Haris Ibrahim's ABU people are ready to die, ke?
No way, says uber blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK)
"Malaysians bunch of cowards. Nak comment kat internet pun tak berani reveal real name."
The Mole spoke to RPK on Haris Ibrahim's "ready to die" statement he made on video on behalf of ABU (Anything But Umno).
That was said in a message to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“To Najib, understand this. [...] We will go to all lengths and at all cost to ensure that on polling day the will of the people will be heard. We hear that you and your party intend to cause trouble before, during and after polling. We are ready for you. We, many of us, are ready to die. Are you ready to die?”
Here's RPK's interview:
The Mole: "Were you part of this movement (Anything But UMNO) which Isham (Hishamuddin Rais) started in 2008?"
Raja Petra: "We were part of the All-Blogs movement, if you can remember. And also Bersih 1.0 in 2007.
There were so many different groups. Even one group that worked with Ku Li (Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah), you included."
The Mole: "You and Haris were part of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM). Why and how did the fall-out happen?"
Raja Petra: "Because I attacked ABU and he got mad with me. I said it is not Umno that we should oppose but the Umno culture.
That got him angry. And I also
attacked Anwar. That made him pissed. I also opposed Bersih 3.0 and said
it is a lost cause. If we can't do it in Bersih 1.0 and 2.0 what makes
you think Bersih 3.0 is going to achieve anything?"
The Mole: "How about what you think of Haris Ibrahim's 'ready to die' ABU squads?"
Raja Petra: "Gila (Crazy)".
The Mole: "Do
you think Haris Ibrahim is serious about 'ready to die' and that there
will actually be people like that in every polling centre/constituency?"
Raja Petra: "No way. Malaysians bunch of cowards. Nak comment kat internet pun tak berani reveal real name." (Even when they want to comment on the internet they're not brave enough to reveal their real names.)
*************
Haris quit as the President of the
MCLM in January 2012 after a fall-out with Raja Petra following their
meeting in Thailand in late 2011. It is believed that Haris wanted to
make the MCLM a staging platform for funds to be channeled, in
preparation for the ‘Malaysian Spring’.
In a
posting at his blog The People’s Parliament in August 2012, Haris asked
readers to contribute to his ABU efforts. He provided his CIMB account
number for the contributions to be channeled.
The ABU Facebook page recorded
22,249 likes and 4,620 people talking about it. That is hardly a few
oddballs, probably taken in by ABU’s hatred towards UMNO/BN and their
‘Politics of Hatred’ strategy.
Considering there are 222
Parliamentary and 505 State Assembly constituencies in this upcoming
13GE, it is hardly believable that as per Haris’s claim ABU squads will
monitor each of the 8,139 polling stations and escort each ballot box to
the 222 tally centres.
Raja Petra is probably right to
refer to Haris' plans as ‘Gila’. After all, making threats like “Ready
to die” is somewhat delusional bordering on madness.-The Mole
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Sunday, April 07, 2013
Aku Janji...
...kesejahteraan untuk rakyat.
Here's BN's Promise Of Hope - the coalition's manifesto for the 13th general election.
1. Easing the Cost of Living:
* Increasing BR1M up to RM1,200 for households and RM600 for singles while maintaining it on an annual basis
* Increasing 1Malaysia Book Vouchers to RM300 and Schooling Aid to RM150
* Revamping the National Automotive Policy to gradually reduce car prices by 20 to 30 per cent and increasing the competitiveness of the national cars (This one taken from OutSyed The Box).
* Increasing the number of Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia
* Introducing 1Malaysia products in petrol stations and hypermarkets
* Opening Klinik 1Malaysia in high-density housing communities
* Setting up more 1Malaysia Daycare Centres for working parents (Excellent idea)
* Lowering broadband fees by at least 20 per cent with guaranteed bandwidth
* Introducing 1Country 1Price policy for essential goods
* Introducing more 1Malaysia products driven by GLCs and the private sector
2. Uplifting Urban Well-being:
* Restructuring the government, including setting up a new ministry to reflect the pronounced urban shift in the country's demographic pattern and address urban economic and social challenges
* Increasing representation of members of the NGOs and civil society in local government (Another excellent idea).
* Rehabilitating low-cost houses and flats in the cities (Good. About time)
* Undertaking the maintenance of public housing infrastructure (Very good)
* Providing quality public housing catering specifically for the younger generation of job seekers
*Providing recreational areas and facilities to enhance the quality of life in urban centres
*Ensuring sufficient educational, training and health services and facilities
*Improving the transportation links between urban centres and their outlying areas
* Opening more Anjung Singgah shelters (temporary shelters for the homeless) in high demand areas
3. Access to Quality Health Services:
* Developing a national system that will provide every Malaysian with access to quality healthcare
* Establishing a Heart Centre and Cancer Centre in major hospitals in every zone - North, South, East & West Peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak
* Providing public facilities for dialysis treatment in every high-density area
* Introducing a card-carrying system for Malaysians with special needs to provide for discounted prices of specific medications
* Introducing a support system for palliative home care for the aged and terminally ill
4. Towards Greater Efficiency in Public Transportation:
* Expanding the Rapid Bus System to every state capital, complete with facilities for the aged and disabled
* The continued expansion of the MRT, LRT and Commuter rail systems
* Building integrated bus, rail and taxi terminals in all towns and cities
- Re-routing bus routes to ensure more efficient and accessible services for the rakyat
* Increasing individual taxi permits
* Implementing the national high speed rail network and expanding the double tracking railway system
5. World Class Infrastructure Development and Rural Transformation:
* The rapid expansion of the North-South Expressway with more lanes and exit points
* Building a 2,300-km Pan Borneo Highway stretching from Semantan, Sarawak, to Serudung, Sabah
* Extending the East Coast Highway from Kuala Krai-Kota Baharu & Gambang-Segamat
* Constructing a new West Coast Highway from Banting to Taiping
* The gradual reduction of intra-city tolls
* Implementing the 21st Century Village concept to spur rural transformation and bring the rural community into the mainstream of development
* Building another 6,300km of paved roads in peninsular Malaysia, 2,500km in Sabah and 2,800km in Sarawak to benefit an estimated 3.3 million people
* Solving the treated water supply problem in Selangor, the Federal Territory and Kelantan
* Extending the supply of clean water to another 320,000 homes throughout the country
* Expanding electricity supply to another 6,000 homes in the peninsula, 60,000 in Sabah and 80,000 in Sarawak
* Compelling service providers to ensure quality mobile phone services and reliable wireless access coverage throughout the country
6. Strengthening Women's Participation:
* Increasing the number of women participating in national decision-making
* Promoting gender equality to maximise the potential of Malaysians in all fields, regardless of gender
* Providing more business and income-generating opportunities for women to provide them a greater sense of independence
* Creating more incentives for work-from-home initiatives, with greater emphasis on single mothers
* Opening 1Malaysia Daycare Centres in all GLCs and government offices and encouraging the private sector to do the same
* Tightening laws to prevent incidents of sexual abuse and harassment in homes and in the workplace
7. Building a Resilient, Dynamic and Innovative Economy:
* Attracting RM1.3 trillion worth of investments and creating 3.3 million new jobs, of which 2 million will be in high income sectors
* Building towards achieving per capita income of USD$15,000 (RM45,000) by 2020
* Providing special incentives for innovative and creative ventures to generate more wealth and jobs
* Implementing policies that are fair and equitable to all races in Malaysia including pro-growth policies, greater participation of the private sector & development of the capital market
* Enhancing the effectiveness of the bumiputera agenda, including bumiputeras in Sabah & Sarawak, by providing business opportunities, a stronger eco-system (e.g. training & credit facilities) and institutional support)
* Working with state governments to allocate more land & increase productivity of existing land to enhance food and livestock production
* Reforming the existing tax structure towards a more broad-based tax system and gradually reducing personal and corporate tax
* Continuing special cash payments and development & operational funding exceeding 20 per cent of oil and gas revenue to Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu, Kelantan & Pahang
* Implementing a plan for the transformation of SMEs and establishing a National Trading Company to source overseas markets for SMEs products
* Creating & promoting more global and regional champions
* Ensuring GLCs continue to develop entrepreneurs by divesting non-strategic GLCs and increasing outsourcing programmes for bumiputera companies
* Providing RM500 million in seed funding to increase the equity of the Indian Community to at least three per cent
* Setting up a Special Unit to ensure the successful implementation of policies for the upliftment of the Indian community
* Increasing access to micro credit for all Malaysians, including RM100 million for hawkers and petty traders
8. Building towards Educational Excellence:
* Bringing Malaysia into the "top third category" of the best education systems in the world by improving the quality of national schools
* Improving the command of Bahasa Malaysia and English among students from the pre-school level, and making English a compulsory SPM pass subject in all schools
* Improving access to quality education for the rural and minority communities, especially in Sabah and Sarawak
* Providing more merit-based scholarships, with special provisions for disadvantaged communities
* Continuing special allocations to all types of schools including SKs, SJKCs, SJKTs, Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan, MRSM, Sekolah Berasrama Penuh and Mission Schools
* Expanding Single Session Schooling
* Revamping Teacher Training Colleges and raising the qualification bar for trainee teachers
* Introducing a simplified teaching and learning system for BM in Chinese and Tamil schools
* Building more schools of all types in areas of high demand
* Enhancing performance in Mathematics and Science, and developing higher order thinking skills in students
* Providing financial incentives of RM100,000 per annum for schools with classes for Special Needs children
* Converting SJKTs that wish to change status, into fully aided schools
* Setting up ICT labs in all schools that require them
* Transforming vocational schools into colleges and increasing enrolment to 20 per cent of the student population
* Expanding pre-school education to cover all types of schools
* Providing new career pathways to allow performance-based fast tracking promotion of 420,000 teachers
* Providing free and guaranteed Broadband Wifi on all campuses of public institutions
* Introducing a laptop ownership scheme in all schools bundled with Internet access
9. Enhancing Security and Public Safety:
* Boosting PDRM omnipresence with additional 4,000 police personnel per year
* Lighting up streets, alleys and lanes to further reduce street crime
* Strengthening the PDRM Motorcycle Patrol Unit by 5,000 vehicles
* Upgrading the welfare, professionalism and capability of the police, armed forces and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
* Enhancing the total capability of the armed forces to deal with any form of incursion and external threat
* Maintaining and strengthening the police commission
* Using the 6P system to curb the influx of illegal foreigners
* Creating the Safecam Programme to link up private and public CCTV systems
* The extensive expansion of CCTV monitoring for high traffic public areas such as car parks, recreational areas, night markets and schools
* Introducing security initiatives in public housing schemes
* Enrolling an additional 50,000 police volunteer reserves to assist PDRM in patrolling and keeping streets safe
10. Nurturing Youth:
* Providing funding, training and incentives for youth-centric commercial ventures.
* Providing commercial space within shopping complexes one day in every month for youths to exhibit and market their creative products and services
* Establishing incubators to nurture quality leadership and creativity
* Creating a more resilient youth through active volunteerism in 1M4U
* Providing more free WIFI hotspots, with particular emphasis on rural and semi-urban areas
* Producing more high performance athletes at regional and international levels and promoting a more healthy lifestyle
* Revisiting laws pertaining to entertainment for the promotion of performing arts and culture
11. Weaving a Network of Social Safety Nets:
* Streamlining and improving safety net assistance through a unified database system
* Providing financial assistance and educational opportunities for lower income earners irrespective of race
* Turning Brickfields into a blind-friendly zone to serve as a model for future zones throughout the country catering to other sections of the disabled
* Setting up special courts with the same status as High Courts under the present justice system, whereby judges will be assisted by assessors chosen from among community heads, to deal specifically with NCR issues
* Gazetting all native customary land in close consultation with state governments
* Providing more income-generating opportunities within indigenous communities and increasing the intake of
12. Promoting Islam, Religious Freedom and Harmony:
* Upholding Islam as the religion of the Federation and promoting the Syiar and Syariat of Islam in accordance with the principles of Maqasid Syariah
* Ensuring that other religions can be practiced in peace and harmony
* Assigning jurisdiction over non-Muslim matters to a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
* Promoting the principles of moderation (Wasatiyyah) in all undertakings
* Increasing initiatives in uniting the ummah
* Unlocking income from developing wakaf land in cooperation with State Religious Authorities
* Increasing tax exemption for contributions to the construction, expansion and upkeep of places of worship
* The continuance of allocating land for the building of places of worship
* Providing more financial assistance to registered religious institutions and places of worship
* Promoting the welfare of Imams, mosque officials and guru-guru Kafa by providing service-based salaries and increments
* Upgrading the quality of Sekolah Agama Rakyat and allowing their students access to quality education and government education infrastructure
* Providing financial assistance to Sekolah Agama Rakyat and Sekolah Pondok
13. Fighting the Scourge of Corruption:
* The public disclosure of contracts to enhance transparency in government procurement
* Empowering MACC through the establishment of a Service Commission whereby the power of recruitment and service matters will lie entirely with the commission
* Elevating the Head and Senior Officers of the MACC to a higher level
* Giving equal emphasis on investigations into, and action against, bribe givers and receivers
* Fast tracking access to the Auditor-General's Performance Audit Report for immediate action
* Establishing additional special corruption Sessions and High Courts
* Implementing integrity pacts for MPs and State Assemblymen
14. Revitalising the Public Service and Enhancing Good Governance:
* Introducing the Transformative Salary Scheme for civil servants, including reviewing allowances and providing a special salary movement of three per cent to those on maximum salary, in the event there is no salary review
* Improving the civil service scheme to include more opportunities for promotion and development of talent and ensuring the quality of their general well-being
* Extending Urban Transformation Centres to all major cities and towns
* 'Merakyatkan Perkhidmatan Awam' (Endear the Public Service to the People) to ensure excellent service delivery
* Mobilising and empowering the civil service, including Local Governments and District Offices, to fulfill the demands, interests and concerns of the rakyat
* Improving counter services through the appointment of multi-racial frontliners and expanding online services for payments and applications
* Introducing recruitment programmes to ensure a fair mix of all races in the Civil Service and GLCs at all levels
* Enhancing the potential, capacity and capability of all civil servants regardless of race and gender
* Giving special attention to OKU (the disabled) to harness their full potential and capacity
15. Promises for a Global Movement of Moderates:
* Fighting for the establishment of a Palestinian state
* Supporting the realisation of Asean as an economic community in 2015
* Vying for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in order to play a prominent role in regional peace and international security through our policy of moderation
* Enhancing economics and bilateral interests with major trading partners and emerging economies
* Formulating Foreign Policy which supports our strategic political, economic and security interests
* Taking the lead in fighting trans-national crimes such as human and drug trafficking
* Spearheading humanitarian outreach programmes in conflict areas such as Gaza, the West Bank, southern Thailand, Mindanao and elsewhere
16. Providing Affordable and Secure Housing:
* Building 1,000,000 affordable homes - driven by public and private sectors- including 500,000 PR1MA houses
* Pricing PR1MA houses at least 20 per cent below market prices
* Introducing a lease and own scheme for government housing projects
* Reviving abandoned housing projects to safeguard homebuyers
* Taking over the maintenance and upkeep of all Public Housing Projects
* Assisting poor and lower income home owners to rehabilitate their houses
* Replacing squatter settlements with secure and permanent housing
* Improving housing in estate and providing houses for former estate workers through Government-Estate partnership
* Abolishing stamping fees for first home purchases priced below RM400,000
17. Preserving Nature's Resources:
* Giving financial incentives to commercial and private premises which invest in renewable green energy resources such as biomass and solar
* Allocating more space for green lungs within major cities
* Revitalising rivers and streams via increased allocations and enactment of stricter laws and by-laws, and via special UNDP and River of Life programmes
* Increasing educational programmes to inculcate appreciation of the environment
* Preserving our forest and undertaking re-forestation programmes
* Enacting stricter and updated laws to prevent illegal activities of deforestation of vital and strategic conservation areas
* Employing green and latest state-of-the-art technology in waste disposal and management.
Here's BN's Promise Of Hope - the coalition's manifesto for the 13th general election.
1. Easing the Cost of Living:
* Increasing BR1M up to RM1,200 for households and RM600 for singles while maintaining it on an annual basis
* Increasing 1Malaysia Book Vouchers to RM300 and Schooling Aid to RM150
* Revamping the National Automotive Policy to gradually reduce car prices by 20 to 30 per cent and increasing the competitiveness of the national cars (This one taken from OutSyed The Box).
* Increasing the number of Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia
* Introducing 1Malaysia products in petrol stations and hypermarkets
* Opening Klinik 1Malaysia in high-density housing communities
* Setting up more 1Malaysia Daycare Centres for working parents (Excellent idea)
* Lowering broadband fees by at least 20 per cent with guaranteed bandwidth
* Introducing 1Country 1Price policy for essential goods
* Introducing more 1Malaysia products driven by GLCs and the private sector
2. Uplifting Urban Well-being:
* Restructuring the government, including setting up a new ministry to reflect the pronounced urban shift in the country's demographic pattern and address urban economic and social challenges
* Increasing representation of members of the NGOs and civil society in local government (Another excellent idea).
* Rehabilitating low-cost houses and flats in the cities (Good. About time)
* Undertaking the maintenance of public housing infrastructure (Very good)
* Providing quality public housing catering specifically for the younger generation of job seekers
*Providing recreational areas and facilities to enhance the quality of life in urban centres
*Ensuring sufficient educational, training and health services and facilities
*Improving the transportation links between urban centres and their outlying areas
* Opening more Anjung Singgah shelters (temporary shelters for the homeless) in high demand areas
3. Access to Quality Health Services:
* Developing a national system that will provide every Malaysian with access to quality healthcare
* Establishing a Heart Centre and Cancer Centre in major hospitals in every zone - North, South, East & West Peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak
* Providing public facilities for dialysis treatment in every high-density area
* Introducing a card-carrying system for Malaysians with special needs to provide for discounted prices of specific medications
* Introducing a support system for palliative home care for the aged and terminally ill
4. Towards Greater Efficiency in Public Transportation:
* Expanding the Rapid Bus System to every state capital, complete with facilities for the aged and disabled
* The continued expansion of the MRT, LRT and Commuter rail systems
* Building integrated bus, rail and taxi terminals in all towns and cities
- Re-routing bus routes to ensure more efficient and accessible services for the rakyat
* Increasing individual taxi permits
* Implementing the national high speed rail network and expanding the double tracking railway system
5. World Class Infrastructure Development and Rural Transformation:
* The rapid expansion of the North-South Expressway with more lanes and exit points
* Building a 2,300-km Pan Borneo Highway stretching from Semantan, Sarawak, to Serudung, Sabah
* Extending the East Coast Highway from Kuala Krai-Kota Baharu & Gambang-Segamat
* Constructing a new West Coast Highway from Banting to Taiping
* The gradual reduction of intra-city tolls
* Implementing the 21st Century Village concept to spur rural transformation and bring the rural community into the mainstream of development
* Building another 6,300km of paved roads in peninsular Malaysia, 2,500km in Sabah and 2,800km in Sarawak to benefit an estimated 3.3 million people
* Solving the treated water supply problem in Selangor, the Federal Territory and Kelantan
* Extending the supply of clean water to another 320,000 homes throughout the country
* Expanding electricity supply to another 6,000 homes in the peninsula, 60,000 in Sabah and 80,000 in Sarawak
* Compelling service providers to ensure quality mobile phone services and reliable wireless access coverage throughout the country
6. Strengthening Women's Participation:
* Increasing the number of women participating in national decision-making
* Promoting gender equality to maximise the potential of Malaysians in all fields, regardless of gender
* Providing more business and income-generating opportunities for women to provide them a greater sense of independence
* Creating more incentives for work-from-home initiatives, with greater emphasis on single mothers
* Opening 1Malaysia Daycare Centres in all GLCs and government offices and encouraging the private sector to do the same
* Tightening laws to prevent incidents of sexual abuse and harassment in homes and in the workplace
7. Building a Resilient, Dynamic and Innovative Economy:
* Attracting RM1.3 trillion worth of investments and creating 3.3 million new jobs, of which 2 million will be in high income sectors
* Building towards achieving per capita income of USD$15,000 (RM45,000) by 2020
* Providing special incentives for innovative and creative ventures to generate more wealth and jobs
* Implementing policies that are fair and equitable to all races in Malaysia including pro-growth policies, greater participation of the private sector & development of the capital market
* Enhancing the effectiveness of the bumiputera agenda, including bumiputeras in Sabah & Sarawak, by providing business opportunities, a stronger eco-system (e.g. training & credit facilities) and institutional support)
* Working with state governments to allocate more land & increase productivity of existing land to enhance food and livestock production
* Reforming the existing tax structure towards a more broad-based tax system and gradually reducing personal and corporate tax
* Continuing special cash payments and development & operational funding exceeding 20 per cent of oil and gas revenue to Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu, Kelantan & Pahang
* Implementing a plan for the transformation of SMEs and establishing a National Trading Company to source overseas markets for SMEs products
* Creating & promoting more global and regional champions
* Ensuring GLCs continue to develop entrepreneurs by divesting non-strategic GLCs and increasing outsourcing programmes for bumiputera companies
* Providing RM500 million in seed funding to increase the equity of the Indian Community to at least three per cent
* Setting up a Special Unit to ensure the successful implementation of policies for the upliftment of the Indian community
* Increasing access to micro credit for all Malaysians, including RM100 million for hawkers and petty traders
8. Building towards Educational Excellence:
* Bringing Malaysia into the "top third category" of the best education systems in the world by improving the quality of national schools
* Improving the command of Bahasa Malaysia and English among students from the pre-school level, and making English a compulsory SPM pass subject in all schools
* Improving access to quality education for the rural and minority communities, especially in Sabah and Sarawak
* Providing more merit-based scholarships, with special provisions for disadvantaged communities
* Continuing special allocations to all types of schools including SKs, SJKCs, SJKTs, Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan, MRSM, Sekolah Berasrama Penuh and Mission Schools
* Expanding Single Session Schooling
* Revamping Teacher Training Colleges and raising the qualification bar for trainee teachers
* Introducing a simplified teaching and learning system for BM in Chinese and Tamil schools
* Building more schools of all types in areas of high demand
* Enhancing performance in Mathematics and Science, and developing higher order thinking skills in students
* Providing financial incentives of RM100,000 per annum for schools with classes for Special Needs children
* Converting SJKTs that wish to change status, into fully aided schools
* Setting up ICT labs in all schools that require them
* Transforming vocational schools into colleges and increasing enrolment to 20 per cent of the student population
* Expanding pre-school education to cover all types of schools
* Providing new career pathways to allow performance-based fast tracking promotion of 420,000 teachers
* Providing free and guaranteed Broadband Wifi on all campuses of public institutions
* Introducing a laptop ownership scheme in all schools bundled with Internet access
9. Enhancing Security and Public Safety:
* Boosting PDRM omnipresence with additional 4,000 police personnel per year
* Lighting up streets, alleys and lanes to further reduce street crime
* Strengthening the PDRM Motorcycle Patrol Unit by 5,000 vehicles
* Upgrading the welfare, professionalism and capability of the police, armed forces and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
* Enhancing the total capability of the armed forces to deal with any form of incursion and external threat
* Maintaining and strengthening the police commission
* Using the 6P system to curb the influx of illegal foreigners
* Creating the Safecam Programme to link up private and public CCTV systems
* The extensive expansion of CCTV monitoring for high traffic public areas such as car parks, recreational areas, night markets and schools
* Introducing security initiatives in public housing schemes
* Enrolling an additional 50,000 police volunteer reserves to assist PDRM in patrolling and keeping streets safe
10. Nurturing Youth:
* Providing funding, training and incentives for youth-centric commercial ventures.
* Providing commercial space within shopping complexes one day in every month for youths to exhibit and market their creative products and services
* Establishing incubators to nurture quality leadership and creativity
* Creating a more resilient youth through active volunteerism in 1M4U
* Providing more free WIFI hotspots, with particular emphasis on rural and semi-urban areas
* Producing more high performance athletes at regional and international levels and promoting a more healthy lifestyle
* Revisiting laws pertaining to entertainment for the promotion of performing arts and culture
11. Weaving a Network of Social Safety Nets:
* Streamlining and improving safety net assistance through a unified database system
* Providing financial assistance and educational opportunities for lower income earners irrespective of race
* Turning Brickfields into a blind-friendly zone to serve as a model for future zones throughout the country catering to other sections of the disabled
* Setting up special courts with the same status as High Courts under the present justice system, whereby judges will be assisted by assessors chosen from among community heads, to deal specifically with NCR issues
* Gazetting all native customary land in close consultation with state governments
* Providing more income-generating opportunities within indigenous communities and increasing the intake of
12. Promoting Islam, Religious Freedom and Harmony:
* Upholding Islam as the religion of the Federation and promoting the Syiar and Syariat of Islam in accordance with the principles of Maqasid Syariah
* Ensuring that other religions can be practiced in peace and harmony
* Assigning jurisdiction over non-Muslim matters to a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
* Promoting the principles of moderation (Wasatiyyah) in all undertakings
* Increasing initiatives in uniting the ummah
* Unlocking income from developing wakaf land in cooperation with State Religious Authorities
* Increasing tax exemption for contributions to the construction, expansion and upkeep of places of worship
* The continuance of allocating land for the building of places of worship
* Providing more financial assistance to registered religious institutions and places of worship
* Promoting the welfare of Imams, mosque officials and guru-guru Kafa by providing service-based salaries and increments
* Upgrading the quality of Sekolah Agama Rakyat and allowing their students access to quality education and government education infrastructure
* Providing financial assistance to Sekolah Agama Rakyat and Sekolah Pondok
13. Fighting the Scourge of Corruption:
* The public disclosure of contracts to enhance transparency in government procurement
* Empowering MACC through the establishment of a Service Commission whereby the power of recruitment and service matters will lie entirely with the commission
* Elevating the Head and Senior Officers of the MACC to a higher level
* Giving equal emphasis on investigations into, and action against, bribe givers and receivers
* Fast tracking access to the Auditor-General's Performance Audit Report for immediate action
* Establishing additional special corruption Sessions and High Courts
* Implementing integrity pacts for MPs and State Assemblymen
14. Revitalising the Public Service and Enhancing Good Governance:
* Introducing the Transformative Salary Scheme for civil servants, including reviewing allowances and providing a special salary movement of three per cent to those on maximum salary, in the event there is no salary review
* Improving the civil service scheme to include more opportunities for promotion and development of talent and ensuring the quality of their general well-being
* Extending Urban Transformation Centres to all major cities and towns
* 'Merakyatkan Perkhidmatan Awam' (Endear the Public Service to the People) to ensure excellent service delivery
* Mobilising and empowering the civil service, including Local Governments and District Offices, to fulfill the demands, interests and concerns of the rakyat
* Improving counter services through the appointment of multi-racial frontliners and expanding online services for payments and applications
* Introducing recruitment programmes to ensure a fair mix of all races in the Civil Service and GLCs at all levels
* Enhancing the potential, capacity and capability of all civil servants regardless of race and gender
* Giving special attention to OKU (the disabled) to harness their full potential and capacity
15. Promises for a Global Movement of Moderates:
* Fighting for the establishment of a Palestinian state
* Supporting the realisation of Asean as an economic community in 2015
* Vying for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in order to play a prominent role in regional peace and international security through our policy of moderation
* Enhancing economics and bilateral interests with major trading partners and emerging economies
* Formulating Foreign Policy which supports our strategic political, economic and security interests
* Taking the lead in fighting trans-national crimes such as human and drug trafficking
* Spearheading humanitarian outreach programmes in conflict areas such as Gaza, the West Bank, southern Thailand, Mindanao and elsewhere
16. Providing Affordable and Secure Housing:
* Building 1,000,000 affordable homes - driven by public and private sectors- including 500,000 PR1MA houses
* Pricing PR1MA houses at least 20 per cent below market prices
* Introducing a lease and own scheme for government housing projects
* Reviving abandoned housing projects to safeguard homebuyers
* Taking over the maintenance and upkeep of all Public Housing Projects
* Assisting poor and lower income home owners to rehabilitate their houses
* Replacing squatter settlements with secure and permanent housing
* Improving housing in estate and providing houses for former estate workers through Government-Estate partnership
* Abolishing stamping fees for first home purchases priced below RM400,000
17. Preserving Nature's Resources:
* Giving financial incentives to commercial and private premises which invest in renewable green energy resources such as biomass and solar
* Allocating more space for green lungs within major cities
* Revitalising rivers and streams via increased allocations and enactment of stricter laws and by-laws, and via special UNDP and River of Life programmes
* Increasing educational programmes to inculcate appreciation of the environment
* Preserving our forest and undertaking re-forestation programmes
* Enacting stricter and updated laws to prevent illegal activities of deforestation of vital and strategic conservation areas
* Employing green and latest state-of-the-art technology in waste disposal and management.
Saturday, April 06, 2013
ABU's Scare Tactic
I am wondering whether I'll be a target of this hate group - Anything But Umno (ABU).
Lawyer Haris Ibrahim of ABU, just the other day issued a warning to foreigners who hold MyKads.
"To foreigners who have been given MyKads, please hear this. ABU has issued warnings to all of you to stay away from our polling stations on PRU13 day. Please take this warning seriously. On polling day, ABU squads will be patrolling all polling stations and they will deal with all foreigners who are intent on defying this warning. Please, I emphasize again, take this warning seriously.”
You know my IC has got a 71 which means that I am foreign-born. So, should I be worried?
Can Haris' ABU Tahan squads tell the difference - whether I had just got my IC or naturalised or whatever - if they stop me to check my identity?
Ok..How does ABU plan to do all this?
They will be patrolling? What? like policemen? Rela? By whose authority? Their own?
ABU is a law unto themselves, is it?
Sure doesn't make it right -- at all!
Lawyer Haris Ibrahim of ABU, just the other day issued a warning to foreigners who hold MyKads.
"To foreigners who have been given MyKads, please hear this. ABU has issued warnings to all of you to stay away from our polling stations on PRU13 day. Please take this warning seriously. On polling day, ABU squads will be patrolling all polling stations and they will deal with all foreigners who are intent on defying this warning. Please, I emphasize again, take this warning seriously.”
You know my IC has got a 71 which means that I am foreign-born. So, should I be worried?
Can Haris' ABU Tahan squads tell the difference - whether I had just got my IC or naturalised or whatever - if they stop me to check my identity?
Ok..How does ABU plan to do all this?
They will be patrolling? What? like policemen? Rela? By whose authority? Their own?
ABU is a law unto themselves, is it?
Sure doesn't make it right -- at all!
Friday, April 05, 2013
So..When Is the General Election?
Now that parliament has been dissolved -- and I can hear the sighs of relief - everybody wants to know when the election is.
But be patient. We've waited this long for the announcement on the dissolution of Parlaiment, we can wait a little bit longer ...
Next Wednesday (April 10) the Election Commission will hold a special meeting to decide the nomination and polling dates for the general election.
Many reckon that the dates are the least predictable since the country's independence in 1957.
Yesterday, Datuk Seri Najib Razak chaired the Barisan Nasional supreme council meeting. Later, he told the Press a lot of things, but not the candidates list, like who's who on it. Except tosay that it will be a surprise.
"There will be an element of surprise", he said.
Najib has hinted about the kind of candidates he wants. the word is "winnable".
Well, everybody thinks they are "winnable". Former MIC chief Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu thinks he is winnable and had offered to return to Sungai Siput as candidate.
"I am a winnable candidate, there's no doubt about it. I am willing to re-contest the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat. Internal sabotage led to my defeat there in 2008 (general election)," he told reporters at Bukit Aman police headquarters ion Wednesday after handing over RM100,000 to the families of policemen killed and injured in the Lahad Datu terrorist intrusion.
Samy Vellu is BN coordinator for Sungai Siput, is also Special Envoy to India and South Asia for Infrastructure.
Last year, he blamed his former boss, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for his defeat in the 2008 general election to Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM).
Samy Vellu, former works minister, lost by a 1,821-vote majority in his stronghold.
Wow, some sabotage, Tun must have been doing.
Of course, last GE, many veterans and stalwarts such as he, lost in their own strong turf.
Anyway, it is official that he will not be contesting this GE.
As far back as last year, the PM was asked about election candidates.
But generally, when the PM talks about BN canidates for the GE, his recurring message is that they would be the best candidate for the BN - and it doesn't matter how old they are.
I'm not sure if he will "conform" to previous practices -- we had read all this before -- a mixed list - combination of old and new faces and so on.
So far, we know that Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat will not be contesting. Neither is former Wnaita Umno chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.
Said a veteran about Najib's element of surprise : "Real surprises can bring problems..like in 2008."
Without a doubt, it is a test for Najib -- between trying to please some people but not everyone.
We are waiting for the surprise....let's hope it's not a shock.
And yes, when polling will be.
Meanwhile, tomorrow, the BN unveils its manifesto.
But be patient. We've waited this long for the announcement on the dissolution of Parlaiment, we can wait a little bit longer ...
Next Wednesday (April 10) the Election Commission will hold a special meeting to decide the nomination and polling dates for the general election.
Many reckon that the dates are the least predictable since the country's independence in 1957.
Yesterday, Datuk Seri Najib Razak chaired the Barisan Nasional supreme council meeting. Later, he told the Press a lot of things, but not the candidates list, like who's who on it. Except tosay that it will be a surprise.
"There will be an element of surprise", he said.
Najib has hinted about the kind of candidates he wants. the word is "winnable".
Well, everybody thinks they are "winnable". Former MIC chief Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu thinks he is winnable and had offered to return to Sungai Siput as candidate.
"I am a winnable candidate, there's no doubt about it. I am willing to re-contest the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat. Internal sabotage led to my defeat there in 2008 (general election)," he told reporters at Bukit Aman police headquarters ion Wednesday after handing over RM100,000 to the families of policemen killed and injured in the Lahad Datu terrorist intrusion.
Samy Vellu is BN coordinator for Sungai Siput, is also Special Envoy to India and South Asia for Infrastructure.
Last year, he blamed his former boss, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for his defeat in the 2008 general election to Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM).
Samy Vellu, former works minister, lost by a 1,821-vote majority in his stronghold.
Wow, some sabotage, Tun must have been doing.
Of course, last GE, many veterans and stalwarts such as he, lost in their own strong turf.
Anyway, it is official that he will not be contesting this GE.
As far back as last year, the PM was asked about election candidates.
But generally, when the PM talks about BN canidates for the GE, his recurring message is that they would be the best candidate for the BN - and it doesn't matter how old they are.
I'm not sure if he will "conform" to previous practices -- we had read all this before -- a mixed list - combination of old and new faces and so on.
So far, we know that Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat will not be contesting. Neither is former Wnaita Umno chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.
Said a veteran about Najib's element of surprise : "Real surprises can bring problems..like in 2008."
Without a doubt, it is a test for Najib -- between trying to please some people but not everyone.
We are waiting for the surprise....let's hope it's not a shock.
And yes, when polling will be.
Meanwhile, tomorrow, the BN unveils its manifesto.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Daim Zainuddin NST Interview - Part Two
Here's the second and final part of the NST interview with former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin headlined "We Should Not Waste Time With Anwar, His Time Had Come and Gone".
Back then in the 80s, Daim and Anwar were the king's men, the Team A (versus Musa Hitam's Team B). Here's a quote by Daim in NST's Up Close and Personal segment :
"Really, we should not waste time with Anwar. He is past his use-by date. His time had come and gone.
I also think that you should not give so much news space to him. That's what he likes. He does not like to be ignored, so ignore him I say. He should be left to be the entertainer that he is, dancing and singing at ceramahs. As I said his time is gone, like a burung punggok merindukan bulan, (a dog barking at the caravans, and the caravans have moved on)."
The interview that was published today:
THIS is the final part of the interview with former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, who helped the Malaysian economy survive the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Without mincing words, Daim discussed with New Straits Times journalists A. JALIL HAMID, RASHID YUSOF and HARIZ MOHD and photographer ZAHARI ZAKARIA the key events during the "Mahathir Years", including the events which led to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's downfall.
Question: Media reports suggested at the time of your departure from the cabinet in 1991 that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had three names in mind as the new finance minister -- Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Was this indeed the case?
Answer: Rafidah was then the minister for trade, having been appointed to the post after the Team A versus Team B split in 1987. Sanusi was minister for agriculture.
Dr Mahathir wasn't too sure about Anwar. He said, "I don't think Anwar can handle the ministry of finance" given his academic background. He was a graduate in Malay studies.
My counter argument went along this line -- "I think if you want him to be your successor you have to groom him.
"I can help him and guide him, give advice."
In the end, I managed to convince Dr Mahathir.
Anwar used to come to my house very often to seek my advice on matters related to the ministry of finance.
He would also bring me to to his house for lunch very often. His aunt cooked my favourite dishes.
Read the rest of the Q&A HERE.
Back then in the 80s, Daim and Anwar were the king's men, the Team A (versus Musa Hitam's Team B). Here's a quote by Daim in NST's Up Close and Personal segment :
I also think that you should not give so much news space to him. That's what he likes. He does not like to be ignored, so ignore him I say. He should be left to be the entertainer that he is, dancing and singing at ceramahs. As I said his time is gone, like a burung punggok merindukan bulan, (a dog barking at the caravans, and the caravans have moved on)."
The interview that was published today:
THIS is the final part of the interview with former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, who helped the Malaysian economy survive the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Without mincing words, Daim discussed with New Straits Times journalists A. JALIL HAMID, RASHID YUSOF and HARIZ MOHD and photographer ZAHARI ZAKARIA the key events during the "Mahathir Years", including the events which led to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's downfall.
Question: Media reports suggested at the time of your departure from the cabinet in 1991 that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had three names in mind as the new finance minister -- Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Was this indeed the case?
Answer: Rafidah was then the minister for trade, having been appointed to the post after the Team A versus Team B split in 1987. Sanusi was minister for agriculture.
Dr Mahathir wasn't too sure about Anwar. He said, "I don't think Anwar can handle the ministry of finance" given his academic background. He was a graduate in Malay studies.
My counter argument went along this line -- "I think if you want him to be your successor you have to groom him.
"I can help him and guide him, give advice."
In the end, I managed to convince Dr Mahathir.
Anwar used to come to my house very often to seek my advice on matters related to the ministry of finance.
He would also bring me to to his house for lunch very often. His aunt cooked my favourite dishes.
Read the rest of the Q&A HERE.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Daim Zainuddin NST Interview - Part One
Say what you like about Malaysia's former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, he sure makes good copy. And especially now..everybody wants a piece of him -- wants to know what he thinks. he says it as it is.
You can choose to ignore him, to not believe a word he says.. it's a free country.
But here's the first part of the NST interview with Daim, headlined "I Want Najib To Win, Anwar Not Fit To Be PM".
WHENEVER Tun Daim Zainuddin is not orbiting the globe, he will be holed up in his workstation at Wisma YPR (Yayasan Pok Rafeah, named after his late mother).
His desk is one sprawling clutter of printouts and financial analyses helpfully sent daily by an organisation headed by a friend -- a former prime minister of a neighbouring Asian country.
The hallway is in a different galaxy. It is virtually an art gallery. He owns more than 2,000 paintings. Some paintings are now worth 10 times what he paid for. He was chairman of the National Art Gallery before he joined the cabinet. The lawyer-turned-housing developer who later became finance minister (twice) is not selling.
The range of passions is bewildering. He is a fan of Datuk Shah Rukh Khan. Daim is a significant shareholder of a bank with many branches in Africa. He is chairman of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) audit committee.
At 74, he plays badminton with increasingly younger mates. And, he displays a Manchester United replica jersey autographed by Sir Bobby Charlton.
"I am a busybody," he explained as he greeted New Straits Times journalists -- A. JALIL HAMID, RASHID YUSOF and HARIZ MOHD -- and photographer, ZAHARI ZAKARIA, to kickstart a series of exhaustive interviews.
You can choose to ignore him, to not believe a word he says.. it's a free country.
But here's the first part of the NST interview with Daim, headlined "I Want Najib To Win, Anwar Not Fit To Be PM".
 |
WHENEVER Tun Daim Zainuddin is not orbiting the globe, he will be holed up in his workstation at Wisma YPR (Yayasan Pok Rafeah, named after his late mother).
His desk is one sprawling clutter of printouts and financial analyses helpfully sent daily by an organisation headed by a friend -- a former prime minister of a neighbouring Asian country.
The hallway is in a different galaxy. It is virtually an art gallery. He owns more than 2,000 paintings. Some paintings are now worth 10 times what he paid for. He was chairman of the National Art Gallery before he joined the cabinet. The lawyer-turned-housing developer who later became finance minister (twice) is not selling.
The range of passions is bewildering. He is a fan of Datuk Shah Rukh Khan. Daim is a significant shareholder of a bank with many branches in Africa. He is chairman of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) audit committee.
At 74, he plays badminton with increasingly younger mates. And, he displays a Manchester United replica jersey autographed by Sir Bobby Charlton.
"I am a busybody," he explained as he greeted New Straits Times journalists -- A. JALIL HAMID, RASHID YUSOF and HARIZ MOHD -- and photographer, ZAHARI ZAKARIA, to kickstart a series of exhaustive interviews.
Friday, March 22, 2013
The Sting On Sarawak's Taib...
Early last week, a video "Inside Malaysia's Shadow State" went viral.
It is supposedly an expose of corruption and shady dealings involving Sarawak chief minister Taib Mahmud and his family.
It's a short clip of interviews by a Mat salleh "investigator" with a lawyer, a businessmen and two sisters Norlia and Fatimah (daughters of former Sarawak chief chief minister and governor Rahman Yaakub).
The four were talking to this Mat Salleh who was posing as a potential investor.
Well, you can call it a sting operation.
I'm not sure if a sting is like that. Never seen a real one, Only those on TV shows.
Alvin, the lawyer, made references to Singapore as a place where you can dump your money and no questions asked.
The sisters -- Taib's cousins -- spoke of how they can get away with a shady land deal.
Hmm.. I remember years ago Taib and their father (who is Taib's uncle) were embroiled in a bitter power struggle in Sarawak. That episode is known as The 1987 Ming Court Affair. There was a lot of bad blood. In 2008, on Rahman's 80th birthday, the two reportedly patched things up, mended the fence, let bygones be bygones.
Perhaps both of them did...but Rahman's daughters may still find it hard to forgive and forget.
Anyway, the video was uploaded in so many sites, and happily circulated by the opposition party supporters.
The Mole has the story.
The Malay Mail carried it on page one and included Taib's response -- he said that he was being framed.
And Singapore responded as well, denying the allegations made in the video.
Taib also issued a reminder to people, to not easily trust anyone claiming to act as agents for purchasing Sarawak land.
Anybody can say or claim they are agents, but people should know that it is not necessarily true, he said.
"People should be careful not to be drowned into this kind of lies, and believing it that they are my agents...some people can say that they are my agents, they can act as my agent but it doesn't mean it is true.
And a police report has been lodged.
For me, it's so easy not to believe everything I see or hear, including this video clip. I mean, where is the proof? It's just of people making allegations, two of whom are Taib's cousins and whose wounds, I suspect, have probably not healed.
And coming at a time when we are going to have a general election. Reminds of of those "damning' reports of the excesses of Taib and his family circulated online before the Sarawak state elections.
It turned out that the video is the work of Global Witness - an organisation posing as one that's doing good things for democracy... Bullshit.
And, yeah, was it really a sting operation or just a hatchet job..we all know that they all want to get Taib and bring him down.
You can choose to believe everything that people, like those Global Witness operatives, are shoving down your throat. People don'st stop to think or ask questions.
They lap it all up...
One thing you can get angry is the remark by one of the sisters that the Dayak are squatters on government land. Even then, that could be in the script.
Here's The Benchmark.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Meanwhile...
...just another article on the mysterious case of Sultan Sulu.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Malaysia has been in the midst of an ongoing security crisis since early February, when a group of 235 rag-tag militiamen from the neighboring southern Philippines slipped into the eastern state of Sabah and began occupying several villages.
While engaging police in several firefights, the insurgents beheaded and mutilated several captured Malaysian security personnel, prompting Malaysian forces to deploy fighter jets in an unprecedented air assault over the area in an operation to flush out the intruders.
The gunmen call themselves the “Royal Army of the Sulu Sultanate”, representing the heirs of a long-defunct kingdom which once controlled the territory up until the late nineteenth century.
The so-called Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, who is believed to be directing the militant incursion from Manila, insists that Sabah is rightfully part of his kingdom and has vowed not budge on his claims even if his personnel are killed in the standoff.
You can read the rest of article by Counterpunch HERE
And don't you get really p**sed reading all those horrid untrue stuff about Malaysia -- that the Filipinos in Sabah are treated like animals by the Malaysian security forces, that the thousands of Filipino workers in Malaysia are being abused.
Disregarding the vicious cyberwar between Malaysians and Filipinos about the Sulu claim on Sabah, just think how these lies have been reported in the media in the Philippines.
Suddenly, the people of the Philippines republic have forgotten their history. Now they are so supportive of "Princess" Jacel, daughter of the pretender to the Sulu sultanate Jamalul Kiram III.
She, of the people being oppressed by the Philippines government, she , of the people whose claim for autonomy has been rejected by the Philippines government.
It's confounding how some (maybe more) of the people of the Philippines have no understanding of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Anyway, here's my two cents worth in my Saturday column in the NST:
As Ops Daulat continues in Lahad Datu, Malaysians wait anxiously for the latest news. Has the situation in Lahad Datu improved? Are there any more casualties? Have the terrorists left or given up?
Without a doubt, the media coverage on print and television has been extensive. And as far as news in the Malaysian media is concerned, for the most part, it has been from official sources.
A lot of us detach ourselves from the emotional debate in cyberspace and concern ourselves only with the facts from newspapers and television reports.
We set aside our political bias. All we want to know are developing stories, including the human interest side and the drama. We depend on our Malaysian journalists there.
But if we turn to news emanating from the Philippine media, you'd get an entirely different picture, not just a lot of drama. But a lot of lies. The Malaysian media is careful not to publish unsubstantiated information on Ops Daulat because of security concerns. So, yes, peace-loving Malaysians, including journalists, get it.
Malaysia has been in the midst of an ongoing security crisis since early February, when a group of 235 rag-tag militiamen from the neighboring southern Philippines slipped into the eastern state of Sabah and began occupying several villages.
While engaging police in several firefights, the insurgents beheaded and mutilated several captured Malaysian security personnel, prompting Malaysian forces to deploy fighter jets in an unprecedented air assault over the area in an operation to flush out the intruders.
The gunmen call themselves the “Royal Army of the Sulu Sultanate”, representing the heirs of a long-defunct kingdom which once controlled the territory up until the late nineteenth century.
The so-called Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, who is believed to be directing the militant incursion from Manila, insists that Sabah is rightfully part of his kingdom and has vowed not budge on his claims even if his personnel are killed in the standoff.
You can read the rest of article by Counterpunch HERE
And don't you get really p**sed reading all those horrid untrue stuff about Malaysia -- that the Filipinos in Sabah are treated like animals by the Malaysian security forces, that the thousands of Filipino workers in Malaysia are being abused.
Disregarding the vicious cyberwar between Malaysians and Filipinos about the Sulu claim on Sabah, just think how these lies have been reported in the media in the Philippines.
Suddenly, the people of the Philippines republic have forgotten their history. Now they are so supportive of "Princess" Jacel, daughter of the pretender to the Sulu sultanate Jamalul Kiram III.
She, of the people being oppressed by the Philippines government, she , of the people whose claim for autonomy has been rejected by the Philippines government.
It's confounding how some (maybe more) of the people of the Philippines have no understanding of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Anyway, here's my two cents worth in my Saturday column in the NST:
SINCE the Lahad Datu incursion by a group of Sulu gunmen last month, Malaysians have been voraciously searching for information to learn more about the Sulu sultan's claim on Sabah.
By now, most of us are familiar with the subject given the wealth of literature and views articulated by academics and experts in the print and broadcast media on the subject.As Ops Daulat continues in Lahad Datu, Malaysians wait anxiously for the latest news. Has the situation in Lahad Datu improved? Are there any more casualties? Have the terrorists left or given up?
Without a doubt, the media coverage on print and television has been extensive. And as far as news in the Malaysian media is concerned, for the most part, it has been from official sources.
A lot of us detach ourselves from the emotional debate in cyberspace and concern ourselves only with the facts from newspapers and television reports.
We set aside our political bias. All we want to know are developing stories, including the human interest side and the drama. We depend on our Malaysian journalists there.
But if we turn to news emanating from the Philippine media, you'd get an entirely different picture, not just a lot of drama. But a lot of lies. The Malaysian media is careful not to publish unsubstantiated information on Ops Daulat because of security concerns. So, yes, peace-loving Malaysians, including journalists, get it.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Friday, March 08, 2013
Today, Five years Ago....
I made my vote count.
On the morning of March 8, 2008, I went early to Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Samad in Petaling Jaya to cast my vote.
I did not want to stand in a long line so I made sure I was there nice and early.
I voted in a Selangor constituency: Petaling Jaya Selatan (parliament) and Bukit Gasing (state). The BN incumbents in both seats lost to the opposition.
In the battle for the parliamentary seat, PKR's Hee Loy Sian who obtained 28,598, defeated Donald Lim Siang Chai who obtained 22,892. (5,706 vote majority)
For the state seat, Gerakan's Lim Thuang Seng obtained 6,923 votes, losing to DAP's Edward Lee who obtained 15,735 votes (8,812 majority).
In the previous general election in 2004, Donald Lim defeated R Sivarasa of PKR by a bigger majortity (21,416) actually. Lim obtained 35,054 votes against his opponent's 13,638.
For Bukit Gasing, Lim won the seat with a 4,081 vote majority. he obtained 13,057 against DAP's John Chung's 8,976.
"Every vote counts" had never rung true then.
And it still rings true today.
On the morning of March 8, 2008, I went early to Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Samad in Petaling Jaya to cast my vote.
I did not want to stand in a long line so I made sure I was there nice and early.
I voted in a Selangor constituency: Petaling Jaya Selatan (parliament) and Bukit Gasing (state). The BN incumbents in both seats lost to the opposition.
In the battle for the parliamentary seat, PKR's Hee Loy Sian who obtained 28,598, defeated Donald Lim Siang Chai who obtained 22,892. (5,706 vote majority)
For the state seat, Gerakan's Lim Thuang Seng obtained 6,923 votes, losing to DAP's Edward Lee who obtained 15,735 votes (8,812 majority).
In the previous general election in 2004, Donald Lim defeated R Sivarasa of PKR by a bigger majortity (21,416) actually. Lim obtained 35,054 votes against his opponent's 13,638.
For Bukit Gasing, Lim won the seat with a 4,081 vote majority. he obtained 13,057 against DAP's John Chung's 8,976.
"Every vote counts" had never rung true then.
And it still rings true today.
Celebrating Women..
Today is International Women's Day...
The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights" Gloria Steinem
How did you celebrate today?
The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights" Gloria Steinem
How did you celebrate today?
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Ops Sulu Launched
Updated:
It has been renamed Ops Daulat.
Earlier posting:
Our army began attack and assault on the armed Sulu intruders at 7 this morning.
Below is the statement by PM Najib Razak (taken from blogger Apanama who is in Lahad Datu)
Kenyataan Akhbar
Sejak pencerobohan oleh kumpulan bersenjata di Lahad Datu pada Feb 12, kerajaan telah mengambil pendekatan untuk menyelesaikan konflik ini tanpa pertumpahan darah. Pihak polis telah mengadakan pertemuan dan rundingan dengan harapan penceroboh akan bersetuju keluar dengan aman tanpa dikenakan sebarang tindakan undang-undang yang serius.
Semakin lama pencerobohan ini berlanjutan, jelas kepada pihak berkuasa bahawa penceroboh tidak berniat untuk keluar dari tanah Sabah. Pada hari Jumaat lepas mereka telah melepaskan tembakan ke arah anggota polis yang bertugas di kawasan tersebut menyebabkan dua anggota kita terbunuh, sehari kemudian enam lagi anggota polis dibunuh oleh penceroboh di Semporna.
Setelah serangan yang pertama, saya telah menegaskan bahawa penceroboh mesti menyerah diri dan jika mereka enggan pihak berkuasa negara ini akan bertindak.
Sebagai negara Islam yang cintakan keamanan dan mengangkatkan perjuangan penyelesaian konflik scara perundingan, usaha kita menggelakkan pertumpahan darah di Lahad Datu tidak berjaya. Sebaliknya, anggota pasukan keselamatan kita diserang dan dibunuh, rakyat Malaysia khususnya di Sabah bimbangkan keselamatan mereka.
Kerajaan mesti mengambil tindakan yang sewajarnya bagi menjaga marurah dan kedaultan negara sebagaimana yang dituntut oleh rakyat. Pada jam 7pagi ini pasukan keselamatan telah melancarkan serangan di Kampung Tanduo.
Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak
PERDANA MENTERI MALAYSIA
God speed, soldiers and may the Almighty protect us all...
Peace..
It has been renamed Ops Daulat.
Earlier posting:
Our army began attack and assault on the armed Sulu intruders at 7 this morning.
Below is the statement by PM Najib Razak (taken from blogger Apanama who is in Lahad Datu)
Kenyataan Akhbar
Sejak pencerobohan oleh kumpulan bersenjata di Lahad Datu pada Feb 12, kerajaan telah mengambil pendekatan untuk menyelesaikan konflik ini tanpa pertumpahan darah. Pihak polis telah mengadakan pertemuan dan rundingan dengan harapan penceroboh akan bersetuju keluar dengan aman tanpa dikenakan sebarang tindakan undang-undang yang serius.
Semakin lama pencerobohan ini berlanjutan, jelas kepada pihak berkuasa bahawa penceroboh tidak berniat untuk keluar dari tanah Sabah. Pada hari Jumaat lepas mereka telah melepaskan tembakan ke arah anggota polis yang bertugas di kawasan tersebut menyebabkan dua anggota kita terbunuh, sehari kemudian enam lagi anggota polis dibunuh oleh penceroboh di Semporna.
Setelah serangan yang pertama, saya telah menegaskan bahawa penceroboh mesti menyerah diri dan jika mereka enggan pihak berkuasa negara ini akan bertindak.
Sebagai negara Islam yang cintakan keamanan dan mengangkatkan perjuangan penyelesaian konflik scara perundingan, usaha kita menggelakkan pertumpahan darah di Lahad Datu tidak berjaya. Sebaliknya, anggota pasukan keselamatan kita diserang dan dibunuh, rakyat Malaysia khususnya di Sabah bimbangkan keselamatan mereka.
Kerajaan mesti mengambil tindakan yang sewajarnya bagi menjaga marurah dan kedaultan negara sebagaimana yang dituntut oleh rakyat. Pada jam 7pagi ini pasukan keselamatan telah melancarkan serangan di Kampung Tanduo.
Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak
PERDANA MENTERI MALAYSIA
God speed, soldiers and may the Almighty protect us all...
Peace..
Monday, March 04, 2013
Our Fallen Heroes
Friday, March 01, 2013
Our Men Killed in Lahad Datu ...
...with more casualties among the Sulu gunmen.
PM Najib has confirmed that two Malaysian commandoes were killed and another three injured in an exchange of gunfire which Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had earlier affirmed that our forces DID not start.
Also, it is confirmed that 12 Sulu gunmen who claimed to be of the Royal Sulu Army were killed.
The NST reports that as at 4.30pm, several Malaysian security forces have been taken to the Lahad Datu Hospital.
Curfew has been declared in Lahad Datu after gunfire broke out between our security forces and the gunmen who claim to be kin/kith/supporters/army of a man from Sulu who wants to be known as Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III.
Prayers for our fallen forces and for those injured.
May peace be quickly restored.
The latest HERE
A little background HERE.
It Is Malaysia's First "Social Media" Election..
(I was down and out for three days early this week. A terrible bout of flu. Rare that I succumbed to it. Must be a nasty bug.)
Let me quote PM Najib when he was at the Malaysia Social Media Week 2013 organised by the Malaysia SocialMedia Chambers (SMC) in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
The PM said social media had the ability to include more voices into one issue, including political debates.
He predicted that this would be practised in the coming months as people went to social media to discuss issues related to teh general election.
"I can confidently predict that this will be Malaysia's first social media election".
Najib said he had imposed upon his ministers and potential election candidates to be social media savvy as it helped them to get engeaged with the people who are internet users.
Now..that's a long way from where everyone came from in 2008 when blogs and bloggers were despised, feared, whatever by the then leadership. Paranoid even.
I became a blogger then.
The administration was hostile towards bloggers.
But, someone (who himself got drawn into blogging and became an uber blogger) thanked bloggers .
Every opposition candidate had a blog, compared to only a handful of BN candidates.
Of course, post-election -- a wake-up call..yadayada..
Well, let's hope they have all woken up, I know some have.
Najib was possibly the first Cabinet minister to give regard, acknowledgment and recognition to bloggers..
I wrote something about this in the NST. Here's my column (March 2)
Yuliana Should Have Been Given Legal Counsel
So all right. Most everyone saw on Youtube what the 24 year-old Indonesian maid did to her employer's baby. Horrific. Tossing and flipping him on the mat like he was a doll.
Only a mad person would do that. Or a person with no love or care or a heart.
She was captured on the CCTV at the couple's Kuantan home on Friday (Feb 15).
Mohamed Zamri and Nina Suraya Sulaiman - the young Kuantan couple -were having breakfast when they caught the visual on Zamri's cellphone.
It was Yuliana's first day at work.
By the following Tuesday, she was arrested, detained,charged in court and convicted of attempted murder and abuse of four-month-old Mohamed Hareez Mohamed Zamri -- 20 years jail (15 for the first charge and 5 for the second.)
Yuliana, a mother of two from Aceh - had pleaded guilty to the charges and had no legal counsel.
I remember the swift comments on facebook when the footage was uploaded and went viral. People were horrified. Some went ballistic. Others were baying for blood.
I was among those who were so so upset. The poor little helpless baby.Like everyone else, I thought she was mentally "tak betul" because if you had seen the video, you would see her carrying the baby after presumably bathing him, like normal, towel-drying him, feeding him with a bottle, and only a few minutes after, that she seemed to have lost it.
But "attempted murder"? and 20 years? No legal representation?
I wanted to know whether she was mad, or simply bad and evil? And why had the baby's parents left him with the maid who had just started employment?
We all want justice to be served swiftly. And I could hear the cheers when she was convicted so swiftly -- "padan muka", "she deserves a life sentence", "et her rot in jail".
Those were emotions I heard. Those showed a sense of vicarious satisfaction because -- hah -- this time it is a bad Indon maid. Not a bad Malaysian employer.
But this woman had no legal counsel to advise her on such a seriosu charge dof attempted murder.
I don't believe for one minute that Yuliana should go free. She has to be punished. But I think the judge erred in trying hard to make an example of her.
Do read my Saturday NST column here:
THE anger was palpable. The reaction to the conviction was jubilant. It was emotional. The maid did it and she must be punished.
Everyone agrees that 24-year-old Indonesian Yuliana, whose first day at work for a young Kuantan couple last Friday was to be her last, did a horrific thing to four-month-old Mohamed Hareez Mohamed Zamri at their Lorong Bukit Setongkol home.
Our hearts went out to his parents -- Mohamed Zamri and Nina Suraya Sulaiman.
So, when the mother of two from Aceh was quickly arrrested, detained, charged in a Sessions Court and sentenced to 20 years jail -- all within three days -- everyone was vicariously satisfied.
Everyone applauded.
The rest of the article HERE.
Only a mad person would do that. Or a person with no love or care or a heart.
She was captured on the CCTV at the couple's Kuantan home on Friday (Feb 15).
Mohamed Zamri and Nina Suraya Sulaiman - the young Kuantan couple -were having breakfast when they caught the visual on Zamri's cellphone.
It was Yuliana's first day at work.
By the following Tuesday, she was arrested, detained,charged in court and convicted of attempted murder and abuse of four-month-old Mohamed Hareez Mohamed Zamri -- 20 years jail (15 for the first charge and 5 for the second.)
Yuliana, a mother of two from Aceh - had pleaded guilty to the charges and had no legal counsel.
I remember the swift comments on facebook when the footage was uploaded and went viral. People were horrified. Some went ballistic. Others were baying for blood.
I was among those who were so so upset. The poor little helpless baby.Like everyone else, I thought she was mentally "tak betul" because if you had seen the video, you would see her carrying the baby after presumably bathing him, like normal, towel-drying him, feeding him with a bottle, and only a few minutes after, that she seemed to have lost it.
But "attempted murder"? and 20 years? No legal representation?
I wanted to know whether she was mad, or simply bad and evil? And why had the baby's parents left him with the maid who had just started employment?
We all want justice to be served swiftly. And I could hear the cheers when she was convicted so swiftly -- "padan muka", "she deserves a life sentence", "et her rot in jail".
Those were emotions I heard. Those showed a sense of vicarious satisfaction because -- hah -- this time it is a bad Indon maid. Not a bad Malaysian employer.
But this woman had no legal counsel to advise her on such a seriosu charge dof attempted murder.
I don't believe for one minute that Yuliana should go free. She has to be punished. But I think the judge erred in trying hard to make an example of her.
Do read my Saturday NST column here:
THE anger was palpable. The reaction to the conviction was jubilant. It was emotional. The maid did it and she must be punished.
Everyone agrees that 24-year-old Indonesian Yuliana, whose first day at work for a young Kuantan couple last Friday was to be her last, did a horrific thing to four-month-old Mohamed Hareez Mohamed Zamri at their Lorong Bukit Setongkol home.
Our hearts went out to his parents -- Mohamed Zamri and Nina Suraya Sulaiman.
So, when the mother of two from Aceh was quickly arrrested, detained, charged in a Sessions Court and sentenced to 20 years jail -- all within three days -- everyone was vicariously satisfied.
Everyone applauded.
The rest of the article HERE.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
The GE Will Be In April...
So, says my friend, Wong Sai Wan, of The Star.
He said Prime Minister Najib Razak has some unfinished business -- BN manifesto and candidates list, among others -- to deal with before feeling really good to call for a GE.
Sai Wan also pointed out that Najib would also be thinking of the Chinese voters -- "April 4 is a Thursday, many Chinese families will choose their ancestral grave cleaning rituals over the weekend of April 6 and 7.
Many Chinese travel back to their hometown to do this and polling on this weekend would prove to be unpopular."
Anyway...here his commentary.
He said Prime Minister Najib Razak has some unfinished business -- BN manifesto and candidates list, among others -- to deal with before feeling really good to call for a GE.
Sai Wan also pointed out that Najib would also be thinking of the Chinese voters -- "April 4 is a Thursday, many Chinese families will choose their ancestral grave cleaning rituals over the weekend of April 6 and 7.
Many Chinese travel back to their hometown to do this and polling on this weekend would prove to be unpopular."
Anyway...here his commentary.
Laptops In Place of Textbooks For Pupils
WHEN Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin visited the Daphne
High School in Mobile, Alabama last month, he observed the students'
learning style and was pleasantly surprised that they were using laptops
and had excluded textbooks.
Read the NST report HERE.
Muhyiddin, who is Education Minister, said this was an innovative education process that Malaysian schools could emulate given that Internet and broadband facilities have been extensively installed in schools.
The school is a top-performing school.
Muhyiddin was impressed with the students' thinking skills and creativity.
He said they seem to be "independent and have good communication skills"
"When I asked them questions, they answered with confidence and without fear.
"When they came up to the rostrum to talk, they knew what exactly they wanted to say.
"It shows the level of the school's excellence, and the attitude and skills are factors which we must develop among our students."
When I posted this on my FB page, I said that this is good but needs to be studied carefully. The US education system is so different from ours. Besides, it is just one school although using of laptops in schools is in practice across the globe.
There was a lot of response which was good for debate.
Before I touch on the laptop programme, let me just say here that those students who displayed confidence etc...they are typical of American students. Not peculiar to Daphne.
So, basically, I agree that we cannot be left behind. Providing laptops for students is not new (the Terengganu E book project in 2008) , but the laptops are for not in place of textbooks but to complement and enhance learning
I feel we have to put a lot of things in place first, repair here and there, overhaul here and there, decide to do away with textbooks and then implement this laptop-in-place-of-textbook programme. basically it is revolutionising learning.
My worry is that we are so good at launching, implementing but not sustaining. Also there have been cases of ambitious projects gone wrong.
My sister pointed out that we should make sure that there is zero-crime on the streets if we want our kids to be carrying laptops in their bags.
University students have been known to be targets of snatch thieves because it is known that they have laptops in their bags.
You don't fix the crime rate, our school kids will be easy targets of criminals.
You cannot deny that this will enhance learning because it has been proven in many cases.
In fact, in the US, they're already migrating from laptops/netbooks to tablets...
So, yes..embrace the future, but fix our shortcomings first, then learn, at least from the Terengganu experience and from the best practices elsewhere.
Anyway, I decided to give my two cents worth in my Saturday column. Read it HERE.
Read the NST report HERE.
Muhyiddin, who is Education Minister, said this was an innovative education process that Malaysian schools could emulate given that Internet and broadband facilities have been extensively installed in schools.
The school is a top-performing school.
Muhyiddin was impressed with the students' thinking skills and creativity.
He said they seem to be "independent and have good communication skills"
"When I asked them questions, they answered with confidence and without fear.
"When they came up to the rostrum to talk, they knew what exactly they wanted to say.
"It shows the level of the school's excellence, and the attitude and skills are factors which we must develop among our students."
When I posted this on my FB page, I said that this is good but needs to be studied carefully. The US education system is so different from ours. Besides, it is just one school although using of laptops in schools is in practice across the globe.
There was a lot of response which was good for debate.
Before I touch on the laptop programme, let me just say here that those students who displayed confidence etc...they are typical of American students. Not peculiar to Daphne.
So, basically, I agree that we cannot be left behind. Providing laptops for students is not new (the Terengganu E book project in 2008) , but the laptops are for not in place of textbooks but to complement and enhance learning
I feel we have to put a lot of things in place first, repair here and there, overhaul here and there, decide to do away with textbooks and then implement this laptop-in-place-of-textbook programme. basically it is revolutionising learning.
My worry is that we are so good at launching, implementing but not sustaining. Also there have been cases of ambitious projects gone wrong.
My sister pointed out that we should make sure that there is zero-crime on the streets if we want our kids to be carrying laptops in their bags.
University students have been known to be targets of snatch thieves because it is known that they have laptops in their bags.
You don't fix the crime rate, our school kids will be easy targets of criminals.
You cannot deny that this will enhance learning because it has been proven in many cases.
In fact, in the US, they're already migrating from laptops/netbooks to tablets...
So, yes..embrace the future, but fix our shortcomings first, then learn, at least from the Terengganu experience and from the best practices elsewhere.
Anyway, I decided to give my two cents worth in my Saturday column. Read it HERE.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
He Is Still The Richest Malaysian...
From the NST
Hong Kong-based Robert Kuok has maintained his position as Malaysia's richest man with a wealth of RM45.7 billion, despite a 8.0 per cent drop in his fortune, followed by T Ananda Krishnan and Public Bank's Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow.
IOI Corporation Bhd’s Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng maintained fourth spot while the richest Bumiputera entrepreneur in the country is Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary who came in fifth, according to Malaysian Business in a report on the 40 richest Malaysians.
Flamboyant AirAsia chief executive officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes was ranked as 15th with a weath of RM1.77 billion.
Malaysian Business said the wealth of the top 40 richest Malaysians was based on the value of their stake in listed companies as at Jan 20, 2012.
Ananda narrowed the gap with Kuok with a wealth of RM42.99 billion, but it was down by about 6.0 per cent this year, from 2011.
Read the rest of the article HERE
Hong Kong-based Robert Kuok has maintained his position as Malaysia's richest man with a wealth of RM45.7 billion, despite a 8.0 per cent drop in his fortune, followed by T Ananda Krishnan and Public Bank's Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow.
IOI Corporation Bhd’s Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng maintained fourth spot while the richest Bumiputera entrepreneur in the country is Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary who came in fifth, according to Malaysian Business in a report on the 40 richest Malaysians.
Flamboyant AirAsia chief executive officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes was ranked as 15th with a weath of RM1.77 billion.
Malaysian Business said the wealth of the top 40 richest Malaysians was based on the value of their stake in listed companies as at Jan 20, 2012.
Ananda narrowed the gap with Kuok with a wealth of RM42.99 billion, but it was down by about 6.0 per cent this year, from 2011.
Read the rest of the article HERE
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Friday, February 08, 2013
Crime Watch..
.
Three things I feel deeply about -- crime prevention because it means safety for our families and loved ones and of course, in the long run and in macro terms, our country. And crime include crime against children.
Second:: education because it affects the younger generation who is the future of our beloved country.
Third: health because it is about our well-being and it is also about cost and affordability especially for senior citizens.
Not necessarily in that order.
This morning, my youngest sister Nina witnessed a snatch theft along Jalan Dato Abu Bakar just before the traffic lights at the flyover ( left takes you to Phileo and Taman Tun Dr Ismail and right takes you to Bukit Kiara, Bukit Damansara, Bangsar and on the KL).
Two guys on a motorbike. The motorcyclist was weaving in and out of the morning traffic and got to the right side of her car, actually in between her car (Kyron) and a satria on her left.
My sister had already got her antennae when she heard a motorbike revving up from behind
Since she and her daughter were attacked and robbed in front of the gate at their house in Section 16, PJ on Dec 19 last year, my sister has been more aware, alert and all psyched up.
.For instance, she quickly kept a keen eye on these two guys to see what they were up to.
The motorbike slowed down and then stopped when it reached the right side of her car. The guys looked at the satria on their right. The satria was heavily tinted.
What happened next was the stuff you hear and read about or watch on Youtube -- the motobike then went ahead and turned in front of my sister's car, almost "squeezing through", and went to the left side of a car - a Kelisa - in front of my sister's car.
The motorbike stopped at the left-passenger front window and in one swift and hard blow, the pillion smashed the window, put his hand in, and took out a handbag.
Meanwhile, my sister, was already so angry and was about to take a left turn but the motorbike fled so quickly to the left towards.
The victim (of the Kelisa), was seen taking left, stopped by the side of the road for a while and drove off.
Meanwhile, my sister felt so helpless. The other motorists probably did not know what had happened but if they did there was nothing anyone could do because the SOBs had sped off.
My sister had already known those guys were up to no good but was not able to run them down because they had not committed anything but was too late to do anything after they had committed their crime.
Although she was not the victim, my sister lodged a police report that same day anyway for the simplke reason that she had witnessed a crime.
She said she wanted to make sure that there was on record of a crime committed.
Some people are "malas" or are simply not bothered about making a police report --perhaps nothing of value was stolen. Or perhaps, they don't think it would make any difference.
Also, it seems, policemen in some stations refuse to take down reports of "minor" crime, especially if you have not been robbed.
If you don't report, there will be no record. Perhaps that's why the crime index is low because people are not reporting, or their reports are not accepted.
Three things I feel deeply about -- crime prevention because it means safety for our families and loved ones and of course, in the long run and in macro terms, our country. And crime include crime against children.
Second:: education because it affects the younger generation who is the future of our beloved country.
Third: health because it is about our well-being and it is also about cost and affordability especially for senior citizens.
Not necessarily in that order.
This morning, my youngest sister Nina witnessed a snatch theft along Jalan Dato Abu Bakar just before the traffic lights at the flyover ( left takes you to Phileo and Taman Tun Dr Ismail and right takes you to Bukit Kiara, Bukit Damansara, Bangsar and on the KL).
Two guys on a motorbike. The motorcyclist was weaving in and out of the morning traffic and got to the right side of her car, actually in between her car (Kyron) and a satria on her left.
My sister had already got her antennae when she heard a motorbike revving up from behind
Since she and her daughter were attacked and robbed in front of the gate at their house in Section 16, PJ on Dec 19 last year, my sister has been more aware, alert and all psyched up.
.For instance, she quickly kept a keen eye on these two guys to see what they were up to.
The motorbike slowed down and then stopped when it reached the right side of her car. The guys looked at the satria on their right. The satria was heavily tinted.
What happened next was the stuff you hear and read about or watch on Youtube -- the motobike then went ahead and turned in front of my sister's car, almost "squeezing through", and went to the left side of a car - a Kelisa - in front of my sister's car.
The motorbike stopped at the left-passenger front window and in one swift and hard blow, the pillion smashed the window, put his hand in, and took out a handbag.
Meanwhile, my sister, was already so angry and was about to take a left turn but the motorbike fled so quickly to the left towards.
The victim (of the Kelisa), was seen taking left, stopped by the side of the road for a while and drove off.
Meanwhile, my sister felt so helpless. The other motorists probably did not know what had happened but if they did there was nothing anyone could do because the SOBs had sped off.
My sister had already known those guys were up to no good but was not able to run them down because they had not committed anything but was too late to do anything after they had committed their crime.
Although she was not the victim, my sister lodged a police report that same day anyway for the simplke reason that she had witnessed a crime.
She said she wanted to make sure that there was on record of a crime committed.
Some people are "malas" or are simply not bothered about making a police report --perhaps nothing of value was stolen. Or perhaps, they don't think it would make any difference.
Also, it seems, policemen in some stations refuse to take down reports of "minor" crime, especially if you have not been robbed.
If you don't report, there will be no record. Perhaps that's why the crime index is low because people are not reporting, or their reports are not accepted.
Thursday, February 07, 2013
Top-Up Loans For Undergraduates
Now this is good news for parents like me with kids in universities.
Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday launched the Prihatin Pendidikan 1Malaysia scheme (SPP1M) for university students in local and foreign universities under which they can apply additional for additional study loans.
"We realise and understand the constraints that parents face when financing their children's education as the cost of education is getting expensive, especially for those studying abroad.
"This top-up scheme is a creative solution. It is unique and never been introduced before," he was quoted to have said.
SPP1M loans are up to RM100,000 for those pursuing degrees in "critical" fields, including science and technology, professional degrees, and up to RM150,000 for those specialising in certain areas of medicine.
Najib said those who take up the loans would be charged one per cent less than the base lending rate (BLR) by participating banks while the students were still studying.
For example, if the BLR is five per cent, then the interest rate would be four per cent.
After graduation, the interest rate would revert to the BLR.
Well you can read more about it online in most local news websites.
Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday launched the Prihatin Pendidikan 1Malaysia scheme (SPP1M) for university students in local and foreign universities under which they can apply additional for additional study loans.
"We realise and understand the constraints that parents face when financing their children's education as the cost of education is getting expensive, especially for those studying abroad.
"This top-up scheme is a creative solution. It is unique and never been introduced before," he was quoted to have said.
SPP1M loans are up to RM100,000 for those pursuing degrees in "critical" fields, including science and technology, professional degrees, and up to RM150,000 for those specialising in certain areas of medicine.
Najib said those who take up the loans would be charged one per cent less than the base lending rate (BLR) by participating banks while the students were still studying.
For example, if the BLR is five per cent, then the interest rate would be four per cent.
After graduation, the interest rate would revert to the BLR.
Well you can read more about it online in most local news websites.
Ex-convicts Rob and Rape..
I'm so sure that many ex-convicts -- those released when the Emergency Ordinance was repealed - are roaming our city and country roads.
Day in day out, you read all these chilling stories of people being robbed.
In Kajang, a factory worker was robbed by a taxi driver and his accomplice after she had boarded the vehicle to get home to Semenyih.
Police managed to nab the two perpetrators after the woman made a report. The two have a criminal record.
Now, this other case is even worse. So, ladies, please please take care.
A 26-year-old saleswoman was abducted, robbed and taken on a terror ride before being raped by one of her assailants in Kuala Lumpur early yesterday(Wednesday).
Here is The Sun report:
Her ordeal began when she was parking her car outside her apartment compound in Taman Desa Jaya, Kepong at about 11pm on Tuesday.
As the victim, who works for a jewellery outlet in Sungai Buloh, was parking her car, a van suddenly drew up alongside.
Four men then rushed out and began smashing the windscreen and windows of her car, before dragging her into their van.
According to police sources, the woman was then blindfolded while one of the men went through her handbag for cash and valuables.
Apparently dissatisfied with the small amount of cash and her cellphone that they found in the handbag, the robbers forced her to reveal the personal identification number (PIN) of her bank automated teller machine (ATM) card.
They then went to an ATM machine from which they withdrew several thousand ringgit.
Her ordeal did not end there as the men then drove the victim to a house.
There she was threatened with harm if she did not give in to the sexual demands of a member of the gang.
It is learnt that the victim, who was blindfolded throughout the ordeal, was raped by the man while his accomplices watched.
At about 3am, the gang members dropped the victim off at an undisclosed location in Segambut.
The woman then sought the help of passers-by who took her home before she called the police.
Gombak police chief ACP Abdul Rahim Abdullah said police are on the trail of the gang members.
He said police are confident of identifying the men, who are believed to be ex-convicts.
"We are trying to trace from which bank branch they withdrew cash with her ATM card, and where she was raped.
"We believe this is the same group we busted last year and sent away to the Simpang Renggam detention centre, but they were freed following the repeal of preventive laws.
"We are working round-the-clock to track them down," Abdul Rahim said.
Day in day out, you read all these chilling stories of people being robbed.
In Kajang, a factory worker was robbed by a taxi driver and his accomplice after she had boarded the vehicle to get home to Semenyih.
Police managed to nab the two perpetrators after the woman made a report. The two have a criminal record.
Now, this other case is even worse. So, ladies, please please take care.
A 26-year-old saleswoman was abducted, robbed and taken on a terror ride before being raped by one of her assailants in Kuala Lumpur early yesterday(Wednesday).
Here is The Sun report:
Her ordeal began when she was parking her car outside her apartment compound in Taman Desa Jaya, Kepong at about 11pm on Tuesday.
As the victim, who works for a jewellery outlet in Sungai Buloh, was parking her car, a van suddenly drew up alongside.
Four men then rushed out and began smashing the windscreen and windows of her car, before dragging her into their van.
According to police sources, the woman was then blindfolded while one of the men went through her handbag for cash and valuables.
Apparently dissatisfied with the small amount of cash and her cellphone that they found in the handbag, the robbers forced her to reveal the personal identification number (PIN) of her bank automated teller machine (ATM) card.
They then went to an ATM machine from which they withdrew several thousand ringgit.
Her ordeal did not end there as the men then drove the victim to a house.
There she was threatened with harm if she did not give in to the sexual demands of a member of the gang.
It is learnt that the victim, who was blindfolded throughout the ordeal, was raped by the man while his accomplices watched.
At about 3am, the gang members dropped the victim off at an undisclosed location in Segambut.
The woman then sought the help of passers-by who took her home before she called the police.
Gombak police chief ACP Abdul Rahim Abdullah said police are on the trail of the gang members.
He said police are confident of identifying the men, who are believed to be ex-convicts.
"We are trying to trace from which bank branch they withdrew cash with her ATM card, and where she was raped.
"We believe this is the same group we busted last year and sent away to the Simpang Renggam detention centre, but they were freed following the repeal of preventive laws.
"We are working round-the-clock to track them down," Abdul Rahim said.
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Relooking Cold Cases Of Missing Children
This is encouraging news - Bukit Aman has set up a federal police task force to probe into cold
cases of missing kids to determine if there are links between past
and present cases.
I've always believed that we should have had such a body by now seeing that there are just too many unsolved cases of missing kids. And those found -- turned up dead.
Already NUR (National Urgent Response) Alert is in place, although I can tell you that it is not being used as it should but that is another story, (not entirely the police's fault because NUR alert landed on their lap without any prior briefing or training or anything of that sort. One main reason is that it is called NUR -- people confuse it with The Women's Family and Community Ministry's Talian Nur, All can say is -- I told you so)
Also read THIS.
and THIS, THIS
Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar told the New Straits Times the findings of the task force would be used by investigating officers in new missing persons' cases.
I've always believed that we should have had such a body by now seeing that there are just too many unsolved cases of missing kids. And those found -- turned up dead.
Already NUR (National Urgent Response) Alert is in place, although I can tell you that it is not being used as it should but that is another story, (not entirely the police's fault because NUR alert landed on their lap without any prior briefing or training or anything of that sort. One main reason is that it is called NUR -- people confuse it with The Women's Family and Community Ministry's Talian Nur, All can say is -- I told you so)
Also read THIS.
and THIS, THIS
Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar told the New Straits Times the findings of the task force would be used by investigating officers in new missing persons' cases.
Monday, February 04, 2013
Refresher...
Blogger Helen Ang asked this: if Penang had 84 per cent Chinese voters, would DAP be willing
to grant instant citizenship en masse to Malays – which then within the span of two short years – reduced the Chinese voting strength to 57% while at the same time increasing the Malay electoral power in an inverse and corresponding proportion?
Helen said that that was what Umno did.
Now if the shoe was on the other foot,
Would the PAP-DAP — hypothetically as the ruling party — be willing to absorb and enfranchise Malays residing in the Republic of Singapore North en bloc so that as a result, Chinese voting strength suffered a drastic drop from 84 percent to 57 percent within a single election interval?
Read the rest of her posting.
to grant instant citizenship en masse to Malays – which then within the span of two short years – reduced the Chinese voting strength to 57% while at the same time increasing the Malay electoral power in an inverse and corresponding proportion?
Helen said that that was what Umno did.
- In 1955, Malays made up 84.2 percent of registered voters in Malaya.
- Two years later was Merdeka which allowed close to one million non-Malays to become citizens between the period of 1957 and 1960.
- Two years after Independence was the 1959 general election. This time, Malays made up only 57.1 percent of the electorate.
Now if the shoe was on the other foot,
Would the PAP-DAP — hypothetically as the ruling party — be willing to absorb and enfranchise Malays residing in the Republic of Singapore North en bloc so that as a result, Chinese voting strength suffered a drastic drop from 84 percent to 57 percent within a single election interval?
Read the rest of her posting.
RIP - Claudia Theophilus
I really only got to know Claudia in 2006 after I had left the New Straits Times and had begun to blog actively..
I would usually meet her at the National Press Club.
She was such a pleasant person...and really great to talk with. And that time there was so much to talk about...so much she wanted to know ...
What a shock it was when I saw the news flash yesterday of her untimely demise.
Claudia was killed in a firearm mishap in Lebanon on Saturday. She was 42.
She was most currently working as web producer with Al-Jazeera English news agency in Doha.
She died after a rifle - which she was taking a look at, went off accidentally at about 2.30am local time (about 8.30am Malaysian time).
The incident happened in Baakleen - located about 45km southeast of Beirut.
Malaysian ambassador to Beirut Ilango Karuppannan said shes died shortly after she arrived at a general hospital in the district.
The New Straits Times quoted Karuppannan as saying that Claudia and two Lebanese friends were taking a look at several rifles, when one of it accidentally went off.
“She was rushed to the hospital, but attempts to save her life were unsuccessful,” he told the New Straits Times.
He said an initial police report did not indicate any criminal element in the incident.
Ilango said the embassy was informed of the incident about noon the same day, before it sent officers to the hospital.
He said Wisma Putra had informed Claudia’s family in Malaysia and preparations are being made to fly her body home as soon as possible.
He said her body will be taken to Beirut before it is flown back to Kuala Lumpur.
Claudia began her journalism career at The Sun newspaper and Malaysiakini news portal here.
She arrived in Lebanon on Jan 28 to meet her friends.
May you rest in peace, dear Claudia.
I would usually meet her at the National Press Club.
She was such a pleasant person...and really great to talk with. And that time there was so much to talk about...so much she wanted to know ...
What a shock it was when I saw the news flash yesterday of her untimely demise.
Claudia was killed in a firearm mishap in Lebanon on Saturday. She was 42.
She was most currently working as web producer with Al-Jazeera English news agency in Doha.
She died after a rifle - which she was taking a look at, went off accidentally at about 2.30am local time (about 8.30am Malaysian time).
The incident happened in Baakleen - located about 45km southeast of Beirut.
Malaysian ambassador to Beirut Ilango Karuppannan said shes died shortly after she arrived at a general hospital in the district.
The New Straits Times quoted Karuppannan as saying that Claudia and two Lebanese friends were taking a look at several rifles, when one of it accidentally went off.
“She was rushed to the hospital, but attempts to save her life were unsuccessful,” he told the New Straits Times.
He said an initial police report did not indicate any criminal element in the incident.
Ilango said the embassy was informed of the incident about noon the same day, before it sent officers to the hospital.
He said Wisma Putra had informed Claudia’s family in Malaysia and preparations are being made to fly her body home as soon as possible.
He said her body will be taken to Beirut before it is flown back to Kuala Lumpur.
Claudia began her journalism career at The Sun newspaper and Malaysiakini news portal here.
She arrived in Lebanon on Jan 28 to meet her friends.
May you rest in peace, dear Claudia.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Take Care Of Your Kids. It Only Takes Seconds..
..for a kidnapper to grab your child. Your life will forever change..
Child activist Hartini Zainuddin says there are kidnappers are out there waiting to grab your child at the first opportunity.
She told The Star that she has a list of horror stories of children being abducted when parents take their eyes off their kids.Kidnappers are out there waiting to grab your child at the first opportunity. C
When Hartin is with her children in a public space, such as a supermarket, she always makes sure she’s holding her four-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son’s hand.
“And I will never take my eyes off them,” said the child activist.
“I’m also mentally prepared to scream and hold on to them (as they’re within arm’s length) if someone tries to grab them.”
Read the rest of the article HERE.
Child activist Hartini Zainuddin says there are kidnappers are out there waiting to grab your child at the first opportunity.
She told The Star that she has a list of horror stories of children being abducted when parents take their eyes off their kids.Kidnappers are out there waiting to grab your child at the first opportunity. C
When Hartin is with her children in a public space, such as a supermarket, she always makes sure she’s holding her four-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son’s hand.
“And I will never take my eyes off them,” said the child activist.
“I’m also mentally prepared to scream and hold on to them (as they’re within arm’s length) if someone tries to grab them.”
Read the rest of the article HERE.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Little William : May You rest In Peace...
This evening, it is confirmed that the body fished out of Sungai Sireh in Klang is that of a child -- that of missing boy -- 6 year-old William Yau.
His parents identified the body and confirmed that it is their beloved son.
(Our deepest and heartfelt condolences....)
William, we tried but we have failed you,,,like we failed all the other little angels.
We are sorry, dear William.
Rest in peace.
Dear PDRM,
It is your duty now to hunt for the killer/killers. Don't rest until you get him/her/them!
Meanwhile...here's my column on William in the NST.
Body of A Child Found in River...
The body of a boy with a fair complexion, believed to be about 7 years old, was fished out of Sungai Sireh, in Klang, yesterday.
I want to say that I pray it is not that of 6 year-old William Yau who went missing last week in Putra heights. But the body is of a child ..it is somebody's child. My heart goes out to the family of this child.
For now, police believed it to be William because there has been no report of a missing child in the area.
William's parents have gone to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital to.identify the remains.
Klang Selatan police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohamad Mat Yusop said a post-mortem examination is being done today.
The story HERE
Whoever the child is...was he murdered?
Whoever he.may be, may he rest in peace.
I want to say that I pray it is not that of 6 year-old William Yau who went missing last week in Putra heights. But the body is of a child ..it is somebody's child. My heart goes out to the family of this child.
For now, police believed it to be William because there has been no report of a missing child in the area.
William's parents have gone to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital to.identify the remains.
Klang Selatan police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohamad Mat Yusop said a post-mortem examination is being done today.
The story HERE
Whoever the child is...was he murdered?
Whoever he.may be, may he rest in peace.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Salam Maulidul Rasul
Selamat menyambut Maulud Nabi to all Muslims and have a happy holiday, everyone.
Peace!
Peace!
Monday, January 21, 2013
NUR Alert out for William Yau
People -- we have failed Nurin, Nadhirah and other little angels. Let's not fail 6 year-old William Yau who went missing on Wednesday (Jan 16) at Jalan Putra Mahkota 7/6c in Putra Heights.
Let's join the search for him. His distraught parents Yau Kok Kang and Goh Ying Ying are praying for his safety and safe return. The nation joins them.
William went missing after he and his family -- parents, older brother, Eric, 7 and younger sister Cindy, one - had dinner in Puchong to celebrate Eric having been made class monitor.
According to The Star - on the way home, Yau and Goh stopped at an electrical shop in Putra Heights to look at some washing machines.
They locked their children, including in the car, leaving the windows open.
When they returned about 15 minutes later, William was nowhere to be seen.
According to Eric, William had gone looking for their parents because Cindy had started crying non-stop.
Of course, Yau and Goh are beside themselves for leaving their kids in the car. But you know, nothing is more punishing for your action than your child disappearing...
Help has come in a huge way for the family, with the political parties, NGOs and the community helping the police search for William.
The police has triggered NUR Alert but I'm not sure when they did that. Let's hope it was within 48 hours of the missing person report on William.
Let's hope William is in safe hands. Let's hope he will be returned safely to his family.
Let's hope too that this kind of help goes to the next missing child.
Remember, people -- Nurin's rapist and murderer is still at large.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Crime Index Down, But....
I am so sorry to say that THAT does not make our streets , our neighbourhood etc..safe.
Here's the IGP:
(source;NST)
KUALA LUMPUR: THERE was a notable decrease in the number of violent and property crimes last year, crime index figures released show.
The crime index dipped 7.6 per cent last year, with street crimes dropping by 3.6 per cent.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said despite these successes, the public remained unconvinced.
"That is why I am not going to focus on the figures, but rather work on new initiatives to combat crime and win the public's confidence.
"We have set our targets for this year. Let the people decide after they see the results of our initiatives
later."
The IGP was commenting on a report that crime watchdog, the Malaysian Crime Watch Taskforce (MyWatch), had questioned an alleged attempt by the police to "manipulate" crime figures by suppressing data on non-index crime.
MyWatch claimed that the overall national crime rate was 30 per cent higher than what had been presented by police.
Its chairman, R. Sri Sanjeevan, claimed that the latest figures did not take into account non-index crimes and that it was an attempt by the police to instil a "feel good" feeling among Malaysians.
He also revealed two letters, allegedly issued by Criminal Investigations Department director Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin to state police chiefs, with breakdowns on occurrence of non-index crime between 2011 and 2012.
Sri Sanjeevan claimed that the two letters were obtained from "internal police sources" and challenged the authorities to dispute their authenticity.
Ismail countered that the crime index was not something fanciful drawn up overnight.
"It was designed based on a comprehensive crime index published by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations in 1960.
"There is no controversy here and no hidden agenda about index or non-index crime. Those within the police force understand it."
Ismail said the classification of index and non-index crime had not been drawn up to suit the National Key Result Area (NKRA).
"It was drawn up long before my tenure as IGP, or for that matter, my predecessor. It (MyWatch) just collected bits and pieces of information before coming up with its own conclusion.
"All I will say about last year's crime index was that violent and property crimes were reduced."
Elaborating, Bakri said the practice of collecting and classifying crime statistics was adopted from the
Uniform Crime Reports of the United States and this was an international standard adopted by other countries.
He explained that the crime index was the title used for a aggregation of classification of seven main
offences, namely homicide, forcible rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny/theft and vehicle theft.
"We adopted this practice and further sub-divided certain offences. For example, vehicle theft is sub-divided into theft of vans/lorries, theft of cars and theft of motorcycles.
"Only these seven types of offences are used as an index to measure the degree of criminal exposure because they are most likely to be reported and most likely to occur with sufficient frequency to provide an adequate basis for comparison."
Bakri said police maintained statistics on all types of crimes.
"Only index crime is used as an indicator of the overall crime situation. Speaking from experience, the trend of overall crime (index plus non-index) is quite similar to that of index crime alone."
On his letters being made public, Bakri said they were sent to inform all police chiefs to focus on what needs to be done to bring down the number of non-index crimes.
Bakri said the increased number of non-index crimes might be small but appeared alarming when percentages were used instead of figures.
"For instance, if there was no kidnap case last year and there is one this year, that would make for a 100 per cent rise, but we are only talking about one case."
Here's the IGP:
(source;NST)
KUALA LUMPUR: THERE was a notable decrease in the number of violent and property crimes last year, crime index figures released show.
The crime index dipped 7.6 per cent last year, with street crimes dropping by 3.6 per cent.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said despite these successes, the public remained unconvinced.
"That is why I am not going to focus on the figures, but rather work on new initiatives to combat crime and win the public's confidence.
"We have set our targets for this year. Let the people decide after they see the results of our initiatives
later."
The IGP was commenting on a report that crime watchdog, the Malaysian Crime Watch Taskforce (MyWatch), had questioned an alleged attempt by the police to "manipulate" crime figures by suppressing data on non-index crime.
MyWatch claimed that the overall national crime rate was 30 per cent higher than what had been presented by police.
Its chairman, R. Sri Sanjeevan, claimed that the latest figures did not take into account non-index crimes and that it was an attempt by the police to instil a "feel good" feeling among Malaysians.
He also revealed two letters, allegedly issued by Criminal Investigations Department director Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin to state police chiefs, with breakdowns on occurrence of non-index crime between 2011 and 2012.
Sri Sanjeevan claimed that the two letters were obtained from "internal police sources" and challenged the authorities to dispute their authenticity.
Ismail countered that the crime index was not something fanciful drawn up overnight.
"It was designed based on a comprehensive crime index published by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations in 1960.
"There is no controversy here and no hidden agenda about index or non-index crime. Those within the police force understand it."
Ismail said the classification of index and non-index crime had not been drawn up to suit the National Key Result Area (NKRA).
"It was drawn up long before my tenure as IGP, or for that matter, my predecessor. It (MyWatch) just collected bits and pieces of information before coming up with its own conclusion.
"All I will say about last year's crime index was that violent and property crimes were reduced."
Elaborating, Bakri said the practice of collecting and classifying crime statistics was adopted from the
Uniform Crime Reports of the United States and this was an international standard adopted by other countries.
He explained that the crime index was the title used for a aggregation of classification of seven main
offences, namely homicide, forcible rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny/theft and vehicle theft.
"We adopted this practice and further sub-divided certain offences. For example, vehicle theft is sub-divided into theft of vans/lorries, theft of cars and theft of motorcycles.
"Only these seven types of offences are used as an index to measure the degree of criminal exposure because they are most likely to be reported and most likely to occur with sufficient frequency to provide an adequate basis for comparison."
Bakri said police maintained statistics on all types of crimes.
"Only index crime is used as an indicator of the overall crime situation. Speaking from experience, the trend of overall crime (index plus non-index) is quite similar to that of index crime alone."
On his letters being made public, Bakri said they were sent to inform all police chiefs to focus on what needs to be done to bring down the number of non-index crimes.
Bakri said the increased number of non-index crimes might be small but appeared alarming when percentages were used instead of figures.
"For instance, if there was no kidnap case last year and there is one this year, that would make for a 100 per cent rise, but we are only talking about one case."
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Reforming Legal Education...
...because they don't make lawyers like they used to..
Reported in The Star (Wednesday, Jan 16) that the Attorney-General and Bar Council have agreed to set up a high-level task force to reform legal education because they are so concerned over the quality of law graduates.
Their grave concern, it said
.
“Both A-G Tan Sri (Abdul) Gani (Patail) and I are extremely concerned about the quality of law graduates,” council chairman Lim Chee Wee was quoted to have said.
It seems this stemmed fron the outcome of an employability survey of new graduates and feedback from the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) examiners and evaluators of three local universities .
“The A-G's view is also based on the examiners' and evaluators' feedback, and because the A-G's Cham-bers is the largest employer of local graduates,” he said in an interview with The Star.
Here's the rest of the report:
During his speech at the Opening of the Legal Year on Saturday, he disclosed that they had agreed to the setting up of a high-level task force to “review the state of legal education in Malaysia, and to recommend how to raise standards to a level of excellence”.
“Whilst the top local lawyers are as good as, if not better than, those elsewhere in the region, the Bar is concerned with the standard of the average lawyer, which is largely dependent on the capability of the graduates from local and foreign institutions.”
Gani is chairman of the Legal Profession Qualifying Board which administers the CLP and Lim is a member by virtue of his position as council chairman.
Asked whether the council had expressed its concerns to the public and private universities offering local and foreign law programmes before this, he replied: “We have done so privately, not officially.”
Lim said most of the earlier meetings were about other concerns and the need to have a Common Bar Course (CBC).
“We will meet them specifically on this now.”
As to whether the CLP would be abolished and the CBC introduced as the sole line of entry to the legal profession, he said: “The task force will work on a recognising institution for admission to the Bar.”
“The CBC is part of the solution but it needs to be examined further.”
On Jan 13, Sunday Star reported the overall pass rate for the CLP had plunged from 94.79% at its inception in 1984 to 40.81% last year, and that the survey showed a gap between what law firms wanted and the new lawyers they were getting and the wide disparity in the quality of the new entrants themselves.
Reported in The Star (Wednesday, Jan 16) that the Attorney-General and Bar Council have agreed to set up a high-level task force to reform legal education because they are so concerned over the quality of law graduates.
Their grave concern, it said
.
“Both A-G Tan Sri (Abdul) Gani (Patail) and I are extremely concerned about the quality of law graduates,” council chairman Lim Chee Wee was quoted to have said.
It seems this stemmed fron the outcome of an employability survey of new graduates and feedback from the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) examiners and evaluators of three local universities .
“The A-G's view is also based on the examiners' and evaluators' feedback, and because the A-G's Cham-bers is the largest employer of local graduates,” he said in an interview with The Star.
Here's the rest of the report:
During his speech at the Opening of the Legal Year on Saturday, he disclosed that they had agreed to the setting up of a high-level task force to “review the state of legal education in Malaysia, and to recommend how to raise standards to a level of excellence”.
“Whilst the top local lawyers are as good as, if not better than, those elsewhere in the region, the Bar is concerned with the standard of the average lawyer, which is largely dependent on the capability of the graduates from local and foreign institutions.”
Gani is chairman of the Legal Profession Qualifying Board which administers the CLP and Lim is a member by virtue of his position as council chairman.
Asked whether the council had expressed its concerns to the public and private universities offering local and foreign law programmes before this, he replied: “We have done so privately, not officially.”
Lim said most of the earlier meetings were about other concerns and the need to have a Common Bar Course (CBC).
“We will meet them specifically on this now.”
As to whether the CLP would be abolished and the CBC introduced as the sole line of entry to the legal profession, he said: “The task force will work on a recognising institution for admission to the Bar.”
“The CBC is part of the solution but it needs to be examined further.”
On Jan 13, Sunday Star reported the overall pass rate for the CLP had plunged from 94.79% at its inception in 1984 to 40.81% last year, and that the survey showed a gap between what law firms wanted and the new lawyers they were getting and the wide disparity in the quality of the new entrants themselves.
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