RIP: PG Lim

KUALA LUMPUR: TAN Sri Lim Phaik Gan, Malaysia's pioneer woman ambassador and one of the country's first woman lawyers, died yesterday  in Perth, Western Australia, at the age of 96.

Better known as "P.G. Lim", she was born in Britain in 1918 and was among the first Malaysian women to earn a Master's in Law from Cambridge University.

One of her best-known cases was the defence in 1948 of Lee Meng, a guerilla detained in Perak for alleged communist activities.

She also defended 11 youths sentenced to death for consorting with Indonesian infiltrators and for possessing arms during Confrontation in 1968.

Lim, who won the Merdeka Award in 2009, served as legal adviser to several unions who could not afford to hire lawyers, and often championed the underprivileged.

Former Court of Appeal judge Tan Sri V.C. George remembers that, as a pupil in chambers in 1956, "I followed her around the country, carrying her bags in court. I realised what a formidable advocate she was. She was a tough fighter, who didn't pull her punches. She was hot tempered and impatient, but worked very hard. From her, I learned to focus on the real issues and not on the fringe."

Retired lawyer Ernest Devadason also remembers his first job, working at the law firm which Lim set up: "The foundation she gave me as a young lawyer was the best I could have had and stood me in good stead."

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1Malaysia Foundation Trustee Lee Lam Thye has suggested that a national consultative council be set up to  address issues on national unity and racial integration.

Lee said the council should be made up of representatives of interested groups or individuals who could offer suggestions or ideas to help address the current development. 

"It is also to address key issues on how to bring the nation together after a strongly heated and bitterly-contested general election," he said in a statement (reported by Bernama).

Lee also called on all political leaders and all strata of society to immediately stop the drfit towards racial polarisation. 

"The time has come for us to identify more ethnic bridge builders and emphasize on their crucial role, at this juncture, to break down the serious racial divide in the larger interest of improving ethnic relations in our country. 

"Multiracial living and community are part of our history and heritage. They have become a key source of racial integration for years and have certainly played a part in making Malaysia a harmonious place to live, learn, work and play," he said. 

The Prime Minister had on Monday said the government would embark on national reconciliation efforts to unite the people who seemed divided in the 13th General Election. 

International Movement for a Just World (JUST) president Dr Chandra Muzaffar, who supported the formation of the council, said it was important not only for national unity, but more so for the restoration of racial relations.

"The council must represent all the political parties, individuals within or outside the political arena who can contribute ideas on solidarity and participate in sincere dialogues," he said. 

However, Chandra said the prime minister must give detailed explanation on the actual meaning of national reconciliation so that it would be truly understood by every strata of society.

Chairman of the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation Tan Sri Razali Ismail said all parties should support the idea thrown by the prime minister, as we could not allow the tension arising from the general election to worsen.

He stressed on the partiality of the government and its institutions, saying that the effort to reconcile the nation must be done with the acceptance of all races, and added that political parties should not take advantage from the effort. 

Another vital ingredient for national reconciliation, according to Razali was that the press must be free. 

"What is not right must be mentioned by the press. We cannot reconcile if the press is not free. The people must be made to have a say in the press. This is to regain the ability in making the people believe what has been distributed by the press," he said. 

He added that national reconciliation was also needed to build national consensus in addressing many internal or external issues. 

Meanwhile, the Director of the Technology Policy and International Studies Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) International Campus, Profesor Dr Azmi Hassan said the quickest action that the government could do towards national reconciliation was through the formation of the cabinet.

"The make up of the cabinet members is most important to demonstrate that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government is transparent and sincere in forming a Malaysian society and championing the cause of all races in the country," said Azmi, who is also a Geostrategist Expert.

He said the cabinet that would be formed should still have a minister from the Chinese community although the MCA had stated its stand not to join the cabinet to honour the decision of the top party leadership earlier. 

Explaining further, Azmi said one of the measures that could be taken by Najib in efforts to regain the support of the Chinese voters was to make way for a representative from the Chinese non-governmental organisation (NGO) to join the cabinet.

"The situation cannot be aggravated, that's why we must invite a group that is trusted by the Chinese community such as the NGO in the fields of social, education and economy. That is the best way to reconcile the situation," he said.

For historian Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim, whatever measures that were being implemented by the government now and in the future towards national reconciliation, the most important question was the schooling system.

He said it was possible that now was the time for the national education system which emphasised on examination where the student must memorise to obtain high marks be replaced with a system that absorbed the spirit of patriotism among the students.

"We need to decide whether we want a national education system that would turn the young generation into citizens that give priority to the country or to become individuals who only think about self-interest," he said.

DAP national deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw said the move to promote the spirit of unity after the election process was timely, but any racial sentiment must be checked first of all.

"Solidarity must be based on policies and statements that were not inclined towards a particular race, religion or region alone," said Dr Tan, who is also the Kepong Member of Parliament. -- BERNAMA

R

The GE over.

We all know the results. BN won by a slim majority in parliament. It recaptured Kedah and Perak.

And the DAP won big, I must say. In some of the constituencies (mainly Chinese majority) they increased their majority.


What I remember most about  May 5 were the lies and unsubstantiated reports of black-outs, busloads of foreigners and illegal ballot boxes.

They remain unsubstantiated. So they are lies spread by irresponsible people. And then made out to be fact and used to condemn the elections as unfair. Electoral fraud?

Democracy is dead?  Oh come on.. Jangan lah berdrama. Bersandiwara. Berwayang..

Senang, senang nak burukkan Malaysia, ya?

So many are not happy with the outcome because the BN should have lost. Stolen elections?

Adoi.

Mr Karpal Singh is happy with the outcome. Lim Guan Eng has been sworn in as CM. Kelantan has a new MB.

Another black mark was the harassment and attacks on Malaysianswhom some thugs linked to the opposition suspected them to be foreigners and tried to prevent them from casting their votes.

 I call them samseng.


Yes,. samseng.

The GE is over. Time to move on and get on with our life.

But, looks like, for some people, it ain't over yet.

Waves Of Regret In Selangor

A report by Malaysian Digest


ON the night of March 8, 2008, after the results of the 12th general election were announced, a retiree in Ijok, Kuala Selangor was dumbfounded when he was told that the Ijok state seat had been won by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

The retiree was even more crushed upon learning that his beloved state of Selangor had been taken over by the Opposition.

A wave of regret took over. For as long as he had been exercising his voting right, he never once voted for any other party besides the scale-symbol Barisan Nasional (BN), until that year.

The man reasoned that he only voted for the Opposition this time because he wanted to send a message to the BN. He just didn't think it was possible for the BN to lose control of the state altogether.

The retiree is only one example of the thousands of Selangorians who, at the time, chose to not cast their vote or voted for the Opposition as a sign of protest towards the government.

Continue reading HERE

Pakatan Can Win...

Says Anwar.
Malaysian opposition leader opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim says he believes that his three-party alliance can win this weekend's poll.
Mr Anwar is part of a broad coalition which includes moderates, Islamists and Malaysians of Chinese descent.
Prime Minister Najib Razak's National Front coalition has been in power for over 50 years.
Jonathan Head spoke to him on the campaign trail.

Watch this.

Pas-DAP Theatre of The Absurd : Dr M

PAS is  insisting that it will implement its version of hudud when Pakatan rules Malaysia.   DAP, not only Karpal Singh, but now also Lim Kit Siang, is equally adamant that it will not allow Pas' hudud laws to be used in Malaysia.
Both are bluffing because both know that Pas' hudud will never be made a part of Malaysian laws.
This is because Pas is contesting in less than half of the parliamentary seats. To change the constitution in order to introduce hudud, Pas would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Only if DAP and PKR vote in favour will the constitution be changed. But DAP and PKR will not give their votes for this constitutional amendment.
For Pas, appearing to stand up against DAP on this Islamic issue is good for convincing Malays that it is still fighting for its version of Islam.
That it cannot succeed without DAP support need not be mentioned. What is important is the appearance of being Islamic. The Muslim voters can be hoodwinked by that.
DAP, which also knows that Pas' hudud will never be implemented, the appearance of fighting against Pas' version of Islamic law will convince Chinese voters that it is fighting for their cause. For this stand the Chinese will support the DAP.
It is all a sandiwara or "play-acting" by both Pas and the DAP. Both believe they can hoodwink Malay and Chinese voters in this election.
Unfortunately, the average Malay and Chinese voter may fail to read between the lines. So, the issue will stay. It is good for Pas and good for the DAP.
Then there is the sandiwara of the party symbols of Pas and DAP.
DAP announced that it would use Pas' full moon symbol in the election because the Registrar of Societies might not allow it to use its rocket symbol. The idea is to intimidate RoS.
For DAP, this is a good strategy as the members of Pas will think that DAP is now close to Pas and Islam and will vote for the DAP candidates.
Unfortunately, DAP members did not think this was a good idea. Their leaders may want to be close to Pas for political reasons but the members reject Pas and its Islamic pretensions, totally.
The DAP leaders still thought it was a good ploy to hoodwink Malays.
Pas on the other hand saw in this DAP move to use its symbol as a good way to convince its members and supporters that DAP has now understood Islam, which they had been claiming is their reason for co-habiting with the anti-Islam DAP.
Pas leaders may even really believe that they are near to converting Karpal Singh and Kit Siang. Self-deception is characteristic of Pas. They have had difficulty explaining why they reject any reconciliation with Umno, a Malay Muslim party.
The willingness of DAP to use the full moon on a green background symbol of Pas is useful for convincing their members that the DAP has become more Islamic since it is willing to use Pas' symbol.
Both DAP and Pas know all this talk about using the Pas symbol is so much nonsense. It is not the intention of DAP to do so or Pas to permit it. But it is good for politics, for hoodwinking the Malays to support Pas' virtual love affair with DAP.
Unfortunately, again Pas members resent the idea of the kafir harbi DAP using their symbol.
It was a relief for all when RoS declared there was no ban on DAP using its rocket symbol in this election.
And so ends another sandiwara, another false stage show. Still it was good while it lasted. - The New Straits Times