an August 5 letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, stated that "under the terms of the Paris Peace Agreements … both the UN and the Kingdom of Cambodia have a legal obligation to ensure that our country's 'liberal and pluralist democracy' be grounded in 'free and fair elections'…"We believe that numerous irregularities in electoral processes produced an outcome that does not properly reflect the will of the people." It should provide the United Nations little comfort that, after all the time and treasure expended on creating "a liberal and pluralist democracy" in Cambodia that the country will likely remain, as cited above, in the hands of an infamous former Khmer Rouge cadre. Hun Sen carries a permanent physical reminder of his Khmer Rouge ties in the form of a glass eye, the result of awound he sustained while participating in the Khmer Rouge’s final assault on Phnom Penh in 1975. Hun Sen broke with the Khmer Rouge not out of any moral conviction but because, as Battalion Commander in the country’s eastern region, near the Vietnamese border, he was targeted in a 1977 party purge as an underperformer. He fled with his battalion to the rival Vietnamese before he too could become a victim of the killing fields. He returned to Cambodia in 1979 with the invading Vietnamese army. On that occasion, Prince Norodom Sihanouk famously referred to him as "a lackey" of the Vietnamese. Hun Sen might have abandoned his Khmer Rouge colleagues, but he did not put aside their murderous tactics. In 1987 Amnesty International called his regime to account for the torture of thousands of political prisoners using “electric shocks, hot irons and near-suffocation with plastic bags." He defiantly refused to honor the 1993 UNTAC-sponsored election results, refusing to step down from the post of prime minister but instead brokering a deal that left him in place as "second prime minister" to Prince Ranariddh’s "first prime minister." By 1998 he had managed to push Ranariddh aside and resume his position as sole prime minister. Extra-judicial killing of those who represent an inconvenience to the regime is the modus operandi in Hun Sen’s Cambodia. In April 2012 environmental activist Chut Wutty was shot dead by a military-police officer while investigating illegal logging in western Cambodia in the vicinity of a Chinese hydropower construction site. His murder was still the talk of the town when I visited Phnom Penh last summer. More recently, in April of this year, Houn Bunnith, a staffer with the legal-aid NGO International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) was shot in the neck and killed by a military-police officer in Kandal province. This is all a far cry from the Cambodia envisioned by the United Nations and the international community at the time of the supervised elections two decades ago. The question now is this: what will be the international response to the recent flawed elections and the continued, extensive human-rights abuses in a land that already suffered so much at the bloody hands of the Khmer Rouge? | | [PROGRAM] Program Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim di Kelantan Posted: 25 Aug 2013 04:52 AM PDT Program Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim di Kelantan 26 OGOS 2013 [ISNIN]
1. 7:30 pm – Solat Maghrib, Taklimat kepada Majlis Pimpinan Negeri (MPN) dan Perasmian Pusat Khidmat Lokasi: Pusat Khidmat Adun Guchil, 3A Wisma MDDKU 18000 Kuala Krai, Kelantan 2. 8:30 pm – Rumah terbuka anjuran PKR Negeri Kelantan Lokasi: Tapak Pasar Malam, Jalan Ah Sang, 18000 Kuala Krai, Kelantan PEJABAT DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM | | Other Nations Offer a Lesson to Egypt’s Military Leaders Posted: 25 Aug 2013 04:49 AM PDT The New York Times Is the era of the military big man back? In Egypt, where Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi led a populist putsch against the elected president, prison doors are swinging. Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood leader and freshly ousted president, languishes in one jail cell, while Hosni Mubarak, the despised autocrat who led Egypt for 30 years, has just been released from another. The turmoil highlights the central role of the military in some postcolonial Muslim countries, where at least in the fitful early stages of democracy, it forcefully imposes itself as the self-appointed arbiter of power and the guardian of national identity. But a look at other Muslim countries that have struggled with democratic transitions, including two other polestars of the Muslim world, Pakistan and Turkey, should provide a kind of warning to General Sisi. There it is the generals who are now facing charges. Last week, a Pakistani court indicted the former military leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto — the first time in Pakistan's coup-strewn history that a leading general has faced criminal prosecution. In Turkey, a court recently imprisoned dozens of senior military officers on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, a punitive reminder to a military once accustomed to reasserting its authority through coups. Though General Sisi is riding a wave of popularity among some Egyptians and neighboring countries, notably Saudi Arabia and Israel, for cracking down on Islamists, the events in Turkey and Pakistan have shown the limits of military power. And in Egypt, that may ultimately mean allowing the Islamists a genuine role in public life. "General Sisi needs an exit plan, now," said Vali Nasr, the dean of the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a former senior State Department adviser. "Without one, he could end up like Musharraf. And his country, too, could be left worse off at the end of his military rule." Military and civilian leaders have been competing for power in Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt for decades. The military has exercised muscular influence in all three countries, openly or behind the scenes, because of weak civilian rule that can be traced to the foundation of the states — in some cases, in a bid to circumscribe Islamist influence. Egypt's generals ousted the monarchy and established a republic in 1952. Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a military revolutionary, led a fierce secularization drive in the 1920s. Pakistan's military helped unify the country after its traumatic partition from India in 1947, and quickly established itself as the strongest arm of a weak state. Pakistani, Turkish and Egyptian generals profess to love democracy, but they practice it with varying degrees of reluctance. After seizing power in Pakistan in 1999, General Musharraf promised early elections but stayed for nine years. During a stint at the United States Army War College in 2005, General Sisi wrote a paper titled "Democracy in the Middle East" that was critical of American intervention in the region. Turkey's army has claimed a popular mandate for inherently undemocratic acts. Instead, the military has deeply embedded itself in each state's DNA, winning privileges and lucrative jobs for its officers, all the while controlling politics in blunt fashion. Pakistan's generals have mounted four coups over the past 55 years; Turkey has had three. In both Pakistan and Egypt, analysts describe the military as the core of the "deep state." "The military has been very influential since the 1952 revolution," said Hala Mustafa, editor of the Journal of Democracy in Cairo. "Even under Morsi, it had the same privileges and status as it had over the past six decades." How the militaries exercised that influence has varied. While Turkish and Egyptian generals ruthlessly marginalized political Islamists, Pakistan's men in uniform co-opted them. During the 1980s, Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq of Pakistan used them to both fight and to Islamize Pakistan's national identity, a source of tension with Egypt at the time. In all three countries, Islam is often seen as the boogeyman of democracy, Dr. Nasr said. "But that is wrong. The real struggle in the Middle East is between civilian rule and the military." That struggle is further complicated by the debate over how to integrate Islam into politics. For years, Turkey was the model of progress for many Muslim countries. But the military's retreat has been driven, in part, by the country's desire to join the European Union. And the gloss of civilian rule vanished in June when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan violently suppressed a protest movement in central Istanbul, suggesting that one authoritarianism was being replaced with another. This month's treason trial brought out sharp divisions between secularists and Islamists, underscoring how Turkey's nation-building model remains a work in progress. Yet the Turkish model may still offer the best hope: the protests in Istanbul appeared aimed more at Mr. Erdogan's hard-nosed policies than at the system of civilian rule itself. For some Egyptians pondering their future, the dreaded outcome is to become like Pakistan. Yet there are lessons to be learned. For decades, Pakistani generals could intervene in politics at will, a fact that the current prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, appreciates better than most: his last stint in power ended in 1999 with an army coup. But since General Musharraf was ousted as president in 2008, Pakistan's notoriously fractious politicians joined hands to give the military little room for maneuver, culminating in the recent, relatively clean election, which Mr. Sharif won with a handsome mandate. The courts have also grown bolder, highlighting military-driven vote rigging and human rights abuses (even if nobody has yet faced charges) and daring to indict General Musharraf, who also faces possible treason charges. Pakistanis now view themselves as exemplars of transition politics. After Mr. Morsi's ouster, which many Egyptian liberals supported, their Pakistani counterparts were quick to offer advice on the perils of military intervention. "Been there, done that — and it was definitely the wrong choice," said the journalist Omar R. Quraishi on Twitter. Still, Pakistan's generals remain strong behind the scenes, and Pakistan's transition is far from complete. General Musharraf's trial, analysts say, could offer a weather vane of how much prestige they are willing to cede. Leaders in Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt are acutely aware of the parallels among them. General Musharraf, who speaks Turkish, used to wax lyrical about the secular vision of Turkey's founder, Mr. Ataturk. More recently Turkish leaders have expressed fear that events in Egypt could stir trouble in their own country. "At moments of peril, it is more important than ever to stick closely to the democratic path," President Abdullah Gul wrote recently in The Financial Times. Yet as all three countries climb the ladder toward functioning democracies, the effort is complicated by outside pressure, which often favors the military. American support for Pakistan and Egypt has long been predicated on those countries' geostrategic value: Egypt's proximity to Israel and Pakistan's to Afghanistan. Turkey is a major player in NATO. And in Egypt, General Sisi and his commanders have drawn vocal support for his harsh crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood from the governments of Israel and Saudi Arabia. Even Mr. Mubarak, at the height of his 30-year rule, dared not operate so boldly. But therein lies the danger, perhaps, for General Sisi. His support from Egyptian civic society could evaporate as revulsion grows at the bloodshed against Islamists and the military's crackdown on other dissenters. If he alienates Western support, financing from the Middle East cannot sustain his country for very long. And, as events in Turkey and Pakistan have shown, the military's eminence can endure only by strategically ceding space to civilian players — or the use of violent repression. | | [PRESS STATEMENT] Malaysian Criminal Justice System In Complete Disrepute; We Need A Royal Commission Immediately Posted: 25 Aug 2013 04:47 AM PDT 24 AUGUST 2013 The shocking outcome of the Altantuya murder appeal in the Court of Appeal has the effect of bringing further and total disrepute to the Malaysian criminal justice system. Keadilan has consistently maintained that the Altantuya High Court trial of Razak Baginda, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar had always been a manipulated process and done according to a prescribed script.
When the script was not followed at certain points in the initial stages, we saw the fallout. The most senior prosecutors in the Prosecution Division of the AG's Chambers such as Dato Sallehudin and Dato Yusuf Zainal Abiden were removed from the team when apparently they refused to play ball with a script that would result in the certain acquittal of Razak Baginda. Sallehudin then resigned to go into private practice. We also saw the trial moved to be heard before YA Zaki Yassin after YA N Segara refused bail to Razak on the basis of facts stated in Razak's own affidavit. The movement was of course disguised in a reshuffle of cases in the Shah Alam High Court.
There were still occasional out of script moments during the trial when a witness Burma Oyunchimeg @ Amy tried to tell the Court about the photograph shown to her by Altantuya showing Razak, Najib and her in a restaurant in Paris and was stopped by objections from the defence, prosecution and the court. The rest of the trial mostly played out according to the written script including the acquittal of Razak Baginda.
Keadilan had consistently maintained earlier that key witnesses such as DSP Musa Safiri, Nasir Safar, Prime Minister Najib, his wife Rosmah and his brother Nazim Razak should all have been called as relevant witnesses – not so much to establish the guilt of Sirul and Azilah but to establish who had directed Sirul and Azilah to kill Altantuya. After the revelations of Deepak Tethwani and Americk Singh Sidhu, it was obvious that they and Cecil Abraham were also relevant witnesses. Private investigator Balasubramaniam had in his public statements detailed Musa's involvement in the episode and the link between Musa and Razak Baginda. The key question to be answered was always -who was directing Musa as Razak clearly had no authority to direct key police personnel. Musa at that time was Najib's ADC. Nasir Safar, Prime Minister Najib's private secretary of 20 years standing at the material time ( no longer now ) was identified by Balasubramaniam as present on the night of the murder on 19th October 2006 in front of Razak Baginda's house in Bukit Damansara driving around slowly surveying the scene before Sirul, Azilah and woman policeman L/Corp Rohaniza Roslan arrived later to take away Altantuya who was in front of the house with Bala. Najib, Rosmah and Nazim have all been implicated by public statements by Balasubramaniam, Deepak and Americk Singh Sidhu in the making of Bala's 2nd SD which was done to obliterate all references to the alleged relationship between Najib and Altantuya in Bala's 1st SD. When the High Court judge YA Zaki said he had a problem establishing motive, it would be obvious to all and sundry that witnesses such as Musa, Nasir Safar, Najib, Rosmah, Nazim, Deepak, Cecil Abraham amongst others would be highly relevant to motive. But of course none were called to give evidence during the trial. The acquittal of Razak Baginda without his defence being called was highly questionable. Also questionable was the decision of the AG to not appeal. The AG's Chambers routinely appeals verdicts against them in criminal trials; they had also made repeated and consistent public statements that they had a good case against Razak – why then did they not appeal? It is our view that there was sufficient evidence during the trial to convict Azilah and Sirul on the evidence of Bala, Lance Corporal Rohaniza, the phone records showing constant communication between Azilah and Razak from 18 October before and after the murder, the fact that Altantuya's jewellery was found in Sirul's house, CCTV footage in Hotel Malaya ( where Altantuya was staying ) on 18 October showing Sirul and Azilah's presence there, Altantuya's blood stains on slippers in Sirul's car, the use of C4 explosives and other evidence presented. There could be no doubt that Sirul and Azilah were the last to be seen with Altantuya. It is our view that even if the Court of Appeal found defects in the manner the High Court judge analyzed the evidence and in the conduct of the prosecution in presenting the case, the proper order to make in this case was to order a retrial and NOT grant an acquittal, particularly when the defect was that a key witnesses such as Musa Safiri was not called. There is ample power under the law in section 60 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to order a retrial which is regularly done in appeals. However the judgment of the Court of Appeal again highlights aspects of the shoddy prosecution highlighting in particular the omission to call Musa Safiri. However the omission is not just to call Musa but also the many others stated above, Musa, Nasir Safar, Najib, Rosmah, Nazim, Deepak, Cecil Abraham amongst others. The question raised by the Court of Appeal about the failure of the prosecution to call a key witness Musa Safiri is only one of many questions to be asked about this failed prosecution. Any independent investigator would be asking why persons linked closely to Najib such as Musa Safiri and Nasir Safar are linked to the murder? Najib's direct involvement in the making of Bala's 2nd SD raises questions about his motives here. We therefore call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the failed prosecution. We had already earlier called it a failed prosecution because of the acquittal of Razak Baginda and the gross failure to identify and prosecute those who directed the killing of Altantuya. However the failed prosecution has taken a ludicrous twist with the acquittal of Sirul and Azilah as now the Malaysian criminal justice system sinks into complete disrepute in the eyes of the world. A Royal Commission is necessary to start the process of rescuing its credibility. Will the Cabinet sit ( without the presence of Prime Minister Najib ) and make a decision?
Sivarasa Rasiah, Member of Parliament for Subang 24th August 2013 | |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 24 Aug 2013 07:12 PM PDT
| [PROGRAM] Majlis Eidul Fitr Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim di Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur Posted: 24 Aug 2013 04:24 AM PDT Tarikh – 25 OGOS 2013 [AHAD] 1. 12.00 Tengahari – Jamuan Eidulfitri DUN Pelabuhan Klang Lokasi : Perkarangan Pusat Khidmat Masyarakat DUN Pelabuhan Klang 60, Jalan Permai 1b, Kota Pendamar 42000 Pelabuhan Klang, Selangor. 2. 1.00 pm – Parlimen Lembah Pantai Lokasi: Parking The Sphere, Bangsar South. 3. 2.00 pm – Solat Zohor 4. 2:30 pm – Parlimen Batu Lokasi: Dataran Dewan Masyarakat Fasa Tiga, Bandar Baru Sentul 5. 3:30 pm – Setiawangsa Lokasi: Jalan 46B/26 Taman Sri Rampai 6. 4.30 pm – Parlimen Wangsa Maju Lokasi: Wangsa Maju, sebelah Sekolah Kebangsaan Seksyen 1, Wangsa Maju 7. 8.30 malam - Jamuan Eidulfitri DUN Bukit Antarabangsa dan Parlimen Ampang Lokasi: Tempat letak kereta hadapan Bank Simpanan Nasional Bandar Baru Ampang PEJABAT DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM | |
| MEDIA Rakyat MALAYSIA Posted: 24 Aug 2013 03:27 AM PDT |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 23 Aug 2013 07:17 PM PDT
| [PROGRAM] Rumah Terbuka Parti KeADILan Rakyat Negeri Sabah Posted: 23 Aug 2013 09:32 AM PDT TARIKH: 24/8/2013 (Sabtu)
MASA: 2 petang
LOKASI: Tanjung Aru Plaza, Kota Kinabalu Tetamu istimewa: Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim PEJABAT DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM | | The Un-American Way: On the Anti-Democratic ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership’ Posted: 23 Aug 2013 03:25 AM PDT CommonDreams Why the TPP deal threatens food safety and public health The United States is negotiating a NAFTA-style trade deal that should be alarming to American consumers. The main reason it's not getting much attention is that the mainstream media is largely ignoring it. 
This pact deserves more news coverage. It threatens to undermine our own laws and increase the opportunity for corporate takeovers of public resources in the United States and abroad. The worst part? These negotiations are taking place behind closed doors. This controversial agreement is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It's comprised of the United States plus 11 other nations that border the Pacific Ocean. The TPP would boost liquefied natural gas exports and food imports. This increases the real dangers posed by reckless fracking for natural gas and the growth of imported food from several countries whose safety standards fall far short of our own. The TPP could become the biggest corporate power grab in U.S. history. This deal would establish a regime under which corporations would acquire an equal status to countries, allowing them to take legal action against governments both at the national and local levels. With this power, multinational corporations — especially energy companies — could overturn laws enacted to protect the public and the environment if they were to deem that those protections violated the profit-based terms of this trade agreement. The United States currently has enough challenges plaguing our food system, with many of our would-be TPP partners shipping unsafe food even without these so-called free-trade agreements. Seafood imports alone have been particularly troubling. Much of the seafood we import is farm-raised using antibiotics and hormones that are illegal in our own country, and a mere 2 percent of those imports are actually inspected by the FDA. The TPP would encourage increasing the amount of seafood we take in without requiring the trading partners to ban the use of illegal chemicals. This could also hurt the American consumers through the expansion of the oil and gas industry, as it tries to increase its land use at home to frack more gas for export to our new TPP partners. This pact could quickly undermine local, state, and even federal laws that protect public health and the environment. Many localities have recently passed laws to ban fracking. Unfortunately, a lot of the companies that are pursuing hydraulic fracturing in the U.S. are either foreign-owned or have foreign investors. The TPP would potentially give companies the power to sue local governments, granting them their own permission to exploit natural resources and undermine local laws. Treaties like the TPP undermine important efforts by grassroots movements and governments to protect people and the environment against the dangers of infecting our food system with increased use of antibiotics and hormones or the risks associated with fracking for natural gas. Protests against this trade accord have already gotten started in other countries, including Japan and Malaysia, as concerns grow over its expected negative effects. The bottom line is that TPP will bring little, if any, benefit to small-scale growers and producers. As negotiations near completion, it's critical that we let our members of Congress know that we don't support this kind of corporate power grab. President Barack Obama is asking Congress to grant "fast-track" authority, allowing him to negotiate the TPP and other trade deals without otherwise requisite congressional oversight. We must stop that from happening. Undermining laws that U.S. citizens voted to put in place isn't the American way. | | So, who killed Altantuya? And why? Posted: 22 Aug 2013 10:29 PM PDT TMI Seven years on, no one has paid the price for the death of Altantuya Shaariibuu. And no one knows why the pretty Mongolian was killed one night in October 2006. But today’s Court of Appeal decision does not close the file on her mysterious murder. Instead, the ruling to acquit former chief inspector Azilah Hadri and former corporal Sirul Azhar Umar raises more questions than ever. Who killed her? Why? She was shot dead and C4 explosives were allegedly used to blow her to bits but both police commandos said they had no access to the explosives. So what happened? Were there others involved? She came into the country but there were no immigration records with her name. Did she use another passport? Can the authorities explain this? Some of these questions could have been answered if the likes of DSP Musa Safri had been called to give evidence. The prosecution did not call him and the appeal court today allowed the appeal because material witnesses were not called to testify, including Musa. Musa would have been able to say what sort of help political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda had asked of him to fend off Altantuya. The interpreter had become Abdul Razak’s lover but later hounded him. He had to hire private investigator P. Balasubramaniam to keep watch on her. When Altantuya turned up that fateful night on October 19, 2006, the policemen took her away and that was the last time she was seen alive. What followed rocked Malaysia’s political establishment. Abdul Razak was held in connection with the murder and both police commandos Azilah and Sirul were later charged for Altantuya’s murder. Their connection to each other was simply Musa, who was aide-de-camp to then deputy prime minister and defence minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Now prime minister, Najib has denied any links to the case although Abdul Razak was closely associated with him. Will today’s ruling provide closure for him too? Will it also provide closure for Abdul Razak, who was the first to be acquitted of conspiring to kill Altantuya? He had admitted to fending her off but not asking for her death. Interestingly, the prosecution never appealed his acquittal. But the prosecution has said it would appeal today’s ruling that freed Azilah and Sirul, both of whom were hooded and shielded from public view during their 159-day murder trial. That again raises more questions. And endless possibilities. | | Erdogan breaks into tears over slain young Egyptian girl Posted: 22 Aug 2013 10:26 PM PDT Today’s Zaman Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an broke into tears on a televised program aired on Ülke TV late on Thursday when senior Muslim Brotherhood politician Mohammad al-Beltagy’s letter to his daughter, who was killed by the Egyptian security forces in a crackdown in Cairo on Aug. 14, was read at the end of the program. Speaking on a wide array of issues ranging from the recent alleged use of chemical weapons in Damascus to the surging number of Syrian refugees crossing the border to Turkey, Erdo?an broke into tears at the end of the program when a video was aired in which Beltagy’s letter to his daughter following her death was read. Erdo?an, who could not speak for a few minutes, said the video reminded him of the difficult days of the late 1990s, when he was banned from politics and sent to prison. Erdo?an said he could rarely meet with his children during his busy and turbulent political life. He said his daughter one day complained about the situation. Commenting on the recent alleged use of chemical weapons in the suburbs of Damascus, Erdo?an slammed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for perpetrating massacres against his own people. Noting that more than 100,000 people were killed since the beginning of the uprising against the regime, the Turkish prime minister said the Syrian president is bent on destroying everything in the country. The regime is slowly destroying the historic sites across the country, Erdo?an said, expressing his frustration and exasperation over the unabated killings perpetrated by the regime as well as the inaction of the international community. Erdo?an said Turkey now hosts 500,000 Syrian refugees and has spent more than $2 billion to meet the needs of the refugees accommodated in a number of camps across south and southeast Turkey. Erdo?an also lambasted the Iranian leadership for its unwavering support for the Syrian regime, saying that Tehran didn’t appreciate enough Turkish support for Iran in the international arena just a few years ago. Emphasizing Turkey’s rejection of any sectarian-based policy, Erdo?an told reporters that he expressed his distaste and disappointment over Iran’s policies in the region to Iranian officials, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei during his visit to the country. The Turkish prime minister did not hide his exasperation over the inertia that has engulfed the international community when he vehemently criticized the United Nations for its inability to issue a strong condemnation of the chemical attack, let alone conducting an immediate investigation at the site. Erdo?an has reiterated his call to other countries across the globe to restructure the UN in an attempt to overcome deadlock on critical global issues, in an implicit reference to the impasse in Syria. The Turkish prime minister also argued that the simmering political conflict in Egypt could be part of an international plot to detract international attention from enduring atrocities in Syria. As for the release of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Erdo?an said it could have been preplanned following the military coup that toppled Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, Mohammed Morsi. “It always happens in the same way. We also witnessed it during military coups in our country. It seems the roadmap [for Mubarak's release] was drawn up by the military junta following the coup,” Erdo?an said. ‘AK Party would get 51 percent of votes if election held today’ As 2014 — an election year with local, parliamentary and presidential elections — nears, polls have been increasingly conducted to measure how many votes political parties in Parliament would get if an election is held today. Erdo?an said his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) would get more than 50 percent of votes in the upcoming parliamentary elections, three different polls show. He said three different surveys, which were conducted upon request of the ruling party, indicate that AK Party respectively would get 51.4 percent, 51.9 percent and 51.5 percent of votes if an election is held today. The poll results suggest that, Erdo?an says, his party still has a strong popular mandate despite mounting criticism against his government policies over the past months. | |
| Anak Muda Kampung Nak Senang Posted: 23 Aug 2013 11:10 AM PDT
| Lagi kes gaduh di kem PLKN Posted: 23 Aug 2013 02:21 AM PDT
Pelatih PLKN cedera dalam pergaduhan 23 Ogos 2013 PEKAN: Seorang pelatih Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (PLKN) cedera di tangan dan badan dikatakan selepas terbabit dalam pergaduhan di Kem Semarak Tanjung Gosong di sini, malam tadi.
Sumber polis berkata, pelatih berusia 18 tahun itu mengalami kecederaan selepas cuba meleraikan pergaduhan seorang rakannya dengan seorang lagi pelatih yang masing-masing berusia 18 tahun.
"Mangsa cuba meleraikan pergaduhan itu bagaimanapun dia tercedera dalam kejadian berkenaan. Mangsa dibawa ke Hospital Pekan untuk menerima rawatan," katanya kepada Bernama di sini hari ini. | | 2 peti besi, barang kemas, jam Isa Samad dilarikan Posted: 23 Aug 2013 01:45 AM PDT
2013/08/23 - 16:28:22 PM
NILAI: Empat lelaki bersenjata parang memecah masuk rumah Pengerusi Felda, Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad dan mengikat lima anggota keluarga ahli politik berkenaan dalam kejadian di Nilai Springs Villa, di sini awal hari ini.
Dalam kejadian kira-kira 3.30 pagi itu, tiga lelaki terbabit memasuki banglo itu ketika anggota keluarga Mohd Isa iaitu dua anak perempuannya, seorang menantu lelaki, seorang cucu dan anak saudara selain seorang pembantu rumah sedang tidur.
"Kesemua mangsa termasuk seorang pembantu rumah yang berusia dalam lingkungan 20 hingga 30-an dikumpul dalam sebuah bilik dan diikat oleh penjenayah berkenaan," katanya pada sidang akhbar di sini hari ini.
Beliau berkata lelaki terbabit kemudian menggeladah kediaman itu dan melarikan empat telefon bimbit serta dua peti besi yang mengandungi barang kemas serta jam berjenama milik ahli politik itu yang dianggar bernilai ribuan ringgit.
| | Penjenayah semakin berani, polis kena ikat Posted: 23 Aug 2013 12:41 AM PDT
Pencuri Pecah Masuk Rumah Pengerusi Felda Isa Samad Di Nilai
23 Ogos 23, 2013 NILAI: Empat lelaki bersenjatakan parang memecah masuk rumah Pengerusi Felda, Tan Sri Isa Samad di Nilai Springs dekat sini dan melarikan barangan peribadi bernilai ribuan ringgit pada awal pagi Jumaat.
Kesemua lelaki berkenaan memecah masuk selepas mengikat seorang polis bantuan yang bertugas pada kira-kira pukul 3.30 pagi.
Dua anak perempuan Isa, seorang menantu lelaki, cucu dan anak buah perempuannya berada di rumah ketika kejadian berlaku.
| | Rumah Isa Samad dipecah masuk pencuri Posted: 22 Aug 2013 08:40 PM PDT
23/08/2013 10:45am
NILAI - Rumah Pengerusi Felda Tan Sri Mohd. Isa Samad di Nilai Springs di sini dipecah masuk sekumpulan penjenayah awal pagi tadi.
Bagaimanapun, jumlah kerugian masih belum dapat dipastikan. - KOSMO! | | TRAGEDI BERDARAH MESIR Posted: 22 Aug 2013 07:39 PM PDT | |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 22 Aug 2013 07:27 PM PDT
| Egypt’s New Leader Is Unfit to Rule Posted: 22 Aug 2013 02:57 AM PDT TIME Al-Sisi’s recent decisionmaking suggests a character that is deeply flawed, rash and dangerous Yesterday, Egypt's ruling authorities made two symbolic yet important decisions. The first is that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, detained since the February 2011 coup that toppled him from power, is to be freed. The second is that the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, is heading in the other direction. He's going to jail, where he'll join another former President, Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first elected Commander in Chief who was deposed last month by Defense Minister Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the man who now calls the shots in Cairo. Perhaps al-Sisi believes he is following Machiavelli's advice to rulers, that people must either be caressed or crushed. However, showing leniency to Mubarak and baring his teeth at the Brotherhood, along with other decisions al-Sisi has taken over the past 40 days, give us an insight into the nature of the man and suggest a character deeply flawed, rash and dangerous. We don't have many biographical details about al-Sisi. The 58-year-old general was born and raised in Cairo. He received his commission in 1977, so he fought in none of Egypt's wars. He trained in the U.K. in 1992, served as military attaché in Saudi Arabia and in 2006 attended the U.S. Army War College. The fact that he regularly consultswith Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, the 89-year-old Egyptian journalist who was a close confidante of Gamal Abdel Nasser, perhaps the greatest Arab nationalist hero, suggests al-Sisi is ambitious. A profile in the Daily Beast reveals little about al-Sisi that couldn't be said of much of Egypt's, or indeed all of the world's, male population — he's religious, conservative, keeps his own counsel and believes he is born to lead rather than follow. A professor who taught al-Sisi at the Army War College recalls that among all the Arab officers still reeling from the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Egyptian officer exhibited more self-control than the rest. Self-control is hardly the first attribute that comes to mind to describe a man who during his brief tenure as de facto ruler of Egypt has already killed hundreds in the streets. That is, it is not the raw data of biography that shows who someone is — rather, it is the choices one makes and the actions taken that draw the lineaments of character. Here, al-Sisi is wanting. If the White House still refuses to call al-Sisi's July 3 coup by its proper name and much of Egypt rationalizes it as an intervention to save democracy backed by a large part of the population, the reality is that the army took sides with one half of the country against the other. The 2012 election that put Morsi in the presidential palace showed that the Muslim Brotherhood had broad support. How many people may have changed their mind about Morsi over the course of a year when he proved incapable of governing or how many people the anti-Morsi forces put into the streets to demand his exit is immaterial. Al-Sisi failed to comprehend the obvious consequences of reversing the outcome of the country's first free vote — he was taking on not only the Muslim Brotherhood but also running roughshod over the political will of millions of Egyptians. The first move Egypt's new ruler made was to create the conditions for civil war. Al-Sisi's campaign against the Brotherhood, including the arrest of Badie, shows that he is keen to decapitate them. Whether or not he's capable of putting down a political movement born in 1928 and steeled by more than 80 years of violent repression remains to be seen. He certainly can't crush all the many millions of Egyptians who support them. As for Mubarak, yes, he deserves better than prison. He kept Egypt stable and at peace for 30 years and the young tech-savvy revolutionaries who helped topple him in 2011 owe their advancement and privilege to him. However, to release him now sets the revolutionaries against al-Sisi, the man they thought had come to restore the revolution that Morsi derailed. In freeing Mubarak, al-Sisi may well have further divided Egypt — the army and the Brotherhood and the revolutionaries against each other. The Middle East is not like Norway or Denmark, as one Middle East leader famously said, referring to the region's ruthless and often bloody political ethos. However, the Middle East is also not the lowest circle of hell. Rulers may at times find violence a useful tactic to achieve certain ends, but it is not a strategy, not the endgame, unless they wish to govern only rubble and flames. That's where al-Sisi is leading Egypt. | | Authoritarianism Pushes Back Posted: 22 Aug 2013 02:11 AM PDT The National Interest In the 24 years since Francis Fukuyama wrote his seminal article in The National Interest describing liberal democracy as a sort of steady-state culmination of the history of political and economic organization, others have gone in different directions on the question of whether that history embodies a grand trend, whether it is leading to some sort of final equilibrium, and if so what the nature of that equilibrium will be. Many thoughts on the subject are, unsurprisingly, influenced by salient events of the day, just as critics of Fukuyama thought he was overly influenced by the Western victory over Soviet communism in the Cold War, which was getting wrapped up just about the time he was writing. More recently it has been the Middle East that has been supplying most of the salient short-term events that inspire thoughts about long-term trends such as democratization. "Short-term" in this case means even shorter than the less than three years that the regional upheaval known as the Arab Spring has been going on. Fast-moving events have led to quick changes in prognoses about things such as trends in democratization. Early in the upheaval one heard lots of talk about democracy inexorably breaking out all over. More recent news from the likes of Syria and Egypt has led to similarly sweeping pronouncements that the Arab Spring will prove to be a bust. Many of the arguments on this subject have appropriately focused on factors specific to the Middle East. There are, for example, the ways in which abundant natural resources can paradoxically redound to the political as well economic disadvantage of those who have them—a dynamic sometimes referred to as the oil curse. Then there is there is religiously driven conflict related to how the region is the birthplace of the three big monotheistic relations. It is also appropriate, however, to plug the Middle Eastern events into that broader question of grand trends in human history and perhaps link them to data points from elsewhere in the world. One interesting data point from last week’s news comes from China. A memo, known as Document No. 9, circulating among cadres of the Chinese Communist Party warns about the dangers from seven subversive influences, with "Western constitutional democracy" being at the top of the list, followed by such others as freedom of the press, civic participation, and ideas about universal human rights. What is striking, even for a document evidently not intended for external consumption, is how direct and blunt a rejection this is of values associated with liberal democracy. It is not a given that this would be the response of the CCP. If these values have such attractiveness—as followers of Fukuyama’s argument would expect—to be seen as a threat to the current political order in China, one can imagine more nuanced and clever ways for party leaders to co-opt, adopt, or spin these values that would reduce the threat, rather than simply warning party members not to be tempted or tainted by them. There are explanations that can be made for Document No. 9 in terms of internal CCP politics. Perhaps, for example, this was red meat that Xi Jinping believed he had to throw to party leftists to help get their support or acquiescence with other things on his agenda, such as fighting corruption. But there also is a simple and straightforward way of interpreting Document No. 9—as simple and straightforward as the document itself—that addresses the big-picture question of long-term political evolution. Most authoritarian rulers (whether individuals or, as in China, a party or collective leadership) want to retain their power. Having power means they have wherewithal to do something about retaining that power. That is especially true in states that are big or wealthy. When feeling threatened by democratic or other sentiments challenging their rule, they have all the more incentive to step up their game and push back harder against such threats, and they do exactly that. And all of this is a major reason the world never gets to a worldwide liberal democratic end state. Authoritarian regimes are focused on retaining power in (and of) their own countries, but in so doing they may retard democratic trends elsewhere. Saudi Arabia is doing exactly that by opening its checkbook for the benefit of the generals in Egypt. The Saudis are concerned about any Muslim Brotherhood influence in their own kingdom, because the Brotherhood demonstrates how Islam can be combined with democratic electoral politics and constitutes a direct challenge to the Saudis’ own claim to religious legitimacy for their authoritarian rule. But the main effect of what they are doing is to set back hopes for democratization in the most populous Arab country, Egypt. Somewhat similarly, when China provides no-strings-attached bilateral aid it is usually doing so to gain access to resources for the economic benefit of China itself. But the main political effect in many of the recipient countries is to bolster authoritarian rule. We can see some of the effects in one of the best scorecards for keeping track of trends in implementing liberal democratic values: the annual survey by Freedom House. That scorecard tells us that if there is, or was, a trend toward more liberal democracy, it has flat-lined for at least the last 15 years or so, since the improvements in the years immediately following the collapse of the Soviet empire. The proportion of countries that are free, that are not free, and that are electoral democracies are all essentially the same as they were in the mid-1990s. Maybe there is a sort of end-state in political evolution, but it does not entail the global triumph of liberal democracy or any other single type of system. Instead, it is an equilibrium in which democratic and authoritarian forces pushing against each other lead to the kind of balance reflected in the relatively static Freedom House numbers. The balance involves actions and reactions, including authoritarian rulers pushing back harder at the very times that democratic forces might otherwise be gaining some momentum. That observation, however, which primarily uses a time frame of a couple of decades, must immediately be coupled with a couple of caveats, one with a shorter frame of reference and the other with a longer one. The short-term caveat is that none of these observations lessens the immediate policy challenges of dealing with a problem such as Egypt. Political trends as they manifest themselves there or anywhere else are not the inexorable outcome of some sort of historical determinism. Choices matter, choices have to be made, and important interests are at stake in making them. The long-term caveat is that patterns we see over the past couple of decades are only suggestive of what might be the correct answer to the questions about political evolution and end states; they do not nail down the answer with certainty. Much more time may be needed to do that, if we can do it at all. In some natural systems a very long time frame is needed to get the whole picture of what is going on. The evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould emphasized that most evolution has taken place in spurts, with long periods of relative stasis in between. If you looked just at one of the more static eons, you might mistakenly believe Darwin was wrong. We probably won’t know in our lifetimes whether Fukuyama, his critics, or the observations above about equilibria will turn out to be right. | | Pakatan tubuh j/kuasa belanjawan 2014 Posted: 22 Aug 2013 01:34 AM PDT KeADILan Daily Pakatan Rakyat akan melancarkan Belanjawan Alternatif 2014 sebagai bukti bahawa pakatan politik itu mampu memberikan yang terbaik kepada rakyat berbanding kerajaan Umno-BN. Oleh itu, bagi merealisasikan perkara itu satu jawantankuasa dianggotai golongan profesional dan Ahli Parlimen Pakatan Rakyat telah dibentuk hari ini. Jawantankuasa ini akan dibantu Institut Rakyat, sebuah badan pemikir yang dibarisi pakar ekonomi dan akademik bagi memberi pandangan ke arah pembentukan Malaysia lebih baik. 
"Antara yang turut dimuatkan dalam belanjawan ini termasuklah tawaran sebagaimana diumum dalam manifesto pada pilihan raya umum lalu serta beberapa langkah lain yang akan diumumkan kelak," kata wakil Institut Rakyat, Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin. Bekas Ketua Ekonomi Bank Islam Malaysia itu akan memantau Kementerian Kewangan yang diterajui Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Antara jawatankuasa yang hadir ialah Dr Ong Kian Ming(Ahli Parlimen Serdang), Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad (Kuala Terengganu), Dr Azman Ismail (Kuala Kedah), G.Manivanan (Kapar),Datuk Dr Idris Jauzi (Batu Pahat), Julian Tan (Stampin, Sarawak) dan Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong (Wangsa Maju). Sementara itu, Ong berkata, setiap pandangan Adun dan Ahli Parlimen Pakatan turut dikutip dalam penyediaan belanjawan itu selepas mereka mengumpulnya melalui dialog dengan pengundi di kawasan masing-masing. "Setiap Adun dan MP Pakatan ini akan dibahagi kepada Sembilan kumpulan iaitu Antarabangsa dan Kebangsaan; Ekonomi dan Kewangan; Keselamatan; Pendidikan dan Pekerjaan; Pertanian, Perladangan dan Pembangunan Luar Bandar; Pengangkutan dan Pembangunan Bandar; Pengurusan sumber Alam; Masyarakat, Kebajikan dan Gender; serta Polisi melibatkan sabah dan Sarawak," katanya. Bagi Raja Kamarul, sekretariat katanya memfokuskan keberkesanan belanjawan kepada rakyat dan bukannya semata-mata berapa banyak jumlah wang yang diumum sebagaimana amalan Umno BN. | | M’SIA WILL BE HIT: Another Asian Financial Crisis may be brewing, this time from India Posted: 21 Aug 2013 10:29 PM PDT Malaysia-Chronicle I don’t know whether you recall how the last Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-98 affected us all. Malaysia was very badly hit. Our stock market dropped from 1,385 to 295 points while our ringgit went down to as low as RM4.80 to the dollar. At the height of the crisis, our interest rates went up to as high as 18%. After a break of 15 years are we going to see the same scenario again? I am not sure but one thing that’s certain is that the current situation in Asia does have some resemblances, such as depreciating currencies and interest rates hike across the region. The last time the Asian Financial Crisis started in Thailand and this time – if it cannot be controlled – I reckon this time it will blow from India. Measures taken by Indian authorities In an attempt to stamp further outflow of funds, India has recently resorted to some limited capital control such as the following. > Reducing the amount of money Indian residents can sent out overseas annually from $200,000 to $75,000 > Indian firms can only invest 100% of their net worth down from 400% previously > Total ban on all importation of Gold coins and Medallions from abroad However such measures are only temporary in halting further outflow of funds as it is counter-productive and will only slow the economy. Part of the blame goes to the Multinationals that are allowed to operate in India during the opening of its economy in the 1990s. The Indian government states that instead of contributing to the Indian economy through the transfer of technology and also managerial skills they ended up raping the Indian economy high and dry. And when it is all done they now depart for greener pastures and as a result exacerbated the outflow of funds. India's economic fundamentals have been deteriorating for the past couple of years. Let's take a look at some of India's economic indicators. India's Deteriorating Economic conditions The following is the chart for India's GDP Growth rate. Its GDP expanded 1.3% in the last quarter of 2012 which average at about 1% for 2012. It slowed since 2009 and the Indian Government has difficulty in achieving the growth set in previous years due to issues like corruption and nepotism. 
India recorded a trade deficit of INR 733.33 billion in July 2013. For the past 35 years, India's trade deficit average about INR 120.83 billion. The following is India’s balance of trade chart.
Although India's Government Debt to GDP decreased from 68.05% to 67.57% but its external debt increased to USD 345 billion in 2012 from USD 305 billion in 2011. With a depreciating Rupee it means India has to pay more Rupees for its external debt which is quoted in dollars. The following chart shows India's Rupee performance for the past three years.
Interference counter-productive Since the beginning of the year India's rupee has been on the decline. The latest for the USD/INR is quoted at 63.61 and this represents a record low for the Rupee. Since May this year the Rupee has lost about 20%. The Reserve Bank of India has the choice of either letting the market to decide on the level of the Rupee or increase its interest rate to stop the outflow of currency. Instead of letting the market forces to determine the exchange rate level, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) chose to defend it. From the last Asian financial crisis we learnt that none of the affected countries successful in defending their currencies except Hong Kong with the backing of China. As have been mentioned earlier in one of my article on the predicament of Central Bank policy makers. They can only choose either to promote internal stability through Monetary Policy or external stability through Exchange Rate Policy but cannot have both at the same time. If the Reserve Bank of India choose to promote internal stability through Monetary Policy by increasing interest rates then it will cause a deep recession. This is also known as the 'Volcker effect' where former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker was credited for ending the stagflation crisis in the late 1970s. In order to end the inflation rate at 13.5% and an unemployment rate of more than 10%, he raised the prime rate to 21.5% in 1981. The end result is a severe recession which lasted until 1982 and after which the U.S economy expanded for the next 8 years. The second option available to the RBI is the exchange rate policy where it will defend the Rupee through its open market operations by selling its foreign exchange reserves which is denominated dollars. However such a policy will only help deepen the financial crisis because it might start off a chain reaction of currency devaluation. The current stand by the RBI to defend the Rupee can be disastrous as evident during the last Asian financial crisis after it spread from Thailand. As a result Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea are also affected. Moreover this may result in a further hike of the interest rate as already been happening in some Asian countries as of late. Their 10 year bond yields have been soaring across the region in an attempt to fight currency sell off and even Malaysia is not spared. The following is the chart of the Indian Government 10 year bond. As from May, India's 10 year bond yield has appreciated close to 200 basis points (2%) with the latest being at 9.12%. Malaysia does not fared any better with its 10 year bond yield rally to about 4.1% from 3.5% in May. The following is the graph of Malaysia's 10 year bond yield. 
Why are 10 year bond yields important? When the yield on the 10 year bond goes up it indicates that the long term interest rates is going up. When interest rates goes up it will affect a lot of investments in the economy. It will affect the stock market, the housing market, credit card, personal loans and so on. Due to the increased cost of borrowing it will affect investments in the stock market because the margin rate will also increase. It will affect the housing market because less people are willing to commit on new housing and as a result prices will have to come down. For those who have bought they will also be affected due to increased mortgage payments. Hence it will affect the overall economic activity. Another Asian contagion is not impossible In wrapping up, I reckon that India's weak economic fundamentals and its structural problems will present itself as a target for currency speculators. With the foreign exchange reserves of only INR 15102 billion or about USD 238 billion it is not a large sum when you are under attack by currency speculators. This is because the foreign exchange market trades more than USD 5 trillion a day. So the threat of further weakening of the already record low Rupee is clear and present. Any attempt by the speculators to destabilize the Rupee might be contagious and will destabilize the already tensed situation in Asia. | | [PROGRAM] PERAK — Sambutan Hari Raya Eidul Fitri Bersama Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim di Perak Posted: 21 Aug 2013 10:04 PM PDT Sambutan Hari Raya Eidul Fitri, 23 Ogos 2013 (JUMAAT) 5 petang: Pejabat KeADILan Cabang Tanjung Malim, Bandar Behrang 7:30 malam: Maghrib dan tazkirah, Masjid Abdul Rahman Auf, Taman Rapat Koperasi, Ipoh 8:30 malam: Sambutan Hari Raya Negeri, Wisma MPN, Medan Istana, Ipoh 10:30 malam: Pejabat KeADILan Cabang Tambun, Rumah Hijau Batu 11, Jelapang, Chemor | |
| Anak Muda Kampung Nak Senang Posted: 22 Aug 2013 11:28 AM PDT
| MUNAJAT PERDANA & SOLIDARITI UNTUK RAKYAT MESIR Posted: 21 Aug 2013 09:17 PM PDT MUNAJAT PERDANA & SOLIDARITI UNTUK RAKYAT MESIR Serta Ceramah Perdana
Bersama : Dato' Paduka Haji Husam Musa , Naib Presiden PAS Hj Mohamad Taufek Abd Ghani , Pesuruhjaya PAS N9 Ustaz Hj Nor Azman Mohamad , Ketua Penerangan PAS N9 Anthony Loke Siew Fook , Pengerusi DAP N9
Tarikh : 25 Ogos 2013, Ahad Masa : 8 malam Tempat : Markas PAS Taman Tuanku Jaafar Fasa 3, Senawang
Jamuan disediakan sebelum ceramah
Semua dijemput hadir | | Kami Bersama Rakyat Mesir Yang Dizalimi Posted: 21 Aug 2013 06:05 PM PDT Beramal Kerana ALLAH
Tolong kongsi , terima kasih.
| |
| Suara Sri Andalas Posted: 21 Aug 2013 11:06 PM PDT
| Tony Phua: Harga Petrol, Barang Keperluan Akan Naik Posted: 21 Aug 2013 02:58 AM PDT SHAH ALAM, 21 OGOS: Masyarakat pengguna diingatkan agar tidak terkejut jika kerajaan Umno-BN mengambil langkah menaikkan harga barangan keperluan asas termasuk petrol dalam Belanjawan 2014 yang dibentangkan Perdana Menteri Oktober nanti.
Menurut Ahli Parlimen Petaling Jaya Utara,Tony Pua kenaikan tersebut dijangka berlaku disebabkan kedudukan dana kerajaan semakin meruncing dari akibat kegagalan kerajaan Umno-BN mengambil langkah kukuh membendung isu rasuah, pembaziran dan ketirisan dalam pentadbirannya.
"Saya rasa harga barang keperluan seperti gula, minyak masak, petrol dan lain-lain akan meningkat dalam bajet yang akan dibentangkan tak lama lagi oleh Perdana Menteri. "Saya rasa ini berlaku kerana pihak kerajaan tidak mengambil langkah yang kukuh mengatasi masalah rasuah, pembaziran, ketirisan dan langkah tidak mengadakan tender terbuka dalam projek kerajaan juga menyebabkan kerajaan tidak mempunyai dana yang mencukupi untuk keperluan kebajikkan orang ramai. "Orang ramai tiada pilihan selain terpaksa mengamalkan hidup yang lebih menjimatkan seperti terpaksa 'downgrade' kenderaan dan lain-lain langkah yang difikirkan perlu," kata Pua kepada TV Selangor hari ini. Bagaimanapun menurut Pua, perkara itu tidak berlaku kepada pemimpin Umno-BN dan kroni mereka yang mampu meneruskan gaya hidup yang mewah apabila terus dianugerahkan projek kerajaan. "Apa yang berlaku sekarang adalah akibat perbelanjaan yang tidak terkawal, kita boleh lihat ini bukan sebab kita kekurangan pendapatan, malah hasil kerajaan juga semakin meningkat mendadak sejak 10 tahun kebelakangan ini, tetapi masih tertekan di segi defisit akibat yang saya sebutkan tadi," ujar beliau lagi. Julai lalu, Pengerusi Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Tan Sri Leo Moggi membayangkan kemungkinan akan berlaku kenaikan kadar tarif elektrik disebabkan langkah kerajaan mengurangkan subsidi bagi tenaga elektrik. Bagaimanapun Moggi mendakwa kenaikan tersebut akan diputuskan oleh kerajaan. Baru-baru ini cadangan menaikan tarif elektrik itu dilihat hampir menjadi kenyataan apabila Presiden dan ketua eksekutif TNB, Azman Mohd dipetik dari Berita Harian mengesahkan cadangan menaikkan tarif elektrik.
Sumber: Selangorku | | Exco: Selangor Perlu Lebih Banyak Taska Posted: 21 Aug 2013 02:56 AM PDT SHAH ALAM, 21 OGOS : Kerajaan Selangor sedang giat menaiktaraf pusat penjagaan kanak-kanak di rumah (home-based nurseries) menerusi program Si Kembar bersama pakar-pakar pendidikan anak-anak bagi memenuhi piawai kelayakan pendaftaran Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) untuk Taman Asuhan Kanak-Kanak (Taska).
Exco Kebajikan dan Hal Ehwal Wanita, Rodziah Ismail berkata usaha itu diambil bagi menampung keperluan rakyat.
"Kerajaan Selangor sentiasa bersedia untuk sebarang perkongsian dan pelaksanaan mekanisme terbaik bersama Kerajaan Persekutuan bagi isu ini," ujarnya.
Serentak dengan usaha ini, Kerajaan Negeri turut meneliti dasar perancangan bandar untuk memperuntukkan tapak-tapak khusus bagi mendirikan Taska. Buat masa ini, pusat penjagaan kanak-kanak hanya menggunakan rumah-rumah kediaman yang diubahsuai untuk tujuan Taska. Sebelum ini, Sinar Harian melaporkan Pengarah Bahagian Perundangan dan Advokasi JKM, Dr Zaitol Salleh mendedahkan setakat Disember 2012 sahaja hampir 2,000 Taska di negara ini belum berdaftar dengan JKM. Rodziah berkata Kerajaan Negeri memandang serius perkembangan ini kerana 846 kes yang dikesan adalah Taska di Selangor. Data ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa Kerajaan Persekutuan dan Negeri perlu bekerjsama meningkatkan bilangan Taska secara drastik. Untuk rekod, pertumbuhan penduduk di Selangor mencapai 2 peratus setahun dengan kadar tenaga kerja wanita melebihi 40 peratus daripada 2762.4 juta penduduk yang bekerja. "Jika dikira 100 ribu penduduk, sebahagian daripadanya adalah bayi-bayi yang baru lahir. Ditambah pula dengan kadar tenaga kerja wanita tinggi dan mereka ini terdiri daripada golongan wanita muda yang berkerja dan mempunyai anak kecil," kata Rodziah. Lantas, adalah wajar Kerajaan menguatkuasakan dasar dan pekeliling tentang kemestian membuka Taska di tempat-tempat kerja dan lokasi yang releven, selain menyediakan subsidi untuk pengusaha-pengusaha Taska. "Kerajaan mestilah mengotakan keseriusan, kesungguhan dan komitmen politiknya untuk menyediakan kualiti penjagaan, memelihara keselamatan dan hak kanak-kanak di negara ini,"ujarnya.
Sumber: selangorku | | Forum Perlaksanaan Manifesto, Kerajaan Negeri Kembali Pada Rakyat Posted: 21 Aug 2013 02:54 AM PDT SHAH ALAM, 20 OGOS : Kerajaan Selangor akan menganjurkan forum awam bagi mendapatkan pandangan rakyat untuk melaksanakan Manifesto Pakatan Rakyat yang dilancarkan pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 yang lalu.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim berkata forum tersebut akan diadakan diperingkat pihak berkuasa tempatan dan menjangkakan ia akan berlangsung pertengahan September depan.
"Forum ini melibatkan wakil rakyat yang mana akan mengambil bahagian dalam perbincangan bersama orang awam. Orang awam akan diberi peluang menyuarakan pandangan bagi pelaksanaan manifesto ini," beliau berkata demikian selepas mempengerusikan mensyuarat Exco di bangunan SUK di sini hari ini.
Urusetia forum ini akan diketuai oleh Unit Perancang Ekonomi Negeri (UPEN) dengan kerjasama Pejabat Menteri Besar. Abdul Khalid menambah, segala maklum balas rakyat dalam forum itu akan dikumpulkan oleh setiap jawatankuasa tetap untuk digunakan dalam penyediaan Belanjawan 2014. "Kerajaan Selangor yakin dan percaya bahawa pandangan rakyat amat penting dalam memastikan semua polisi dan perancangan yang digariskan dalam manifesto itu menepati golongan sasaran,"ujarnya. Jelasnya, forum tersebut juga akan dijadikan platform bagi Kerajaan Negeri untuk mengenalpasti kehendak rakyat untuk menggunakan hasil negeri bagi merapatkan jurang pendapatan dan mengurangkan kadar kemiskinan menerusi agenda Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor (MES). "Pakatan Rakyat memandang serius tanggungjawab untuk menguruskan aset negeri dengan baik demi kepentingan rakyat," jelasnya.
Sumber: selangorku | |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 21 Aug 2013 07:19 PM PDT
| [PROGRAM] MELAKA — Rumah Terbuka Eidul Fitri KeADILan Melaka Posted: 21 Aug 2013 01:41 AM PDT | | [PRESS STATEMENT] On PTPTN Posted: 20 Aug 2013 08:05 PM PDT 21 AUGUST 2013 We deplore the proposal to include the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) borrowers in the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS). This is further victimization of the borrowers by stigmatizing them financially after having already burdened them with the study loans. It must be remembered that the central issue here is not merely how the government could facilitate the loan recovery. The issue is the failure of the UMNO-BN government in discharging their social justice responsibilities of providing free tertiary education particularly to the underprivileged. ANWAR IBRAHIM | |
| Suara Sri Andalas Posted: 20 Aug 2013 11:18 PM PDT
| Kabinet Tolak CCRIS Pada Peminjam PTPTN Posted: 20 Aug 2013 09:27 PM PDT Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN) tidak akan akan meneruskan cadangan untuk menyenaraikan peminjam di bawah Sistem Maklumat Rujukan Kredit Pusat (CCRIS).
Menurut Menteri Belia dan Sukan Khairy Jamaluddin, perkara itu baru diputuskan kabinet dalam mesyuaratnya sebentar tadi. Sumber: MalaysiaKini | | AES: Pemimpin BN Tidak faham Penderitaan Rakyat Posted: 20 Aug 2013 09:15 PM PDT SHAH ALAM, 21 OGOS – Rayuan rakyat agar kerajaan memansuhkan penggunaaan kamera Sistem Penguatkuasaan Automatic (AES) di ketepikan apabila Mesyuarat Majlis Ekonomi dan kajian maklum balas mengenai AES yang di pengerusikan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak hari ini memutuskan ia di kekalkan.
Ahli Parlimen Pokok Sena, Dato' Mahfuz Omar berkata, ternyata kini Kerajaan Barisan Nasional begitu angkuh tanpa memikirkan penderitaan rakyat serta memperlihatkan wajah sebenar mereka selepas Pilihanraya Umum 13.
Walhal, sebelum PRU-13, rakyat di lunakkan dengan pelbagai keprihatinan terhadap sara hidup yang di hadapi rakyat. "Hakikatnya inilah belang mereka dengan menekan kehidupan masyarakat dan rakyat dengan pelbagai peningkatan kos sara hidup," ujar Mahfuz ketika di hubungi Tvselangor. Beliau yang turut dukacita dengan pengumuman ini turut berkata, AES sekali lagi menjadi alat untuk memerah poket rakyat dalam menyelasaikan masalah ketidakcekapan pengurusan kewangan dan perolehan kewangan Negara.
"Saya amat sedih, rakyat tertipu dengan mainan politik kerajaan BN ini sebelum PRU13. Ketidakcekapan pengurusan dan perolehan kewangan Negara oleh mereka, yang menjadi mangsa adalah rakyat," katanya.
Sementara itu, Ahli Parlimen Bayan Baru Sim Tze Tzin berkata, beliau terkejut apabila di maklumkan AES dikekalkan sedangkan bantahan penggunaan sistem AES banyak di usulkan pelbagai pihak.
"Kita tidak pertikaikan AES adalah untuk mengurangkan kemalangan dan untuk rakyat lebih berhati-hati di jalan raya. Tapi yang menjadi tanda tanya dan pertikaian, saman tersebut harus menjadi milik kerajaan dan bukan di swastakan," katanya kepada TVSelangor.
Tambah beliau, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) akan terus membantah penggunaan AES ini agar rakyat tidak akan terus di tekan oleh kerajaan BN.
"Terbukti selepas PRU13, semua yang rakyat tidak suka dan bantah, kembali dilaksanakan. PR akan teruskan bantahan ini," ujar Sim.
Sumber: Selangorku | | Power Tariff Increase Will Hurt Consumers Posted: 20 Aug 2013 09:00 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: A tariff hike by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) will burden consumers who are already pressured due to price increase on other daily essential goods, said Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam's (CASSA) honorary secretary, Jacob George.
"It will definitely have a major impact on Malaysian families. Even now, many cannot cope with the high cost of living and are paying utility bills with credit cards.
"And utility bills are not something to be paid using credit cards," said an irate George.
Yesterday, TNB president Azman Mohd said the utility company is looking at increasing power tariff, but stressed that it would not burden consumers. "Domestic users who consume less than 200 kWh would not see any increase in their electricity bill," Azman was reported saying by New Straits Times.
George said that Malaysians could not afford any more increase of price in goods or services as they are already burdened by debt.
"The question that we should ask, are Malaysian consumers in a position to pay higher bills? This is not an economic question but a moral one," he said.
George also accused the government of being selective in monitoring prices, and said that utility prices should also be classified controlled items.
"Why only monitor prices of goods when utility prices should also be monitored?
"It's vulgar to increase the prices of goods at this juncture as not only the hardcore poor will suffer but also the middle class," George said.
On Azman's statement, George said that TNB has no reason to increase electricity tariff while its top executives are earning fat salaries.
"If TNB is running at a loss, or when we see the signs of retrenchments, then we could justify tariff increase.
"But right now, TNB's top executives are taking home handsome salaries at the expense of suffering consumers," said George.
Supporting George's stand, Muslim Consumer Association chief Nadzim Johan said TNB should be efficient in its work and not burden consumers if it wants to remain the sole power supplier of the nation.
"If TNB is not good in managing its tariff, then we should bring in other power suppliers. Only when there is competition, TNB will improve its services," he said.
Nadzim added that TNB should look into alternative energy if fuel cost is too expensive, instead of continually increasing tariff.
"They should not squeeze the consumers anymore," he said.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (FOMCA) chief executive officer Paul Selvaraj defended TNB, saying that those paying less than RM70 monthly will not be burdened by the hike proposed.
"The exact mechanics are not yet set by TNB but we believe it is only for the high end users and not for the lower end users," he said.
Selvaraj also agreed that TNB should look into alternative energy but added it was too expensive to explore at the moment.
"Petroleum and other prices of goods have increased all over the world; which has led TNB into looking at an increase," he said.
Source: FreeMalaysiaToday | | Rundingan Air Menuju Peringkat Akhir, Selangor Sedia Bentang Cadangan Ambil-alih Industri Posted: 20 Aug 2013 08:30 PM PDT SHAH ALAM 21 OGOS : Kerajaan Negeri bersedia membentangkan draf cadangan pengambilalihan syarikat konsesi di negeri ini pada bila-bila masa sebagai langkah melaksanakan penstrukturan industri air di negeri itu.
Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim berkata, pihaknya mengalu-alukan perbincangan dengan Persekutuan mengenai perkara itu seperti yang dipersetujui sebelum ini.
"Kita sekarang sedang menanti peringkat akhir perbincangan ini untuk membentangkan draf cadangan masing-masing dan berharap ia dapat disegerakan demi untuk kepentingan rakyat yang tertekan dengan masalah air.
"Perlaksanaannya itu nanti juga perlulah holistik dan memberi kepentingan kepada semua pihak dan bukan keuntungan pihak tertentu sahaja," katanya. Beliau berkata demikian ketika ditanya mengenai kenyataan Menteri Tenaga, Teknologi Hijau dan Air, Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili yang memberitahu masalah pembekalan air bersih di Selangor, Kuala Lumpur dan Putrajaya dijangka dapat diselesaikan dalam tempoh tiga bulan. Bagaimanapun Maximus berkata, isu itu dapat menemui jalan penyelesaian dalam masa terdekat sekiranya Kerajaan Persekutuan dan kerajaan Negeri Selangor mencapai persetujuan dalam pelbagai perkara dan saling bertolak ansur. Sebelum ini, Kerajaan Negeri melalui anak syarikatnya Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB) membuat tawaran bernilai RM9.65 bilion untuk mengambil alih empat syarikat konsesi air. Empat syarikat konsesi itu antaranya Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas), Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd, Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd dan Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor (Splash).
Sumber: Selangorku | | Ops Cantas Bukti Malaysia Tidak Perlukan Akta Darurat Posted: 20 Aug 2013 02:15 AM PDT SHAH ALAM, 20 OGOS : Hasil operasi perintis Ops Cantas Khas yang dilancarkan PDRM baru-baru ini membuktikan polis mempunyai kepakaran dan kemampuan untuk memerangi jenayah secara agresif tanpa perlu Akta Darurat (EO).
Ketua Angkatan Muda Parti Keadilan Rakyat (AMK) Selangor, Azmizam Zaman Huri berkata rakyat sebenarnya sedar potensi sebenar PDRM jika badan itu ada kemahuan.
"Undang-undang dan akta sedia ada sudah cukup untuk tangani masalah jenayah. Apa yang perlu hanya ketegasan dan sentiasa menjalankan kerja mencegah jenayah," tegas Azmizam.
Pihak berkuasa juga dinasihatkan agar tidak menjalankan operasi perang jenayah secara bermusim. Pandangan AMK Selangor selaras dengan pendirian Bekas Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Zaki Azmi yang berkata tahanan tanpa bicara seperti EO adalah jalan pintas bagi polis yang mahu mengelakkan kerumitan pembuktian yang dituntut Akta Pencegahan Jenayah (PCA). PCA menuntut polis mengemukakan tertuduh ke hadapan majistret untuk didakwa dalam masa 24 jam. Manakala Akta Darurat membolehkan polis menahan seseorang sehingga 60 hari tanpa perbicaraan. Kesemua yang ditahan dibawah Ops Cantas Khas disiasat dibawah PCA. "Bayangkan baru 4 hari Ops Cantas dilaksanakan, Polis Kontinjen Selangor berjaya berkas 211 penjenayah. Saya kira kalau ia dilakukan berpanjangan bukan sahaja mampu mengekang malah mampu mengatasi kegiatan jenayah ini dari terus menjadi-jadi," tambahnya. Kementerian Dalam Negeri sebelum ini mengundang kritikan dari pelbagai pihak ekoran kejadian jenayah berat dan pembunuhan yang berleluasa. Kerajaan Persekutuan beralasan EO yang dimansuhkan perlu diganti bagi mengekang penjenayah bermaharajalela. "Tidak perlu mengembalikan Akta Darurat. Dikhuatiri ia akan disalahguna dengan menahan aktivis politik yang tidak sebulu dengan kerajaan seperti Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri," tegas Azmizam. Sebelum EO dimansuhkan, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Abu Bakar ketika menjadi Timbalan KPN berkata individu-individu yang terlibat dalam kegiatan subversif terhadap pemerintah boleh ditahan dibawah akta itu. Kenyataan itu menyusuli penangkapan enam individu termasuk Ahli Parlimen Sungai Siput Dr S Jeyakumar Devaraj kerana menyokong himpunan aman Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih & Adil (Bersih) 2.0 pada 3 Julai 2011.
Sumber: Selangorku | | Naik Tarif Eletrik: Hadiah BN Selepas PRU13 – Zuraidah Posted: 20 Aug 2013 01:45 AM PDT SHAH ALAM, 20 OGOS – Kenaikan kadar tarif elektrik baharu yang sering dinafikan pada sidang dewan rakyat lalu ternyata bohong dan menipu rakyat, kata Ahli Parlimen Ampang, Zuraida Kamaruddin.
Beliau berkata, sekiranya Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) dan kerajaan meneruskan cadangan pelarasan tarif elektrik baharu ini, ia merupakan hadiah BN kepada rakyat setelah memenangai Pilihanraya Umum 13 (PRU13) lalu.
Menurutnya, pelbagai lagi kenaikan harga barang dan perkhidmatan akan berlaku selepas ini sejurus kenaikan tarif elektrik baharu dan keadaan ini membebankan rakyat.
"Perkara ini di bangkitkan dalam sidang parlimen yang lalu, tetapi dinafikan yang akhirnya kita dapat lihat sekarang cadangan kenaikan tarif elektrik ini bakal di laksanakan. Tarif naik dan dikatakan tidak membebankan itu adalah menipu. Apa sahaja yang meningkat, akan membebankan rakyat. Gaji tak naik, kos sara hidup tinggi, semestinya harga barang juga akan naik selepas naiknya tarif elektrik," katanya ketika dihubungi TVSelangor. Tambah beliau,rakyat perlu lebih bijak di masa akan datang untuk menilai sendiri perkara sebegini. Jelas beliau walaupun dikatakan kenaikan tarif elektrik ini memberi kesan minimum kepada pengguna domestik,tetapi dengan kos sara hidup rakyat yang semakin meningkat, tiada jaminan kenaikan ini tidak membebankan pengguna. "Inilah hadiah BN selepas pilihanraya dan mereka juga harus berhati-hati dalam memenangi hati rakyat tapi dalam masa sama di berikan satu bebanan untuk jangka masa panjang di mana rakyatlah yang terpaksa memikulnya tanpa dibantu mereka (Kerajaan)," ujar Zuraida.
Sumber: Selangorku | | Majoriti Peminjam PTPTN Dari Keluarga Pendapatan Rendah Posted: 20 Aug 2013 01:00 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 20 Ogos: Majoriti peminjam Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Negara (PTPTN) dari keluarga berpendapatan rendah dan sederhana, kata Pengarah Komunikasi KEADILAN, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Nik NazmiKatanya, dasar liberal dan korporat diamalkan PTPTN membebankan generasi muda yang berhadapan masalah kadar gaji rendah berbanding harga rumah dan kereta yang tinggi.
"Mereka berdepan dengan pelbagai hutang berpanjangan.
"Seperti dilaporkan Bank Negara, kadar muflis meningkat tahun demi tahun," kata Nik Nazmi dalam kenyataan.
Justeru, menyenarai peminjam PTPTN di bawah Sistem Maklumat Rujukan Kredit Pusat (CCRIS) menyebabkan peminjam terkesan akibat beban ppinjaman sedai ada yang lain. "Golongan terbesar yang menjadi mangsa ialah generasi muda," ujar Nik Nazmi.
Katanya, pemberian diskaun bagi melangsaikan hutang PTPTN dalam belanjawan 2013 tidak adil kerana hanya memberi kelebihan kepada mereka yang mempunyai kedudukan kewangan yang baik.
ptptnAdun Seri Setia itu menjelaskan, pengenalan PTPTN punca kemunculan IPTS tanpa kawalan yang hanya menjadi kilang-kilang ijazah.
Manakala CCRIS hanya membuktikan dasar pendidikan sebagai komoditi oleh Umno BN.
"Kita harus menyedari bahawa pendidikan adalah hak asas seorang insan.
"Penyelesaian sebenar isu ini hanya satu, iaitu mansuh PTPTN.
"Berikan pendidikan percuma sebagai pelaburan untuk masa depan anak-anak kita," tegasnya.
Sumber: KeadilanDaily | | Alasan Lapuk Untuk Naikkan Tarif Elektrik Posted: 20 Aug 2013 12:30 AM PDT Dewan Pemuda PAS Wilayah Persekutuan mendesak kerajaan Malaysia agar tidak menaikkan sebarang kadar tarif elektrik buat masa ini.
Kenaikan kos bahan api menjadi alasan utama kepada semakan dan kenaikan tarif elektrik.
Walaupun Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) memberikan keyakinan bahawa ia tidak akan membebankan pengguna, namun alasan tersebut sudah lapuk dan seolah-olah ingin melepas diri.
Alasan presiden TNB bahawa pengguna dengan penggunaan bulanan di bawah 200kWj tidak terjejas merupakan alasan yang tidak bertanggungjawab. Rakyat di Malaysia bukan hanya pengguna elektrik secara domestik sahaja. Negara Malaysia yang merupakan sebuah negara yang membangun yang mempunyai kilang-kilang perindustrian yang banyak sudah tentu merupakan pengguna elektrik yang besar. Apabila kadar tarif elektrik naik, secara sifirnya, sudah tentulah kos perindustrian menjadi meningkat. Dan kesannya tentulah kepada rakyat Malaysia kerana harga barang menjadi naik. Inilah yang merunsingkan rakyat Malaysia. Bagilah alasan apa pun, yang pasti kesannya adalah kepada rakyat. Rakyat yang terpaksa menanggung bebannya. Di balik 'menampung kos operasi'Siapakah yang mendapat keuntungan dari kenaikan tarif elektrik ini? Sudah pastilah cukong-cukong pengeluar tenaga bebas (IPP) yang dapat mengaut keuntungan berlipat kali ganda. Rakyat Malaysia masih lagi di dalam kegembiraan menyambut Aidilfitri. Amat malang sekali apabila kegembiraan ini tercalar dengan kenaikan kadar tarif elektrik yang pastinya akan menambahkan lagi batu bebanan yang digalas penduduk Malaysia kini. Kerajaan Malaysia perlulah menyemak semula perjanjian dengan IPP ini. Perjanjian berat sebelah ini sesungguhnya tidak menguntungkan rakyat mahupun di pihak kerajaan. Malah, ia memberikan hasil yang semakin lumayan kepada pemilik-pemilik IPP ini. Sampai bilakah kerajaan harus membela cukong-cukong ini yang diibaratkan sebagai lintah darat ini? Mengapakah kerajaan seolah-olah takut untuk menamatkan perjanjian berat sebelah ini? DPPWP melihat ini sebagai satu lagi hadiah buat kerajaan Umno/BN kepada semua rakyat Malaysia selepas kemenangan dalam pilihan raya umum ke-13. Tidak hairanlah jika selepas ini, terdapat banyak lagi kenaikan demi kenaikan di sebalik nama 'menampung kos operasi'. Slogan rakyat didahulukan semakin tidak mendapat tempat lagi di hati rakyat apabila rakyat terpaksa mendahulukan semua kepentingan pemimpin Umno/BN. Maka, apa lagi yang boleh diharapkan daripada Umno/BN!
Sumber: Malaysiakini | | Kenyataan Media: Mansuhkan PTPTN, Bukan Senaraikan Peminjam Di Dalam CCRIS Posted: 19 Aug 2013 01:30 PM PDT KEADILAN menganggap pengumuman Menteri Pendidikan II Idris Jusoh untuk menyenaraikan peminjam PTPTN yang ingkar di bawah Sistem Maklumat Rujukan Kredit Pusat (CCRIS) sebagai satu lagi kegagalan kerajaan UMNO-BN untuk mempertahankan pendidikan sebagai hak asasi rakyat.
Dasar PTPTN yang disertakan dengan liberalisasi dan pengkorporatan pendidikan tinggi Malaysia menjadi sebahagian daripada beban yang dihadapi generasi muda di negara ini selain kadar upah dan gaji yang rendah serta harga rumah dan kereta yang tinggi. Kesannya, mereka berhadapan dengan pelbagai hutang yang berpanjangan. Menurut Bank Negara, kadar hutang isirumah telah meningkat 12 peratus setiap tahun pada lima tahun kebelakangan ini. Kadar muflis juga terus meningkat dari tahun ke tahun, dan antara golongan utama yang menjadi mangsa ialah golongan muda.demo-hapus-ptptn.
Harus diingat, kebanyakan mahasiswa yang menggunakan kemudahan PTPTN merupakan mereka yang berasal daripada keluarga berpendapatan rendah dan sederhana rendah. Sekiranya keluarga mereka mampu, sudah tentu mereka tidak meminjam dana PTPTN.
KEADILAN dan Pakatan tidak mempertikaikan keperluan peminjam yang mampu dan berpendapatan baik untuk membayar semula hutang PTPTN. Namun yang dipertikaikan ialah nasib majoriti peminjam yang terpaksa bergelut dengan kos sara hidup yang tinggi dan berasal daripada keluarga biasa.
Atas sebab itu dasar pemberian diskaun bagi mereka yang menyelesaikan keseluruhan hutang PTPTN secara sekaligus yang dibuat di dalam belanjawan 2013 tidak adil memandangkan yang untung adalah mereka yang mempunyai kedudukan kewangan yang baik!
Kesannya, pendidikan tidak lagi dapat menjadi pemangkin mobiliti sosial bagi membolehkan rakyat dari keluarga berpendapatan rendah mendapat peluang kehidupan yang lebih baik, sebaliknya melebarkan jurang antara golongan kaya dan miskin di negara kita.
Ironisnya ketika mahasiswa biasa khususnya yang berpendapatan rendah dikejar dan dihambat bagi mengutip hutang ini, kerajaan UMNO-Barisan Nasional tidak mengambil apa-apa tindakan tegas mengatasi kedudukan Malaysia sebagai negara yang mencatat aliran wang haram ketiga tertinggi di dunia antara 2001-2010 (lebih dari RM800 bilion). Rasuah, ketirisan dan hutang-hutang kroni makin berkembang.
Lebih malang lagi, pengenalan PTPTN telah menggalakkan pertumbuhan IPTS tanpa kawalan. Tidak dinafikan wujud IPTS bermutu tetapi lebih banyak lagi IPTS yang kurang berkualiti termasuk kilang-kilang ijazah! Lebih malang lagi, motif keuntungan telah melambungkan yuran pengajian. Pada tahun 1997 ketika PTPTN diperkenalkan, pinjaman sebanyak RM212 juta disalurkan kepada mahasiswa IPTA, dan RM7 juta untuk mahasiswa IPTS. Namun pada tahun 2012, mahasiswa IPTA menerima RM2.6 bilion manakala mahasiswa IPTS RM6.1 bilion!
Kita harus menyedari bahawa pendidikan adalah hak asas seorang insan. Dasar terbaru ini membuktikan bahawa UMNO-Barisan Nasional terus ingin menjadikan pendidikan ini satu komoditi dan keistimewaan untuk mereka yang berkemampuan. Penyelesaian sebenar isu ini hanyalah satu – memansuhkan PTPTN dan memberikan pendidikan percuma sebagai pelaburan untuk masa depan anak-anak kita.
NIK NAZMI NIK AHMAD
PENGARAH KOMUNIKASI
PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT | | PKR Persoal Ketelusan Meter Elektrik Baru, Lancar Petisyen Desak Kerajaan Posted: 16 Aug 2013 02:00 AM PDT PKR hari ini mendesak kerajaan mendedahkan ketelusan meter elektrik baru yang mendapat banyak rungutan daripada pengguna sebagai punca kenaikan bil tinggi, di samping melancarkan petisyen untuk mendapatkan sokongan orang ramai bagi memberikan tekanan kepada kerajaan.
Dalam sidang media hari ini, Jawatankuasa Khas PKR mengenai bil elektrik tinggi mendesak kerajaan mewujudkan sebuah badan bebas untuk menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan sewajarnya ke atas rungutan disuarakan pengguna.
"Kami akan memberi tekanan kepada TNB dan Suruhanjaya Tenaga untuk bersetuju mewujudkan sebuah badan bebas bagi memeriksa meter elektrik. "Kami mahu kebenaran didedahkan, adakah meter digital yang baru rosak atau tepat?" soal Naib Presiden PKR, Datuk Chua Jui Meng yang juga salah seorang anggota dalam jawatankuasa khas PKR. Chua juga meragui ketelusan pembelian meter baru berkenaan, kualiti dan proses pemberian kontrak bekalan meter diragui sama ada telus atau sebaliknya. "Apakah piawaian yang dikenakan kepada syarikat ini yang membekalkan meter ini, apakah bentuk tendernya? "Mengapa kebanyakan kontrak bekalan meter ini semua bumiputera? Saya harap kerajaan dan Suruhanjaya Tenaga tampil beri penjelasan," katanya. Pengerusi Biro Pelaburan dan Perdagangan PKR, Wong Chen berkata kebanyakan aduan yang diterimanya adalah mengenai peningkatan kira-kira 15 peratus bil elektrik apabila menggunakan meter baru yang dipasang. "Aduan yang kami terima kebanyakan mengenai peningkatan 15 peratus sebaik menggunakan meter baru. "Adakah ini secara kebetulan? Ini menimbulkan banyak kecurigaan," kata Wong. Dalam pada itu, PKR hari ini juga melancarkan satu laman petisyen ( http://www.checkyourtnbmeter.com/) bagi mengumpulkan aduan orang ramai yang boleh dilawati diwww.checkyourtnbmeter.comndan mensasarkan kira-kira 10 ribu petisyen sebelum mengadakan pertemuan dengan pihak bertanggungjawab. Jawatankuasa khas tersebut ditubuhkan pada Julai lalu bagi menyiasat isu peningkatan mendadak bil elektrik yang berpunca dari program pemasangan meter elektrik baru jenis digital oleh TNB. Jawatankuasa itu dianggotai Chua, Wong, Ahli Parlimen Wangsa Maju Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong dan Adun Sri Andalas Dr Xavier Jayakumar. Jawatankuasa berkenaan juga akan membawa lebih banyak isu dari semasa ke semasa, bagi memberi kefahaman kepada orang awam berkaitan penggunaan tenaga elektrik.- 16 Ogos, 2013.
Sumber: The Malaysian Insider | |
| N37 Batu Maung Posted: 20 Aug 2013 07:19 PM PDT
| Posted: 19 Aug 2013 11:20 PM PDT  KENYATAAN MEDIA
YB Dato' Haji Abdul Malik Kassim,
Exco Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang.
20 OGOS 2013
KARNIVAL PENGGUNA BERSAMA USTAZ MUDA SEMPOI
24 – 25 OGOS 2013, DI PADANG KOTA LAMA
24 OGOS 2013 (SABTU)
10.00 pagi : Peniaga dan pemamer memasuki booth...
10.00 pagi – 11.00 malam : Cerapan Langit Oleh Pusat Falak.
2.00 ptg – 11.00 malam : Pameran dan Aktiviti Jualan
7.30 malam : Solat Maghrib Berjemaah- Imam Muda Asraf
: Solat Hajat – Dr. Badrul Amin Bahrom
8.00 malam : Kuliah "Orang Muda Untuk Orang Muda"
oleh Ustaz Hanif Haron.
8.30 malam : Solat Isyak Berjemaah
: 'Battle Orang Muda' bersama Ustaz Syed
Norhisyam dan Gitaris Syam Kamikaze.
: Persembahan Imam Muda Asraf – Nyanyian
lagu-lagu dari album terbaru beliau.
: Persembahan Zikir Terapi oleh Ustaz Hafiz
Hamidun.
: Nyanyian oleh Mawi "Al-Jannah dan Kian."
: Nyanyian lagu Sentuhan Qalbu oleh Ustaz
Akhil Hayy.
11.20 malam : Semua Ustaz dan Artis berselawat bersama.
11.40 malam : Majlis Penutup dengan nyanyian nasyid
beramai-ramai lagu 'Hamba-Mu"
25 OGOS 2013 (AHAD)
10.00 pagi – 3.00 petang : Pameran / Aktiviti Jualan
9.00 pagi – 11 pagi : Pertandingan Mewarna Kanak-kanak
Sempena Hari Merdeka
: Persembahan Hiasan Makanan Oleh Hotel di Pulau Pinang | |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 20 Aug 2013 07:12 PM PDT
| Fatwa of Shaikh Yusuf Qaradawi on the military coup in Egypt Posted: 20 Aug 2013 01:52 AM PDT The fatwa by Dr. Yusuf al-Qardawi, the president of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, regarding the obligation of supporting the elected president Muhammad Morsi and retaining the Constitution. A call to the Seesi faction and its supporters to withdraw in order to protect the Shariah and democracy. All praises are due to Allah and may He send His salutations on our Master and leader Muhammad Messenger of Allah and on his brethren amongst the Prophets and Messengers and on their families and companions and whoever followed them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment. This is a fatwa issued to the Egyptian people with all of its members, those who are pleased with Allah as their Lord, Islam as their religion, the Qur’an as the guide and Way, Muhammad as their Messenger, and who consider the Shariah— with its comprehensiveness, perfection, balance, and moderation — the reference whenever matters become confusing and difficulties become pronounced and people go left and right looking for answers. At that point no one can find anything better and more clear than the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger…. And whomsoever Allah does not grant light, then he will have no light at all. The summary of the fatwa endorsed by many scholars of Azhar and scholars of the Arab and Muslim world and scholars of International Union for Muslim Scholars which I am honored to preside over is as follows: The people of Egypt lived for thirty years—if not sixty—deprived of the right to elect their own president until Allah granted them for the first time a president that they chose themselves on their own accord, President Muhammad Morsi. They gave him their pledges and oaths of loyalty and obedience in hardship and ease, in matters they liked and disliked. All sectors of society including the civil and military sectors submitted to his rule, foremost amongst them being Abdul Fattah as-Seesi who was the Minister of Defense and Military Production under the Prime Minister Hisham Kandil. He too had taken a solemn oath before our very eyes to be obedient to President Morsi and continued to be such until we saw him change suddenly and transform himself from being a minister to becoming a supreme ruler, deposing the President and betraying his pledge of loyalty to him and aligning himself with a faction of the citizens against the rest of the countrymen, claiming that he was siding with the larger faction. But the faction led by Seesi and his cohorts have committed a mistake by taking this course of action from the perspectives of both the Constitution and the Shariah. From the constitutional perspective, any president elected democratically without dispute, must be allowed to complete his appointed term of four years as long as he is capable of carrying out his duties and is not afflicted with anything that would hinder him permanently from his job. If he has mistakes (that he personally has acknowledged) then it is upon the nation and its different political forces to correct his mistakes and advise him sincerely and be patient with him, but he remains the president for everyone. But for a group to depart from the obedience to the ruler, to grant themselves authority over the people, to depose the ruler, abrogate the constitution, and appoint another president and another constitution—such a course of action is completely null and void as they have tried to exercise power that the people did not authorize. In fact, they have broken their pact with Allah and with the people and nullified a great revolution that all the people had brought out together, which had established the democratic system that people had dreamt about for ages and sacrificed for its sake for years upon years until they finally reached it. Thus, the constitution and democratic system reject all of these unconstitutional actions that have taken place. And from the point of view of the Shariah (which the people want as their authority in a civil state, not a theocratic state)—it requires upon everyone who believes in it and refers to it to enact full obedience to the chosen ruler, to implement his commands, and accept his directives in all matters of life, as long as two conditions are met: First, that he does not command people to disobey Allah openly. This is established from many ahadith reported by Bukhari and Muslim and others: “Listen and obey even if an Abyssinian slave is appointed over you whose head is like a raisin” (reported by Anas ibn Malik) [Albalagh Note: i.e. even if he is a person of low social status and unattractive appearance] “Whoever sees something in his ruler that he dislikes, then he should be patient, because anyone who departs from the community even the length of a hand-span and dies in that state, will die the death of Jahiliyyah” (reported by Ibn Abbas) “Listening and obeying is a duty on every Muslim in matters that he likes and dislikes as long as he is not ordered to commit a sin. If he is commanded to commit a sin, then there is no obedience” (reported by Ibn Umar) “Obedience is only in matters of virtue” (reported by Ali) This all emphasizes what is referred to in the Quran where Allah talks about the pledge of loyalty by women, “and that they will not disobey you in what is right.” And there is not even one incident in which President Muhammad Morsi commanded a single citizen to openly disobey Allah. Rather what we see in the demonstrations and actions in Tahrir Square are all part of the good deeds of Muhammad Morsi. Secondly, he should not order his people with anything that will result in them leaving their religion and making them enter into open disbelief (kufr bawah), which is a state that carries no doubt regarding its being kufr. This is based on the hadith reported by Ubadah radi Allahu anhu, “The Prophet Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, took a pledge of obedience from us that we shall listen and obey in ease and hardship and when others are given preference over us and that we shall not vie for rule with the rulers.” He said, “Except if you see open disbelief (kufr bawah) regarding which you have clear evidence from Allah.” Thus, we discern with certainty that President Morsi did not order any act of disobedience, nor did he perpetrate any act of disbelief. Rather he is a man who fasts often and stands up at night in prayer, a man who is ardent in obedience to Allah. Thus, it is necessary that he remain the president and no one can claim any right to depose him. And Seesi’s claim that he undertook this action in the greater interest of the people to prevent them from being split into two does not justify his supporting one side over the other. Those people from whom the Seesi faction sought support do not represent the Egyptian people, but rather constitute a very small segment from it. Imam Dr. Ahmad Tayyib, president of the Council of Senior Scholars (I am one of them) did not consult us and we did not authorize him to speak on our behalf. He has erred in supporting the rebellion against the legitimate Shari’i ruler of the land and has gone against the consensus of the Ummah. He presented no evidence from the Qur'an or Sunnah in support of his position; rather all of the Qur'an and Sunnah supports the position of Muhammad Morsi. He (Ahmad Tayyib) violated the tradition of the scholars of the Muslim Ummah who do not sell their knowledge for anyone or anything. The gist of what he said is: (this is) taking the lesser evil. Who can ever say that deposing the Shari’i ruler, abrogating the constitution that was ratified by two thirds of the population, and plunging the nation into complete chaos is the lesser evil? Rather it is the greater evil regarding which the Book of Allah, the Hadith of the Messenger, and the sayings of the scholars had warned. If only Dr. Tayyib had dealt with Dr. Morsi as he did before with Hosni Mubarak. Why does he have double standards? This is a sabotage of the role of Azhar, which always stands with the people, not with the despotic ruler. As for Pope Tawadros, he was not appointed by the Coptics to talk on their behalf. In fact, amongst the Coptics were those who participated with the Freedom and Justice Party and other Islamic parties. And as for Elbaradei, he was not appointed by the National Salvation Front. He only has a handful of people with him and none of the opposing parties claim that he represents them. As for those who speak in the name of Hizbun Noor (al-Nour Party), it is a party that represents a small known minority of people. All of the Salafis, Islamic parties, nationalist parties, and respectable leaders are against this turn of events which may lead to dire consequences for the nation and human rights.
I call upon the Seesi faction and its supporters with love and sincerity, I call upon all of the political forces in Egypt, upon my scholarly brethren throughout the world, and upon all those who seek freedom, dignity, and justice, to stand united to defend the truth and to restore President Morsi to his rightful position; to continue to advise him sincerely; to develop plans to find solutions and enact programs of action that will protect our freedom and democracy that we secured with our blood. It is necessary that we never renounce it. Indeed for thirty years, Hosni Mubarak, continued to spread corruption in the land, to humiliate the people, to usurp the wealth and transfer it outside, to hire thugs to protect his men, and so on, until he left the nation in a complete state of destruction for whoever came after him. Yet, despite all of this, the army never deposed him and left him to appoint it to take the charge after him. We can be patient with Hosni Mubarak for thirty years, and we cannot be patient with Muhammad Morsi for just one year? The defects are not in the democratic system, rather it is in those implementing it. The way to reform is to implement it, not to demolish it from its foundations. It is haram on Egypt to do this, to abandon its constitution, its elected leader, and the Shariah of its Lord. Nothing can come after this except Divine wrath and punishment. “Do not ever think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do…” I call out to all of the Egyptian people from the depths of my heart, whom I love and am ready to sacrifice for, and from whom I seek no reward or thanks, rather I seek the pleasure of Allah alone….I call out to the people in the plains and on the coast, in the villages and cities, in the deserts and countryside, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, officers and workers, Muslim and Christian, liberal and Islamist to stand together united on one platform to protect the fruits of the revolution… freedom, democracy, and liberation from every dictatorship. We must not abandon them for any despotic ruler, whether he is military or civil, for this is what happened to some nations that ended up losing their freedom and did not regain it until years later. There is no power or strength except with Allah.
Oh Allah, guard Egypt, protect our people, and do not destroy us because of the actions of the foolish people amongst us. Ameen. Yusuf al-Qardawi
President of International Union for Muslim Scholars | | Rumah Terbuka Eidul Fitri KeADILan Melaka Bersama Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 19 Aug 2013 08:33 PM PDT TARIKH: 21 OGOS 2013 MASA: 8:30 MALAM LOKASI: TAMAN MERDEKA JAYA, BATU BERENDAM, MELAKA. TETAMU ISTIMEWA: DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM | |
| www.telokkemang.blogspot.com/ Posted: 20 Aug 2013 07:11 AM PDT
| Enjoy High Speed Maxis fibre Internet 10mbps only at RM148/month! Posted: 19 Aug 2013 08:52 AM PDT MAXIS HOME AND BUSINESS FIBRE INTERNET  | | MAXIS HOME AND BUSINESS FIBRE INTERNET | | Fastest Fibre Broadband in Malaysia with lowest price | | 10Mbps, 20Mbps, & 30Mbps from only RM148 / month | | | Pay Less & Enjoy High Speed Internet with Fibre Technology, Subscribe to Maxis Fibre Now! | | | For more enquiry:
1) Please visit http://huiying.maxispoint.com or
2) Reply this email or email to huiying@maxispoint.com, or
3) Please contact Hui Ying (017-7293824), you may sms
We will contact you when we receive your enquiry | | | Maxis Home Fibre Package (Home) | | Package | Home Fibre 10Mbps | Home Fibre 20Mbps | Home Fibre 30Mbps | | Download Speed | 10Mbps | 20Mbps | 30Mbps | | Monthly Fee | RM148 / month | RM198 / month | RM248 / month | | Contract | 24 Months | | Quota | Unlimited | | Installation | Free
Additional charges will be incurred should you request for non-standard installation (more than 15 metres) | | Free Home Voice Package | Free RM30 call credit to any local and international numbers | | Free calls to Maxis fixed lines | Unlimited | | Free devices | Wi-Fi Router | | | | | Maxis Business Fibre Package (Business) - 20% Discount | | Package | Business Fibre 4Mbps | Business Fibre 8Mbps | Business Fibre 16Mbps | Business Fibre 32Mbps | | Download Speed | 4Mbps | 8Mbps | 16Mbps | 32Mbps | | Monthly Fee | Normal Price RM168/month | Normal Price RM208/month | Normal Price RM308/month | Normal Price RM488/month | | 20% Discounted Price RM134.40/month* | 20% Discounted Price RM166.40/month* | 20% Discounted Price RM246.40/month* | 20% Discounted Price RM390.40/month* | | Contract | 24 Months | | Quota | Unlimited | | Installation | Free
Additional charges will be incurred should you request for non-standard installation (more than 15 metres) | | Voice Call Rates | 4 sen (local); 10 sen (Maxis Mobile); 12 sen (STD or OLO) | | Buy-over-contract from other ISP | Maximum RM500 rebate** in customer bill, and based on customer ISP termination receipt. Customer will need to pay off the penalty first. Documents needed to ensure legitimate are ISP Penalty Receipt. | | | *Enjoy 20% discount for the first 24 months, normal price will be charged from 25th month onwards.(Only for Business Fibre Package) | | **Maxis provide Buy-Over-Contract service from other internet service provider (ISP) up to maximum RM500. (Only for Business Fibre Package) | | | | If you are interested to know more:
1) Please visit http://huiying.maxispoint.com or
2) Reply this email or email to huiying@maxispoint.com, or
3) Please contact Hui Ying (017-7293824), you may sms
We will contact you when we receive your enquiry | | | | | |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:27 PM PDT
| M’sia Cabinet drops TPP timeline Posted: 18 Aug 2013 11:19 PM PDT The Malaysian Reserve Under pressure from the a larger coalition against the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the Malaysian Cabinet has decided to stick to several "red lines" and to drop any timeline for the signing of the disputed trade deal, a senior government official said last week in Kuala Lumpur. The campaign led by the Bantah TPPA coalition of nongovernment organisations and joined by the Malaysian Opposition's strong stance against what they call an attempt by the US to impose its brand of economic model of total free market in Malaysia has apparently paid-off. Despite major issues, including state-owned enterprises, labour and internat iona l property rights remaining unresolved, the Cabinet, at a special cabinet meeting on the major trade deal, decided that it should not be bound by a fixed timeline on the agreement. "The Cabinet has also agreed to two more cost-benefit analyses which will focus on the interests of small and medium enterprises, the Bumiputera business community as well as a comprehensive analysis of national interests," International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said last Friday. Under the TPP, Malaysia will become an integral part of the greater economic integration with the Asia-Pacific region. Though there will be access to products and services as well as purported bigger markets, the country will also be at risk of several negative impacts that will influence the economic security of the nation. On the other hand, Party Keadilaan Rakyat (PKR) said it feared the TPP was an attempt by the US to impose its brand of economic model of total free market, laissez-faire approach, deregulation and small government. "The glaring absence of China, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia in the TPP lends credence to this belief. It promotes primarily US economic, business and geopolitical interests," said PKR defacto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a statement. Bantah TPPA said, in a separate statement, it was satisfied the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak and his Cabinet's had unanimously given assurance last Friday that Malaysia's participation in the proposed TPP agreement in reinforcing Malaysia's position that the government will only agree to the TPP agreement, if its terms are most favourable to the country. "It should also be noted that Bantah — as a coalition that enjoys the support of more than 60 groups and 10 coalitions of groupings from a variety of backgrounds, membership and advocating a plethora of issues — will also hold the Cabinet to account for the above promises and assurances — as well as the other statements made in the past by representatives of Government over the TPP agreement," according to a statement signed by Blindspot/Bantah TPPA deputy chairman Azlan Awang. The coalition is concerned, moreover, that much of the promises and assurances remain just that — until it gets more information and sees that such "concerns" and "considerations" have been accepted by the other 11 member nations. Apart from Malaysia, the negotiations also involve Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam. | | Anwar meets Turkish PM Erdogan, joint-call to Indonesia’s SBY to play bigger role Posted: 18 Aug 2013 11:00 PM PDT Malaysia-Chronicle 
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim returned to Malaysia on Sunday after a high-level meeting in Turkey, where both he and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had urged Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to take a bigger role in the Islamic world. “Our focus was on the atrocities against the masses in Egypt and Syria,” Anwar said on Twitter. “I proposed he called President SBY.” The meeting was held over the weekend and comes as Muslim nations around the world condemn the latest eruption of violence in Egypt. The Egyptian crisis is expected to escalate and the bloodbath to continue as chaos swept through the country last week, leaving nearly 900 dead in four days of unrest and threatening to stall a political transition. Even as Anwar flew into the region, the central al-Fateh mosque became the new battleground for unrest as military forces tried to stop supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi as they marched to Ramses Square in a self-declared “Friday of Anger.” The Arab Spring bogeyman in Malaysia Malaysia’s own government led by Prime Minister Najib Razak appears hesitant to wade into the complex Middle East conundrum for fear of stepping onto US toes. Additionally, the Najib administration has been politicizing the Arab Spring uprisings as a warning to the people here not to challenge the establishment, otherwise they claim chaos and anarchy would result in Malaysia as was being seen in Egypt. “It is shameful to remain silent with atrocities in Syria, Egypt, Palestine,” Anwar said, in a swipe at the Najib administration for its deafening silence. Malaysia, the next to break free from the shackles of a despotic regime? The 66-year-old Anwar is also close to Indonesia’s Susilo and had met up with him in June to discuss Malaysia’s controversial and fraud-tainted general elections. Malaysia has been ruled by Najib’s Umno-BN coalition since 1957 and there are unmistakable signs the people want change, although through peaceful means and not ala the Arab uprisings. The Arab uprising were people’s movements that began peacefully, fueled by a sense of gross injustice, but spun wildly out of control due to the refusal of the then existing regimes to give up power peacefully. Many international observers regard Malaysia as being among the next in line in the Muslim world to cast off the shackles of a despotic and corrupt regime, especially as an economic bubble created by unprecedented pump-priming threatens to burst due to sky-rocketing national debt, runaway property prices and unaffordable costs of living. In the May 5 general election, Awnar’s Pakatan Rakyat coalition won 51% of the popular vote (or the total votes cast) but lost control of the seats in Parliament due to massive gerrymandering and alleged vote-rigging. Another Indonesian leader, ex-Vice President Jusuf Kalla, was also recently approached by parties close to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to suss out a possible unity government with Anwar’s Pakatan Rakyat coalition. But that has fizzled out. Biggest Muslim population Indonesia, which has the largest population and economy in Southeast Asia, is finally emerging from devastating poverty after overthrowing the regime led by ex-president Suharto. The country, which also has the largest Muslim population in the world, prides itself for having fought for its democratic space. Despite a sometimes prickly relationship with the Malaysian government over issues such as the export of maids, Indonesia is nevertheless looked up to by many Malays in Malaysia as being more advanced especially in its democratic development and in its institutions, such as a free press. Meanwhile, Susilo has asked the Security Council of the United Nations to step up roles in addressing the deadly conflicts in Syria and Egypt. "The world may not do nothing and let the humanitarian crisis continues," Yudhoyono had said on his annual speech ahead of the anniversary of Indonesia’s Independent Day on Aug 17. | | ‘BN’ really means “Bankrupt Nation” Posted: 18 Aug 2013 10:58 PM PDT Malaysia-Chronicle The writing is already on the wall and easily evident in daily life in Malaysia with every progressing day that the economy is beginning to spew and sputter and it should really be a matter of time before it begins to stall and go in a downward spiral. What Malaysians suspected and feared all along prior to the 13th GE became a stark reality when Fitch Rating's revision of the country's outlook was downgraded from "stable" to "negative" in late July 2013 that gave the clearest indication that international investors have run out of patience. In response to Fitch's downgrading, a visibly shaken Najib Tun Razak said early this month that the forthcoming Budget 2014 on Oct 25 will contain strategies to reduce Malaysia's fiscal deficit which currently stands at 53.9 per cent of GDP as at the First Quarter of this year. This is just a fraction below the 55 per cent level that is deemed prudent compared with 39.8 per cent just five years ago or in 2008. As a result, Najib has announced the setting up of a fiscal policy committee in a move to cut Malaysia's budget deficit to 3 per cent by 2015 for which the prime minister's advisers want details worked out in the coming months. But analysts contend that Malaysia's mounting debt burden is worrisome and difficult to reduce owing to much off-balance sheet nonsense and bad procurement practices by the government as often highlighted in the Auditor-General's report. A burgeoning debt burden In all levels of the strata of Malaysian society from households to corporates, the state and federal government, there is to be found and discovered much debt and the figures are escalating as spending is more than earnings due to the easy availability of credit and a great lack of financial discipline. But at the end of the day what happens is that debt has to be repaid, one way or another, and the higher the amount of your monthly pay cheque goes towards servicing debt, the less money people will have remaining to spend and save for the future. This is what that has led to the government introducing pump priming measures as a large number of households are finding it difficult to deal with the rising cost of living forcing the government to continue with its multi-billion ringgit subsidies and other handouts thus causing the debt of the federal government to soar even higher. In reality, it really is a vicious cycle. But the actual reason for this debt phenomenon is due to the fact that the BN government's corrupt ways in the mismanagement of public funds and projects have created a ripple effect of creating waves of debt to rise. This certainly doesn't augur well for the future of the nation. What is envisaged is an impending collapse of the financial system that will cause Malaysia to regress and degrade the Quality-of-Life unless serious bids and measures are made to eradicate corruption, mismanagement of funds and projects and the use of austerity drives. These are measures the BN government are loathe to use as it goes against the grain of their governance and will cause much hurt and suffering among the people whom the government envisages will cause them to lose further the popular vote. The debt crisis is set to deepen It doesn't take a genius to figure out simple math. For example Agensi Kaunselling Dan Pengurusan Kredit's (AKPK) records show that the number of cases of financially distressed individuals is on the rise lending credence to the fact of the mounting debt burden Malaysians bear. Household debt has been on the rise at a worrying pace since 2009. Since that year it was 70 per cent of GDP. But four years later it has risen to 83 per cent. According to Bank Negara Malaysia, household debt grew at an average annual rate of 12 per cent over the last five years. This has led to bankruptcy cases to go on the rise. In 2012, the number of insolvency cases rose 2.1 per cent to 19,575. The 2012 annual report by the legal affairs division of the Prime Minister's Department highlights that the majority of bankruptcy cases were due to car and home purchases at 27 per cent each while 17 per cent were due to personal loans. While AKPK contends that the younger generation is getting wiser in avoiding the pitfall of falling into debt, the numbers that are already bankrupt are a real cause of worry and concern and have already caused great misery for Malaysians. What about the future? With all that has been stated, it is really a matter of time the BN initials becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of "Bankrupt Nation." Malaysians should go on guard and be vigilant of any attempt at trying to hoodwink them of their hard earned wages. The reason for Malaysia's mounting debt burden is due to the inept and corrupt governance of BN. While BN hopes to be able to turn around the situation such a possibility is difficult to realize as the nation has gone too deeply into debt. The only cause of hope is to dismantle and remove the BN government through the use of a snap poll and for this the people of Malaysia must become wiser and learn to opt for the opposition coalition of Pakatan Rakyat to save the nation from chaos and confusion. There is really no other way. The mounting debts of people has caused the rise in crime and made Malaysia an unsafe nation where there now exists a law and order situation. The only way to remedy the situation is to cause a change of government as the corrupt ways of BN has gone beyond control. While BN contends that corruption is really a "perception" from which Malaysians suffer and that all is fine and dandy, the hard, harsh realities of everyday life now to which Malaysians are waking up to with much regret for electing BN to federal power is beginning to hurt and cause much suffering and pain all round. This is not a time for BN to spew rhetoric and semantics on governance but really high time for Malaysians to rally around an alternative government that can heal the wounds of the nation and ease the great burden of debt that the people carry. The sooner Malaysians oust the BN government the faster can the people sigh with relieve and be set free of the tyranny and oppression of BN leaders who have failed to play by the rules of democracy and have instead created the governing elite in this country to hold sway over the rakyat. Malaysia's debt burden is not going to go away like a bad dream and only the doses of reality which PR can give can overcome the foolhardy ploys of BN that has led the nation into a debt crisis and set to sink the nation further into despair. Only a change of government can cause Malaysia to be saved from bedlam and anarchy now. If Malaysians do not pay heed to the warning signs they and their descendants will have to pay a heavy price to be stuck with BN. | | Anwar laughs at Dr M’s Umno and MAS comments while Najib SHIVERS Posted: 18 Aug 2013 10:54 PM PDT Malaysia-Chronicle Two controversial comments from former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad have raised eyebrows, one pertaining to the privatization of national flag carrier MAS and the other, a scathing criticism of the leaders now running Malaysia’s ruling party – Umno. “Since when? Haha,” tweeted Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, soon after touching down in Malaysia after arriving from Istanbul where he had met up with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Anwar was having a laugh at Mahathir’s expense as the latter had been the Umno president from 1981 to 2003. By convention, whoever is elected Umno president also gets appointed to be Malaysia’s prime minister, hence the enormous interest in the high-stakes topmost Umno post. Although, the Umno presidency has changed hands twice since Mahathir retired, it is clear the veteran leader was referring to current Umno president, Prime Minister Najib Razak. The 88-year-old Mahathir is also at odd with his immediate successor Abdullah Badawi, who took over in 2003 and was in turn succeeded by Najib in 2009 “The party itself is not the problem, the problem is the people who run it,” The Malaysian Insider had reported Mahathir as saying at his Hari Raya open house on Sunday. “If you do not know how to run something, then the best organised organisation will not help." Najib shudders Mahathir’s comments are being seen as a signal that he would not oppose any challenge to Najib’s position at the Umno election due to be held in October. A powerful influence in the Umno party, his remarks are bound to make Najib and his supporters even more worried. On Friday, Najib was forced to deny sending out feelers to Anwar for the purpose of forming a unity government with the Opposition. However, he has failed to convince and the rumor is now an even ‘hotter’ topic of conversation than before in the coffee-shops that dot the nation, and especially in Umno. “Najib made what we call a political denial on Friday but within his circle, we know that he is still interested in the plan. As for Mahathir, we no longer place much importance or political value on what he says,” an Umno source close to the Najib camp told Malaysia Chronicle. ‘Fascist’ Dr M longs for the ‘good old days’
Anwar has already rejected Najib’s overtures on the grounds that the offer did not include bringing DAP and PAS into the government. DAP and PAS are the other 2 partners in the Opposition coalition apart from Anwar’s PKR or People’s Justice Party. “Mahathir’s comments are consistent. He and his supporters are defending the Establishment, they never see any wrong in the existing infrastructure but always in the people who run it,” PKR vice president told Malaysia Chronicle. “Like all conservatives and Fascists, they mourn the loss of the ‘good’ old days when the leaders’ words are a command and despotism a signature trait to be admired.” Umno election and the season of madness Another comment that prompted rather rude replies that indeed Mahathir ’mudah lupa’ or forgets easily is his recommendation for national airline MAS to be privatized. “In the past, he privatized too and lost billions of ringgit,” Anwar slammed on Twitter. In 1994, Mahathir had agreed to sell a controlling stake in MAS allowing a crony of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin to buy a 32% stake from the central Bank Negara for RM1.8 billion. But the crony, Tajudin Ramli, ran MAS to the ground with enormous debt. Even so, he managed to persuade Mahathir and Daim to buy back the stake from him at twice the price then prevailing in the market. That deal created deep public anger especially within Umno ranks for Mahathir and Daim. That Tajudin could sell back his stake at RM8 per share in 2001 when the market value was only RM3.68 apiece stirred calls for reforms within Umno. Team Wawasan and the ‘New Malay’ 
It also bolstered the reform and anti-corruption platform used by Anwar and several other young Turks in Umno, who had called themselves the Team Wawasan, to gain power in their party. The charismatic Anwar was seen as a challenge to Mahathir, who sacked and threw him into jail in 1998 on manifestly trumped-up sodomy and corruption charges. Najib had been a strong ally of Anwar’s in 1994 but turned against him in 1998. It is interesting that the MAS deal has re-surfaced at the current time when Mahathir is believed to be again thinking of deposing the Umno president and replacing him with someone from his own camp. “This is the season of madness in Umno where everything goes. Those in power and those seeking power will go all out to get what they want and if they don’t, dirty linen is washed in public, poison-pen letters are circulated and all sorts of shenanigans and blackmail take place,” PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng, a former Cabinet minister told Malaysia Chronicle. | | Apa lagi Mahathir mahu? Posted: 18 Aug 2013 10:52 PM PDT Malaysiakini If the third prime minister of Malaysia, Hussein Onn, had not nominated Mahathir Mohamad as his successor in 1981, the course of Malaysian history would have been very different. Mahathir may have left office after 22 years in power, but today, he pops up like those annoying advertisements which appear, without warning, on your computer screen. Mahathir's messages act in a similar way to some of those adverts; they can harm your computer with malware or other unwanted files, when they are "opened". Perhaps, we need a spam-blocker that will work on Mahathir. How will we ever learn from history, if we are prevented from examining what has gone badly wrong for this nation? Mahathir's policies continue to divide the nation, but many Malays are under the illusion that he is their saviour. Sadly, after 56 years of independence, it is mostly non-Malays who are more Malaysian than the Malays. Until we get a change in government, only one man can stop Mahathir's deleterious effects on the nation – Najib Abdul Razak – but he either won't or can't bring himself to perform this saintly task. Such is the hold that Mahathir has over Najib. Yesterday, Mahathir urged that MAS be privatised. His penchant for privatisation enables profitable companies to be annexed by his cronies or Umno Baru nominees. This practice has all but bankrupted the nation. It is ironic that the man who once said that "Melayu mudah lupa", should forget his role in handing the national airline carrier, on a golden platter to Tajudin Ramli. Few MAS employees will ever forget how the company's performance plummeted with Tajudin at its helm. Mahathir observed that Umno Baru had failed to tap into young, smart Malay professionals. He claimed that Umno Baru, unlike PAS, did not like, and possibly feared people who were smarter than its leaders. Again, Mahathir mudah lupa. He once isolated younger men in his cabinet, like Anwar Ibrahim and Musa Hitam, in an attempt to contain their political aspirations. When Mahathir was the education minister in the early 70s, he quelled student unrest with an iron fist. Did he forget that the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA), which many associate with Umno Baru, stops young adults from their right to full political expression? Younger people find the opposition coalition more appealing and Umno Baru is aware of this. In GE13, voters at polling centres were separated into one queue for elderly people and another for young adults. EC officials ensured that the queues for the elderly moved relatively fast, whereas queues for the young moved with laborious slowness. In many instances, young voters, simply gave up and left despite staying in line for hours. Umno Baru reasoned that young people were more impatient and impetuous, and welcomed their absence. We are told that Najib is known as Bapak Transformasi (Father of Transformation). History will be the judge of his success at transforming both the nation, and his party, Umno Baru. Fears of greatest treachery Najib realises that the nation is ripe for change but he is tortured by the recalcitrance of his party members. Like them, he has only his own interests at heart, and not the interests of the rakyat who elected them to office. He has only himself to blame for the bad example he set, which strengthened the Umno Baru delegates' resolve against reform. Najib knows his enemies from outside the party, but he fears that the greatest treachery to befall him will come from within his own party. He knows that many within his own cabinet would not hesitate to stick a knife into his back. The new Home Minister Zahid Hamidi is openly defying Najib's authority and also that of his cousin, Hishamuddin Hussein, the former home minister. Recently, Zahid unearthed 260,000 hard-core criminals, whereas Hishammuddin had found none and even had the audacity to tell the rakyat that the increase in crime was just a perception. Zahid recently found 250,000 Shiite Muslims, when Hishammuddin did not even allude to them during his tenure as home minister. These are attempts to discredit Hishammuddin, and Najib, the cousin who put him there. These machinations are possibly designed to unseat Najib at the crux of his political career, the Umno Baru general assembly which will be held later this year. Earlier this month, Zahid warned that if the Sedition Act 1948 was abolished, four aspects of the federal constitution, namely the special rights of the Malays, the status of Malay rulers, the status of Islam as the federal religion and the status of Malay as the national language would be affected. Putting on a defiant tone, he advocated for the Act to be retained and said that he was unwilling to compromise on this issue. When Najib promised to repeal the Sedition Act, last year, was he using this as a carrot to trick the public into voting for Umno Baru in GE13? Did Najib have any intention of keeping this promise or was it just a ploy to get the voters to think that he was a reformist? Perhaps, Najib will use Zahid's interjection as a convenient excuse not to repeal the Sedition Act and so win back the support of the hardliners in Umno Baru. Unlike Zahid, Najib is facing the most important battle in his political life. Is Zahid's opposition to the abolition of the Act a means to present himself as the true defender of the Malays and of Islam in Malaysia? All roads lead to Mahathir Zahid is not acting on his own and it is glaringly evident, that all roads lead to Mahathir. The former PM has been very vocal in the past few weeks and will continue until the Umno party conference. Mahahir will continue to instigate and foment dissent. His divisive policies are symbolic of his rule. When he left office in 2003, few outside of Umno Baru were moved when he wept as he made his resignation speech. His successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi gave us hope, but even he failed the rakyat miserably. Mahathir claims that Umno Baru is the only party that can save the Malays. This is another of his damned lies. In truth, Umno Baru has caused the downfall of the Malays; ordinary Malays have become beggars in their own land because of his policies, and the Umno Baru elite are just pimps living off everyone else. Today, time is running out for Malaysia, and if Najib does not act to defuse the racial and religious time-bomb set by Mahathir, it will cause untold damage to the country. Mahathir cares for nothing but the continuation of his legacy, through his son, Mukhriz. A leader who does not give a damn for the peace, prosperity and economic stability of the country, might as well be called the Father of Corruption. Apa lagi Mahathir mahu? | | PKR claims state gov’t punishing its supporters Posted: 18 Aug 2013 10:49 PM PDT Malaysiakini Several supporters of Sarawak PKR in Baram have been "punished" for allegedly voting for the opposition in the general election, the party claims.  State PKR chairperson Baru Bian said their applications for the planting of high-yielding rubber through the Rubber Industry Smallholders’ Development Authority (Risda) had been withdrawn.
“We received reports and complaints from several people in Baram that their applications for rubber were withdrawn on the basis that they are supporters of PKR,” he said. “This is contrary to the promise made by Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu, who is also the minister for the modernisation of agriculture. “He wants to see those in rural areas earning RM2,000 or more in four years’ time if they take part now in the planting of this high-yielding rubber. “We met Jabu during the last sitting of the state legislature and he promised us that he would help the rural people with regard to the eradication of poverty via this scheme,” Baru Bian said. He said Jabu must fulfil his promise to the people that rubber clones would be made available to the rural people in an effort to eradicate poverty. “This is a very serious matter, and we will not take it lightly,” he said. The PKR leader also expressed concern over the ruling made by Risda that it would only approve applications to plant rubber in NCR land after such land had been verified by the Land and Survey Department. “We are concerned as the Land and Survey Department is known to have a different definition from the decision of the Federal Court on what constitutes NCR land. “Such applications are certain to be rejected,” Baru Bian said, suggesting that Risda, if it was serious, should ask the Tuai Rumah (longhouse chiefs) or community leaders to endorse that such land was NCR land and belonged to the applicant. Baru Bian has also heard complaints from rural people that their applications to plant oil palm had also met with obstacles as the Land and Survey Department did not want them to plant oil palm in NCR land, which it claimed is state land. | |
| Anak Muda Kampung Nak Senang Posted: 18 Aug 2013 11:09 AM PDT
| Umat Islam solat depan tandas isu kecil??? Posted: 17 Aug 2013 07:27 PM PDT Tak usah perbesar isu solat depan tandas - MB
17 Ogos 2013 - Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir mahu insiden peniaga terpaksa bersolat di depan tandas di sebuah lokasi tapak perniagaan di Kuala Kangsar, tidak diperbesarkan oleh mana-mana pihak.
| | Kalau Mufti pun diperlakukan sebegini, bagaimana pula umat Islam yang biasa ni serta saudara baru atau mualaf? Posted: 17 Aug 2013 07:27 PM PDT
Mufti Perlis ceritakan 5 jam tunggu rawatan di hospital kerajaan
17 Ogos 2013 - Mufti Perlis, Datuk Dr. Juanda Jaya hari ini menceritakan bagaimana beliau yang menjadi mangsa rompak di rumahnya di Samariang di sini awal pagi semalam, terpaksa menunggu berjam-jam untuk menerima rawatan di Hospital Umum Sarawak (HUS).
"Perkhidmatan di Hospital Umum Sarawak (HUS) harus dipertingkatkan kerana ramai pesakit yang terpaksa menunggu hingga berjam-jam bagi mendapatkan rawatan.
"Saya sendiri terpaksa menunggu hampir lima jam di Bahagian Kecemasan hospital berkenaan untuk mendapatkan rawatan dan akhirnya hanya menerima panadol serta ubat luka," katanya dalam sidang akhbar di kediamannya di sini hari ini.
| | Amannya Malaysia, bersyukurlah Posted: 17 Aug 2013 07:25 PM PDT Dua asrama dirompak, seorang dirogol
KOTA TINGGI 17 Ogos 2013 - Dua asrama kilang menempatkan pekerja wanita di Jalan Kijang, Taman Kota dan Jalan Belinjau, Taman Kota Jaya di sini, dirompak hampir serentak oleh penjenayah pada malam tadi. Dalam kejadian itu, suspek turut bertindak melarikan seorang pekerja wanita dan merogol mangsa.
Katanya, suspek meletakkan parang di leher salah seorang rakannya manakala seorang lagi penjenayah yang berbadan besar menunggu di luar."Suspek mengarahkan kami berkumpul di tengah rumah sambil meminta kami menyerahkan barang berharga termasuk wang tunai dan telefon bimbit ke dalam baldi. "Dalam keadaan kecoh itu, kami cuba melarikan diri melalui pintu hadapan tetapi sebaik sahaja suspek beredar, kami dapati seorang rakan telah dilarikan penjenayah," katanya.
| | Bom dalam kereta pula di Bandar Tentera Darat Posted: 17 Aug 2013 07:24 PM PDT
18 Ogos 2013 Port Dickson: Seorang ejen bilik penginapan di sebuah resort di Jalan Pantai, Batu 2, di sini, menempuh saat mencemaskan apabila seorang pelanggan meninggalkan sebutir bom dalam kereta di tempat letak kenderaan di tingkat dua resort, malam kelmarin. A Kannan, 36, berkata, dia menyewakan sebuah bilik di tingkat dua kepada suspek berusia 25 tahun dan teman wanitanya berusia lingkungan 20-an pada jam 6.56 petang, Selasa lalu.
| | Takkan polis tak tahu premis judi dekat masjid? Posted: 17 Aug 2013 07:20 PM PDT Premis judi mesin kuda berdekatan masjid di Selama, Perak 17 Ogos 2013
SAYA ingin meluahkan rasa kecewa yang teramat sangat selepas mendapati sebuah premis yang menjalankan peniagaan judi mesin kuda dibenarkan beroperasi di sebuah bandar kecil di Selama, Perak yang ternyata 90 peratus penduduknya adalah orang Melayu beragama Islam.
Semasa pulang sempena sambutan cuti Hari Raya Aidilfitri baru-baru ini, saya terkejut ketika sedang minum kopi di sebuah restoran, tiba-tiba kelihatan ramai anak Melayu yang keluar masuk sebuah premis bercermin gelap.
Selepas bertanyakan daripada rakan-rakan saya, mereka memberitahu ia adalah pusat perjudian mesin kuda dan telah beroperasi lebih setahun lalu.
Berdasarkan pengamatan saya, pelanggan pusat judi itu adalah golongan remaja termasuklah kanak-kanak bawah umur.
Lebih mendukacitakan premis yang terletak di Jalan Sir Chulan ini beroperasi di lokasi berdekatan sebuah masjid lama iaitu Masjid Abdul Karim.
ANTI JUDI & MAKSIAT Selama, Perak
| | Mudahnya dapat senjata api, bersyukurlah Posted: 17 Aug 2013 07:19 PM PDT
Ahli perniagaan miliki pelbagai jenis senjata api 17 Ogos 2013
Seremban: Seorang ahli perniagaan berusia 35 tahun yang ditahan kerana memasukkan syabu ke dalam rokoknya, didapati turut menyimpan dua senapang, dua mesingan, sepucuk pistol berserta senjata lain ketika serbuan ke rumahnya di Bandar Enstek, Nilai, dekat sini, jam 11 pagi kelmarin.
Kata sumber itu, pihaknya merampas dua laras senapang jenis Gamo Black Night dan Extreme C02 Gamo, dua laras mesingan jenis Hatsan AT P dan tanpa jenama, sepucuk pistol jenis KWC Limited berserta beberapa peluru, satu senjata Crossbow jenis Wickedridge berserta 60 batang anak panah, satu set pam angin jenama Air Ventori G4, dua tabung gas dan lain-lain.
| | PAS MELAKA BATAL JAMUAN RAYA, GANTI DENGAN SUMBANGAN PADA RAKYAT MESIR Posted: 17 Aug 2013 06:24 PM PDT
Melaka : Badan Perhubungan PAS Melaka membatalkan jamuan Hari Raya Aidilfitri tahun ini bagi menghormati nasib yang dihadapi umat Islam dan rakyat Mesir yang dizalimi oleh rejim tentera. Pesuruhjaya PAS Melaka, Adly Zahari berkata PAS Melaka menghormati penderitaan umat Islam Mesir yang terus dizalimi oleh rejim kerajaan zalim.
'Pas Melaka mengambil sikap menggantikan jamuan Aidilfitri kepada dana rakyat Mesir yang dizalimi. Bagi PAS kawasan dan cawangan yang sudah bersedia mengadakan sambutan aidilfitri, disarankan mengadakan secara sederhana disamping mewujudkan dana bantuan untuk rakyat Mesir." ujar beliau yang juga merupakan Yang Dipertua PAS Kawasan Alor Gajah.
Sementara itu Bendahari PAS Melaka, Husni Ali berkata semua sumbangan boleh disalurkan melalui akaun bank PAS Melaka yang boleh diperolehi di dalam blog PAS Melaka iaitu http://pasmelaka.blogspot.com
Majlis sambutan Aidilfitri PAS Negeri Melaka sepatutnya diadakan pada 24 Ogos ini di Bukit Katil, segala persiapan awal telah diadakan sejak minggu lepas.
| |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 17 Aug 2013 07:09 PM PDT |
| MEDIA Rakyat MALAYSIA Posted: 17 Aug 2013 03:03 AM PDT |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 16 Aug 2013 07:33 PM PDT
| Is Obama An Enabler of Tyranny in Egypt? Posted: 16 Aug 2013 09:44 AM PDT The National Interest When President Obama visited Cairo on June 4, 2009, he made a special point of declaring that he had come to establish a new beginning between the United States and the Arab world. This beginning, he said, would be based “upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive…they overlap, and share common principles—principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.” Now, in Egypt, an authoritarian government, headed by the military, is slaughtering followers of Islam, and what does Obama have to say? Not much, it appears. What is emerging from the president and his advisers is a few worried murmurs of protest, coupled with studied indecision. Where are the human-rights activists such as UN ambassador Samantha Power? Where is national-security adviser Susan Rice who vowed to stick up for the oppressed after she remained silent during the genocide in Rwanda? Do they agree with Secretary of State John Kerry’s earlier assessment that the military is “restoring democracy” in Egypt? Instead of protesting the Egyptian military’s actions, or even threatening to cut off military aid, the administration is refusing to deem the events in Egypt a coup. The Washington Posteditorial page says that the administration is “complicit” with the military’s actions. It adds, It is difficult to imagine how the assault on the Brotherhood, which won multiple elections and is still supported by millions of Egyptians, can be followed by a credible transition to democracy. More likely, it will lead Egypt toward still greater violence. It may be that outside powers cannot now change this tragic course of events. But if the United States wishes to have some chance to influence a country that has been its close ally for four decades, it must immediately change its policy toward the armed forces.
If a serious case could be made that Egpyt is headed towards stable, authoritarian rule, it would be one thing. In that instance, it might be plausible to invoke Henry Kissinger’s famous comment about Chile and add that a country shouldn’t be allowed to go hardline Islamist. But the problem is this: Is Obama being a realist when it comes to Egypt? Or is he being utterly unrealistic about what the future holds for Washington’s ties with Cairo? America’s track record, when it comes to supporting corrupt and authoritarian regimes, particularly in the Middle East, is a mixed one. Obama, you could even say, is inadvertently doing what he said he wanted to end in his Cairo speech: “empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and…promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity.” For Egypt appears to be headed toward, at best, an armed truce, and, at worst, a civil war. The Islamists are being further radicalized. America will be blamed. How does this end the “cycle of suspicion and discord” that Obama identified and lamented in June 2009? Indeed, it may well be that the conflagration that the neoconservatives hoped would erupt in the Middle East is indeed erupting. Syria is already in flames. Now Egypt may be engulfed. How long can it be before Jordan is afflicted by the tumult? Obama, aloof as ever, wants nothing to do with foreign policy. But a renewed debate is going to erupt in America over continuing aid to what amounts to an armed junta in Egypt. Senator Rand Paul was widely ridiculed when he proposed an amendment ending aid to Egypt, but perhaps he no longer looks so ridiculous at a moment when the Washington Post is calling for suspending it until the generals move to restore democracy. At a minimum, Obama should threaten suspension. Surely he does not want to go down in history as the enabler of tyranny? There may not be much that America can do to calm Egypt, but Obama doesn’t even seem to be trying. Leon Trotsky once remarked, “You may not be interested in the dialectic, but the dialectic is interested in you.” Obama could be about to learn that he may not be interested in foreign affairs, but foreign affairs is interested in him. | | Hypocrisy over Egyptian bloodshed Posted: 16 Aug 2013 12:17 AM PDT Hurriyet Daily News The attack of the Egyptian police and military on the supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi gathered in Adawiya and Nahda squares of Cairo started in the early hours of Aug. 14, as it was started to be reported in social media a while before the international agencies. The interim government had warned a few days ago that they would "gradually" put pressure on the demonstrators to empty the streets, but perhaps no one expected such a merciless attack by the security forces that resulted in killing of so many people. That may include governments who gave a silent approval to the military coup, which toppled the elected president of the country, like the U.S. and EU governments and those who applauded the coup, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar; they have a responsibility for yesterday's massacre in Cairo. Qatar condemned the yesterday's move by the Egyptian security forces and joined Turkey to denounce it as "unacceptable"; perhaps thanks to a telephone call by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu. The first statements from the European Union were calling all political sides to "renounce violence," as if it was same thing to have street demonstrations against a military coup and opening fire on them. Later on the statement from the EU was a more careful one asking the Egyptian security forces to stop attacking peaceful demonstrators. But right after the attack, some of the protesters were no longer as peaceful as before, showing a reaction. The incidents quickly spread to other cities of Egypt in such a way that the interim government declared state of emergency, perhaps dragging the country a step closer to martial law. The United States' condemnation of the killings was particularly against the declaration of the state of emergency, too. Actually the country is being dragged into a civil war like Syria. Pointing at that threat, Turkish President Abdullah Gül said Egypt was getting down into chaos and it might take long years from now for the country to adopt democracy. No one has ever seen such a situation before. A part of the Egyptian people are resisting against a coup, claiming their votes and do not want to lose the power they have achieved after decades, and part of the people are against the protesters, even supporting the military with the fear that the democratic majority could turn the country into a theocratic state; a terrible picture indeed. Egypt, despite its thousands of years of history and tradition of statehood, has never experienced a democratic life. The Arab Spring, which resulted in the toppling of its former ruler Hosni Mubarak, was regarded as an opportunity for a journey toward a democratic life. It started to turn sour when Morsi felt that he could transform the long established Egyptian state apparatus into a Muslim Brotherhood machine overnight, and it took a big blow when the military, betraying its new boss, overthrew Morsi on July 3. Now it seems democracy in Egypt is a dream that cannot become true so quickly. But it should be noted that this situation is no way sustainable for either the Egyptian military or the international community in support of them. The U.S. administration must see that the support that they give the military-backed interim government in Egypt will not be able to eradicate the Muslim Brotherhood, which has deep roots in the society, but it will possibly radicalize many proud and angry men and women in Egypt and in other Arab countries into the trenches of al-Qaeda and the like. That would be the bitter cost of the hypocrisy over the bloodshed in Egypt. | | Still a democratic coup in Egypt? Posted: 15 Aug 2013 11:35 PM PDT Malaysiakini The death toll continues to rise following the brutal crackdown by the Egyptian military, while the Obama administration is walking a tightrope, condemning the bloodshed on the streets of Cairo but falling short – still – of calling the overthrow of the democratically-elected Morsi government a coup. This is most hypocritical, for the Americans have long been backing Saudi Arabia which is now popularly regarded as the source of extremism, representing a much bigger menace than the Muslim Brotherhood. Since coming to power on 51 percent of the popular votes in July last year, the Muslim Brotherhood has been accused of marginalising the Christian minority, curtailing women's rights, cold-shouldering other political forces and putting the conservatives in power. In short, Mohamed Morsi's refusal to compromise was ostensibly his greatest sin, leading to the dramatic collapse of his presidency. And there are those in Malaysia who were cheering on as the military coup happened, for they feared a religion-based government that was seemingly harming the rights of many would send a wrong signal to the rest of the Muslim world. How naïve that these people, be they Christians, liberals, democrats or others, would have thought that democracy could be restored through military intervention. As always, seeking help from the military will not unblock the political impasse but result in deeper political and social divisions that are harder to reconcile. Military coup invariably brings about a media shutdown, rolls back democratic institutions, erodes the judiciary and, most atrociously, costing countless deaths of innocent lives. One does not have to be in Cairo to know it.  That those who uphold political liberalism could have been so easily deluded into believing that the ambitious men in uniform would share their progressive agenda is puzzling indeed.
It is reported that Mohamed ElBaradei (left), a Nobel laureate who was appointed as vice-president after the coup, has now resigned in protest. Given his esteemed position internationally, ElBaradei should not have served under the military in the first place knowing that they are only keener on protecting their vested interests than on rescuing democracy. More paradoxical is the phenomenon that those who have been supporting wholeheartedly military intervention to get rid of the 'bad guy' happen to be the highly educated elites and middle classes, and this has been proven in the case of Thailand, Turkey and now Egypt. The road to hell… As the saying goes: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. No military putsch would be complete without the generals masquerading as national saviours. After Thaksin Shinawatra was deposed as prime minister in September 2006, Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, went on TV to declare that "many have asked the military to intervene and safeguard national interests as well as the dignity of the King". What ensued in the next few years was more bloodshed and conflicts in Thai society, while the Thai military seized the opportunity to regain the excessive powers that they once enjoyed before 1992. When the anti-Thaksin yellow-shirters occupied the Bangkok international airport for several days in 2008, the security forces did not lift a finger to restore order, and the mayhem only reinforced the misperception that only a strong military would ensure the survival of Thailand as a viable state. Today, Prem Tinsulanonda, a former prime minister and a retired army general, is endowed with more powers as head of the Privy Council, with the Yingluck Shinawatra government beholden to his invisible influence. As I see it, there is no such thing as a democratic coup, for the same army that deposes a legitimate head of state today in the name of 'public interests' can do the same to the very applauders of military intervention when the circumstances call for it. Worse still, nearly all the militaries that have engineered a coup successfully one way or another have accumulated immense political powers and business interests, breeding rampant corruption and undermining constitutional rules along the way. Meanwhile, endorsing the illegitimate role of the military in the Muslim countries only emboldens the radical elements and extremists such as al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, who now cash in on the opportunity and argue that democracy does not work in an Islamic context, and that raw political power can only be asserted through the barrel of a gun rather than a ballot box. At the same time, autocracies such as Qatar, Syria and Saudi Arabia are quietly celebrating the havoc in Egypt. It is no doubt tragic to see a greater setback whenever tiny progress is made in the Middle Eastern pursuit of democracy. The lesson from the Egyptian labyrinth is that an inherently weak society will only make it ready for other parties to manipulate politics. Instead of looking to the military in checking against a powerful leader, one should endeavour to strengthen civil society as an alternative, as has been the case in South Korea and Indonesia. Sending in the army to handle Morsi's failures is clearly not the answer; neither is the White Knight syndrome. And both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional must condemn the human rights violations being committed in Egypt. In this, Umno's silence is especially telling – would it take a leaf out of the Egyptian army's book should it lose power one day? | | The PERVERTED LOGIC of Dr M Posted: 15 Aug 2013 11:28 PM PDT Malaysia-Chronicle Going by the former PM's latest public remarks, freedom is a curse that all Malaysians must avoid at all cost. As reported, the Tun Doctor has slammed us Malaysians again. It is because we want freedom that now we have to put up with gun shots and parang wielding gangsters. Wow! So the President of USA better take note since Barrack Obama is coming to Malaysia soon. Disband your democracy and freedom of speech and freedom to assemble peacefully. Only then will the whole of America be crime free. For us Malaysians, let us have back all the draconian laws. We need more ISA, more OSA and more of EO. Only then can the UMNO-BN government guarantee us a crime free, safe and secure life. If you want freedom, be prepared to also die by the gun. Okay lah. For arguments sake let us pose this one question to our legendary Tun: Should we believe you ever again? So if we are to believe you all over again and dump our quest for freedom, justice and transparent accountability, does that also mean that we can dismantle all the barricades of iron and steel that imprison our homes and sell to 'besi burok' and make some handsome cash? Does that mean that we can also do away with security alarms for our vehicles and make substantial savings on the family budget? Does that mean that our young sons and daughters can go shopping without fear of being raped or mugged in the car parks of malls? Does that mean that our citizens do not have to hide their gold under the bed each time they go out? In all likelihood, when the freedom is taken away by the depriving, oppressive laws, you only get to read what the powers-that-be want to tell. And so every day, the mouth-piece newspapers will report 'zero crime today'; and should anyone tweet of a crime scene, there will be the ISA waiting for such 'undesirable' citizens out to create instability lah. Sheesh!! Going by the Tun's splatter, the whole world must be stupidly wrong for wanting to chase after liberty, freedom of expression, free and fair elections and all that democracy promotes. Seemingly, freedom comes with that price to die by the gun! | |
| www.telokkemang.blogspot.com/ Posted: 16 Aug 2013 07:37 AM PDT
| VERY URGENT FROM THE HOSPITAL Posted: 15 Aug 2013 09:11 AM PDT This is Miss Lukas willson from Trinidad &Tobago.I am writing from the hospital in Cote D'Ivoire, therefore this mail is very urgent as you can see that I am dying in the hospital. I was told by the doctor that I was poisoned and has got my liver damaged and can only live for some months. I inherited some money ($2.5 Million) from my late father and I cannot think of anybody trying to kill me apart from my step mother in order to inherit the money, she is an Ivorien by nationality. I want you to contact my servant with this informations below: Mater Augustin Maranatha. Address: Rue De La Princess L/G 152 Cocody Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire. Tel +225-67356057 Email monligth01@ymail.com He will give you the documents of the money and will direct you to a well known lawyer that I have appointed to him, the lawyer will assist you to change the documents of the money to your name to enable the bank transfer the money to you. This is the favour I need when you have gotten the money :- (1) Give 10% of the money to my servant, Mr Augustin as he has been there for me throught my illness and I have promised to support him in life. I want you to take him along with you to your country and esterblish him as your son. (2) Give 10% of the money to Charity Organisations and Churches on my name so that my soul may rest in peace. Note;This should be a code between you and Augustin in this transactioin "Hospital" any mail from him, the barrister he will direct you to, without this code "Hospital" is not from the barrister, Augustin, the bank or myself as I don't know what will happen to me in the next few hours. (3) the lawyer's name is Mc Lambert Adams. And Let Augustin send you his National ID or his passport to be sure of whom you are dealing with. Augustin is so little therefore guide him. May God bless you and use you to accomplish my wish. Pray for me always. Lukas Nanda Willson. Thank you | |
| Anwar Ibrahim Posted: 15 Aug 2013 07:21 PM PDT
| Violating the Law to Subsidize Egypt’s Coup: Bipartisan Foolishness in Washington Posted: 15 Aug 2013 07:58 AM PDT Huffington Post U.S. policy in Egypt has been a disaster. For decades Washington backed rule by an authoritarian dictatorship that persecuted religious minorities and socialized the economy. Now the short-lived democratic revolution has been replaced by military rule with a meaningless civilian veneer. Washington should cut off foreign aid and disengage. Instead, the Obama administration has embraced putative dictatorship, refusing to characterize the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi as a coup. If only George Orwell was alive today. The military worked with the opposition to encourage demonstrations threatening public chaos. The military arrested the president, top officials, and high-level members of his party and movement. The military leveled fantastic criminal charges against the president and his supporters. The military closed down allied television stations and arrested journalists. The military appointed dictatorial retreads as interim president and other high officials. The military treated all opponents as “terrorists.” The military recreated the de facto secret police, the Interior Ministry departments which investigate political and religious activities. The military shot and killed protestors. But the administration says there was no coup. According to Secretary of State John Kerry, “the military did not take over to the best of our judgment so far.” Rather, “there’s a civilian government,” he claimed. “In effect, they were restoring democracy.” The administration could have acknowledged that Gen. Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi ruled by force but then argued that the coup was justified. However, that would have been a difficult case to make. There is obvious reason to suspect the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi committed more than his share of mistakes. But the first elected leader in Egypt’s 5000-year history was discrediting himself. Left alone he would have ruined the electoral appeal of political Islam without a shot being fired. Moreover, he had taken no irrevocable authoritarian steps. It would have been impossible for Morsi to become a dictator without the military behind him — which explains why real dictators Gamal Abdel al-Nasser, Anwar al-Sadat, and Hosni al-Mubarak all were military men, like Gen. Sisi. The administration ignored the obvious to avoid triggering the law which required cutting off aid to “the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup d’état or decree or … a coup d’état or decree in which the military plays a decisive role.” You don’t need an English Ph.D. to recognize that the restriction applies to Cairo today. Apparently administration lawyers agreed, only to be overruled by top policymakers. Whether or not Washington was implicated in the coup itself — it appears not — the administration clearly endorsed the result. Yet officials appear surprised that a coup would lead to the killing of demonstrators, persecution of those ousted from power, and strengthening of state authority. Secretary Kerry announced that repression is “absolutely unacceptable. It cannot happen.” Except that it has been going on publicly every day for more than a month. The Obama administration has made as many mistakes as former president Morsi — and may have claimed even greater power than him. Yet policy towards Egypt stands out as one of President Obama’s greatest failures. The administration reflexively supported the dictator Mubarak even as Egyptians were rallying against him. Only when his fall was inevitable did Washington acknowledge that he might have to go. The administration then accepted President Morsi’s rise, counseling him, to no avail, to rule in an inclusive and democratic manner. Administration officials were no more successful in urging the Egyptian military, which has received some $40 billion in aid over the years, not to stage a coup. After effectively endorsing the takeover, the administration begged Gen. Sisi not to target the Muslim Brotherhood, lest doing so drive the organization underground and toward violence and terrorism. He ignored these entreaties as well. Today virtually every Egyptian blames America. Gen. Sisi and the secular liberals criticize the administration for being pro-Muslim Brotherhood. Despite Washington’s de facto endorsement of his putsch, Gen. Sisi complained: “You turned your back on Egyptians.” The Brotherhood, with far greater cause, complains that Washington green-lighted the coup and supports it now. In Cairo American officials talk but no one listens. Administration fecklessness, hypocrisy, and impotence are on display around the world. Yet leading Republicans have endorsed the Obama policy. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) led a lonely campaign to cut off U.S. aid, $1.55 billion annually. The Senate rejected his proposal by a vote of 86 to 13. At least few Republicans echoed Secretary Kerry’s ludicrous claim that the military is dedicated to birthing Jeffersonian democracy. The army spent six decades supporting authoritarian rule under a parade of dictators and resisted the revolution. Moreover, coups rarely promote liberal values. Freedom House’s initial assessment after President Morsi’s ouster found that six of eight democratic parameters had declined and the other two had stalled. David Kramer, Freedom House’s president, noted: “The justification for the coup was that Egypt was suffering a drift towards authoritarianism under Morsi. Our analysis, as reflected in the Egypt Democracy Compass, shows significant decline in most of the country’s democratic institutions.” The military even is restoring the Mubarak elite to power. The interim president was a Mubarak court appointee. The police, who worked to sabotage the Morsi government, have reappeared in force. Secular politician Ehab Samir said: “You can’t stay at odds with them. Your security is dependent on having a strong police force.” Moreover, reported the Washington Post: “Egypt’s new power dynamic, following the July 3 coup that ousted Morsi, is eerily familiar. Gone are the Islamist rulers from the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood. Back are the faces of the old guard, many closely linked to Mubarak’s reign or to the all-powerful generals.” Still, Republicans made their share of ludicrous claims. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker referred to the U.S. as a “voice of calm.” Perhaps Secretary Kerry was whispering sweet nothings in the ears of generals as they arrested opponents and gunned down protestors — after using U.S. aid to purchase U.S. weapons. John Bolton made a different argument: “Everyone, whatever their politics, agrees that Egypt’s economy needs massive assistance.” Actually, the Egyptian economy needs reform, not subsidies. In fact, aid should be cut because it has helped wreck the Egyptian economy. Generous American “aid” allowed Sadat and Mubarak, and most recently Morsi, to keep the inefficient, bloated Egyptian state afloat despite its manifold failures. Florida’s Sen. Marco Rubio echoed the clueless Secretary Kerry, warning that if you cut off aid “you lose leverage.” Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe said he would have agreed with the amendment “before we realized the threats that we have in the Middle East.” Sen. John McCain of Arizona worried that ending aid “would send the wrong message at the wrong time.” Sen. Corker referred to sustaining “the values we extend around the world.” Where, one wonders, is the evidence of this vaunted leverage — after nearly $75 billion in “assistance” over the years? When Presidents Sadat and Mubarak jailed opponents, persecuted Coptic Christians, enriched supporters, and despoiled the economy? When President Morsi claimed extraordinary power and refused to conciliate his opponents? When Gen. Sisi staged the coup? When the general ignored the administration’s advice to govern in an inclusive fashion? When he embraced the corrupt and authoritarian Mubarak elite? One unnamed official reluctantly admitted to the New York Times: “What we say might not be part of their calculus.” If the Obama administration is willing to torture language and ignore the law to keep shoveling money into Cairo, it is evident that nothing, except presumably war with Israel, would cause Washington to close the spigot. Since Gen. Sisi and his fellow officers can count on America’s money — as well as a promised $12 billion from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states — they have no reason to pay the slightest attention to Secretary Kerry. If there’s no leverage, then how does subsidizing a coup provide a good message, reduce threats, or represent our values? As Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution noted: “To those who argue that we must continue providing aid in the interest of stability, one has only to point to the past three years: Aid has flowed uninterrupted, and just look at all the stability.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) relied on a letter from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee which opposed cutting aid to Egypt which could “negatively impact our Israeli ally.” (Three weeks ago he and Sen. McCain wrote an article calling for an aid halt: “We may pay a short-term price by standing up for our democratic values, but it is in our long-term national interest to do so.”) Once patriotism, the last resort for the scoundrel in American politics today is to claim that something is necessary for Israel’s security. Aid is not why Cairo has kept the peace with Israel for 40 years. Syria has been at peace with Israel for the same period of time and Jordan even longer. Amman receives some U.S. cash, though not as much as Egypt. Damascus receives none. Yet the al-Assad regime did not respond even after Israel destroyed a nuclear plant and, more recently, missile shipments from Russia. The Arab states know they would lose a war with Israel. Conflict would be particularly disastrous for the Egyptian generals, since they would lose their means of control and likely positions as well. The Argentinean generals discovered that starting and losing a war is a quick way to end up out of power and in prison. Washington does not need to pay the Egyptians for peace. Moreover, the military is the force which most threatens both stability and democracy, pushing Egypt toward civil war. The armed services long have personified corruption in Egypt. Between 15 and 40 percent of the economy is thought to be controlled by the military. Service has become a hereditary caste or quasi-aristocracy with many sons following fathers in profitable service as praetorian guardians of the authoritarian political order. While the military regime called on demonstrators to “give priority to the interest of the homeland, to comply with the public interest,” there is little reason to believe that the generals are acting on that basis. Sam Tadros of the Hudson Institute was quoted by the Post‘s Jennifer Rubin as arguing that “one easy solution is to train the Egyptian military.” But Gen. Sisi was trained by the U.S. Washington has educated soldiers from around the globe who have supported coups or committed atrocities. Train the soldiers “on basic policing,” argued Tadros. The problem in Egypt is not basic policing. The problem is that the military has seized political power. Gen. Sisi declared that “The army stands neutral before all factions.” Actually, the military stands for the military. Indeed, the general has been described as an ambitious man with a “sense of destiny,” always dangerous for democracy, especially one where liberal civil society has not taken root. Far from remaining in the background, Gen. Sisi has added titles and grabbed the limelight. There is no reason to expect him to surrender it. Of course, secular liberals with a Napoleonic Complex hope to ride to power along with the celebrated man on horseback. Yet democratic-minded activists already have been disappointed by several of Gen. Sisi’s decisions. More setbacks are likely. If secular liberals protest, they are likely to be branded as terrorists. And if political Islamists eventually rise again, secular liberals will find themselves discredited — and with no one to turn to for support. Unfortunately, America cannot avoid blowback. The situation will worsen with every new protestor who is killed or arrested. Warned Robert Kagan: “Despite our repeated claims of neutrality and our calls for reconciliation, in reality we have taken sides in the burgeoning violent confrontation.” If opponents of the military decide to respond in kind — and up the ante with terrorism — Americans might find themselves on the front lines as well. Democracy, stability, and security long have seemed to be mutually exclusive in Egypt. No outcome looks good. And the U.S. has little control over the outcome. However, unnecessarily supporting military rule could generate the same sort of long-term harm as Washington’s support for the 1953 coup against another democratically elected leader, Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. Americans are still paying for that misguided act. The best policy would be to disengage. Washington should avoid being tied to any group or faction, whether the Brotherhood or the military. Let Egyptians decide their own future. The outcome still might be ugly. But at least someone else would bear the blame. | |
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan