(Sin Chew Daily) I feel sorry for Tan Sri Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen as his well-intended suggestion has been badly criticised.

He is an old-fashioned politician and he could not fit into today's political phenomenon. Many party members of the older generation have been addicted to money politics while the young ones learn from the elders and certainly, they will outperform their teachers.

Look at the crowd which demonstrated in front of the Putra World Trade Centre. They protested against the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) arrest of Umno members for fraud in the party election. They also protested against Tengku Ahmad's suggestion.

For them, frauds and corruption for power and money are justified. Right and wrong could be reversed and there is no difference between black and white.

They are young and they are having such thoughts, I believe that they are going to bring a greater national disaster when they grow older.

Isn't Tengku Ahmad's suggestion to abolish Umno's main wings, including Puteri Umno, Putera Umno, Umno Youth and Wanita Umno reasonable?

Many good children have been thrown into a huge dye vat, could they keep being themselves and not being affected?

Do the British Conservative Party and Labour Party have a youth wing? Do the American Republican Party and Democratic Party need a bureau for young women? Can you find a bureau for young men in the Australian Labor Party and Liberal Party?

In these countries, young people may concerned about or participate in the nation's politics. But they could not be made use by politics and at the same time, they are not allowed to use political parties as a platform for promotion.

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China used to have these bureaus to attract young ones as they needed a huge number of enthusiastic members to start a revolution. They even wanted to set up a children bureau if they could, so they could have early brainwashing.

Radical political parties would make use of young people while speculative young people would as well make use of these political parties. Together, they turned the country upside down. I believe everyone would know what are the consequences.

Umno followed the mode of revolutionary parties to set up Umno Youth so that it could mobilise all available manpower to advocate Malay Nationalism and fight against colonialism. And other parties, including MCA, MIC, Pas, Gerakan, DAP and even PKR just followed the suit. These young people are supported by their parties and by calling themselves the racial pioneers, they dared to voice out many of the most radical and extreme remarks.

The revolutionary era is over, do we still need young people to make trouble? Today, the party with the most young members gets the least support from young people as the majority of young people no longer accept such concept.

Schools, instead of political parties are the paradise for children. They should concentrate in studies and when they reach their puberty, just go and date; those who wish to be a big star could take part in singing contests and those who are fetish, just hug their Hello Kitty. (By TAY TIAN YAN/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Daily)

These two PKR men are now missing. They have been missing since the last four days and no one knows where they are. But they are not really missing as such. They are safely in the hands of Umno. And Umno wants them to agree to a deal.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Buy them, or kill them! That is the theme for the Year of the Ox. And that is the theme Umno lives by. And if you live by the sword, so will it be that way you die, by the sword. Make no bones about it. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

I remember the story told to me 20 years ago by an Umno stalwart. A certain one-time Menteri Besar of a certain state was on his deathbed. Friends and relatives read his last rites by his bedside, basically reading the Surah Yassin for he who is about to die.

But he would not die. He lingered on and on, not wanting to die and yet barely alive. His mouth would move when spoon-fed with soup. Yes, he who lived a life of makan suap (corruption) was being makan suap (spoon-fed) the last days of his life here on earth.

It soon became very tiring. Here was a man supposed to die whom they were reading his last rites. But he would not go away. He stayed on, neither alive nor dead. How to make him leave?

They called in a religious man, a man most respected by the Muslim community. The religious man told the family to open the safe and take out some of the millions stashed away in it. This was no time for discussion or debate. They did as they were told.

The religious man took out handfuls of cash from the safe and stuffed them into a pillowcase. The pillowcase, now full and bursting at its seams, was handed to the man who would not die, the man lying on his deathbed the last one week, he who was once the all-powerful and most corrupted Menteri Besar of this extremely rich state, the frail and very sick man who was not alive yet would not die.

The once very powerful and extremely rich man hugged his pillowcase stuffed with money, broke into a smile, gave a deep sigh, and closed his eyes and breathed his last breath. He was now gone from this world and entered the next.

Yes, this one-time Menteri Besar lived for money. He would only die with his money gripped tightly in his arms. He lived by the sword. He died by the sword. Money was his ‘God’. From money he came, to money he returned. Not dust to dust and ashes to ashes, but cash to cash. And his heaven was the printing press where they print money. That is where he resides in his ‘next world’.

Umno is not a political party. No doubt that is what it once was. But, that, it no longer is. Umno is now a trading house. It is a business. It is the new-age East India Company of Malaya or the Noble House of Hong Kong. It is what the old British companies used to do 200 years ago in this region.

The old Colonial masters used to buy and sell power. And to buy and sell power you need to buy and sell people. And people who could not be bought and sold would be incarcerated or killed. That is the Colonial game. That is the way the British played the power game. But the British are no longer around. They are no longer Malaya’s Colonial masters. We have a new Colonial master. And that Colonial master is called Umno.

I too was offered a deal. Work for the incoming regime, those who will be the new Colonial masters in March 2009, and become filthy rich. To resist is futile. Power can’t be resisted. To resist would mean to incur the wrath of the new masters who will be so in March 2009.

The alternative would be imprisonment. The two choices are simple: work for the powers-that-be and become rich or go to jail. I chose jail. So, two weeks later, on 12 September 2008, they came to my house and sent me to the Kamunting Detention Centre.

But I had good lawyers. And my lawyers did something never before done in the almost 50 years history of the Internal Security Act. They managed to convince the court that my detention was illegal and that I should not be in Kamunting but instead should be sent home. And the judge in the Shah Alam High Court agreed. So he sent me home.

The government is now appealing the Shah Alam High Court decision. They want the Federal Court in Putrajaya to declare that the Shah Alam High Court judge erred and that I should not have been released. This is the final stage of my fight. If they win, I get sent back to Kamunting. There is no further recourse. There is no higher court for me to continue my fight. The Federal Court is the last stop. It is the court of the last resort. I either remain free or I get detained indefinitely.

I asked for seven judges -- at the very least, five. The Federal Court has refused my application. My fate now lies in the hands of only three judges. Seven judges would have been safer. Five would not have been too bad. With only three judges my chances are slimmer. And three men are going to decide whether I continue sleeping in my comfortable bedroom the next few years, until the day I die, or I get to spend my last days in a hellhole.

I could have taken the money. I could have enjoyed the remaining years of my life in comfort. Now, I face the risk of spending my final days as the life of a detainee. But that is how Umno works. They try to buy you. And if they can’t buy you, they kill you. And if killing is not an option, they at least incarcerate you. That is the only game they know how to play.

When Pakatan Rakyat formed the Perak and Selangor state governments soon after 8 March 2008, Umno quickly offered PAS a deal. If PAS was prepared to form a coalition with Umno in Perak and Selangor, they agreed to allow PAS to become the Menteri Besar of these two states. As a sweetener, Umno also agreed that the Islamic law of Hudud be implemented in Perak and Selangor. Umno will give PAS its Hudud that it seeks.

It was a sweet deal. Not only will PAS be running Perak and Selangor and will hold the post of the Chief Operation Officers of these two states, but PAS will also realise its dream of seeing Hudud as the law of the land where it had failed in Kelantan 20 years ago and Terengganu ten years ago.

Sweet deal as it may be, PAS said no. Realising its dream and being in charge is one thing, but they also have to consider their loyalty to their partners, PKR and DAP. They will not betray their partners in Pakatan Rakyat for any amount of money. So PAS said no.

Umno then worked on DAP since PAS was no longer a possibility. The offer was RM10 million for each DAP man who was prepared to cross over. The DAP men and women all declined the extremely attractive offer. RM10 million is a nice figure. That kind of money will go a long way. But there is more to life than money. And no DAP man and woman took the offer.

Okay, buying Perak and Selangor State Assemblymen and women from Pakatan Rakyat is not possible. No one is for sale. So, if you can’t buy them, then kill them. And Umno got a certain MIC man who married his boss’s wife after sleeping with her whenever the boss was out of town to do what he is most good at. They wanted PKR men fixed up.

That was easy. He is an expert at fixing up people. He fixed up his boss. He fixed up his boss’s wife who is now his wife. He can fix up PKR men easily enough. He asked to meet two PKR men. He then arranged for his driver to carry a bagful of money to the appointed meeting place with instructions to drop the bag under the table unseen and unnoticed. He did just as he was told.

No sooner had the bagful of money hit the ground when the Anti-Corruption Agency officers rushed in, picked up the bag, and arrested the two PKR men on allegations of corruption. They did not know what hit them. They did not even realise the bagful of money under the table.

These two PKR men are now missing. They have been missing since the last four days and no one knows where they are. But they are not really missing as such. They are safely in the hands of Umno. And Umno wants them to agree to a deal. Accept RM10 million each and cross over to Umno or else go to jail on corruption charges -- the same deal they offered me and which I declined and which resulted in my detention under the Internal Security Act on 12 September 2008.

The day the two PKR men were picked up and kept under ‘protective custody’, one Umno State Assemblyman crossed over to PKR. That spoilt the whole plan. They needed just two PKR State Assemblymen to bring down the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Perak. Now, with their own Umno man crossing over to PKR, two will no longer be possible. They now need three.

They offered the ex-Umno, now-PKR State Assemblyman the post of Menteri Besar. If he crosses back to Umno and Barisan Nasional grabs the state, he will be made the new Menteri Besar. They need him back or else it would be pointless to blackmail the two PKR State Assemblymen now facing the prospects of jail. Even if they took the RM10 million in exchange for jail, Umno would still not be the government in Perak. They are still one State Assemblyman short.

What irony. Even as they kidnap two PKR State Assemblymen and put a sword at their throats, an Umno State Assemblyman crosses over to thwart their plan. They ‘gently persuade’ the ex-Umno man in their efforts to get him to cross back to Umno. “Altantuya was killed and Bala has disappeared,’ they told him. They are ‘worried’ something may also happen to him if he does not cross back to Umno.

Yes, Umno is in the power business. They buy and sell power. They also buy and sell people in their effort to attain or maintain power. But even as they hatch their evil plots, their own people cross over to the other side. And that caught them with their pants down. Those who live by the sword die by the sword. And that is what happened to Umno in Perak.

Meanwhile, as they try their best to get back Perak through foul means, in other places they run the risk of losing power. In Negeri Sembilan, all Pakatan Rakyat needs are three state seats to oust Barisan Nasional from the state. Umno is watching that state closely lest three Barisan Nasional State Assemblymen cross over to Pakatan Rakyat to help them form the new Negeri Sembilan state government. And Negeri Sembilan is Khairy Jamaluddin’s state, the state he hopes he will one day become Menteri Besar of before he journeys to Putrajaya to take the seat as Prime Minister of Malaysia some time after 2020.

But Khairy no longer has time to worry about Negeri Sembilan. Negeri Sembilan is something in the future. Negeri Sembilan can wait. Khairy has more immediate problems to worry about.

Khairy is no longer in the lead for Umno Youth Leader. Khir Toyo is now in the lead. Of course, it has cost Khir Toyo a colossal amount of money. He has thus far spent hundreds of millions to ensure that he is the hot favourite for Umno Youth Leader. But it is money well spent, as far as he is concerned. After all, it is not his money. It is not money he made pulling out teeth as a dentist. It is money he stole all those years he was the Menteri Besar of Selangor.

Word is out that in April 2009, as soon as Abdullah Ahmad Badawi hands the Prime Ministership to Najib Tun Razak, Khairy will be dead and buried. And Khairy too knows this. But what can he do? He is going to die a day earlier to Pak Lah’s death. He will not be attending Pak Lah’s funeral. Pak Lah will be attending his. This, Najib will see to it.

In the recent Umno Supreme Council meeting, an anti-Pak Lah demonstration was organised in front of the Umno headquarters in the PWTC. It was made to appear like it was organised by NGOs. But the hidden hand of Najib was at work.

Najib suspects that Pak Lah might not hand over the chair to him in March 2009 after all. And the message he wants to send Pak Lah is that he must let go in March and not a day beyond that. So the anti-Pak Lah demonstration was organised to drive this point home.

Many of Pak Lah’s right-hand men are now facing corruption charges. According to the Umno Disciplinary Board, there are 900 cases of ‘money politics’ -- meaning corruption. But they are pursuing only a handful. And these ‘handfuls’ are those aligned to Pak Lah.

They want Pak Lah’s men all out of action before March 2009. Then, come March 2009, Pak Lah will be all alone and isolated. Not only his key men, even Khairy Jamaluddin must be brought down. That would be the only way to ensure that Pak Lah will really go in March 2009 as planned. One Umno man detained for ‘corruption’ alleges that they tortured him and forced him to implicate Khairy as the man behind the move to buy votes.

So, people like Norza Zakaria, Ali Rustam, Azeez Rahman, and the man with two Muhammads in his name, all have their hands full, as does Khairy. They are all fighting their own little battles to stay out of jail. They have no time to worry about Pak Lah. Their own survival is at stake. They are now focused on saving their own necks, leaving Pak Lah to sort out his own problems.

Yes, Umno moves with such brutality. Become rich or go to jail. Retire in comfort or behind the high walls of prisons and detention centres. That is the modus operandi for Umno. They take no prisoners. They kill on the battlefield. It worked for the British Colonialists 200 years ago. It still works for Umno today. But those who live by the sword die by the sword. And Umno is going to discover this soon the hard way.

Meanwhile, watch as those who once walked in the corridors of power fall, one by one. There will be many bodies. You will not see any wounded. It is either you are with us or you are dead meat. There is nothing in between. Who are going to become the victors and who will be those vanquished? No one knows at this stage. But Pak Lah might still stay on beyond March 2009. He has no choice. With the stakes too high and with the ‘winner takes all and loser losses all’ game that Umno is playing, there can only be one left standing at the end of the match. - Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — Datuk Ahmad Ismail, the man who put race relations on a knife’s edge with his comments about Chinese in Malaysia in August last year, will remain a free man — for the time being.

The police have wrapped up investigations into a sedition charge against him but thanks to the intervention of senior party leaders, the veteran Penang Umno politician is not likely to see the inside of the courtroom anytime soon.

Umno sources told The Malaysian Insider that several delegations of party officials from Penang made representations to the Umno leadership on behalf of Ahmad over the past week, arguing that he has already paid a severe price for calling Chinese “immigrants’’ and “squatters’’ during a political rally in the run-up to the Permatang Pauh by-election.

Ahmad was suspended from holding any positions in Umno for three years by the party’s supreme council. His supporters also pointed out that charging him in court would merely re-ignite debate on race and religious issues and further complicate relations between component parties in Barisan Nasional.

Party officials were also concerned on the impact action against Ahmad could have on the fluid political situation in Umno.

“There is still a concern that some state assemblymen and MPs may be considering jumping over to the opposition. Ahmad Ismail is a popular figure in Umno. He may be vilified outside the party but among party members, there is a great deal of respect for standing up for Malay rights,” said a party official.

Earlier this week, The Malaysian Insider reported that the police had completed their probe into the Umno warlord and that the Attorney-General’s Chambers was on the cusp of ordering that the politician be charged with sedition.

News of this impending action filtered to the party rank and file in Penang and they made a beeline to Putrajaya to plead and cajole on behalf of Ahmad. - The Malaysian Insider

By Zaid Ibrahim

1. The call by Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen, Chairman of The Disciplinary Tribunal, for UMNO to disband its youth, wanita and puteri wings, as part of the measures to curb corruption, has attracted much flack from the party’s senior leaders including Dato Najib Razak. Instead of brushing aside the suggestion, as is the standard response of the party when confronted with something new, they should reflect and try to understand what Tengku Din was trying to tell them. Tengku Din was exasperated with the extent of the corruption permeating the party at all levels.

He was saying that the Disciplinary Tribunal alone could no longer cope with the practice and culture of corruption within the party. As a loyal party man he was trying to politely tell the party leaders that UMNO could no longer be salvaged under the present structure, and under the present crop of leaders I might add.

2. What makes it so difficult for the Tribunal to effectively carry out its functions is the selective prosecution it must practice in the discharge of its duties. Actions can only be taken if required or useful to certain top leaders. The Tribunal lacks clear mandate from the party management in dealing with money politics, UMNO’s euphemism for corrupt practice. When I was suspended for allegedly being involved in money politics, I knew that Tengku Din, although Chairman, was not involved in making the decision. Someone else in the management wanted me out. So an UMNO member will be subject to investigation and harassment if he does not belong to the right camp. Many others will escape with impunity and they can bribe the delegates as much as they want and not get the attention of the Tribunal. So even Tengku Din now realises the futility of having the Disciplinary Tribunal to deal with corrupt practice. I therefore urge Tengku Din to retire and resign from the Tribunal.

3. UMNO leaders who are critical of Tengku Din should also be mindful that they are not supposed to criticise him or the Tribunal. Look what happened to me for criticising the Tribunal and for not wanting to apologise when asked. I got suspended because they said I violated party ethics. UMNO got ethics? Well that’s the true story. So they same fate will fall on Dato Najib and his friends in the Supreme Council. They too may get suspended if they continue to criticise the Disciplinary tribunal or its Chairman.This is of course wishful thinking, as there are rules in UMNO that apply to some but not to others.

Jika demonstrasi besar membantah dasar pengajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam bahasa Inggeris Mac ini masih gagal menarik perhatian kerajaan, pilihanraya umum akan datang boleh dijadikan penentuan akhirnya, kata seorang tokoh sasterawan.

"Jika masih gagal, ia perlu diterjemahkan dalam pilihanraya, sebagai kuasa yang terakhir.

"Gunalah undi secara bijaksana," kata Sasterawan Negara, Datuk A Samad Said kepada Malaysiakini hari ini.

Beliau diminta mengulas tindakan lanjut yang perlu diambil sekiranya perhimpunan raksasa 100,000 rakyat – ala Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih) – anjuran Gabungan Mansuhkan PPSMI (GMP) masih tidak dihiraukan kerajaan.

GMP yang dipengerusikan bekas ketua pengarah Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Datuk Dr Hassan Ahmad merancang mengadakan perhimpunan itu pada 7 Mac bagi menyerahkan memorandum kepada Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-pertuan Agong bagi memohon campur tangan baginda berhubung isu itu.

Sebuah lagi perkumpulan aktivis bahasa Gabungan Penulis Nasional (Gapena) yang dianggotai 24 persatuan penulis di seluruh negara turut mengancam mengadakan "Perarakan Keranda" – dinamakan Keranda 152 – bagi tujuan yang sama, dijadual pertengahan bulan depan.

Gapena juga tetap dengan pendiriannya mengheret kerajaan ke mahkamah berhubung pelaksanaan dasar itu sejak tujuh tahun lalu yang didakwanya melanggar Perkara 152, Perlembagaan Persekutuan – yang menggariskan bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa kebangsaan.

Berhubung rancangan GMP berhimpun besar-besaran, A Samad berkata tindakan generasi muda daripada pelbagai kumpulan bagi tujuan menyatakan bantahan terhadap dasar itu memang wajar.

"Wajar kerana semua sumber lain telah digunakan, tetapi tidak dihiraukan," katanya, yang lebih mesra dipanggil Pak Samad.

Bekas editor kanan Berita Harian dan pengarang pelbagai genre kreatif itu juga menyangkal tanggapan bahawa tindakan berdemonstrasi seperti GMP atau Gapena sebagai "tidak rasional".

Mengulas sama ada aktivis bahasa dan sastera veteran wajar sama-sama turun padang berdemonstrasi, A Samad berkata:

"Orang tua berjuang daripada sisi yang lain. Tetapi tidak bererti tidak berjuang. Sekarang giliran angkatan muda."

Generasi muda sekarang, tambahnya, daripada pelbagai organisasi dan parti politik termasuk Umno mendukung perjuangan bersama itu.

Selasa lalu, A Samad hadir dalam mesyuarat GMP bagi membincangkan siri bantahan terhadap PPSMI di bangunan Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri (SUK) Selangor.

Turut terlibat dalam perbincangan itu beberapa tokoh sastera dan politik, termasuklah Timbalan Presiden PAS Nasharuddin Mat Isa yang menganggotai jawatankuasa induk GMP.

Ditanya sama ada kemunculannya itu boleh menjejaskan imejnya sebagai tokoh sasterawan yang tidak partisan selama ini, A Samad menjelaskan, kehadiran beliau berdasarkan isu, bukan pihak yang mendukung gerakan tersebut.

"Saya tidak boleh terlepas daripada apa yang bergelora (dasar PPSMI)," jelasnya.

"Orang kiri jemput saya pergi (hadir), orang kanan jemput saya pergi."

Esok, kira-kira 500 pencinta bahasa dijangka memenuhi ruang depan kompleks membeli-belah Sogo di Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman membantah pelaksanaan PPSMI.

Beberapa tokoh utama bahasa seperti penyair Dinsman, bekas profesor bahasa Dr Abdullah Hassan dan penulis Ainon Mohd akan turut serta.

Pak Samad diura-urakan akan turut serta buat pertama kali dalam program sebegitu.

Sewaktu ditanya penyertaannya esok, sasterawan kelahiran Singapura itu bagaimanapun masih mahu berteka-teki.

"Awak tengoklah esok," katanya, sambil ketawa kecil.

A Samad menerima gelaran tertinggi dalam dunia kesusasteraan tanah air pada 1986.

Selain itu, beliau yang terkenal dengan novel Salina – mengisahkah keperitan hidup seorang pelacur di Singapura akibat perang – turut dianugerahkan SEA Write Award daripada kerajaan Thailand. - Malaysiakini

Assalamualaikum,
Henry Gurney telah menyebabkan seorang ahli istana sebak kerana memperkenalkan pembinaan kampung baru Cina. Dengan mengambil tanah negara. Sebenarnya isu tersebut adalah satu daripada ujian yang sedang dilalui oleh Menteri Besar Perak ini untuk mematangkan beliau sebagai seorang statesman.

Kita dapat baca duduknya beliau dikerusi menteri Besar tersebut bukanlah kerana kekuatan PAS, tetapi oleh faktor lain. Hakikatnya Allah menghendaki beliau menduduki kerusi tersebut.


Menganugerahkan tanah kepada penduduk kampung baru Cina di negeri Perak telah ditentang oleh pelbgai pihak, kononya membelakang Kanun Tanah Negara. Tetapi beliau terus dengan keputusannya. Menganugerahkan title tanah 999 tahun kelihatan seolah tangan beliau dipulas oleh DAP, tetapi beliau teruskan keputusannya. Kerana beliau ingin memberikan status kekal kepada penerima.


Sara bara dan duka nestapa serta susah payah masyarakat Cina yang dibura dan diherdik British di zaman darurat tidak banyak didokumentasikan dalam penulisan berbahasa Melayu. Seolah orang Melayu sengaja tidak peka dengan nestapa yang telah menimpa masyarakat tersebut. Nizar membela keperitan mereka setelah lebih 60 tahun mereka diazab dan disisih.

Mengapa perlu mereka dibela? sebab mereka adalah warganegara Malaysia. Pemerintahan sebelum ini tidak memberi peruah langsung kepada mereka. Dan kepentingan Orang Melayu langsung tidak terjejas dengan pembelaan ini.


Ada pihak yang menggunakan saluran tertentu untuk membantutkan usaha Nizar menukarkan Pengarah Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Perak Dato' Haji Jamry Sury. Beliau telah akur, dan dengan penuh santun dan rendah diri merombak semula arahan terdahulu. Peristiwa ini sahaja sebenarnya telah cukup untuk menurunkan beliau dari kerusi menteri besar, walaupun dari segi undang undang arahan awal beliau adalah betul.


Tetapi beliau terus bertahan.


Masuknya Dato' Nasarudin ADUN Bota ke PKR telah membenihkan spekulasi baru. Sama seperti kongelomerat RENONG memakan syarikat ibunya dalam satu maneuver bisnis yang dikenali sebagai reverse takeover, kelicik politik yang ini juga cuba dikaitkan dengan reverse takeover kerusi Menteri Besar Perak.


Saya baca ini tidak akan berlaku. Pertama maneuver ini bukan dalam bisnis. Kedua implikasi politik terlalu besar dan tidak menentu sekiranya ia dilakukan, sedangkan PR, terutama PKR dan PAS sedang menonggang gelombang populariti yang tinggi sekarang. Mengapa perlu rosakkannya?

Maneuver RENONG tidak akan berlaku di sini.


Cuma Nizar masih belum lincah berpolitik high profil. Belum perlu lagi dimasyhurkan sekian ramainya ADUN/MP BN yang akan lompat ke PR.


Nizar perlu belajar hal timing. - Hamirdin

(The Malaysian Insider) It is confirmed. The controversial KLIA East project is off, stillborn at the drawing board because it had become too costly politically for the administration.

But it was not all bad news for Air Asia, the region’s largest budget carrier and the promoter of the idea to build the RM1.6 billion airport in Labu. The carrier managed to extract some concessions from the government, namely that Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) build a new terminal by 2011 and consult Air Asia on the design and other issues pertaining to the operations of the facility.

Several government officials told The Malaysian Insider that MAHB was told to lower charges for the budget carrier, complete the construction on time and make the new terminal an energy efficient complex.

Today’s meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and attended by Air Asia’s Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, officials from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning Unit and MAHB.

When contacted, Fernandes said: “It was a positive meeting and we got a good hearing from everyone.’’ He declined to go into the specifics of the meeting.

Najib called for today’s meeting as a result of the firestorm of criticisms which followed an announcement last month that the government had approved a plan by Air Asia to build a new LCCT in Labu. Critics assailed the government saying that this decision would hurt KLIA’s ambitions of becoming a regional hub. They also argued that if a new facility had to be built, it should be built within KLIA.

Air Asia countered by saying that MAHB was unable to build a new LCCT by 2011 to cater for its growth. It pointed out that MAHB was only able to build a new LCCT by 2014.

The government fearing a political backlash and unwilling to test its popularity in this more challenging political climate began sending out feelers a couple of weeks ago that it was looking for a compromise solution.

It received a helping hand from Sime Darby Berhad, the government-linked company which informed the government that it was only willing to sell a tract of land in Labu to Air Asia and was not providing any financing for the project.

This move threw into doubt whether Air Asia could raise the financing for the RM1.6 billion terminal and the RM700 million connectivity infrastructure.

Government officials, who were briefed about today’s meeting, said that MAHB and Air Asia will have to come back in two weeks with firm plans for the new LCCT.

“The DPM played the role of an honest broker. He did not take sides but wanted to make sure that national interest was served. This could only happen if the new LCCT was built in KLIA but Air Asia’s legitimate interests and concerns were addressed,” a government official told The Malaysian Insider.

It may have been a happy ending for all parties but this episode certainly raised some serious questions over decision-making in the government.

And begs the question on why MAHB and Air Asia could not be forced to the negotiating table earlier.

By Angus Grigg (Australian Financial Review)

SYDNEY, Jan 30 — Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud drives a cream Rolls-Royce, wears a gem the size of a walnut on his ring finger and is said to have once paid US$2 million (RM7 million) for a piano owned by Liberace.

The Chief Minister of Sarawak, like the late American entertainer, is certainly flamboyant and he's been well rewarded for his 28-year rule of the resource-rich province. But his time at the top is coming to an end.

Having celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary last week, the man known as the "White Haired Raja" has begun talking about succession. The likely departure of the 72-year-old is sure to shake up local politics in Sarawak, but it could also have a profound impact at the national level.

The theory is that if Taib were to step down, fresh elections could be required in the state, as any successor would lack the influence to hold the local legislature together. This is an opportunity for national Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his three-party coalition, which has been working hard for some time to woo voters outside Peninsular Malaysia.

If Anwar's PKR and its allies were to control the Sarawak state assembly, analysts believe it would be only a matter of time before MPs from Sarawak tapped the public mood and crossed the floor in Kuala Lumpur. This would hand the government to Anwar and bring about the biggest political change in Malaysia since independence in 1957.

Such a scenario is some way off, but it's the one confronting prime minister-in-waiting Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

That's why his government pulled out all stops to win a by-election in the state of Terengganu on Jan 17. It failed, handing another seat to the opposition, but the contest in the country's north-east is a case study of what to expect when the battle for Sarawak begins.

Even by Malaysia's lofty standards of political patronage, the Kuala Terengganu by-election was expensive. Najib and his ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, desperate to arrest its electoral fortunes, tried to spend its way to victory. The numbers are both appalling and beguiling.

All told, Najib, who is expected to take over from Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March, handed out A$4.4 billion (RM10.5 billion) to voters. That works out at nearly A$55,000 for each voter in the seaside electorate. The big-ticket items were the establishment of a A$4.2 billion trust to manage the state's oil revenue and the well-timed handover of A$169 million in petroleum royalties.

But this was not the headline act. In a ceremony the local press described as "controversial", Najib Razak handed out A$25 million in government contracts to 600 local firms at a party rally. Even more cynically, the government gave A$21 million to Chinese schools in the district, just as it looked like the parents of these students would determine the election.

In the end, they didn't and the government lost because Malay voters deserted it, while the ever-cautious Chinese either sat out the election or voted for the opposition. And while a 2.5 per cent swing against the government is hardly a landslide, the by-election loss would be very worrying for Najib given the amount of money thrown at the problem.

"The government's traditional strategy of just buying votes failed," said political analyst Wong Chin Huat, who lecturers at Monash University's campus in Kuala Lumpur. "The win by the opposition showed the mood for change still exists in Malaysia."

This mood for change is also breaking down traditional rivalries in a country long divided by race and religion. The opposition coalition won in Terengganu despite fielding a candidate from the deeply conservative Pas. Not only did Pas gain more secular Malay voters, thanks to a moderating of its language, but it also did not scare off the Chinese.

This was despite Najib and the government doing their best to stoke racial and religious tension.

The victory is also a direct result of Anwar being able to hold together a coalition containing Pas, the Chinese moderates of the DAP and his own multiracial PKR. It is, to say the least, a diverse coalition, united in many ways only by its hatred of a government that has ruled Malaysia since independence.

Finding common ground will be the challenge if the opposition ever comes to power, but for now it's still focused on how to get there. Sarawak holds the key, and while patronage failed the government in Terengganu, it has long held sway in Borneo. — Australian Financial Review

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — In the weeks following Pas's win in the Kuala Terengganu by-elections, there has hardly been a whisper about hudud or the supposed split among Indians within Pakatan Rakyat.

It appears that the gamble taken by Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to bite his tongue and sidestep those issues during the campaign has paid off.

The PKR de facto leader did not have to isolate any group of supporters by making a definite stand despite calls for him to do so.

In the end, the euphoria of victory has allowed the last embers of dissent on these matters to die out.

This has perplexed Barisan Nasional leaders, who believed that the "infighting" would have caused votes to leak from the opposition.

The governing coalition ended up losing the seat by a majority four times that which it had itself won by in the March 2008 general election.

Analysts believe that PR made gains by allowing each party the freedom to speak on issues.

"By allowing DAP and Pas to continue to beat their drums on hudud, they are given a cause to champion to their political constituents," says political consultant Khoo Kay Peng.

By conventional wisdom, such issues, when left to fester, can result in deep cracks in a coalition.

But the only conventional wisdom that Malaysian politics has had has been from BN.

PR appears to have a different idea about dealing with consensus building within a coalition.

When BN's Ketuanan Melayu or Malay supremacy achilles' heel starts to blight it, its supreme council, the highest decision-making body in the coalition, stops the rot by virtually issuing an edict on such matters.

When then Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail referred to Chinese Malaysians as "immigrants," the fierce spat between component leaders and Umno ultras saw grassroots members from both Umno and Gerakan asking for Gerakan to leave BN.

The supreme council had to step in with the final word on the matter and allowed Umno to suspend Ahmad for three years.

But while PR has an informal leadership council made up of Anwar, Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, the body has existed in most part only to sign off on agreements designed to pledge allegiance to the coalition or on principles such as Malay rights.

Under the proposed PR charter, a presidential council made up of the top leadership of each party will be established as its highest decision-making body.

But leaders from the tripartite coalition told The Malaysian Insider that it will not operate in the same way as BN's supreme council as PR prefers to recognise different ideological stands and allow an open debate on issues to reach a consensus before implementing any policy.

"The idea to establish it is there but only to deal with major issues and not on ideals and political differences," said DAP Socialist Youth chief Anthony Loke, who is a member of the coalition's joint secretariat.

Anwar, when pressed on hudud during the Kuala Terengganu campaign trail, had maintained this line by saying: "We abide by our Constitution, but we should allow Muslims to articulate their views. I have no objections discussing it within PR."

Meanwhile, several Pas and DAP leaders such as the former's spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and the latter's chairman Karpal Singh had voiced their opinions on the matter loudly, leading to dissent within PR supporters.

But the opposition does not see it necessary to muzzle such public disagreements.

"It takes time to reach a consensus, so we should be prepared to engage in discussion," said Khalid Samad, Pas's Shah Alam MP.

Yusmadi Yusoff, MP for Balik Pulau, added that for PKR, it was interested in real harmony not an artificial one imposed by BN.

"BN is about homogenising any dialogue and creating taboos. But in the PR setup, when Karpal or Hadi make a stand, it is based on principles and democratic convictions," he said.

In short, while both Khalid and Yusmadi agree that a BN supreme council-based mechanism would be politically expedient, it would not achieve "real reform." - The Malaysian Insider

"Sudah berpuluh tahun rakyat kena buli dengan Umno. Hampir separuh abad Umno menjadi pembuli. Umno buli generasi pasca merdeka. Tanpa ada rasa belas kasihan Umno menjadi ketua buli dalam Barisan Nasional. Melayu kena buli dengan Umno, cina kena buli dengan MCA dan India kena buli dengan MIC. Paling lawak, Umno jugak sekali-sekala suka buli MCA dan MIC.

Ketika Umno sedang seronok buli rakyat yang baru terlepas dari cengkaman penjajah dan sangat mengharapkan sesuap nasi, Umno begitu seronok menakut-nakutkan anak-anak yang ketika itu masih kecil bertelanjang.

Generasi ketika itu sangat takut kepada Umno. Apa yang Umno buat betul belaka. Putih kata Umno, putihlah pada rakyat. Sesiapa yang berani membangkang ketika itu, pasti akan mendapat azab dari Umno. Mereka akan di 'raging' secukup-cukupnya oleh Umno.

Jika yang menentang pegawai kerajaan, bersiap-siaplah mereka untuk di poskan ke kawasan pendalaman. Mereka akan dihukum berkerja di wilayah persekutuan jin bertendang.

Sebaliknya jika mereka yang membangkang itu berkerja sendiri, jangan haraplah nak merasa baja subsidi, tanah, jalan raya, atau apa-apa kemudahan prasarana dari kerajaan. Mereka akan dibuli oleh tali barut Umno yang bergelar YB, Tok Sidang, Tok Penghulu, atau Pengerusi JKKK. Dan jika yang membangkang itu pelajar, jangan mimpi nak dapat biasiswa atau apa-apa bantuan. Silap-silap kena humban di dalam ISA.

Itu dulu. Ketika Umno sihat dan muda. Kini usia Umno lebih 62 tahun. Umno sudah tua. Oleh kerana banyak masa mudanya digunakan untuk buat jahat, Umno cepat kena penyakit tua. penyakit nyanyuk dan mudah lupa. Barangkali berkat doa orang yang dizalimi membuatkan Umno terlalu mudah dihinggapi pelbagai penyakit tua yang kronik.

Kini tiba giliran Umno kena buli. Dalam keadaan sakit tua Umno telah dibuli oleh generasi muda. Pengundi muda inilah yang telah buli Umno melalui saluran peti undi pilihanraya. Generasi muda yang lahir di era 70-an ini telah dibesarkan dihadapan Umno sendiri. Generasi ini telah lama meluat melihat gelagat dan telatah Umno ketika membuli ibu bapa mereka.

Generasi muda ini telah menjumpai formula kelemahan Umno. Selaku orang tua, Umno mudah dikalahkan jika pertandingan pilihanraya berlaku dengan satu lawan satu. Selama ini Umno kuat sebab tiada pakatan di kalangan pembangkang. Akhirnya Umno mudahmendominasi pertandingan. Lalu setiap pilihanraya Umno dan BN akan buli parti-parti pembangkang secukup-cukupnya.

Dan sekali lagi, itu dulu. Ketika Umno masih boleh membuli. Ketika SPR, Polis, media, dan pegawai-pegawai kerajaan cari makan dengan Umno. Ketika Umno boleh memperbodoh-bodohkan rakyat.

Kini giliran Umno kena buli. Rakyat telah bangkit untuk buli Umno dan BN. Dan rakyat semakin bersedia untuk mencari pembuli-pembuli datuk nenek mereka. Selepas ini tiada siapa yang terlepas. Baik kerajaan atau pembangkang tetap tidak terlepas jika masih membudayakan perangai pembuli seperti Umno.

Seronok tengok Umno gelabah beruk kena buli dengan generasi muda. Dan yang lawaknya, dalam diam sekali sekala dilihat MCA dan MIC juga ambil kesempatan untuk turut buli Umno. Maklumlah mereka juga pun dah lama bengang dengan Umno.

Bagi semua ahli politik ingatlah, sejarah tidak pernah berulang, yang berulang hanyalah kesilapan manusia itu sendiri! - Tranungkite

"Adegan ikrar dan Sumpah taat setia kini menjadi peluru getah Umno untuk menunjukkan kekuatannya. Malangnya ia tidak sedikit pun mampu mencalarkan keutuhan Pakatan. Bermula dengan kekalahan teruk dalam Piliharaya ke-12 Mac tahun lalu. Semua pemimpin ahli dan pimpinan BN tuduh menuduh. Gerakan, MCA, MIC bergaduh besar dengan Umno hingga Hishamuddin hampir-hampir mencabut kerisnya lagi.

Kepercayaan pada Abdullah merosot teruk hingga terpaksa mengumpulkan semua pemimpin dan wakil rakyat Umno-BN di PWTC untuk menyatakan ikrar taat setia pada Dollah Badawi.

Kemudian dengan paksa rela Abdullah mengumumkan persaraan pada bulan Mac akan datang iaitu genap setahun beliau menerima Kekalahan paling teruk dalam sejarah Politik beliau memimpin Umno-BN.

Seterus kecoh pula isu Ahli PArlimen Sabah Sarawak nak masuk Pakatan. Mereka dipanggil membuat kenyataan Ikrar dan Sumpah taat setia pada BN, Malangnya SAPP tekad keluar BN membawa dua orang ahli Parlimen untuk menjadi wakil rakyat bebas.

Saat Pilihanraya Kecil Permatang Pauh tiba, Pemuda BN pula mengigau ditengah hari. Semua ahli Parlimennya dipanggil lagi untuk membuat sumpah taat setia sebelum turun bertarung menentang Anwar dan bala tentera Pakatan.

Setelah mengalami Kalah teruk di Permatang Pauh, Calon BN yang kalah, Ariff Shah dikatakan ingin beralih kepada Pakatan. Namun dengan pantas Umno-BN mengirimkan wakil memujuknya untuk terus bersama Umno. Maka sekali lagi beliau terpaksa angkat Sumpah taat setia.

Kemudian kecoh pula Ketua UMNO Bahagian Petaling Jaya Utara Selatan Kapten (B) Datuk Zahar Hashim yang menyertai Pas-Pakatan bersama ahli-ahli hingga sanggup menukarkan Pejabat Umno Bahagian itu menjadi Pusat Khidmat Wakil Rakyat Pas.

Terkejut dengan tindakan itu, Wakil Rakyat dan Pimpinan Umno Selangor bermuzakarah.Sumpah taat setia dan ikrar untuk terus bersama Umno-BN berkumandang lagi di Selangor.

Kemudian sewaktu Pilihanraya Kecil Kuala Terengganu, senyap-senyap Umno-BN merayu agar pimpinan dan ahli Umno-BN berikrar untuk memenangkan Calon BN yang akhirnya terpaksa berputih mata kerana terlepas jawatan Timbalan Menteri, senator dan tak layak jadi Ahli Parlimen.

Dan terkini Kes Adun Bota, Nasruddin yang mengumumkan perceraian beliau dengan Umno dan pernikahan beliau dengan Keadilan. Ia umpama halilintar yang membelah keangkuhan Umno Perak kerana sebelum itu Ahli Parlimen Umno Perak, Zahid Hamidi mengarahkan agar Jentera Kerajaan Persekutuan untuk tidak bekerjasama dengan Kerajaan Negeri.

Selain itu isu perkauman dan juga hak strata menjadi isu Umno Perak hingga masyarakat berpecah belah khususnya kalangan kaum Melayu dan Cina.

Maka dengan tindakan Nasruddin itu, memeprjelaskan lagi kelemahan dalaman Umno Perak yang akhirnya terpaksa dipanggil Najib ke Kuala Lumpur untuk melafazkan Ikrar dan sumpah taat setia yang sudah lali diucapkan.

Maka jadilah Umno-BN ini parti sesumpah yang mana sumpahan itu akhirnya bakal memakan diri mereka dan Umno hanya tinggal kenangan sahaja tak lama lagi. - Tranungkite

Pada 27 Jan 2009, TV3 menyiarkan berita tentang UMNO Baling menyerahkan peruntukan RM 50 ribu untuk perlaksanaan program agama di seluruh masjid dalam Parlimen Baling. Turut hadir dalam majlis tersebut ialah Ketua Putera UMNO Malaysia, Dato' Abd.Azeez Abd.Rahim dan Dr.Mashitah Ibrahim.

Dalam wawancara, Abd.Azeez memberitahu kepada media bahawa selama ini UMNO yang membayar segala bil elektrik dan air untuk seluruh mesjid dalam daerah Baling ini. Nampak macam 'bagus' puak-puak UMNO ni kerana beri duit untuk program mengimarahkan masjid. Bayarkan bil. Cuma ada satu persoalan yang bermain dalam fikiran ini, sejak bila pulak UMNO ni dah insaf dan nak balik pada agama ???

Saya nasihatkan kepada seluruh umat Islam di Baling agar berhati-hati dengan 'permainan' golongan MUNAFIQ ini. Bagi saya, apa yang dilakukan ini adalah bertujuan untuk meraih simpati dan sokongan dari penduduk Baling yang telah menolak mereka dalam Piliharaya Umum yang lalu. Jangan kita gelap mata dan mudah hilang pendirian bila mendengar pemberian peruntukan puluhan ribu ringgit untuk program masjid seperti yang berlaku di Baling ini.

Jangan kita lupa. Allah SWT telah menceritakan di dalam Al-Qur'an bagaimana perangai golongan MUNAFIQ di Madinah yang bertindak membina sebuah masjid (Masjid Dhirar) dengan tujuan untuk menghalang kerja dakwah Rasulullah serta mahu memecahbelahkan umat Islam pada ketika itu. Golongan munafiq Madinah berharap dengan adanya Masjid Dhirar yang cantik ini, maka umat Islam akan berpecah kepada dua golongan. Satu golongan bersembahyang di Masjid Nabi dan satu golongan lagi bersembahyang di masjid mereka. Kerja jahat ini dilaksanakan apabila mereka melihat semakin ramai masyarakat Islam Madinah menyokong dan bersama perjuangan Rasulullah SAW.

Apa bezanya kerja yang dilakukan oleh puak-puak munafiq UMNO ni dengan kerja yang dilakukan oleh golongan munafiq Madinah itu. Tak ada bezanya. Bezanya hanya dari sudut perlaksanaan tetapi matlamat mereka adalah sama sahaja, yaitu mahu menghalang orang ramai daripada menyokong PAS. Sebab UMNO tahu bahawa PAS memang ikhlas untuk melaksanakan pemerintahan Islam. Cumanya mereka tak cakap terang-terang.

Kita melihat senario 'ketakutan UMNO hilang kuasa' ini semakin ketara sejak kemenangan PAS di Kuala Terengganu pada 17 Januari lalu. Ditambah lagi dengan pengisytiharan ADUN Bota, Dato' Nasarudin Hashim yang keluar dari UMNO dan menyertai Pakatan Rakyat.

Inilah balasan terhadap UMNO yang mendustakan ayat-ayat Allah. Mereka hanya beriman dengan sebahagian daripada Al-Quran dan mengingkari sebahagian yang lain. Yang mana ada kepentingan untuk mereka, mereka ikut seperti zakat. Sebab zakat menghasilkan duit.

Jangan kita percaya dengan cakap-cakap golongan ulama' UMNO yang ada hari ini. Mereka ini digelar oleh Allah sebagai Ulama' Jahat. Golongan inilah yang menjadi punca ramai umat Islam dalam negara berada dalam kesesatan yang tidak disedari. Golongan ulama' sebeginilah yang sengaja menyembunyikan ilmu dan kebenaran yang mereka ketahui demi menjaga kepentingan peribadi.

Allah SWT melaknat golongan ulama' pengampu ini sebagaimana yang disebut dalam Al-Qur'an. Sila rujuk pada Surah Al-Baqarah (2) : ayat 159.

Saya menyeru kepada seluruh umat Islam di Malaysia dan khususnya di Baling agar jangan sekali-kali terpedaya dengan segala 'permainan' UMNO ini. Mereka sanggup berbuat apa sahaja demi mencapai 'matlamat jahat' yang tersembunyi. Beringatlah bahawa golongan munafiq ini cukup pandai berbicara sehingga menarik perhatian orang yang mendengarnya. Bak kata orang 'Lembut gusi dari lidah'.

Sekian, Jazakallah.

Jom Sertai PAS. - Monazmuslim

SEORANG ahli UMNO membuat laporan polis mengatakan bahawa beliau dikasari semasa dalam tahanan oleh pegawai Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) negeri Pahang pada 23 Januari lalu.

Halimi Kamarulzamman, 46, mendakwa kejadian tersebut berlaku di dalam lokap tahanan Tingkat 10, Wisma Persekutuan di pejabat SPRM Kuantan, Pahang.

Dalam laporan polisnya, Hamidi berkata beliau telah menyerah diri pada pagi 23 Januari berhubung siasatan rasuah melibatkan pemilihan UMNO di negeri tersebut.

Menurut laporan polis yang tersebar melalui email itu, Halimi, seorang kontraktor, mendakwa beliau dipukul oleh tiga pegawai SPRM semasa proses soal-siasat.

Selain dipukul, mangsa juga mendakwa dibogelkan dan di minta berguling-guling di atas lantai.

"Bakul sampah yang kotor telah diletakkan di atas kepala saya, dan saya dipaksa untuk menyanyikan lagu Negaraku berkali-kali, lagu UMNO berkali-kali dan disuruh menyebut Rukun Negara berulang kali. Semasa saya dipaksa berbuat demikian bakul sampah di atas kepala saya diketuk berkali-kali," katanya dalam laporan polis yang dibuat pada 28 Januari.

Menurut Halimi, pada 24 Januari, sewaktu di bawa untuk tahanan reman, beliau sudah memaklumkan kepada Majistret di Ibu Pejabat Polis Kuantan dan dinasihatkan untuk membuat aduan kepada Biro Pengaduan Awam selepas dibebaskan.

Katanya lagi, beliau dipaksa untuk mengaku bahawa seorang pemimpin UMNO, Datuk Norza Zakaria terlibat dengan politik wang.

Jelasnya lagi, biarpun didera dan disiksa, beliau tetap memberitahu perkara yang sebenar dan menafikan pembabitan Datuk Norza Zakaria dengan politik wang.

"Sepanjang masa saya dipukul dan didera, mereka telah memadamkan kamera CCTV yang berada di dalam bilik tahanan itu dengan menggunakan plaster," kata beliau.

Di akhir laporan polisnya, Halimi mendakwa, jenayah yang dilakukan oleh pegawai SPRM tersebut kepada beliau adalah mirip peristiwa yang sering berlaku di Abu Gharib (penjara di Iraq).

"Saya amat terkejut dan takut bahawa perkara ini juga berlaku di bawah SPRM yang baru ditubuhkan ini," katanya.

Parlimen akhir Disember lalu memberikan kuasa yang lebih besar kepada SPRM untuk membenteras rasuah di negara ini. Dulunya SPRM di kenali sebagai Badan Pencegah Rasuah (BPR). - KLPos

Umno needs a better doctor than all those quacks. It is dying, not just tired. And unless they treat it with the right medication Umno is going to soon be buried like how I buried my father and Mr. Tate.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Muslim NGO echoes police warning for Kugan’s funeral

Pewaris, a non-governmental Muslim advocacy group, today appealed to MIC president Datuk Seri Samy Vellu to urge the Indian community not to get involved in any protest demonstrations during tomorrow's (yesterday’s) funeral procession for A Kugan, a suspect in a car theft case who died while in police custody.

Pewaris deputy chairman II, Rahimuddin Md Harun, told a press conference here that any protest during the procession was inadvisable as it might offend the sensitivities of others.

Yesterday, Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar issued a warning that police would take stern action if the procession was used to stage illegal protest demonstrations.

Kugan's remains will be brought from the University Malaya Medical Centre near here to the Batu 14 Puchong crematorium for final rites before being cremated. Kugan, 22, was arrested on Jan 15 on suspicion of being involved in the theft of luxury cars. He died on Jan 20 while detained at the Taipan police station in Subang Jaya. The case has been classified as murder. — Bernama 27 Jan 2009

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Malaysians want harmony

Malaysians still appreciate peace and harmony and the MCA will play its role to strengthen unity among the various races, said party president Ong Tee Keat. He said the racial composition of guests at the MCA Chinese New Year open house celebrations on Monday was encouraging.

“The joyful celebration at this year's open house shows that the rakyat still appreciates peace and harmony between the races, religions and cultures of this country. As a Barisan Nasional component party, MCA will continue its efforts to further strengthen this unity. Even in other celebrations such as Christmas, we celebrate it Malaysian style,” he said at the open house at Wisma MCA here.

Observing his first Chinese New Year as MCA president, Mr Ong said he was confident that the positive and hardworking attitude of Malaysians' would help the country pull through global financial crisis.

Mr Ong said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sent his wishes but could not attend the open house celebration at the last minute as he was unwell. 'I was informed by the Prime Minister's office this morning (Monday morning) that he is not well. I hope he gets well soon,' he added.

Meanwhile, party vice-president Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said he was happy to see people from all walks of life attend the open house. “I hope this merry occasion will continue and that the spirit of unity can be strengthened. What is important is that we all must work together. Let's lift our spirits in the Year of the Ox and may we emulate the strength of the ox to work hard in facing the challenges,” he added.

Former MCA president Ong Ka Ting, who was also present, said it was important to stand united during this challenging period. “I hope the Government will make more strategic policies and that the rakyat will be more prudent and continue to work hard as many things still need to be done,” he added.

MIC president S. Samy Vellu said unity among races was still strong and should always be cherished. “Even overseas, Malaysians, regardless of race are proud to say they are from Malaysia. This unity is in our hearts and cannot be changed,” he said when met at the Gerakan open house at Wisma PGRM.

Gerakan president Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the auspicious occasion was an opportunity to learn from the spirit of the ox which represents perseverance, dedication and loyalty. -- THE STAR/ANN 28 Jan 2009

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Worse situation if change is delayed: Muhyiddin

The Barisan Nasional (BN) should take drastic action to arrest the decline in support. And, the ruling coalition of 13 political parties should do this fast, Umno Deputy President aspirant Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Saturday.

"We are not concerted in our efforts. Because we are late in instituting changes, many think that Umno will not change. If we take too long a time to change, the people will not wait for us. The pre-March 2008 (the last general election where the BN lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament) situation still has not changed. We must be more effective and do extraordinary things in extraordinary times," he said at the prize-giving ceremony of the Tan Sri Muhyiddin charity golf tournament at the MINES Golf and Beach Resort, here.

Muhyiddin, who is also International Trade and Industry Minister, said it was not only Umno - the backbone of the BN - that needed to change, but also all other component parties.

"The longer we wait to initiate changes, the longer we change, the situation gets worse. The people are not going to wait for us. We also have to look at the BN component parties, be it MCA, Gerakan, MIC or other component parties. We need drastic changes and Umno must take the lead in this. We are fearful of the situation. There are many programmes that must be implemented and grassroots leaders must work with the leaders at the top to institute these changes," he said.

On the economy, the Minister said Malaysia was far better in facing the latest global economic crisis than many other nations. Muhyiddin, who accompanied Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his just-concluded visit to Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates said although the nation was not in economic recession, the global economic situation was not getting any better.

"There are some sub-sectors which have already reported a downturn in exports. Electronics and electrical industries have already been hit. The first economic stimulus package is just a start. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also Finance Minister, has announced that there is a possibility of a second stimulus package. Malaysians must remain resilient. Although we are not in recession, we must take steps to cushion the impact of the crisis," he added.

Meanwhile, the charity golf tournament Saturday netted RM20,000, which was handed over to the Gaza Humanitarian Fund run by Berita Harian. – Bernama 28 Jan 2009

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How many of you detected the ‘hidden messages’ and the contradictions in the message by the Malays compared to the non-Malays? And I must add that as much as I do not like to use the terms ‘Malays’ and ‘non-Malays’, I have no choice because this is how the mainstream media and the politicians always talk. So I have to use the ‘normal’ vocabulary or else many may not understand what I am saying.

How would the citizens of America be called? Would the ‘original’ inhabitants of the land be called ‘Indians’, or ‘Red Indians’, and the immigrant British, Italians, Germans, Jews (from Russia, Germany, Italy, France, the Middle East, etc.), Arabs, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysians, Indonesians, Filipinos, and what have you, be called ‘non-Indians’ or ‘non-Red Indians’?

I am just using the ‘agreed’ standards adopted by Malaysia. The Malay, the ‘Lord of the Land’, is called Bumiputera, or son-of-the soil, and all those who came slightly later are called non-Bumiputera.

Okay, I know this opens up an entirely new debate. What about Tian Chua, some may ask, whose family came to this country 500 years ago, and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whose father was born in India? Mahathir is Bumiputera and Tian Chua is non-Bumiputera. If ‘he who came first to Malaya’ is the yardstick, then Tian Chua would be Bumiputera and Mahathir would be non-Bumiputera, many will argue.

Unfortunately, it does not work that way at all. Even if Mahathir himself were born in India and even though Tian Chua is 20th generation Melaka Malaysian, Mahathir would still be Bumiputera and Tian Chua would be non-Bumiputera. And that is why I, who was born in England, am also Bumiputera, while many of you whose grandfathers and/or grandmothers were born in this country are non-Bumiputera.

Now, before you scream ‘not fair’, remember, life is never fair. So quit grumbling like a good non-Bumiputera. You are the ‘pendatang’ whether you like it or not.

Okay, let us look at what Pewaris said: any protest during the procession was inadvisable as it might offend the sensitivities of others. He meant, of course, the sensitivities of the Malays when he said ‘others’. ‘Others’ here means those who are not Indian. He knows the Chinese will not be sensitive about the matter so he did not think that ‘others’ meant Chinese as well.

Saying that Malaysia’s race relations has improved is not enough, especially when it is Barisan Nasional politicians who are talking. This is mere rhetoric and even those making the statements know this is true. We need to do more than just talk. We need to act as well.

How can we explain why an estimated 90% of those who die in custody are Indians when Indians are not 90% of those behind bars? I have been behind bars many times myself and I can tell you that those who share the prisons or detention centres with me are not 90% Indians. In fact, 90% of the ISA detainees are Malays while the majority of those under EO are Chinese (with quite a number of Indians as well of course). In the lockups, more than half are Malays. In some lockups, depending on where it is, it is an almost all-Malay population.

This means the high number of Indians killed behind bars does not reflect the proper ‘racial quota’. Is it any wonder that the Indians are upset? And if the Indians demonstrate their unhappiness, who are those ‘others’ who are going to become ‘sensitive’ about it? Certainly not the Indians, and the Chinese could not care a damn.

The Malays and Barisan Nasional politicians must guard what they say. What comes out of their mouths reflect what’s in their minds. And what’s in their minds is that Malay ‘sensitivities’ come first and the sensitivities of all others are not important. How can we shout about how much improved Malaysia’s race relations are when what you say does not give this impression?

Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN) once threw a dinner party back in 1999 (before it became PKR) and the food had beef in everything, even in the vegetables. I asked the organiser why he did not provide for a vegetarian alternative for the Hindus and vegetarians. Even the vegetables were ‘not halal’ to Hindus and vegetarians.

The reply the organiser gave me was that Malaysia is a Muslim country so they have prepared a ‘halal’ menu according to the Muslim tradition. The non-Muslims will have to learn to live with this, the organiser added. They can always not touch the food, the organiser said.

Why would anyone want to come to a dinner party and not eat the food? Would they rather not come? The late MGG Pillai pointed this out to me and said that keADILan should be more sensitive to the feelings of those who are Hindus or vegetarians. At least one vegetarian table should have been prepared, he said.

I apologised to Mr Pillai and promised to take him to dinner later to make up for it. “Oh, it’s not about me,” he replied. “I am just pointing it out to you.” And he went and whacked the chicken and fish. Mr Pillai was not grumbling because he could not eat what had been prepared. He was more concerned about the party’s image and what people might say about a ‘multi-racial’ party that caters only to the Muslim diet and tells those guests who can’t eat the food to “jangan makanlah kalau tak boleh makan.”

Malays are always concerned about their ‘sensitivities’. But when others also get ‘sensitive’, the Malays get upset and get the impression that the non-Malays are becoming too much and too demanding. This is a Malay country. Why are the non-Malays complaining so much? If they don’t like it then why not they go back to India or China or wherever they came from?

But that’s just the point. They came from Malaysia, just like everyone else. They can’t go back to China or India. They did not come from China or India. They came from a town somewhere in Malaysia, the place where they were born. And they are as Malaysian as everyone else. How to make the Malays understand this?

There is no way we can reinstall the program in their heads. We can’t even reformat the hard disk. The old program is so corrupted and the hard disk practically destroyed. We need to buy a totally new hard disk. This is what Malaysia and its race relations have been reduced to.

Indonesia is not safe for the Chinese, many Malays will tell you. They kill Chinese in Indonesia. And that is why many Chinese have left Indonesia and have migrated to another country. The Chinese are more fortunate in Malaysia. In no other country are the Chinese as lucky as the Chinese in Malaysia. This is the belief of most Malays.

Well, in November 2008, Indonesia passed the Non-discrimination Act (UU No. 62/58) that makes it a crime to discriminate against any ethnic group. Indonesia’s aim is to unite all the races. Sure, there may have been problems in Indonesia in the past. Malaysia too has been having problems on and off since even before Merdeka. But Indonesia is trying to change all that. Malaysia is not only perpetuating racial problems but we even have institutionalised racial discrimination.

Indonesia is no longer the ‘cowboy’ country that it once was. It has taken a giant leap into the new Millennium. They even give the opposition parties equal airtime on the government-owned television networks. Malaysia, unfortunately, is now far behind Indonesia. I know many Malaysian Chinese who have shifted their business interests to Indonesia. If we are not careful all our money is going to exodus to our neighbour and one day, soon, we are going to be poorer than that largest Muslim country in the world.

Then what will come next? Indonesian maids will stop coming here to work? Instead, Malays will go to Indonesia to work as maids? Don’t laugh! It not only is not funny, it can even happen, though maybe not in the immediate future.

In the 1960s, the Pakistanis used to go to England to work as labourers. 50 years on and many Pakistanis are now the towkays while the ‘whites’ work for them. Stand on Oxford Street and see for yourself. Look at all the Rolls Royces passing by. The ‘white skins’ are driving the cars while the ‘brown skins’ sit in the back seats. Okay, some Pakistanis still work as the kuli. Not all are towkays. But the streets are no longer being swept by the ‘brown skins’. The ‘white skins’ do that dirty job. And the ‘white skins’ rent apartments owned by the ‘brown skins’.

Muhyiddin Yassin talks about Umno going downhill and what they should do about it. The problem is, he is totally clueless about the reason. The doctor can’t cure the disease until he can diagnose what is wrong with you. My late father was suffering from heartburn, said his doctor, and he recommended anti-acid tablets. After he suffered a heart attack and died at a young age of 40 plus, the doctor said maybe it was not heartburn after all. Maybe it was a mild heart attack that became worse because it was not treated.

A friend of mine, DJ Tate, went to the Tawakal hospital because he was not feeling well. Just fatigue, said the doctor, go home and rest. Tate phoned me to tell me he would not be joining me at Anwar Ibrahim’s house for tea that day. He was not feeling well, he said. He hung up, slumped into the chair, and died within seconds. Five minutes later the wife phoned to say that Tate had died. I was shocked. I spoke to him barely a few minutes before that.

Yes, unless the doctor knows what is wrong with you he might recommend an afternoon nap or some anti-acid tablets. You then lie down and die. Umno needs a better doctor than all those quacks. It is dying, not just tired. And unless they treat it with the right medication Umno is going to soon be buried like how I buried my father and Mr. Tate.

JAN 29 — Isu wakil rakyat melompat parti agak melucukan bagi penonton politik, menggembirakan bagi parti yang menerima anggota baru itu dan amat memilukan bagi parti yang ditinggalkan wakil berkenaan.

Penonton politik sering melihat drama di mana jika yang melompat itu dari parti A, maka parti itu akan bising dengan soal maruah, kesetiaan dan pengkhianatan terhadap mandat rakyat. Malah mahu digubal undang-undang anti lompat. Sebaliknya, parti B yang menerima wakil rakyat melompat itu menganggapnya sebagai hak dan kebebasan dalam amalan demokrasi.

Suatu ketika dahulu, yang menentang undang-undang anti-lompat adalah Umno dan Barisan Nasional. Kini yang menjadi juara anti-lompat adalah Umno dan BN, khususnya selepas pilihan raya umum Mac 8 tahun lalu kerana ada ura-ura beberapa Ahli Parlimen BN mahu menyeberang ke sebelah Pakatan Rakyat.

Tetapi adakah mereka ini jujur mahu menjamin dan mempertahankan mandat rakyat?

Sedangkan 25 tahun lalu sudah ada usaha serius untuk melaksanakan undang-undang anti-lompat. Malah ada kerajaan negeri yang telah pun meluluskan rang undang-undang anti-lompat hampir suku abad yang lalu.

Parti Bersatu Sabah pimpinan Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan telah berjaya menewaskan Berjaya yang menerajui BN Sabah dalam pilihan raya negeri pada April 1985 dengan memenangi 25 daripada 48 kerusi yang dipertandingkan. Namun gangguan dan demonstrasi jalanan dari penyokong BN menyebabkan Pairin terpaksa mengadakan pilihan raya negeri sekali lagi pada Mei 1986.

Kali ini PBS menang besar di 34 daripada 48 kerusi yang dipertandingkan. PBS kemudian menyertai BN tetapi sepanjang tempoh penyertaannya, ramai pemimpin kanannya merasakan mereka dianaktirikan oleh pucuk pimpinan di Kuala Lumpur.

Dalam pilihan raya umum 1990, PBS membuat keputusan mengejut apabila ia keluar dari BN sewaktu kempen pilihan raya. Parti itu kekal memerintah Sabah tetapi keputusannya untuk meninggalkan BN membuka ruang bagi Umno untuk masuk ke Sabah.

Bermulalah politik tawar-menawar dan cubaan membeli Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri PBS dalam usaha menjatuhkan kerajaan negeri pimpinan Pairin. Menyedari keadaan itu, kerajaan negeri Sabah memperkenalkan undang-undang anti-lompat tetapi telah ditolak oleh Mahkamah Tinggi pada 1992.

Pada 19 Februari 1994, pilihan raya negeri Sabah diadakan lagi, dan walaupun BN berkempen dengan rasuah pembangunan dan taburan wang yang hebat, PBS terus diberi mandat oleh rakyat Malaysia di Sabah apabila ia memang tipis dengan 25 kerusi berbanding BN 23.

Apa yang berlaku selepas keputusan diumumkan adalah satu sejarah baru dalam politik negara pada masa itu. Pairin terpaksa menunggu di luar pagar Yang Dipertua Negeri selama tiga hari siang dan malam semata-mata untuk mengangkat sumpah sebagai Ketua Menteri.

Dua minggu selepas melantik kabinet negeri, beberapa Adun PBS mendakwa mereka ditawarkan berjuta-juta ringgit untuk melompat menyertai BN. Pada 12 Mac pemimpin PBS Datuk Lajim Ukin, Rubin Balang dan Datuk Zaini Isa, salah seorang dari Adun dilantik (selain 25 Adun yang menang pilihana raya, perlembagaan negeri membenarkan enam Adun dilantik oleh parti yang menang) mengumumkan keluar parti.

Sewaktu kekecohan itu, Kementerian Dalam Negeri mencatatkan rekod kepantasan tugas dengan meluluskan permohonan beberapa parti politik dalam masa beberapa hari sahaja untuk membolehkan mereka menjadi parti kepada Adun-Adun yang melompat dari PBS.

Pada 17 Mac 1994, Pairin secara gentleman telah menyerahkan surat perletakan jawatan sebagai Ketua Menteri kepada Yang Dipertua Negeri setelah hampir70 peratus barisan Adunnya melompat parti.

Dari 25 kerusi yang dimenangi serta enam Adun dilantik, iaitu 31 kesemuanya, PBS hanya tinggal lima Adun. Dengan itu, tidak sampai sebulan setelah memenangi pilihan raya negeri secara sah, PBS kehilangan kuasa apabila Umno dan BN berjaya membeli hampir kesemua Adun-Adun berkenaan.

Bekas Adun-Adun PBS itu pula telah berpecah kepada lima parti negeri di mana keadaan itu membolehkan Umno menguasai majoriti kerusi dalam DUN Sabah dengan memegang 22 kerusi.

Namun ia tidak mematahkan semangat PBS apabila mencuba nasib sekali lagi dalam pilihan raya negeri pada Mac 1999. Walaupun ia tewas kepada BN, kerusi yang diperolehinya meningkat semula kepada 17 manakala Umno juga menambah lagi kekuatan kepada 24 kerusi. Parti-parti komponen BN lain semakin mengecut kekuatan mereka.

Dalam pada itu berlaku lagi lompat parti dari PBS ke Umno. Ini menyebabkan PBS tiada pilihan lain kecuali memohon untuk menyertai semula BN pada 2002.

Apa yang ingin diperingatkan di sini adalah sewaktu episod lompat pada Mac 1994 dan kemudiannya berulang selepas Mac 1999 adalah pendirian pemimpin-pemimpin kanan Umno dan BN di Kuala Lumpur. Rata-ratanya mereka menghalalkan lompatan dari parti lain untuk menyertai mereka atas dasar kebebasan wakil rakyat membuat pilihan sendiri.

Kini fenomena lompat ini kembali menghantui Umno dan BN. Selepas kebimbangan Ahli-Ahli Parlimen BN melompat parti selepas Mac 8 tahun lalu dikendurkan berikutan tiada apa-apa yang berlaku pada tarikh 16 September sebagaimana yang diramalkan oleh Ketua Pembangkang Parlimen Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, kini ketakutan sekali lagi melanda kepimpinan BN.

Keputusan Adun BN Datuk Nasarudin Hashim yang mewakili Umno di kawasan Bota, Perak telah menimbulkan pelbagai spekulasi berhubung kemungkinan beberapa Adun lain yang akan mengikut jejak langkahnya.

Buat pada masa tumpuan diberikan di Perak. Namun ada juga khabar-khabar angin mengenai Adun-Adun di beberapa negeri lain yang mula berminat untuk berpindah parti.

Sama ada mereka mahu meninggalkan Umno dan BN kerana masalah dalaman parti sendiri atau kerana yakin dengan perjuangan Pakatan Rakyat, ia bukan lagi soal perundangan kerana Malaysia memang tidak mempunyai undang-undang anti-lompat.

Malah, wakil rakyat masih dicengkam undang-undang yang melarang mereka bertanding semula dalam tempoh lima tahun jika mengosongkan kerusi.

Keadaan ini memaksa mana-mana wakil rakyat yang ingin berpindah parti terus melompat sahaja kerana sebarang usaha untuk menguji kekuatan dalam pilihan raya kecil dilarang oleh undang-undang. Yang membawakan undang-undang itu adalah Umno dan BN juga.

Bagi Umno dan BN sekarang, mungkin ini agaknya maksud pepatah Melayu "keris makan tuan". - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 — The Member of Parliament for Kapar, S. Manikavasagam, today lodged a police report against Selangor police chief, Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar who claimed that two deputy ministers and the family of car theft suspect, A.Kugan, had barged into the Serdang Hospital mortuary on Jan 20.

Manikavasagam and lawyer N.Surendran lodged the report at the Brickfields District Police Headquarters at 12.10 pm.

“We not only lodged a police report, we also handed over a CD recording to the police to prove that the allegation that the two deputy ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, Senator T. Murugiah and Datuk S.K. Devamany, and the victim’s family had barged into the hospital mortuary was totally incorrect,” he said.

Manikavasam said the CD recording clearly showed that the two deputy ministers concerned were not at the scene when the people entered the mortuary, and were only present several hours later.

“The police allegation that the victim’s family had trespassed into the mortuary was also not true because the recording showed that the staff at the mortuary had allowed all family members of the victim to come into the room,” he said.

Manikavasagam said that as such, action should be taken against the Selangor Police Chief for making a false statement.

Kugan, 23, who had been detained on suspicion of being involved in the theft of luxury cars in Sungai Chua, Kajang, was found dead while in custody at the lock-up of the Subang USJ Police Station.

Brickfields OCPD, ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Talib, when contacted by Bernama, confirmed receiving the report at 2.20 pm.

Khalid, when contacted by Bernama, declined to comment on the police report lodged against him. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA, Jan 29 — Umno disciplinary board chairman Tengku Tan Sri Ahmad Rithaudeen’s call to abolish Umno’s Wanita, Youth, Puteri and Putera wings to curb money politics in Umno is insufficient but the entire party should be done away with, says DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang.

“Just as no one expects Rithaudeen’s proposal would be taken seriously by an Umno leader, nobody believes that it is possible to eradicate corruption in the country’s most corrupt institution, Umno, because of the sheer absence of such political will,” the opposition stalwart said.

“Rithaudden’s sense of despair and futility in the impossible battle against corruption and money politics in Umno caused him to make the radical proposal to abolish the various Umno wings.

“When will an honest and upright Umno leader make the next logical proposal – that UMNO be abolished altogether?” Lim asked rhetorically in a press statement.

Rithaudeen’s proposal has met immediate objection from vice president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Wanita chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and Puteri chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad.

Today, the top two in the party also rejected the idea as deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that Umno will not abolish any of its wings as they are important in nurturing future leaders of the party while president Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi said that money politics would be dealt with other means.

“If Rithaudeen is right — and he is right — that the many elections for the Umno Youth, Wanita, Puteri and Putera wings created opportunities for money-making, all that Najib meant about ‘nurturing future leaders of the party’ is to give them opportunities to be adept in the art of corruption in Umno party elections,” Lim added.

The DAP supremo also questioned Rithudeen’s justification for not allowing the newly-minted Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) full jurisdiction over alleged corruption in the party.

In a New Straits Times report, Rithaudeen used the analogy of a doctor trying to operate while drunk, stating that the doctor can be charged for criminal negligence but also sued in a civil suit and stripped of his ability to practice by the Malaysian Medical Council.

In the same way, Umno’s disciplinary board conducts its investigations with the option of suspending a member independently of any action by the MACC.

Investigations by the MACC and the board will be done separately by each body and any sharing of information will be done on a case-by-case basis, he said.

However, Lim stressed that the board would be violating the law and committing crimes themselves if they withhold from the MACC any case of Umno money politics — which MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan had categorically called “corruption” in a separate New Straits Times interview on Jan 25.

By Lim Kit Siang

"Cuepacs: Nizar doesn't know what he's saying" - New Straits Times today reported the Cuepacs president Omar Othman denying that civil servants had contributed to Pas' victory in Saturday's Kuala Terengganu by-election.

The NST reported:

He (Omar) said public services employees, both those serving the federal and state governments, fully supported the Barisan Nasional and Umno leadership.

He was commenting on a claim by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.

"Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin claimed government staff serving the federal and state governments sympathised with and supported Pas," Omar said yesterday.

"He also said they had become more daring to vote for Pas in the by-election despite being threatened or forced.

"This is a big lie by a man who knows nothing about the public services or its system.

"The more than 1.2 million civil servants in this country have been loyal and supportive of the government. There is no doubt about that."

He said civil servants appreciated what the government had been doing for them all these years.

"They know who has been fighting for their welfare and paying their salaries to enable them to feed and support their family. Leave them alone," Omar said.

Does Omar know what he is saying?

If Nizar's statement that government servants, both federal and state, sympathized and supported PAS is to be challenged, it should come from UMNO and Barisan Nasional and not from Cuepacs.

How does the Cuepacs President know who the government servants voted for in the by-election?

Is there no secrecy of the ballot and the constitutional right of every voter, including a civil servant, to vote freely?

In saying that Nizar had told "a big lie" in claiming that government servants have become more daring to vote for PAS in the by-election despite being threatened or forced, Omar has strayed into a territory which is no business of the Cuepacs President, as it concerns the constitutional and citizenship right of a government servant to vote freely without coercion or inducement.

Is Omar seriously suggesting that civil servants in Pakatan Rakyat state governments should unite and vote against the Pakatan Rakyat candidates in by-elections or the next general election?

What has happened to the important principle that the civil service should be non-partisan in political party preferences and should loyally serve the government-of-the-day which has won the mandate of the people?

If the Cuepacs President can act in repudiation of these fundamental principles of a functioning democracy, no wonder Malaysia is lagging behind so many countries in maturing as a normal and healthy democracy. - DAP Malaysia

ADA kejutan lagi dalam beberapa hari ini? Desas-desus begitu kencang bertiup mengatakan ada lagi YB dari Umno akan lompat ikut jejak Adun Bota beberapa hari lepas yang tekad melompat ke PKR. YB Lintang, Datuk Ahmad Fakeh Adam yang juga Adun dari Umno disebut-sebut akan meninggalkan parti Melayu terbesar yang mempunyai ahli Melayu teramai di dunia itu.

"Ketika ini 50-50. (Niat) nak kekal (dalam Umno) dengan masuk pembangkang sama banyak.

"Orang PAS, PKR dan DAP hari-hari telefon dan hantar SMS. Yang dah datang jumpa pun ada, yang nak jumpa pun ada lagi," katanya kepada portal berita paling popular, Malaysiakini.

Beliau bagaimanapun belum memutuskan parti pembangkang yang bakal disertainya jika meninggalkan BN.

Beliau menambah, ada pemimpin DAP ingin menawarkan jawatan menteri besar Perak tetapi "saya tahu itu gula-gula sahaja."

"(Tetapi) hati rasa hendak keluar (Umno). Kita (Adun) telah dipinggirkan.

"Kami seolah-olah tidak penting. Yang lebih penting sekarang ialah ketua Umno bahagian," katanya.

Ada lagi Adun lain yang tak puas hati

Ahmad Fakeh yang kalah bertanding jawatan ketua Umno bahagian Sungai Siput, Oktober lalu, berkata, ada beberapa Adun lagi yang tidak puas hati dengan keadaan yang berlaku sekarang.

Beliau kalah kepada timbalannya Datuk Mohd Zulkifli Harun dalam pertandingan satu lawan satu jawatan tersebut, lapor portal itu lagi.

Datuk Seri Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar (Adun Kubu Gajah), Datuk Hamdi Abu Bakar (Pengkalan Baharu) dan Hamidah Osman (Sungai Rapat) diura-urakan turut tidak berpuas hati.

Ahmad Fakeh bagaimanapun tidak pasti sama ada mereka juga berhasrat untuk meninggalkan Umno dan menyertai parti pembangkang.

"Saya sudah membawa perkara ini dalam mesyuarat Umno Perak tetapi tiada tindakan yang diambil.

"Tetapi bila (Datuk) Nasharuddin Hashim (Adun Bota) keluar parti baru kelam-kabut, baru kami ini penting," katanya.

Ahmad Fakeh berkata, beliau kecewa kerana kerajaan pusat lambat memberi peruntukan kewangan walaupun wang sudah ada.

Sebaliknya, kata beliau, peringkat persekutuan begitu cepat meluluskan bantuan kepada ketua Umno bahagian.

Sebagai contoh, katanya, Kementerian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah mudah memberikan bantuan kepada ketua bahagian walaupun mereka bukan wakil rakyat.

“Ini menjadi masalah kepada Adun yang tidak memegang jawatan ketua bahagian,” katanya lagi.

Bantuan tetap kerajaan pusat kepada setiap Adun ialah RM300,000 setahun, tidak termasuk peruntukan tambahan yang perlu dimohon, tambahnya.

Katanya lagi, seseorang Adun sukar membantu penduduk di kawasan yang diwakilinya tanpa wang peruntukan tersebut. / Malaysiakini, KLpos

IPOH: Datuk Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali is expected to resign as chairman of the Perak Barisan Nasional and state Umno liaison committee to take responsibility for the defection of Bota assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim.

Party insiders told the New Straits Times that the former menteri besar had conveyed his intention to quit to Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a meeting at the latter's residence in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

It is learnt that Tajol Rosli, a supreme council member, will officially step down this week, with Najib assuming both posts effective Feb 1.

Tajol Rosli was supposed to vacate the posts after the party elections in March but decided to leave immediately following Nasarudin's defection to Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

He has held the two posts since 1999.
"Tajol Rosli was not asked to do so, but as a good leader he has decided to step down and take responsibility for his failure (to prevent the defection)," said a source.

"Najib is calm about this and will probably take over the helm of the Barisan Nasional in Perak."

It is learnt that Lintang assemblyman Datuk Ahamad Pakeh Adam and Pengkalan Baharu assemblyman Datuk Hamdi Abu Bakar were also present at the four-hour meeting.

The presence of the two men was due to rumours that they were also leaving Umno for the PKR.

"However, both pledged their loyalty to the party and gave their assurance that they would not jump ship, as widely speculated," the source said.

Kubu Gajah assemblyman Datuk Seri Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar, who was linked to the two men, also called Najib from abroad to affirm that he would not be crossing over to the opposition.

"All of them had a heart-to-heart talk on this matter and everything has been resolved for now," said another source.

With Nasarudin's defection to the PKR, Pakatan Rakyat now has 32 seats in Perak to BN's 27. - NST

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno disaran supaya memansuhkan semua sayap partinya bagi memastikan gejala rasuah politik dapat dihapuskan dengan lebih berkesan.

Pengerusi Lembaga Disiplin Umno, Tan Sri Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail berkata langkah penstrukturan semula parti itu penting kerana pengurangan sayap parti akan mengurangkan proses pemilihan bagi membendung gejala politik wang.

"Lagi banyak pemilihan, lagi banyak berlakunya masalah politik wang.

"Saya fikir perlukah ada Puteri dan Putera kerana lagi ada Puteri dan Putera banyak lagi main (guna) duit.

"Saya juga memikirkan barangkali Pemuda dan Wanita juga perlu dipertimbangkan kerana di England rasanya tidak ada pertubuhan wanita baik dalam parti Konservatif mahupun Parti Buruh," katanya dalam sidang media di Ibu Pejabat Umno di sini hari ini.

Beliau turut mengakui gejala politik wang turut berlaku dalam pemilihan peringkat Puteri dan Putera Umno namun hingga kini masih belum ada pihak yang tampil membuat aduan secara rasmi.

"Saya dengar-dengar Putera, Puteri pun dah pandai main (guna) duit," katanya.

Jelas beliau ahli Puteri dan Putera Umno yang terdiri daripada golongan muda seharusnya memberikan tumpuan terhadap pelajaran dan bukannya bergiat aktif dalam bidang politik.

Ditanya pandangan beliau mengenai objektif penubuhan kedua-dua sayap parti itu adalah bagi memberi pendedahan awal terhadap politik, beliau berpendapat pendedahan tersebut masih terlalu awal.

"Mereka sepatutnya pentingkan pelajaran dahulu, mereka masih belasan tahun dan awal 20an.

"Kalau nak bagi pendedahan pun janganlah terlalu awal kerana sekarang ini bukan masanya lagi mereka aktif berpolitik," katanya.

Tambah beliau lagi kepimpinan hari ini memerlukan golongan muda yang akan menerajui negara pada masa akan datang.

"Kita bergantung kepada orang muda untuk membawa negara kita pada tahap yang tinggi dan bertanding dengan negara lain," katanya.

Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen turut mencadangkan agar sistem kuota yang diamalkan untuk tujuan pemilihan dalam parti dimansuhkan kerana ia dilihat menyumbang kepada gejala politik wang.

Mengulas mengenai tindakan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Bota, Datuk Nasaruddin Hashim yang keluar daripada Umno dan menyertai Parti Keadilan rakyat (PKR), beliau kecewa dengan tindakan itu.

"Saya sebenarnya kecil hati dengan tindakan seperti itu terutamanya bila ada masalah.

"Kita boleh selesaikan masalah yang timbul dari dalam parti," katanya. - MSTar Online

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 28 — The people should not regard criminals as heroes and the police who enforce the law as demons, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said today.

Speaking in general terms, he said no one was above the law and added that action would be taken against those who broke the law, even if it was the police.

“We will not conceal the facts,” he told reporters at his office here.

Syed Hamid said he was not linking his statement, made in general terms, with the death of car theft suspect A. Kugan who had died while in police custody at the Taipan police station in Subang Jaya on Jan 20.

“I am not pinpointing anybody,” the minister stressed.

He explained that police had detained three suspects including Kugan following investigations into 19 cases of vehicle theft and armed robbery.

The minister also asked the people not to politicise the investigation into Kugan’s death, saying it would make the police task more difficult.

“They must talk of the case based on facts and not assumptions,” he said.

Kugan, 22, who was detained on Jan 15 at the Taipan police station on suspicion of being involved in the theft of luxury cars in Sungai Chua, Kajang, had died while being questioned.

Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar had said a post-mortem found that Kugan had died due to fluid in his lungs but Kugan’s family sought a second post mortem, insisting that Kugan had died of injuries.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said later that Kugan’s death had been classified as murder. A second post-mortem on Kugan has been done since.

The police are investigating Kugan’s death and the results are expected to be known soon.

Kugan’s funeral was held today. — Bernama

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 28 — The Perak Barisan Nasional (BN) should organise a mass movement to demand that Bota assemblyman Datuk Nasaruddin Hashim gives up the seat to enable a by-election as he has chosen to cross over to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), said Umno Supreme Council (MT) member Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

Rais, who is also Foreign Minister, said Nasaruddin won the seat on the BN ticket in the general election and by deserting the coalition, he had betrayed the trust the people had placed in him.

“If I were a Perakian, I would start mobilising all the NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and village chiefs now to demand his resignation. The Perak BN should take this step.

“We (Umno) have thousands of branches in Perak. Umno branches, the Putera, Puteri, Youth and Wanita wings all must speak up. Just voicing in the media is not good enough,” he told reporters after handing the letter of appointment to Malaysia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Datuk Othman Hashim, at his ministry here today.

He added that he was confident the BN would not have any problem winning the seat if a by-election was held.

On Sunday, Nasaruddin, who won the seat by a majority of 2,068 votes against PKR’s Usaili Alias in the general election held last March, declared that he was quitting Umno to join PKR.

Following his move, the Pakatan Rakyat government of PAS, DAP and PKR in the state increased its seats to 31 in the State Assembly while the BN’s was reduced to 28.

On the call by Umno’s disciplinary board chairman Tan Sri Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail for the wings in the party to be abolished to check money politics, Dr Rais said each suggestion to improve Umno now would be given its due consideration.

“If the majority feel it would be good for Umno, the MT will definitely take it further,” he said. — Bernama

(The Malaysian Insider) - Following the defection of Perak state assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim to PKR, Umno representatives in the state are now complaining of being sidelined by the party leadership.

They told The Malaysian Insider today that the Umno leadership must keep the people’s interest ahead of the party if it was serious about taking over Perak from Pakatan Rakyat.

They said infighting in Perak Umno has led to some of the party’s representatives being unable to perform their duties effectively.

The rift within the state Umno started soon after the party’s divisional meetings late last year, where some assemblymen lost their positions and it became public with Nasarudin’s defection.

The crossover also came as a blow to Perak Umno chief Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali, who was said to be having problems working with some of the party’s assemblymen, as he had promised to topple the PR-led government through defection, by Aug 31 last year.

“I am disappointed with the leadership at the divisional and state level as they are not doing anything for the next election.

“We will end up like Kelantan, where they are very happy to lead the divisions, but do not want to win elections,” said Pengkalan Baharu assembyman Datuk Hamdi Abu Bakar.

The former Beruas Umno chief who lost his post in the party election last October, however, denied that he was thinking of crossing over, adding that the situation in Perak has calmed down after a meeting with party deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“But they must not be complacent,” said Hamdi.

Another assemblyman, Hamidah Osman, said the sidelining of elected representatives in favour of division chiefs would further erode the people's confidence in the party.

“There should be more room for the people, for their representatives. What is going to happen if the people’s confidence in Umno continues to decline?” said the Sungai Rapat assemblyman, who is Barisan Nasional’s (BN) sole representative within the Gopeng federal constituency.

“If they want to win the people’s support, they should not be focussing only on Umno members,” she told The Malaysian Insider, admitting that she has been contacted by a PKR official to defect but had rejected the offer.

Hamidah added that Umno divisional leaders were only interested in protecting their positions within the party instead of focussing on strengthening the party.

Lintang state assemblyman Datuk Ahamad Pakeh Adam claimed that many Umno representatives in the state are facing the same problems, but he added that they were not ready yet to defect to PR.

Still, he did not rule out the possibility.

“There will be more,” said Ahamad on Perak Menteri Besar’s remark that three Umno assemblymen would be joining PR.

Soon after Bota assemblyman Nasarudin joined PKR, Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin claimed that three more Umno representatives would defect to one of the PR parties.

The defection of the former Parit MP brought the number of PR representatives to 31 against BN’s 27.